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Our Commitment to Diversity

MPA
Commencement 2023 Ceremony
God is love...love never fails...love one another – two proclamations and a command from sacred scripture that inform our most important mission:


A Catholic independent school, St. Sebastian’s seeks to engage young men in the pursuit of truth through faith and reason. By embracing Gospel values in an inclusive, nurturing community and by inspiring intellectual excellence in a structured, liberal arts curriculum, St. Sebastian’s strives to empower students for success in college and in life. The ideal St. Sebastian’s graduate will be a moral and just person, a gentleman of courage, honor, and wisdom, a life-long learner, who continues to grow in capacity to know, to love, and to serve God and neighbor.

We reaffirm our commitment to advancing our School’s mission, to living our order of the day – Love God, work hard, and take good care of one another – and to learning more about and fighting ever more vigorously against the very real and terribly devastating effects of systemic racismCardinal Sean O’Malley reminds us,Racism is a social and spiritual disease that kills people.” We seek to cure and prevent that disease by acknowledging and learning from our past: Maya Angelou reminds us that “History, despite its wrenching pain, cannot be unlived, but if faced with courage, need not be lived again.”

We believe that every human being is a genetically unrepeatable gift made in the image and likeness of God, that every person has dignity, that no race is better or worse than another, that each of us is called by God to love God and neighbor, that our neighbor is every person, and that we are called to bring healing and peace to our neighbor, especially the one who needs us most.

Like Reverend Martin Luther King Jr., we believe that “the arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends towards justice.”  We also know it does not bend by itself. We must cooperate with grace. We must act justly for justice and we must strive to grow in diversity and unity, equity and inclusion; we are one.

UNITY IN DIVERSITY

Learn more about St. Sebastian’s commitment to support diversity, equity, and inclusion in the “Unity in Diversity” Pillar of our Strategic Plan.

View Strategic Plan

22%

22% of students are students of color

$4M

We allocate $4 million a year in financial aid to promote socio-economic diversity

DIVERSITY OF ALL KINDS

We actively promote socioeconomic, racial, ethnic, religious, and viewpoint diversity in multitudinous ways, including curricular programs, events, clubs, and service projects. 

Clubs

Men with Positive Attitudes exists for the purpose of exploring and continuing traditions of social and cultural exchange with particular attention focused on communities of color. The group remains faithful to the St. Sebastian’s ideals of social service and charity. MPA educates its members, and the whole School, on a variety of racial, cultural and religious issues as they affect individuals and the entire School community. The International Club allows students to explore foreign cultures through a variety of experiences, including field trips and in-school cultural presentations by guest speakers.

Events & Speakers

St. Sebastian's annual traditions include several events that celebrate diversity and educate our students on issues of social justice. The purpose of Unity Day, held in November, is to heighten our awareness of every person’s dignity and to strengthen the bonds that unite us so that all may grow in our capacity and resolve to know, to love, and to serve God and neighbor. At the Black History Month Assembly, organized by the MPA, we honor and celebrate the gifts and accomplishments of African Americans in the United States. And the MPA Banquet in May is a special night that brings our community together to celebrate the senior members of the club.

Service & Outreach

Integral to the School’s mission, the Service Program enables us to put our faith in action. By engaging directly with the people they serve, students understand the Gospel’s truth that to love God, one must love his neighbor, particularly neighbors most in need. The Service Program is required of all students throughout the calendar year. Students’ work has included tutoring and mentoring inner city youth, coordinating backpack drives, and helping to run field day programs. We've developed strong relationships with two schools in particular, San Miguel School in Providence, RI, and Saint Pope John Paul II Catholic Academy in Dorchester. 


NEWS

Members of MPA

Family and friends of MPA gathered in Ward Hall to share in a wonderful meal and celebrate senior members at the annual Men with Positive Attitudes Banquet on Thursday, May 23.