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Tuesday, September 20, 2011

What I Did Last Summer, Part Two - Bridging Differences - Education Week

What I Did Last Summer, Part Two - Bridging Differences - Education Week:

What I Did Last Summer, Part Two

Dear Deborah,

Okay, I promise, this is the last time I will give you a report on what I did last summer. But this event was so remarkable that I couldn't help but tell you about it. You would have enjoyed being there.

I was invited to participate in a panel discussion about the achievement gap by my friend Henry Louis Gates Jr., who directs the W.E.B. Du Bois Institute at Harvard University. "Skip," as he is known, is certainly the premier African-American scholar in the United States today, and he is also witty and funny. The moderator of the discussion was Charlayne Hunter-Gault, and the other members of the panel were Angel Harris of Princeton University, James Comer of Yale University, Michelle Rhee of StudentsFirst, and Lawrence Bobo of Harvard University. The event was held at the Old Whalers' Church in Edgartown, Martha's Vineyard, Massachusetts. The church is a beautiful 18th century structure, and it was a packed house of about 500 people.

This was one of the most exciting and informative panel discussions in which I have ever participated. Happily,