HIOBS Statement on Equity, Inclusion, and Diversity

The Hurricane Island Outward Bound School (HIOBS) is a community committed to diversity, equity, and inclusion to achieve and sustain excellence. We believe that we can best promote excellence by recruiting and retaining a diverse group of students and staff, providing equitable opportunities to all employees, and creating a climate of respect that is supportive of everyone’s success.

This climate for diversity, equity, and inclusion is critical to attaining the educational outcomes and organizational stability, and other strategic goals of HIOBS. These values are recognized and supported fully by HIOBS leadership at all levels. Further, we recognize that the responsibility for diversity, equity, and inclusion lies with all of us at the school: Board, administration, staff, and students.

BLACK LIVES MATTER.

The Hurricane Island Outward Bound School stands in solidarity with Black people throughout the country and the world. In a racist society, no place—from the peaks of the Maine North Woods to the mangrove flats of the Florida Keys—is a neutral classroom. We oppose racism everywhere.

We commit to being an ally in the fight to end racism. We commit to exploring how HIOBS can use its privilege as a respected leader in the outdoor industry to that end. We commit to having an ongoing dialogue with our partner organizations that serve primarily students of color to identify more areas for collaboration moving forward. We commit to using actions and words within and beyond our HIOBS community to model the broader and deeper changes we hope to see in the struggle again racism.

We call on the entire HIOBS community to join us as crew, not passengers, in this crucial endeavor. All of us—staff, alumni, trustees, and council—must use the skills we’ve learned through our HIOBS experience to work for justice in our own communities.