IDEA Advisory Council works to ensure equity and excellence at LSMSA

So far the Council has activated three of the five sub committees it originally planned to create. They are Anti-Black Racism, LGBTQ+ Issues and Policy Review. Each committee consists of 4-5 Council members that have interest in these specific areas.

The Council is focused on, but not limited to, these three primary goals:

Form and distribute a climate survey
Review student and faculty handbooks
Implement the DORLA series (Dialogue on Race Louisiana)

The Anti-Black Racism sub committee is focusing on helping to enhance the black student experience at LSMSA. Members have been in communication with Maxine Crump, CEO of Dialogue on Race Louisiana and Maggie Conarro who serves as a Facilitator and is an alumni of LSMSA. This organization offers various conversational series that teaches individuals how to talk about race. The committee is looking into bringing this into LSMSA to offer the series for students, faculty, and staff members.

The overall goal is to create a living-learning environment free of discrimination and harassment. The Council will advise the implementation of strategies and policies to increase diversity and inclusivity through education and training. As a supporting arm of the Council, the LSMSA Foundation started an IDEA fund to help their efforts to address the problem, such as costs associated with the climate study and the DORLA series.

The LGBTQ+ and Policy Review sub committees are meeting and discussing pertinent issues and will soon propose actions to be reviewed by the board of directors.

“We’re excited about the direction IDEA is going in the seven months since its creation,” said Lecturer of Biology Dr. Jason Anderson. “A lot has been accomplished. We've organized ourselves and have reached out to outside contacts to help us.”

This includes gathering information from alumni and LSMSA’s sister schools to help guide the IDEA Council on how to best advise the Louisiana School's administration in moving forward with issues of diversity and inclusion. Members of the Council are planning a trip to the Illinois Math and Science Academy to learn about the operations of its Office of Diversity and Inclusion. They’re also planning to create a climate study to capture the student experience at LSMSA. This will capture data and more importantly the stories behind the data.


The Council's next meeting will be held before March 8 and will begin to invite various student leaders so they can ask questions and get informed about what's going on.
The origin of the IDEA Council was formed when Dr. Anderson began receiving messages from students and alumni who wanted to share their concerns regarding equity and inclusion issues. These communications grew as a light was shone on the Black Lives Matter movement after protests peaked.

As he began to realize the scope of the hurt, Dr. Anderson was shocked. This quickly led to anger.

“It burned me up that I didn’t know about these things,” he said. “I felt like I’d let some of these kids down. Their comments enraged me and it led me to question whether we had a problem.”

LSMSA takes in students from different backgrounds, so Anderson thought the school was inclusive. However, he knew something had to be done about the concerns that were voiced to him and he was ready to take action.

“The faculty and staff at LSMSA are committed to creating an equitable educational environment where every person is a valued voice and stakeholder,” said IDEA Vice Chair Jennifer Mangum, LSMSA-EXCEL Director and Senior Lecturer of Mathematics.

LSMSA’s IDEA Council is comprised of volunteers who will work to ensure the school fulfills its mission to every student and that all barriers to full participation in the overall experience are removed.

The IDEA Council consists of Dr. Jason Anderson as Chairman; Jennifer Mangum as Vice-Chair; Emily Brumfield, Class of 2003 Alum; Jed Cain, LSMSA Board of Directors; Sheila Kidd, LSMSA Human Resource Officer; Ashley Martin; Class of 2006 Alum; Dr. Cashman Kerr Prince, LSMSA Foundation Trustee and Chair and IDEA Fund Committee Member; Alex Robertson, Class of 2014 Alum; Sue Rosenthal, LSMSA Foundation Vice President; Jenny Schmitt, LSMSA Assistant Director of Student Services; Scott Theriot, LSMSA Instructor and Director of Theatre; Maria Town, President and CEO of the American Association of People with Disabilities; and Sebastian Weinell, Class of 2014 Alum.

“Diversity is a key word on any campus, but to have a group of this caliber gathering to define what it is at LSMSA and how we can better incorporate diversity relieves me because it’s such an important component that without it the school doesn’t truly function,” said LSMSA Executive Director Dr. Steve Horton.

The Council welcomes input and ideas, so anyone wishing to join the conversation on how LSMSA can better diversity and inclusion on its campus can email idea@lsmsa.edu. For more information go online to www.lsmsa.edu/about-us/inclusion-diversity-equity-and-access-idea.

“The IDEA Council’s goal doesn't stop with diversity and inclusion,” said Dr. Anderson. “We're hoping our efforts will lead to an overall equity and excellence at LSMSA. Our end goal would be to have an Office of Equity and Inclusion at LSMSA. The Council can't be the primary voice; we need an office to oversee this.”