The name says everything. Imago Dei (the image of God) is the theological conviction at the heart of BC High's Jesuit, Catholic identity: that every person, regardless of background, carries inherent worth and dignity. At BC High, that belief isn't a statement on a wall. It's the foundation of how the school is built. The Imago Dei Center for Justice and Belonging exists to make that conviction visible in the daily life of students, faculty, and families. This is what inclusion within schools looks like when it goes beyond symbolic to become structural.

What Inclusion Really Looks Like at a Jesuit School

For families evaluating a school, the question of inclusion often goes unasked but rarely goes unfelt. Will my son belong here? Will he find people who look like him, think like him, believe what he believes, or challenge him in ways that make him better?

At BC High, those questions are answered through a single Jesuit principle: cura personalis, care for the whole person. Cura personalis means BC High's approach to diversity and inclusion in schools is an expression of what Jesuit education has always asked of itself: to see each student fully, to form him completely, and to send him into the world ready to do the same for others. That tradition, rooted in more than 400 years of Jesuit practice, is what distinguishes BC High's commitment to belonging from a checklist.

Affinity Groups at BC High: Brotherhood Across Difference

One of the most concrete answers to the question of belonging is who you find when you walk through the door. At BC High, affinity groups are among the most active and visible expressions of inclusive schooling, spaces where students connect around shared identity while building relationships across differences.

Affinity groups in schools, at their best, are communities within a community. They’re places where a student can be fully known, and from which he can engage the broader school with more confidence. BC High's affinity groups include the Black and Latino Student Union (BLSU), the Hispanic Latino Association (HLA), the South Asian Representation Association (SARA), the Asian American and Pacific Islander Coalition (AAPIC), Celtic Culture Club, the Jewish Student Union (JSU), Brazilian/Portuguese Association (BPA), Catholic Gay Straight Organization (CGSO), and the Cabo Verdean Student Association (CVSA). Each group runs its own programming, hosts school-wide events, and contributes to the cultural life of the whole community.

That community-building is visible throughout the school year. The HLA Social brings together BC High students, exchange students from Argentina, and students from Fontbonne Academy, Newton Country Day School, and Notre Dame Academy to celebrate Latinx cultures through food, music, and dancing. SARA hosts Diwali and Holi celebrations that draw the entire school into something joyful and new. The BLSU partnered with Fontbonne's BSU for a movie and game night focused on building a cross-school community and together were instrumental in organizing the annual MLK Jr. Prayer Service.  JSU gathered students and faculty for a Hanukkah breakfast and a Passover celebration. Sankofa held a brunch and basketball event that mixed friendly competition with meaningful conversation between alumni mentors and students.

Belonging in the Classroom

Belonging at BC High isn't only co-curricular. The Imago Dei Center has worked to embed diversity, equity, and inclusion directly into the academic experience through the Justice and Belonging Certificate program, which asks students to demonstrate competency and commitment across coursework, programming, and reflection over their junior and senior years.

The recent inaugural cohort: seven students earned a Justice and Belonging designation certificate at graduation. Currently, 14 rising seniors and 10 rising juniors are enrolled and working toward the certificate. The designated course list spans departments and disciplines, from AP United States History and AP English Literature to Caribbean Writers, Civil Rights for All, and Spanish for Heritage and Native Spanish Speakers Honors. The breadth is intentional. Inclusion at BC High means every department has a role to play.

Investing in Students Beyond Campus

BC High's commitment to its students of color extends beyond the building. Through the W.E.B. DuBois Society, 12 BC High students participate in an academic and cultural enrichment program at Harvard University through the Hutchins Center and the African and African American Studies department, working with Harvard faculty and teaching fellows in a setting that connects intellectual achievement to leadership and community service.

In partnership with Citizens of the World, BC High sent students to tour historically Black colleges and universities during April vacation week, actively working to expand the pipeline of opportunity for students considering HBCUs. The school also partnered with Boston College's Messina College program, a two-year residential pathway for first-generation and low-income students, bringing four BC High students to an informational session with current Messina students and admissions representatives.

Students also attended the Hutchins Center Honoree Ceremony at Harvard, where this year's W.E.B. DuBois Medal recipients included Congressman James Clyburn, Misty Copeland, and Spike Lee, among others. The message across all of these experiences is consistent: BC High invests in its students of color not just within its walls, but across the broader landscape of opportunity.

A School That Celebrates Its Community

Belonging is also something you can see. At BC High, cultural celebrations are part of how the school practices what it believes about community.

The annual MLK Jr. Prayer Service, hosted by the Imago Dei Center, and the Black and Latino Student Union, drew the school together around the theme "Brothers and Sisters, All of Us, Choosing Community over Division," with a featured presentation from At the Table with Dr. King. The 2nd annual Intercultural Breakfast brought students and faculty together to share food from Argentina, Egypt, Ireland, Brazil, Russia, the Philippines, and beyond. Lunar New Year, Diwali, and Holi celebrations filled the school with color, food, and music. The annual Families of Color Dinner gave students, families, and faculty a dedicated space to gather and celebrate together.

Built Into the Institution

The Imago Dei Center for Justice and Belonging is one of five Centers for Human Excellence at BC High, alongside Centers focused on global education, emerging leadership, Ignatian identity and Formation, and innovation. Belonging isn't the responsibility of one office or one program. It's woven into the same institutional fabric as every other dimension of student formation.

Each year, the Stronger Together Student of Color Retreat brings students to Craigville on Cape Cod for three days of shared stories, honest conversation, reflection, and connection. The retreat recognizes that students and adults of color may, at times, experience BC High and the broader world differently from their peers, and it creates space for formation and solidarity centered on those realities. Now in its fourth year, Stronger Together has become one of the most meaningful belonging experiences the school offers.

For families choosing a school, the question isn't only whether a school says it values every student. It's whether the structures exist to make that true.

Learn more about the Imago Dei Center for Justice and Belonging and the programs available to BC High students.