Wayland HRDEI Committee secures $5,000 Sudbury grant, loses out on state funding

WAYLAND — September 19, 2023 — Wayland HRDEI Committee lands $5,000 Sudbury training grant as state award slips away. Vice Chair Karen Blumenfeld ran Tuesday's Zoom meeting for absent Chair Yamini Ranjan, where member Mary Ann announced the Sudbury award would fund diversity and harassment training and could seed a future community helpline. Clerk Jessica reported the Mass Cultural Council had denied the committee's application — "they were very clear about the fact that they were going to favor BIPOC groups and first-time applicants" — and said a Wayland Cultural Council application is due Oct. 17. Members voted 8-0 to approve August minutes after rewriting language about a planned co-sponsorship of a Dr. Wang documentary, now postponed to Dec. 2, and spent extended time drafting a religious-content sponsorship policy informed by a ChatGPT analysis member Yawu presented. Blumenfeld also floated a petitioner's article for annual town meeting urging redesign of the state flag and seal, noting roughly 70 municipalities have already done so.