By Adrian Velonis, Co-Editor-in-Chief
At 10:00 p.m. on Wednesday, October 28, hundreds of Haverford students put down their textbooks and gathered in front of Founders Hall for a campus-wide protest. Just six hours earlier, President Wendy Raymond and Dean Joyce Bylander had sent the student body an email commenting on the shooting of Walter Wallace Jr. in Philadelphia on Monday. Students were immediately outraged by the message’s plea not to leave campus, with many referring to it as “deeply offensive,” “inappropriate,” and “insensitive.” Bundled with the protest were plans for a campus-wide strike, which asked students not to go to on-campus jobs, classes, athletic practices, committee or club meetings, or other events associated with the college.
Wallace, a 27-year old Black man whose family says was undergoing a mental health crisis at the time of his death, was fired upon 14 times by police officers on October 26, sparking major protests in the city. Police attempts to control or disperse crowds of protesters have led to a number of arrests, including those of two Haverford students.
The Email
“We are sad and troubled—as individuals and as Haverford leaders dedicated to anti-racism and social justice at Haverford and beyond,” Raymond and Bylander’s email stated. “While we all might be tempted to join protests about this tragedy, we are imploring you to temper that impulse. Now is not the time to go to Philadelphia.”
The administrators stated that protesting at this time offered risks to students’ personal safety at the hands of bad actors, particularly in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic. “There are individuals who might seek to spin this moment out of control and cause harm and havoc,” they said. “Joining a protest off campus not only would not bring Walter Wallace back: it could play into the hands of those who might seek to sow division and conflict especially in vulnerable communities.”
Just hours after the email was sent out, Haverford’s Black Students’ League, Women of Color House, and Black Students Refusing Further Inaction circulated an Instagram post announcing the protest, with many Bi-Co students sharing it on their stories to raise awareness among the community. An opinion article by Soha Saghir ’21 censuring the administration’s email was quickly published in The Haverford Clerk. Additionally, a group of BIPOC students and their allies collectively referring to themselves as “Students in Concern” issued an email to the student body expressing shock and anger over Raymond and Bylander’s message, which they said was part of a broader pattern of oppressive behavior on the part of the Haverford administration.
“We are appalled by the institutional inaction and silence of which the President’s email is symptomatic. It is important to note that this protest is not simply in response to this one email, but of much broader issues, and this message was merely a tipping point. Haverford routinely ignores the plight of BIPOC students, while servicing platitudes and plans never delivered upon. President Raymond’s claim of concern for “us” (whoever that is) and her suggestion against protesting is reflective of the Haverford administration’s profound indifference to the well-being of its most vulnerable students, and the Philadelphia community at large. Her suggestion that there are “other actors afoot” rehearses White supremacist tropes around Black violence and pathology, and the demand that students instead resolve this issue “at the ballot box” is so ignorant as to be offensive.”
The email also included a request for students to attend the protest on Founders Green that evening.
The Protest
With students rallying for solidarity, the 10 p.m. protest received high turnout, even on such short notice—some observers estimated that 700+ students were present. Organizers had set up a sound system and livestream for the event, allowing over 100 remote students to participate via Zoom. Rico Nasty’s “Smack a Bitch” and Nicki Minaj’s “Yikes” reverberated through the speakers and echoed across the green. As the crowd grew in size, organizers initiated chants of “No justice, no peace!”
At 10:01 p.m., Raymond and Bylander sent a college-wide email attempting to clarify the meaning of their original message. “We do not and did not seek to deprive you of the power or suppress the will to choose how to express what is in the hearts and minds of so many following this latest tragedy,” it stated. “‘Those who might seek to sow division and conflict especially in vulnerable communities’ includes paramilitary individuals and groups from afar.” The message also contained a link to an existing GoFundMe for Wallace’s family, as well as an invitation to an on-campus ceremony in honor of Wallace’s memory at 4–5 p.m. on Friday.
By that point, however, several hundred students had already assembled on the green. The protest’s organizers made a few introductory remarks about the administration’s comments. “Telling us to temper this impulse is deeply offensive. We are not out of control, the system is,” one said. “A silent vigil is simply not a viable alternative to protesting. […] We have a voice and it deserves to be heard. We know the risks,” said another. They then invited other students up to speak their minds and be heard.
