The Shipley School: “Yours in Partnership” – Teaching That Math and Physics Are Racist

A Critical Essay on Overcoming Woke Antisemitism

“You know the thing about zombie movies? They’re all the same,” I told my wife recently. “They keep coming at you until you stop every last one in its tracks and either rehabilitate patient zero or – well, you get the idea.”

I wasn’t referencing the latest docket of Oscar-contending horror flicks – though there are some doozies out there, including a stellar reboot of Nosferatu (highly recommended). 

Instead, I was talking about my old prep school, The Shipley School , and its enduring woke, intersectional, gender-fluid, Jew-hating zombie apocalypse. Despite a parent and board revolt over rampant, school-sponsored antisemitism (I’ll take a little credit), the brain-hungry ideology just keeps dragging itself forward.

I won’t recap all the gory details – I’ll link other essays in the comments – but suffice it to say that this once-proud institution, which used to send a third of its graduating class to Ivies or equivalents, has turned into a microcosm of the formerly elite likes of Columbia, Harvard, and Penn, all of which seem bent on consuming themselves from the inside out.

Shipley, like my alma mater Penn, is apparently locked in an arms race to see who can declare math and science “most racist,” single out Jews as the universal oppressors (except, of course, for the self-loathing ones who “ally up” by renouncing their culture), and celebrate mental-health breakdowns as the new normal. (Gender-fluid teachers threatening suicide over incorrect use of pronouns? Yeah, that’s not disconcerting at all.)

After the inevitable nosedive in annual giving, plus an enrollment slump and a few potential legal nightmares (one hopes -- or not, depending on where you stand -- the board has sufficient D&O insurance) over the school’s culture of progressive bigotry and Jew hate, you might think someone would have cried “Uncle!” by now. But like a good zombie apocalypse, the woke ideology still claws at the door, trying to munch on any stubborn minds that remain uninfected.

You really can’t make this stuff up.

Recently, Kris Ryan (Head of Upper School) and Elizabeth Zodda (Science Department Chair) fired off a letter announcing Shipley’s new “Underrepresentation Curriculum” in Physics. They explained that some groups are underrepresented in professional physics, whereas other groups are overrepresented, and that this is presumably a crisis that demands turning science class into a therapy session.

Here’s the letter itself with some items bolded to aid your reading (sent 7 January 2025):

Dear Shipley Families,

Our Physics classes are currently in the midst of our Underrepresentation Curriculum, the content of which contains topics that may be (have been) challenging to our students. The Upper School Administration and Physics teachers believe that this work is not only valid and important, but is also central to our efforts to build a culture of belonging here in the Upper School. Enabling students to take risks and challenging them to grow in their understanding of perspective and historical context, builds bridges of understanding between students of different backgrounds and helps them to connect the dots between who we are as students/scientists and how we should live in the world as thoughtful, compassionate participants.

In this upcoming unit, we will compare the demographics of professional physicists to that of the American population.  Perhaps it won’t surprise you to learn that they’re not the same:  some groups are overrepresented among physicists, and some are under-represented. This impacts the culture and future of physics, and so it fits well with our year-long exploration of what physics is and how it relates to society today. Students explore these demographic differences like scientists, forming hypotheses and investigating them, a process which generally leads into a deeper exploration. Our work will evaluate research on meritocracy and stereotype threat, as well as evaluate potential examples of racism or sexism in science.  This unit also reflects our belief that the ability to consider and talk about race and gender in a diverse group is as important for our students’ future success as the physics we teach them and that our school is, therefore, a place where they must learn and practice it.

All of that said, I recognize that this unit may feel like a bit of a departure from the norm in our science classes.  I’m writing in part because we believe that learning can be more powerful when it’s supported at home.  I hope you’ll ask your children about what they’re reading, discussing, and learning in class, and find ways to continue the conversations we’re starting at school.

I also recognize that some of you may have questions about this element of our curriculum.  I invite you to reach out to me to discuss concerns that you may have. This unit repeatedly prioritizes discussion across differences among students, and I value your perspective as well.  I know it might feel harder to express confusion, concern or skepticism than support, but I wanted to encourage you to connect with me as a way to try to reduce that barrier.

Your partnership is a very important component of this work, as it is essential to the work we seek to do with our students. I look forward to the conversations we will have as a result of these lessons.

Yours in Partnership,

Kris Ryan

Head of Upper School

Elizabeth Zodda

Science Department Chair

Here's part of the curriculum (also set by a parent):

Image source: Shipley parent📷

So here are a few questions students won’t dare ask (lest they be branded “racists”), but I’ll toss them out anyway:

- Why does Shipley have an “Underrepresentation Curriculum” at all, especially at a time when college admissions outcomes seem less impressive from the school every year? Wouldn’t kids – including minority kids – be better served by spending those hours actually mastering calculus and physics, instead of analyzing who checks which demographic boxes and declaring the hard sciences racist?

- If we’re going to talk about over- or underrepresentation, are we bringing up, say, the well-documented differences in IQ among certain ethnic groups? (For instance, Ashkenazi Jews have some of the highest average IQ scores in the US. Coincidence that they’re heavy-hitters in math and science?)

- And about that Jewish overrepresentation in science and math, especially Nobel Prizes: does Shipley plan to discuss how 22% of Nobel laureates are Jewish, despite Jews making up a fraction of a percent of the global population – and that half of them were nearly exterminated less than a century ago by those oh-so-culturally-sensitive Germans?

- Are we applying the same logic to sports? Shall we bemoan the lack of demographic parity in the NBA, NFL, or Major League Baseball? Do we require an “Underrepresentation Unit” in Shipley physical education that delves into why Dominicans are overrepresented in the MLB or why so many NFL running backs are Black? Surely, if math and physics is racist for producing uneven results, sports must be, too. Right?

In the spirit of solution-finding rather than pure ranting, I propose the following:

- Demand the resignation of the people behind this “equity physics” sideshow. All of them.

- Hold the interim head of school and board accountable for greenlighting this stuff and ask them why it was allowed in the first place.

- Fire teachers and staff who can’t keep their political preaching (progressive or conservative) out of the classroom. Seriously, where are the normal teachers who just want to teach the Pythagorean theorem?

- Cut Shipley loose from NAIS (the National Association of Independent Schools). NAIS has been pushing these same woke agenda which seem far more about political indoctrination and killing as many Jews as possible (equitably, of course) than about genuine diversity or academic excellence.

- Find a head-of-school candidate (versus virtue signaling dolts) who cares about genuine excellence more than virtue signaling. Maybe an alumnus or teacher from the old days who still remembers what a real education looks like would be a fit.

Here’s the uncomfortable truth: Teaching “equity” mostly makes everyone equally stupid.

Teaching excellence, on the other hand, lifts up even the kids on the lower rungs. Heck, I was a bit of a train wreck at Shipley until my junior year when the place’s sheer intensity finally jump-started my neurons.

But hey, it’s Shipley’s choice: implement these reforms or carry on letting the ideological zombies run wild. If you choose the latter, well, don’t come crying to me when you run out of brains.