We, the undersigned members of the faculty and instructional staff, are writing in response to the profoundly troubling precedent being set by the Swarthmore College administration as it charges peaceful student protestors and activists with violations of the Student Code of Conduct.
The actions taken by the students being charged include actions taken by student protestors in the past, such as occupying the offices of upper administration, using bullhorns both indoors and outdoors, and hanging banners and posters around the college campus. There appears to be little substantive difference in the methods employed by the students charged in relation to pro-Palestine and antiwar activism and those used by student activists associated with Organizing for Survivors, the Black Affinity Coalition, Mountain Justice, and Solidarity at Swat. Nonetheless, pro-Palestine and antiwar activists are facing an extraordinary number of sanctions. For the first time in its history, the college has retained external counsel — Montgomery McCracken Walker & Rhoads LLP — specifically to prepare charges and to directly participate in student disciplinary hearings. Simultaneously, the college has prohibited the students who have been charged from having legal counsel present. Fourteen students face major charges which carry the possibility of expulsion.
We would like to remind our administration that feelings of “discomfort” do not constitute “harm” and caution against a weaponization of “safety” that makes possible the selective enforcement of disciplinary measures. These are strategies that have historically been deployed most forcefully against students of color. Given that twenty of the 25 pro-Palestine students facing disciplinary proceedings are students of color — many of whom are first-generation low-income students — we are particularly concerned with the integrity of the disciplinary process. This concern intensified following the special meeting of the faculty, during which no member of the administration chose to address the worry that racial bias has played a role in these disciplinary proceedings, despite being asked about racial bias on four separate occasions.
We strongly caution against using this historic moment to buttress the Student Code of Conduct, the college’s apparatus for policing dissent. We reject the draconian changes to the Code of Conduct and call for a consultative process that is true to our history, values, mission, and Quaker roots in order to continue producing the engaged citizens of the world for which Swarthmore College is renowned. Such a consultative process would allow us to approach peaceful protest in ways that balance the rights of others with the college’s commitments to free expression, antiwar activism, and justice while enacting our longstanding ethos of shared governance.
As our president made clear in an email on Jan. 25, “peaceful protest and dissent are an important part of the College’s history.” And yet, rarely have peaceful protests and dissent been recognized and celebrated as such in the moments of their eruption. Amidst a nationwide wave of repression of pro-Palestine and anti-war speech, our students are using the tools of civil disobedience and public engagement — skills they have developed during their time at this institution — to contend with one of the most pressing political and humanitarian catastrophes of their time.
We thus call upon the administration to drop disciplinary actions against student protestors, protect the rights of all students to decry injustice, and preserve Swarthmore’s long-held commitment to student activism.
- Dilruba Ahmed, Visiting Assistant Professor, English Literature / Creative Writing
- Sabeen Ahmed, Assistant Professor, Philosophy
- Tariq al-Jamil, Associate Professor, Religion
- Khaled Al-Masri, Associate Professor, Modern Languages & Literatures
- Thamyris Almeida, Postdoctoral Fellow and Visiting Assistant Professor, Latin
American and Latino Studies - Elaine Allard, Associate Professor, Educational Studies
- Farid Azfar, Associate Professor, History
- Alejandra Azuero-Quijano, Assistant Professor, Anthropology