Comments from speakers ranged widely in scope and focus, but all were consistent in their condemnation of Raymond and Bylander’s email, as well as the attitude that the college had fostered toward BIPOC. “This institution teaches us how to amplify our voices, then condemns us when we use them to fight for the lives of Black people,” said Bilikisu Hanidu ‘23, one of the student leaders running the protest. “This school already does so much work to make us invisible but also monetizes us,” another student stated, in reference to the college’s marketing materials promoting campus diversity. “When us Black people say we are not heard, not protected, it’s because it’s fucking happening.” A Bryn Mawr student said that “showing up is only half of what we need to be doing. […] We have to hold Haverford and also Bryn Mawr, Swarthmore, and other schools accountable. Not only because Haverford’s president sent an inappropriate email, but because Haverford’s entire history is inappropriate.”
Indeed, Haverford has been criticized for explicit and implicit racial discrimination for much of its past. Originally founded in 1833, the college only enrolled its first African-American student, Paul Moses, in 1947. For the next several decades, Haverford remained almost entirely White. In 1971, people of color comprised a mere 10% of the student body, despite making up nearly twice that value in the nationwide population. In 1972, an unusual number of Haverford students were dismissed from the institution, nominally for academic reasons. However, the administrative Committee on Student Standings and Programs all but stated that the reason for these academic problems were in fact racial in origin: “the strains of life at Haverford were making it impossible for many minority students to succeed academically.” That year, several leaders of the Black Students’ League—Grady Lights ‘74, Ghebreselassie Mehreteab ‘73, Charles Ray ‘74, and William Watson ‘72—initiated a boycott of “formal negotiations” with faculty and administrators, as well as numerous campus activities, prompting a complete re-evaluation of student life. They held speeches in areas where students congregated, such as the Dining Center, and authored papers with their arguments and demands. In 1994, the abstract of the infamous “Charlie’s Angels” Honor Council case was released to the student body, a process which has been described as containing significant “dismissal of Black voices.” The Customs program was described in 2019 as “fundamentally inaccessible … to POC, trans students, low-income students, etc.,” and an op-ed by Rasaaq Shittu ’23 featured in The Philadelphia Inquirer this past July touched upon the issues that POC and particularly Black students continue to face at Haverford.
Haverford has previously described itself as an institution that officially supports anti-racist policy and action. The college’s website has a page dedicated to “diversity, equity, and inclusion” that includes a letter from President Raymond on becoming anti-racist as well as related resources. However, the many statements issued by students on the matter of race at Haverford would call into question the veracity of such claims.
Speakers at the evening’s protest also alluded to the college’s participation in gentrification, particularly in the context of its acquisition of the Haverford College Apartments (HCA). The town of Ardmore within which the HCA resides is a historically Black area. These students made reference to the fact that the college’s purchase of the real estate displaced many Black residents.
About 30 minutes in, a group of students walked up the steps to Founders Hall and taped a large white banner with red lettering across the door. It read, “Sit-in at Founders / Justice for Walter Wallace Jr. / In solidarity w/ Philadelphia / Fuck a silent protest,” a similar image to the one that the Black Students’ League had shared on Instagram to announce the protest.
One student stated, “I heard President Raymond is in the crowd tonight. And I would like to respectfully ask her to step her ass up here … and explain yourself for the bullshit that was in that email!” After 30 seconds of silence, Raymond reached the steps of Founders and was given the microphone. She began by apologizing for the “harm” that she had caused with her email, and said that she understood that Black students “don’t feel heard, you don’t feel seen, and you don’t feel safe.”
A protester demanded to know what “tangible actions” Raymond would take to ensure Black justice on campus. In her response, Raymond referred to an annual $40,000 fund in the Dean’s Office that was directed toward reparations “to support Black and BIPOC students in all kinds of ways,” as well as the expansion of the Africana Studies program, the “support and retention” of more Black faculty, and the proposal for a required Bi-Co course on White privilege and positionality. A remote student who was Zooming into the event demanded answers from Raymond: “Why weren’t Black students a priority? There were lots of emails from our sister schools that said ‘we feel your pain,’” they said. Addressing Dean Bylander, they continued, “I’d ask you to look at yourself and think about how you’re complicit in this too. It isn’t just White people who bring us down.”
