Vermont Declaration of Inclusion intensifies its efforts to make this a place where all feel welcome

By Justin Bigos

Staff Writer

After a recent series of discriminatory incidents reported across Vermont, the Rutland County-based Vermont Declaration of Inclusion (DOI) is stepping up grassroots efforts to encourage Vermont towns and residents to help make Vermont a state where all feel welcome.

According to its website, the purpose of the DOI organization is to draw attention to racism, as well as other forms of “systemic bias” in Vermont. By formally adopting the Declaration — and then following through with tangible actions such as “examining employee manuals, police protocols, and municipal hiring practices” — member-towns can show Vermonters, as well as people considering moving to the Green Mountain State, that Vermont is serious about inclusivity, the DOI website says.

Towns in our area that have signed the declaration include Woodstock, Hartland, West Windsor, Pomfret, Plymouth, and Windsor.

In a recent press release, the DOI cited “increasing reports of racial and other discriminatory incidents in our schools, town halls, and workplaces.” The group placed these incidents in a national context: “It appears Vermont is not entirely insulated from the national trend of rising incivility and decreasing empathy and that our reputation as one of the most inclusive, welcoming states is facing challenges from within,” the release said.

Al Wakefield, a volunteer with the DOI, reflected on the larger situation of racism and bigotry, telling the Standard, “I think this is going to get worse, because the federal administration provides no guidance, no leadership. In fact, it fosters racism and bigotry, and supports those who feel the same way.”

DOI volunteer Norman Cohen told the Standard about several recent incidents pointing toward continued bigotry in Vermont: recently resigned State Senator Samuel Douglas’s participation in a leaked group chat of the Young Republicans, which included racist and anti-Semitic language; the resignation of Northfield Police Chief Pierre Gomez, after his citing racial harassment as a reason for his impending departure from the department; and the theft of the Pride, LGBTQ, and Black Lives Matter flags from the Danville Restaurant and Inn this summer in the Northeast Kingdom.

Wakefield said that while these incidents have made national and even international news, he and other volunteers in Vermont get their news daily and try to take a holistic approach. “We don't have any kind of mechanism for directly hearing about these events,” he said. “We’re tuned into the NAACP, and we're tuned into several civil rights organizations. We're getting information the same way you are, and just trying to not [respond] directly to each instance, but to respond in an overall way.”

That response for the DOI, according to Wakefield, is twopronged: adoption and implementation. While 164 towns in Vermont — or 80% of them — have adopted the DOI since the grassroots effort began in 2020, Wakefield says there is still a ways to go, especially in terms of implementation.

“We've surveyed the first 100 towns, plus an additional 50, as to what progress they've made,” said Wakefield. “And we've gotten mixed results. Some towns have put a small sign in their office, and it goes all the way from that to looking at their operating policies and procedures. In several instances, towns form[ed] committees to take a look at what the town is doing and trying to figure out what they can do to improve the image of the town.” This combination of symbolic gesture and more tangible, policy-oriented action is what the DOI is asking for. DOI Volunteer Bob Harnish described how the whole process begins: “Usually, we call the town clerk, we ask if we can have a spot on the agenda of an upcoming selectboard meeting, and if we can get that slot, we make a presentation — and 99% of these have been done by Zoom meetings.” If a selectboard finds the presentation persuasive, they are then sometimes required to bring the issue to a town vote. And in almost every case, said Harnish, the citizens vote for inclusivity.

A few towns have adopted the spirit of the DOI — but not its exact language. In the Upper Valley, Reading voted last year to adopt a “Proclamation of Inclusion,” which mirrors the title and much of the language used in Governor Scott’s proclamation issued on May 7, 2021. As the Standard reported last year (“Reading Adopts Proclamation of Inclusion,” Jan. 18, 2024), DOI volunteer Barbara Pulling expressed mixed feelings about Reading’s decision: calling it “a little washed down, and too broad,” but also stressed how much work Reading put into the effort. “There was so much attendance at so many of those selectboard meetings,” the Standard reported Pulling saying at the time. “Reading did such a great job. We appreciate what they did involving the community.”