- Jamal Batts, Assistant Professor, Black Studies
- Michael Wilson Becerril, Visiting Assistant Professor, Peace and Conflict Studies
- Adrienne Benally, Assistant Professor, Environmental Studies
- Jennifer Bradley, Associate Professor, Educational Studies
- Nicolette Bragg, Visiting Assistant Professor, Writing Associates Program
- Megan Brown, Associate Professor, History
- Rachel Sagner Buurma, Associate Professor, English Literature
- Itzue Caviedes Solis, Assistant Professor, Biology and Environmental Studies
- Pallabi Chakravorty, Stephen Lang Professor of Performing Arts, Dance
- Paloma Checa-Gismero, Assistant Professor, Art & Art History
- BuYun Chen, Associate Professor, History
- Caroline Cheung, Program Coordinator, Teaching & Learning Commons
- David Cohen, Professor, Physics and Astronomy
- Lara Cohen, Associate Professor, English Literature
- Damir Creecy, Lab Instructor, Biology
- Maggie Delano, Associate Professor, Engineering
- Bruce Dorsey, Professor, History
- Lila Fontes, Associate Professor, Computer Science
- Natalie Mera Ford, Assistant Professor, Writing Associates Program (English Literature)
- Emily Gasser, Associate Professor & Chair, Linguistics Department
- Farha Ghannam, Professor, Sociology and Anthropology
- Brian Goldstein, Associate Professor, Art History
- Alexandra Gueydan-Turek, Associate Professor, Modern Languages and Literatures
- Sam Handlin, Associate Professor, Political Science
- K. David Harrison, Professor, Linguistics
- Andy Hines, Senior Associate Director, Aydelotte Foundation
- Steven Hopkins, Mari S. Michener Professor, Religion
- Paul Jacobs, Technician, Physics & Astronomy
- Nina Johnson, Associate Professor, Sociology and Anthropology and Black Studies
- Varun Khanna, Visiting Assistant Professor, Classics
- Mary Ann Hickman Klassen, Senior Lab Lecturer, Physics and Astronomy
- Dahlia Li, Visiting Assistant Professor of Gender and Sexuality Studies
- Roseann Liu, Assistant Professor, Educational Studies
- Jose-Luis Machado, Associate Professor, Department of Biology
- Edwin Mayorga, Associate Professor, Educational Studies
- Brendan Mcgeever, Cornell Visiting Professor, History
- Shailen Mishra, Visiting Assistant Professor, Writing Associates Program
- Elise A. Mitchell, Assistant Professor, History
- Maya Nadkarni, Associate Professor, Anthropology
- Alba Newmann-Holmes, Assistant Professor, Writing Associates Program
- Lei X Ouyang, Associate Professor, Music & Asian American Studies
- James Padilioni, Jr., Visiting Assistant Professor, Religion and Environmental Studies
- Zachary Palmer, Assistant Professor, Computer Science
- Sangina Patnaik, Associate Professor, English Literature
- Salvador Rangel, Assistant Professor, Sociology and Anthropology
- Jesse Rivera, Observatory Manager, Physics and Astronomy
- Ellen Ross, Howard M. and Charles F. Jenkins Professor, Religion
- Moriel Rothman-Zecher, Visiting Assistant Professor, English Literature
- Christy Schuetze, Associate Professor, Anthropology
- Peter Schmidt, Professor, Department of English Literature
- Ahmad Shokr, Associate Professor, History
- Benjamin Smith, Assistant Professor, Modern Languages & Literatures
- Marshall Smith, Assistant Professor of French and Francophone Studies, Black Studies
- Tristan Smith, Associate Professor, Physics and Astronomy
- Lee Smithey, Professor, Peace and Conflict Studies
- Lisa Smulyan, Professor Emerita, Educational Studies
- K. Elizabeth Stevens, Associate Professor, Theater
- Tracey Mia Stewart, Assistant Professor, Music and Black Studies
- Suya Su, Visiting Assistant Professor, Sociology and Anthropology
- Vivian Truong, Assistant Professor, History
- Roberto Vargas, Head of Research and Instruction, Libraries
- Edlin Veras, Assistant Professor, Sociology and Anthropology, Black Studies
- Mark I. Wallace, James Hormel Professor of Social Justice, Religion
- Jonathan Washington, Associate Professor, Linguistics
- Robert Weinberg, Professor, History
- Patricia White, Centennial Professor, Film and Media Studies
- Isaiah Wooden, Assistant Professor of Theater
- Matt Zucker, Associate Professor, Engineering