As the clock struck 11 p.m., Bylander also stepped forward from the crowd and was given the microphone. She stated that “I am complicit in crafting that message to you today,” but also that she was “complicit in being concerned.” She explained that her background growing up during the Cleveland Riots and her position as a mother prompted a worrisome attitude toward student life. “Do what you feel you need to do, but be safe,” she said. “There are people who don’t care at all about Black lives […] I fear that there are people who will seize this moment for evil.”
Other administrators were reported to have been present for the protest as well, but did not issue any public statements.
Students continued coming forward to speak. A second Zoom speaker said, “the institution and administration are incapable and unwilling to be agents for the change that we imagine on campus. We should be done dealing with this institution, and there is no reason for us to keep handing the power of change to people who very clearly do not give a fuck.”
Other students emphasized the appropriation of Black labor and student labor as a whole by the college. “The work of Black women in particular has been co-opted. We appreciate that y’all are doing work with the letter, but without publishing our names, that’s taking our work and not giving us credit,” one student said. “When you talk to admissions students and brand yourself as an anti-racist platform, that’s co-opting our work. Our work is being used to attract money and donations from the school. Shoutout to the all Black women on campus, because it literally couldn’t run without us.”
The protest organizers ended this section of the protest with a brief comment: “We’re gonna walk now. Follow us.”
The March
“No justice, no peace!” With banners and signs in hand, the protesters walked down the steps of Founders and along the path to Sharpless Hall, toward Cope Field, where several Campus Safety officers watched silently from beside their vehicles. “I didn’t get no sleep cause of y’all, now y’all ain’t gonna get no sleep cause of me,” yelled one student while hundreds of other voices rang out, speakers blared, and cowbells banged.
“No cops, no KKK, no fascist USA!” The protest, which still retained its several hundred attendees, began to move down College Lane, past the Duck Pond and several houses occupied by faculty members.
“Say his name: Walter Wallace!” Farther down College Lane, the crowd abruptly turned left to cross Merion Field, where they paused in front of the houses between the field and Old Railroad Ave to issue more chants.
“What do we want? … Justice! … When do we want it? … Now!” In the distance, police sirens wailed.
“Fuck the police!” The protesters then headed directly for Lancaster Avenue, which still saw some traffic even at this time of evening, taking a right. Once off-campus, four or more police vehicles descended on the protest, lights blaring, but did not try to actively stop the group.
“Black lives matter!” Illuminated by the bright street lamps of Lancaster, the protesters marched forward and took another right on Ardmore Avenue, into residential neighborhoods. As they approached more houses, lights turned on and figures appeared in windows, doorways, and on porches. Many stood with their fists in the air, in solidarity with protesters.
“Tell me what democracy looks like! … This is what democracy looks like!” The protesters made another right turn onto Haverford Road, passing by the Merion Golf Club. At the next intersection, by the bridge across the High-Speed Rail, a line of police SUVs blocked the path. “No good cops in a racist system!” Several police officers stood, unmoving and expressionless, between their vehicles. The protesters halted, but continued their chants. “Hands up! Don’t shoot!” Many students locked arms and shouted, “Divided we fall! United we stand!”
It was well past midnight when the students turned onto College Avenue, returning to campus on Walton Lane and walking past Stokes to regroup on Founders Green. There, the protest organizers made a few final statements about the march and upcoming strike.
The Strike
Upon the protesters’ return to Founders Green around 1:30 a.m., organizers reiterated that action would not just end with the protest itself. Rather, they would be initiating a campus-wide strike from all jobs, classes, and clubs, effective immediately. Said one speaker, “We’re not going to class, we’re not going to work, we’re not doing anything. … Some blessed soul in the crowd just asked ‘why not’? Because if the president is just gonna stand for everything she said in the email, she’s gonna face the consequences for that. We’re staying home.”
The next day, on October 29, the Women of Color House, Black Students Refusing Further Inaction, and Black Students’ League signed an extensive document listing express demands for the administration to fulfill before ending the strike, as well as a letter addressed to President Raymond and Dean Bylander. “This campus can’t run without BIPOC. This is not just a reminder that we are valuable to you on campus, but that our lives, minds, and bodies matter, both on campus and in our communities,” the document stated. “An apology prompted by our frustration and anger is not enough. A realization of your insensitivity after harm ensued is not enough. We need and demand visible institutional change.” Many of the demands laid out in the document were accompanied by additional background information or clarifying statements. An abbreviated list is as follows:
- We demand removal of President Raymond as “Chief of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion.”
