Bryn Mawr Strike Collective Hosts Contentious Town Hall with Administration

By Elle Thompson, Isabel Oalican, Jingsia Hathorne, and Rebecca Li

On Friday, November 13, the Bryn Mawr Strike Collective (BMSC) hosted a virtual town hall to discuss the demands of the strike with administration, including President Kim Cassidy, Dean of the Undergraduate College Jennifer Walters, and Provost Tim Harte. The town hall was widely attended, with an estimated 800 people watching over Zoom, Instagram Live, and Skype.

The Buildup

The day of the town hall, the Student Government Association sent an email laying out the format of the two hour meeting. The agenda was as follows: the BMSC’s statements, the BMSC’s reading of their demands, the administration’s response to demands and audience questions, and scheduling a follow-up meeting between President Cassidy and the BMSC.

In their opening statement, the BMSC defended the strike, noting that its impact and disruption are not “divisive,” as the administration called them, but rather are necessary to enact institutional change.

The Administration’s Response & Demands

After the opening statement, members of the strike collective read the demands. The BMSC closed their reading with this statement: “If the college [fails] to meet any of these demands, not only will the strike continue, but we—the Strike Collective, concerned faculty, and other allies—will have no choice but to further divest from this institution. The time was yesterday. The time was 1885. The time was 1619. The time is now.”

The next part of the town hall was designated for the administration’s point-by-point response and the student body’s input. However, President Cassidy declined to give such a response. She thanked the BMSC and expressed the administration’s full support, but commented that much had been added to the demands. She said the administration needed more time to go through the updated document before addressing the demands in detail.

The BMSC disagreed, saying that the demands were the same as the ones presented to administration the day before, during a private meeting between the BMSC and administration. They claimed that the only modifications since that meeting were to provide “examples of how [administration] can reimagine and implement our demands.” They said these additions were in response to the administration’s doubt about the feasibility of some of the demands.

In the nine days between the demands’ initial release and November 12, the strike collective adjusted the demands to include additional ideas and answer questions asked by the administration.* This modified set of demands was given to administration during the private meeting.

The BMSC claims that only Demand 10 had been significantly changed between the meeting and the town hall. The strike collective said the demand previously called for student workers to be paid for all striked hours. Following a “hard no” from President Cassidy on providing more than 20 hours of strike pay, Demand 10 now asks for community members to invest in mutual aid.

The Q&A Continues

Tensions increased following President Cassidy’s refusal to review the demands point-by-point. During a discussion about removing the M. Carey Thomas facade on Old Library and other racist artifacts of the college, President Cassidy referred to the objects as “valuable pieces of art.” The strike collective replied: “We actually prefer to think of them as not a beautiful piece[s] of art but as hate symbols, thank you.”

Long pauses continuously amplified the tension. At one point, a staff member reminded President Cassidy to unmute herself to respond to students, simply stating “Kim, you’re muted.” Bryn Mawr Twitter accounts exploded with memes of the phrase.

Later in the Q&A, a student asked Provost Harte why he had requested all professors to return to teaching if he was supportive of the strike. He denied doing this, stating that returning to the classroom can “take many forms.” He also mentioned that it was beyond his power to protect students whose teachers were punishing them for participating in the strike, particularly those who had their letter of recommendation rescinded. He emphasized professors’ right to “academic freedom” several times, as well as a need to evaluate professors on an individual basis.**

Students also asked President Cassidy to apologize for her November 9 email, which accused the strike of “acts of intimidation” and violation of the Honor Code. She offered a brief apology and agreed to send out a public email. (In a November 16 email, President Cassidy issued an official apology, stating “I apologize for not recognizing that my words suggested that this is a problem on campus that originates with strike supporters. It was wrong to convey this message and perpetuate a harmful stereotype.”)

When President Cassidy was asked why she disparaged BMSC members while neglecting to discuss the lawsuit threats from several parents towards the strike collective, she denied being aware of these threats. Students widely mocked this claim in the Zoom and Skype chats, as Dean Walters had been informed about the threats.

A BMSC member asked that administration make it clear to parents that threatening the strike collective would not be tolerated. Another member later asked if the administration would publicly and definitively condemn retaliation from faculty and administration against student strikers; President Cassidy, Provost Harte, and Dean Walters all said yes. To date, it is unclear whether either of these requests have been fulfilled.

A student asked if President Cassidy, Dean Walters, and Provost Harte would step down if the strike demands were not met. When pressed to give a yes-or-no answer, all three said yes.

The Aftermath

In a November 16 email, President Cassidy stated that she is “in agreement with the areas for action laid out in the November 12 demands,” and provided a document entitled Commitments to Diversity, Equality, Inclusion and Anti-Racism, which details actions, timelines, budgets, and responsible groups.

The BMSC has reviewed this document and responded with a “report card.” The response to each demand has been given a letter grade, from A to F, and detailed critique. In the report card, the BMSC notes that “[these] grades reflect that the demands are not necessarily being met but they are being addressed.” They express appreciation for the work that went into Commitments to Diversity, Equality, Inclusion and Anti-Racism and acknowledge the ongoing work being done. However, they emphasize that “grade[s] can be and should be improved.”

Since the November 13 town hall, a “meeting with supportive faculty” and two student town halls have been held. A meeting between the BMSC and administration is being held the night of Wednesday, November 18 to determine whether the strike will end.

It is unclear when the answer will come. Until then, Bryn Mawr will watch and wait.

Image credit: Elle Thompson

The updated strike demands can be found here. You can find a Zoom recording of the town hall here (Passcode: &$0FLe4E).

*The specifics of when and how demands were edited is provided here:

At the meeting, the order of demands changed significantly and two demands were combined; thus, there is a new list of sixteen demands. Demands 1, 2, 3, 7, and 11 underwent notable expansion, with the BMSC giving many suggestions for how the school could better achieve the goals laid out in their demands. In response to President Cassidy’s initial response to strike demands on November 6, Demand 8 was edited to focus on allowing students to access an emergency fund. Demand 13 was also edited in response to the November 6 reply, replacing demanding Bryn Mawr to label itself a sanctuary institution with specific demands for inclusivity of undocumented students. To see changes made, the first strike demands can be found here.

**The November 8 faculty email in which Provost Harte is accused of pressuring faculty back into the classroom was leaked to The Bi-College News. It ended with “classes need to get going again if they aren’t already being held,” and also stated that “there will be no retaliation [against students] whatsoever when the strike subsides. Nor will I or anyone else in the administration even consider punishing any faculty.”

In a November 12 faculty email, Provost Harte laid out several reasons to return to teaching class and indicated that professors were required “to resume instruction and devise a way to complete the full number of originally mandated hours of instruction per course.”