The town of Pomfret adopted the DOI quickly and still stands by its mission. Ben Brickner, chair of the Pomfret selectboard, recalled the meeting at which the town voted to adopt the DOI, telling the Standard, “It was a no-brainer. The organizers came to us, explained what they were thinking, presented us with a draft, and there was never any question that Pomfret was going to adopt it.” Regarding how Pomfret is implementing the DOI, Brickner said, “We've strived to make our meetings more inclusive. We have closed captioning when needed. We make text transcripts available when needed. The style of our minutes is now much more plain language, so that everyone in town can more easily grasp what it is that their local representatives are doing at the meetings.” This area of inclusivity — ability/disability — is perhaps a less prominent, but still an essential part, of DOI.

In light of the recent incidents of bigotry in Vermont, as well as the national tenor around executive-level anti-DEI orders, Hartland selectboard chair Phil Hobbie told the Standard that Hartland remains committed to inclusivity. “In today's charged political climate, the DOI serves as a guiding set of operating principles for the selectboard and all of the Town's staff, as well as its commissions and committees. The DOI also sends a message that our Town of Hartland is an inclusive community, that we welcome diversity in our population and strive to support and respect all of our citizens.”

Brickner expressed a similar resolute attitude about the DOI, even as the Trump administration is cutting federal funding to agencies that are not following its anti-DEI directives — then added a cautionary note. “I don’t feel pressure now [to recant or amend the DOI as adopted by Pomfret],” he said, “but I am aware through conversations I’ve had with state officials, the Department of the Treasury and elsewhere, that they are mindful that Vermont receives a significant amount of funding from the federal government — and that if that funding were to be reduced or stopped altogether, that would create a great deal of hardship for residents.”

While the DOI has no current plan to re-petition the 20% of Vermont towns that have yet to formally adopt the statement of inclusivity, Cohen stresses that the second stage of their overall approach — implementation — has seen renewed efforts. “We're pushing implementation when the towns have adopted ‘Yes,’ and we're making that public,” he said. “And the same thing with the press releases. Hopefully, we'll have enough developments to pick up the pace of those issues.”

When asked what he might say to those towns that have yet to adopt the DOI, Cohen said, “I would ask them to reconsider in the light of recent events, because of its importance. Some of the towns have said, ‘Well, we don't need this. You know we care, that we're welcoming.’ And what I would say to them, whether it would be successful or not, is we're not condemning you. This isn't what this is about. What this is about [is] to make [Vermont’s commitment to inclusivity] known publicly [to] people who are considering relocating small companies, that are considering moving to Vermont for all the reasons, and those people want to know that it's safe for them and for their children.”

Wakefield echoed the economic reasons to support inclusivity, as diversity can help fuel economic growth — especially in a state like Vermont, with one of the oldest and whitest demographics in the nation. He mentioned the Vermont Futures Project, a nonpartisan organization directed by Kevin Chu that promotes Vermont’s long-term economic growth. “They've said that welcoming people, getting more people into this state, is important to the state's growth and economic prosperity,” said Wakefield of the Project. “So that’s what we're talking about, and inclusion fits directly into that.” Wakefield added, “That is not only a business goal, but a moral goal as well.” Chu told the Standard that Vermont needs a vital influx of diverse talent, and used a sports analogy. “Pretend our workforce is a college sports team,” he said. “We have many seniors who will be graduating from our workforce soon, and we need to do significantly better in recruiting a new class of freshmen or transfer sophomores and juniors from other states to sustain the long-term success of Team Vermont. And just like sports, most fans don’t care where a player came from. They don’t care what languages they speak, what color their skin is, or who they choose to love. What sports fans care about are that players on their team are contributing positively to team success. For immigrants specifically, the contributions are overwhelmingly positive across just about every metric at tinyurl.com/mpukxtjt.”