When Bryn Mawr SGA Secretary Evan Pineo ‘28 introduced Resolution 12 at fall Plenary, Goodhart Hall erupted in applause and cheers. The resolution intends to ban Fizz, a popular social media app that allows Bryn Mawr and Haverford students to post, reply, and upvote on an anonymous forum. During Plenary, more students spoke in favor of Bryn Mawr unsubscribing with the app than against, citing recent incidents of harassment and safety concerns, including some directed at SGA Executive Board members.
On the app itself, though, students expressed a different view. In the hours and days following Plenary, anonymous students on Fizz shared various perspectives about SGA and the Resolution, ranging from critical to contemptible.
Many of the posts referenced SGA President Esénia Bañuelos, who spoke about her personal experience with Fizz harassment at Plenary.
“As someone who was a victim of a very severe harassment campaign, I can say I do not agree,” Bañuelos said in response to a statement that “overall the positive posts on Fizz outweigh the negative.”
On Fizz, anonymous users criticized Bañuelos and the SGA Executive Board members’ responses to comments in favor of Fizz: “I feel like the way that the SGA president responded to people who disagreed with her was unprofessional and disrespectful,” one post reads.
“She represents all of us as sga i just don’t think its the move to use vulgar language.. its likely a cultural thing but yes i do expect the president of our student government to be very professional in student government events thats part of the role,” another now-deleted post says.
These posts and many others, most of which have since been deleted, reference a specific moment when Bañuelos swore during her response to a question.
Fizz users and Bañuelos herself have connected this to her identity as a Mexican and Indigenous person, with Bañuelos stating in a guest opinion for the Bi-College News “It is becoming immediately clear to me that the issue of race has also contributed to a feeling, a feeling that I have felt echoed from students who have reached out to me and alums of color, that students of color may avoid hyper-visibilized positions on campus in reflection of this moment, for the fear that their vulnerability may be exploited for the gain of an anonymous cesspool.”
The majority of the posts directly referencing Bañuelos and other members of the SGA Executive Board have been deleted or removed, but many critical posts still remain on Fizz.
“Sga eboard is definitely just abusing their power because they don’t like people disagreeing with them or criticizing them. If this was a larger community issue nothing would have happened,” writes a Fizz user. Another post with 390 upvotes at the time of writing reads “a little birdie said that this sga is taking a little too much inspiration from the current admin in their inability to take criticism from the student body.”
Sophomore Emil Bigelow ‘28 told the Bi-Co News that “in affiliating itself with an anonymous forum app like Fizz, the Bi-Co has created an avenue for its students to make public their unsavory questions, confessions, and advice, which oftentimes comment on characteristics of their peers, or characteristics belonging to themselves that can be reflected in their peers. In this manner, Fizz has become a home for racism, misogyny, and fatphobia. Without a doubt, Fizz is one of the greatest threats to the collective wellbeing and mental health of our community.”
On Fizz, however, support for the app remains strong. A poll from the day after Plenary has over 700 votes of students voting to keep the app and 300 voting to ban it.
Whether this criticism for the SGA Executive Board and Resolution 12 is enough for the resolution to fail remains to be seen. Even so, Fizz has certainly opened up many conversations on campus about student speech, how to critique student leaders, and the value of anonymity.
