Evanston Township High School District 202 board president gave presentation at “White Privilege Conference”; explained that district “explored Critical Race Theory”; accused “white parents” of opposition and causing controversy

A public records request to the Evanston Township High School District 202 revealed that the district’s Board President Pat Savage-Williams participated in a “White Privilege Conference” in Mesa, Arizona, on April 14, 2023. She gave a presentation at this conference titled “Our Equity Journey – Evanston Township High School.” Savage-Williams’ profile on the district’s website also has her listed as “Director of Diversity, Equity & Inclusion” at New Trier High School. Superintendent Marcus A. Campbell is additionally named on the presentation.

The presentation negatively targeted “white” people. The presentation appeared to claim that white people are responsible for a shooting in El Paso, a pipeline being built, and that “President Trump becomes first president to be impeached twice.” The presentation also referenced an Emmett Till memorial being vandalized by University of Mississippi students, “murdered and missing Indigenous women,” and detaining illegal aliens at the border. The board president also made the claim that “equity is the process, equality is the product.”

When discussing work the district has made to target perceived “white privilege,” she explained that the district established a cohort to “explore Critical Race Theory.” In June 2009, the district had a “Beyond Diversity” seminar which is “a nationally recognized seminar aimed at helping administrators, teachers, students and parents identify, define and examine the powerful intersection of race and schooling.” There are also plans to continue having “Beyond Diversity” seminars in the future.

The district also held “summits” that aligned with the “Year of the Black Male.” The summit series included “Black Student Summit,” “Asian and Middle Eastern Student Summit,” “LGBTQ+ Student Summit,” “Latinx Student Summit,” and “ETHS Parent Summit.” The district also has worked in “continuing to examine and refine grading practices,” “raising student awareness for racial equity,” and “100% of staff gone through Beyond Diversity.”

The board president also has a slide dedicated to “expect opposition.” She explains that “this controversy is almost exclusively generated by white parents, educators, policymakers and other community stakeholders, most of whom have never personally engaged in racial equity training, presents another significant challenge.”