We must give [our students] the tools of rigorous and passionate intellectual inquiry and self-expression so they can grow…We must lead them to distinguish right from wrong and then do what is right so they can be persuasive and courageous citizens.

These words from Our Idea of Excellence, Trinity School’s mission statement, provide the framework for The Jack and Lewis Rudin Lecture. Through this annual program, the entire Trinity School community—students and faculty, parents and grandparents, alumni and their families—has the unique opportunity to interact, formally and informally, with outstanding scholars, artists, writers, and social and civic leaders. Trinity School is particularly grateful to Jack Rudin, father of Eric C. Rudin ’71, for the opportunity to create this important initiative.

This year’s Jack and Lewis Rudin Lecturer was Dr. Claude Steele, current dean of Stanford University’s School of Education. Prior to his post at Stanford, Dr. Steele served as provost at Columbia University. He is a leader in the field of social psychology, committed to the application of social science to problems of major societal significance. His research focuses on the psychological experience of the individual and on the experience and consequence of threats to the self. He is best known for his work on the concept of stereotype threat. His most recent book, Whistling Vivaldi: And Other Clues to How Stereotypes Affect Us, served as summer 2011 reading for Trinity faculty and parents.

On Thursday, 2 February 2012, Dr. Steele spent the day at Trinity speaking and visiting with Middle and Upper School students and faculty during morning assemblies followed by a “lunch and learn” discussion with the Upper School students. During the lunch and learn, students asked a wide range of valuable questions: Where do stereotypes originate? Do single sex schools experience fewer stereotype threats than coed schools, especially regarding girls learning math and science? What aspects of community reinforce negative aspects of a stereotype? What can we do to reduce this threat in our everyday lives? Dr. Steele talked about possible solutions to these important questions. One approach he spoke of was the need for a critical mass of individuals from a given group to diminish the centrality of the threat. He also stressed that conversation among people of various backgrounds and cultures creates empathy, which helps lessen the validity of stereotypes. The day culminated with the annual Jack and Lewis Rudin Lecture given to alumni, faculty, parents, and members of the public in the Hawley Chapel.

The Jack and Lewis Rudin Lecture, inaugurated in 2004, is supported by a generous grant from Jack and Susan Rudin.

Read more about Dr. Claude Steele in this Stanford University news article: http://news.stanford.edu/news/2011/june/education-dean-steele-061311.html