On December 1, 2025, the Bi-College Newspaper published the article “Private Investigators, Confidential Meetings, and ‘The Betrayal of Trust.’” The piece detailed several allegations by Bryn Mawr students which stated that the College had hired private investigators following a semester of pro-Palestinian protests, some of which included acts of vandalism. On December 8, 2025, Bryn Mawr President Wendy Cadge sent a campus-wide email that made reference to the Bi-Co News and that article in particular.
President Cadge stated that several claims in the article “greatly misrepresent[ed]” Bryn Mawr’s investigative procedures. In addition, she encouraged student journalists to maintain “best practices,” notably including “multiple sources, accurate quotation, opportunities for comment, and consistent, accurate use of those comments, as well as whether information provided is understood to be on or off the record.”
Following this email, President Cadge further attempted to discredit our work during Big Cheese, a semesterly open forum that allows students to ask senior staff members questions.
The Bi-College News editorial board stands by the article, our sources, and the journalistic practices employed in our newsroom. Nevertheless, we take all allegations of misinformation seriously. Following the campus-wide email, we offered President Cadge an additional opportunity to issue any statement or correct the record. To clarify: this right of reply email followed our original request, which was sent out prior to the piece’s initial publication, on Nov. 20. Both emails, with time stamps, have been included in this article so our readership can verify our newsroom practices for themselves. Administrative responses to both messages do not mention any specific factual inaccuracies in our article despite the repeated public claims from President Cadge. At the bottom of this article, we have included administration’s entire response to our second request for comment, dated Dec. 10, 2025.
Across the nation, student newsrooms are facing increased scrutiny from the federal government and administrative bodies within higher education. Student journalists at Indiana University, Stanford University, University of Alabama, among countless others are all under unprecedented pressure. Attempting to discredit student media without specific accusations or evidence is dangerous not only to our community, but to student press everywhere.
We look towards continued communication with President Wendy Cadge. Moving forward, we hope she and the senior staff will engage with us in good-faith dialogue, as we have always strived to do.
Following the second right-of-reply email, Bryn Mawr’s vice president for communications and marketing Samara Sit sent the following statement:
“Bryn Mawr College is committed to conducting thorough and fair investigations into alleged violations of college policies. As a College with over 1,300 undergraduate students, we are acutely aware of the complexity that comes with addressing safety risks on campus. Each safety incident requires an individualized response within a complicated legal and regulatory framework. As a general matter, we commonly engage contractors throughout the College who are skilled in specialty areas, such as, for example, architects, building engineers, and Title IX investigators trained in trauma-informed best practices. This is a common and necessary practice for an institution of our size. And, at times, circumstances necessitate the need to supplement our campus safety team and engage administrators based on their expertise and professional background in civil rights compliance, investigations, and their commitment to equitable procedures. Regardless of the model used, we are committed to engaging conduct administrators and investigators who possess the requisite expertise and who are properly trained in assessing relevant information, weighing credibility, and basic notions of fairness. The College is charged with respecting and protecting the privacy of students and is prohibited from disclosing information concerning investigations and disciplinary actions taken against students.”
Co-Signed by Bi-College News Co-Editors in Chief
–Hannah Epstein
-Rana Rastegari
-Jessica Schott-Rosenfield
Co-Signed by the Bi-College News Editorial Board
–Isabelle Protopapas, Managing Editor (Incoming co-EIC)
-Leilani Davis, Managing Editor (Incoming co-EIC)
-Nomah Elliot, Managing Editor (Incoming co-EIC)
-Bridget Sweeney, Co-Head of News
–Maddie Raymond, Co-Head of News
–Yeseo Lim, Co-Head of Features
–Margeaux Thompson, Co-Head of Features
-Zahra Bandukwala, Head of Opinions
–Kate Baney-Giampoala, Head of Arts
–Bronwyn McVeigh, Head of Sports
–Jadyn Anderson, Head Layout Editor
–Xiaohan Brunton, Head of Photography
–Leena Dzemaili, Head of Media & Design
–Anna O’Connor, Head of Audience Engagement
–Krista Chan, Head of Cartoons
3 comments
In following this thread of articles I just want to say that I, too, am disappointed in what appears to be back peddling doublespeak from our current college president. Class of 1986.
Thank you all for publishing the December 1 article mentioned and hyperlinked in your “Response” piece, above, for which, too, I thank you. Both demonstrate an ethical integrity regrettably thin on the ground among your elders in Journalism and elsewhere.
Assistant Professor of History at Bryn Mawr in 1992 and now Professor of History and Chair of International Studies, I take the liberty of saying that I am proud of you and this work.
I find it disheartening (actually infuriating and disappointing) that President Cadge is so disingenuous. As a parent of a Mawrter (2019), I had been hopeful that her tenure would move BMC forward, but I see that is not to be the case. As a child of the 60s, I know student protest is not only an important step in young people finding their voice but also in moving the national conversation on important issues. I was disappointed in BiCo, and especially BMC, failure to ensure safety of Jewish/Israeli students/staff while also not supporting peaceful demonstrations and productive conversations about ending genocide in Gaza. I hoped this new administration would forge a new path. But intimidation of students by third party investigators demanding students identify their peers participating in protests not only smells like McCarthyism, it is, in fact, McCarthyism. This is unacceptable. And white-washing the accusations as shoddy journalism should be beneath an institution such as Bryn Mawr.