The Power Elite on Elite Private School’s Boards of Trustees - Julia Igoe

The Power Elite on Elite Private School’s Boards of Trustees 

Sociological theorist C. Wright Mills argues that power in modern societies is in the hands of particular individuals who are connected through various elite networks and institutions. Mills refers to these small groups as the power elite. Mills’s theory focuses on broader power in the social-political world – but I believe Mills’s theories can be applied on a smaller scale. Specifically, the power elite can be seen in boards of trustees at elite private schools. For this example, I will discuss the board of trustees at the Lincoln School for Girls in Providence, Rhode Island. Lincoln is an elite private nursery-twelve school with status and a longstanding reputation in the Providence area. The board of trustees at Lincoln supports “Lincoln's vision as a school, setting a strategy and vision that ensures sound financial management, proper stewardship of resources, and accountability towards goals.” The board of trustees clearly has much power in the Lincoln community – one may ask who exactly gets to be on the board of trustees? The answer is simple, the power elite. Pictured above is the current president of the board, Russell Carey. Carey attended Brown University for undergrad, received his J.D. from Suffolk University, and now is the Executive Vice President for Planning and Policy at Brown University (he also is a parent of two Lincoln students). Not only does Carey have an elite educational and professional network, but he is a white male, which increases his status and power. The rest of the board of trustee's profiles follow this same pattern, elite, assumingly wealthy, bassed of professions, and predominantly white. Further, in order to be on the board, it is assumed (by nature of tradition and social/cultural expectation) that the board member must be a prominent donor to the school. Thus, clearly, the people in this powerful group must be already elite. They must have prior established networks of connection (education, family, wealth, and social spheres). Mills explains: “By the power elite, we refer to those political, economic, and military circles which as an intricate set of overlapping cliques share decisions having at least national consequences. ” (Mills 1956: 18). This example clearly does not have grand and tangible national consequences – but it does have consequences on a smaller scale, which compile to create a divide nationwide: a division of power, wealth, and status. The power elite is almost genetic – I believe that most children of people like Russell Carey will someday join the power elite as well.