We hope that each of you and your families are well.
We are writing to you today as a follow-up to our communication last week relative to the establishment of a new committee of our Board of Trustees reporting to our Head of School and Chairman. The Diversity, Equity & Inclusion committee has been charged by the Board to ensure that all families of color thrive at Lovett. The committee’s work will seek to understand issues, determine appropriate policy, and establish the indicators and measurements for which the administration will be accountable. Our collective goal is for all members of our community to feel a true sense of belonging.
The committee members are as follows:
Brian Boutté (Co-Chair)
Mr. Boutté is a senior executive with deep international experience in management, marketing and sales in premier companies. He currently works as a business consultant, advising senior leadership on community and stakeholder engagement. Previously, he was Senior Vice President of Sales & Marketing for GrafTech International, General Manager for GE Energy and a Director of the Coca-Cola Company. He is a graduate of the U.S. Military Academy at West Point.
Mr. Boutté currently serves as a Lovett Trustee Emeritus, after having served as an Active Lovett Trustee from 2009 to 2016. Brian and his wife Jennifer have two graduates of Lovett, Matthew, Class of 2016, and Marilyn, Class of 2018.
Malon Courts (Co-Chair)
Mr. Courts is President and CEO of Atlantic Investment Company, a privately-held family office focused on public and private investments. He also serves as Chairman of the Board for Roanoke College, his alma mater.
Mr. Courts currently serves on the Lovett Board of Trustees as Chairman of the school’s endowment committee. Malon and his wife Sarah are the parents of Lovett graduate Avery, Class of 2018, and current student Sophie, Class of 2021.
Michael Hardee
Dr. Hardee is an invasive cardiologist with a focus on valvular heart disease and nuclear cardiology. He currently serves as Director of Cardiac Rehabilitation at WellStar Douglas Hospital. He attended University of Florida where he received both his undergraduate and medical degree. He completed his internal medicine residency at Emory University and his cardiology fellowship at Duke University.
Dr. Hardee has served on Lovett’s Board of Trustees since 2016. He and his wife Debbie have two Lovett graduates, Madison, Class of 2015, and Michael, Class of 2019.
David Wall Rice
Dr. Rice is Professor of psychology at Morehouse College, where he also serves as research lead for the Identity, Art and Democracy Research Lab. Former Danforth Endowed Chair of Psychology and Associate Provost, Dr. Rice graduated from Morehouse College, has a Master of Science in Journalism from Columbia University, and received his doctorate in personality psychology from Howard University. He completed postdoctoral study at Teachers College, Columbia University.
Dr. Rice has served on Lovett’s Board of Trustees since 2017. He and his wife Mikki have two sons, Biko and Stokely. David and Mikki will join the Lovett community as parents for the 2020-21 school year.
Thaddeus Rolle ’04
Thaddeus Rolle is an experienced business development and partnerships professional with a background in the technology sector. He is Senior Manager of Partnerships at Mailchimp, with previous roles at Salesforce and Rev.io. Mr. Rolle graduated with a degree in Economics from Wake Forest University.
A 2004 graduate of Lovett, Mr. Rolle currently serves as President of the Lovett Alumni Association. He is married to Erin Everhart.
Irma Shrivastava
Ms. Shrivastava is the Chief Marketing Officer for Randstad USA. She previously was SVP of Marketing & Alliances for the American Cancer Society and spent 17 years with The Coca-Cola Company. She is a graduate of the University of Virginia and received her MBA from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania.
Ms. Shrivastava has served on Lovett’s Board of Trustees since 2017. Irma and her husband Manish are the parents of two Lovett students, Rani, Class of 2023, and Rohan, Class of 2025.
John Staton ’84
Mr. Staton is President of Concepts Sport, the leading sports licensing company for leisure sportswear in the country. He is a graduate of the University of North Carolina, where he serves on the advisory board for the Institute for Arts and Humanities.
Mr. Staton is a Lovett graduate from the Class of 1984. He has been on Lovett’s Board of Trustees since 2016, currently serving as the Board’s Vice Chair. John and his wife Maggie are the parents of two Lovett graduates, John, Class of 2017 and Hailey, Class of 2020, and one current student, Caki, Class of 2022.
Megan Apple Stephenson ’93
Ms. Stephenson is the business manager and financial advisor for Bellwether Landscape Architects. She is a graduate of the University of Virginia.
Ms. Stephenson is a member of Lovett's Board of Trustees, served as Co-President of the Lovett Parent Association (LPA) last year, and President of The Lovett Alumni Association in 2015-16. In addition, she co-chaired the 1926 Committee for the 2018-19 True Blue Annual Fund. Both she and her husband John are Lovett graduates from the Class of 1993. They are the parents of Lovett students May, Class of 2025, and Jack, Class of 2027.
Vanessa Wilkins ’11
Ms. Wilkins is an experienced digital media professional with a background in marketing and journalism. She is a Digital Marketing Associate at Universal Pictures, with previous roles at Civic Entertainment Group and Good Morning America. Ms. Wilkins attended the University of Southern California where she received her bachelor's degree in Print & Digital Journalism in 2015. Vanessa is a Lovett graduate from the Class of 2011.
We would like to express our deepest gratitude to these committee members, each of whom has a deep love for and connection to Lovett, for serving our school in this important work. We have asked the committee to work through the summer and make their initial recommendations to school leadership by August 15 so that measurable change can begin in earnest for the 2020-21 school year.
In addition, we thank those of you who have provided Lovett with recommendations to improve the experiences of our students of color. Each of these ideas will be shared with the committee at its first meeting. We also thank the many members of the Lovett community who have voiced their willingness to serve Lovett in this work. We expect to create additional constituent advisory boards during the upcoming school year.
Lastly, we ask for the commitment of the entire Lovett community to support this necessary work to ensure Lovett becomes a fully inclusive community. We intend to be transparent to each of you as the committee progresses its work. We look forward to working together to ensure that each child entrusted to us feels connected, included, supported and respected at The Lovett School.
R. Reid French, Jr.
Chairman of the Board
John O. Knox
Incoming Chairman of the Board
Meredyth Cole
Head of School