- We demand that you follow in the footsteps of Swarthmore College and cancel classes on Election Day and provide paid leave for college employees.
- We demand academic leniency for BIPOC and/or FGLI students who are traumatized by the effects of COVID and constant police violence in their communities.
- We demand that the school encourage and protect student participation in supporting direct action.
- We demand the institution recognize and resolve that the increased surveillance and policing amongst students in regards to COVID-19 primarily affects students of color, who have always been more prominently surveilled by the campus community.
- We demand Haverford honor and credit the work of Black women driving institutional change instead of taking credit for their continued labor and erasing their contributions.
- We demand that the school creates a framework to deal with problematic professors and generates spaces of accountability—the honor code is not enough and it never has been.
- We demand that the school continue to pay the students who are participating in the strike.
- We demand that no student, staff or faculty partaking in the strike face financial, academic or professional retribution, or penalties of any kind.
- We demand that the Bi-Co stop its violence against disabled students.
- We demand more robust aid and support for queer and trans students of color.
- We demand that the college terminate all relationships with the Philadelphia Police Department (PPD), and actively work toward police and prison abolition.
Striking from on-campus jobs presents a severe financial penalty for low-income students, so to alleviate the financial stresses of the strike, the organizers called for donations to the Bi-Co Mutual Aid Fund to support fellow students. Donors can give money through Venmo (@hcstrikefund, formerly @bicomutual) or Cashapp ($bicomutualaid). One student speaker said, “For y’all who are financially able, if y’all got money, open your fucking wallets. […] It’s your responsibility.”
A document titled “What Does Striking Mean?” was released to the student body on the afternoon of October 29. It contained several specific guidelines for what students, faculty, and staff should do in order to facilitate the end-goals of the strike, which are large-scale systematic changes to Haverford’s attitude toward and treatment of BIPOC students. The purpose of the strike itself is to disrupt day-to-day campus operations to such an extent that the administration has no choice but to take meaningful action in the ways expressed by the aforementioned list of demands.
Some of these actions include not attending classes across the Tri-Co, or even turning in assignments at all. Student activists expressed confidence that faculty would be receptive to the motion. “If they’re due today, trust the collective: if no one turns them in, even reluctant faculty members will be forced to comply,” the document writes. Students are asked not to go to their on-campus jobs and, if financially capable, to donate as much money as they can to the Bi-Co Mutual Aid Fund. However, student workers are asked to continue logging their hours into Workday as per usual, “especially FGLI/BIPOC students.” Students are also asked not to attend any college-sponsored events.
The sudden lack of active student workers affects several essential parts of campus. As such, the strike’s organizers have been careful to lay out plans to take pressure off of the remaining non-student workers in the Coop and Central Services, whose increased burdens do not serve the cause of the protest—the focus being on action against the administration, not harm to all college employees. Students are asked to only get Grab & Go meals (such as sandwiches and sushi) at the Coop rather than buying from the grill, or to go to the larger-scale Dining Center for all meals instead. The Nest has also offered meals to BIPOC/FGLI students during this time. Students are further asked not to make online orders during the strike, as to not excessively burden workers at Central Services.
The document also listed a set of requests for allied faculty members, including canceling classes for students for the duration of the strike, adjusting syllabi and course workloads in accordance with the strike (and even after its conclusion, reducing assignments and providing extensions as needed), and “adjusting metrics and expectations for participation, especially for BIPOC/FGLI students who should not feel pressured to express themselves in academic discussion when handling mental, financial, and other academic burden[s].” Professors are also asked to email administrators in support of the protest.
As of the time of writing, over 700 students and 80 student- and faculty-led organizations have signed on to support the strike, with that figure increasing rapidly as the documents are circulated on social media. Additionally, a form for faculty to sign onto the strike has been released by student activists; many have already signed it. The strike’s organizers are clear in their message: “The strike will continue indefinitely until the demands have been met and there is institutional change.”
The Bi-College News stands in solidarity with all who are striking, and is committed to serving as a platform for BIPOC students at Haverford throughout the strike. We will use our influence with students, faculty, staff, and alumni to circulate the demands of the BIPOC members of the student body. As long as discrimination plays a part in the Haverford experience, we will work to fight for justice.
Image credit: Adrian Velonis; Haverford Black Students’ League (@haverfordbsl)
So sick and tired 0f all this!!!