Frigid temperatures did not stop Bryn Mawr’s Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) from demonstrating outside Goodhart Hall during the most recent Board of Trustees meeting. Despite cold winds whipping from all sides, a modest group of students gathered on the steps of Goodhart Hall with signs and megaphones, bundled in jackets and hats alongside keffiyehs, masks, and sunglasses.
Held on the morning of February 7, the protest closely resembled past SJP demonstrations, alternating between speakers giving short speeches and chants such as “Disclose, divest/we will not stop, we will not rest!”. Speakers repeatedly alleged that Bryn Mawr has a reported 5 million dollar investment into Israeli technology, though this figure cannot currently be substantiated by the Bi-College News.
Other concerns raised by speakers included Bryn Mawr’s ongoing ties with Israeli study abroad programs. Regarding the reported investment in Israeli technology, one speaker stated that “The actions of the Board [of Trustees] should disgust everyone at this college.”.
Fifteen minutes after the demonstration began, members of administration, including Associate Director of Campus Safety Bill Applegate emerged from inside the Hepburn Teaching Theater, milling around the Goodhart lobby while protesters pressed signs to the windows and continued to chant. Other members of Campus Safety, including Executive Director of Campus Safety Lillian Burroughs, were also present, including Campus Safety members posted in a car on the street outside Goodhart. In the ongoing speeches, one speaker highlighted the few mentions of Palestine by name in emails sent out to the Bryn Mawr student body regarding SJP demonstrations, stating “How many times have these emails mentioned Palestine?”
As administration members calmly scrolled through their phones and chatted inside, the demonstrators outside fanned out along the building, at one point marching up the street to intercept those leaving Goodhart through the auditorium entrance. The protesters eventually clustered around the side door of Goodhart, pounding on it alongside their chants until Applegate threatened to call the police.
As in past demonstrations regarding the Board of Trustees, one of the names frequently brought up in chants was that of Cynthia Archer ‘75, current chair of the Board of Trustees. Alongside signs detailing information about Archer, chants included “Archer, Archer, you can’t hide! You fund genocide!”, again in response to the College’s reported investment in Israeli technology.
When approached by the Bi-College News for comment, Archer responded with the following: “We fully support our students’ right to free expression, which is vital to our community. For the safety and benefit of all, it is essential that these expressions of free speech respect college policies. The college seeks to ensure a productive environment where both protest and learning can happen simultaneously.”.
As the Board of Trustees meeting drew on, so did the protest, with demonstrators pressing signs up against the glass windows of Goodhart for Board members to read as they exited into the lobby. By 11:35, however, SJP dispersed, despite the Board of Trustees continuing on inside.
