Editors’ note: This article was originally written as a private letter to President Valerie Smith and Chair of the Board of Managers Harold Kalkstein. As of March 27, 2025, the letter was signed by 105 Swarthmore College faculty and staff. Signatories who were willing to make their names public are listed below.
March 15, 2025
Dear President Valerie Smith and Chair of the Board of Managers Harold “Koof” Kalkstein,
We write in a moment of crisis. On March 6, one of our students, a second-semester senior two months from graduation, was suspended for pro-Palestine protest activity in the fall of 2023. The suspension bars the student from their classes for the rest of the semester, ejects them from on-campus housing and employment, and prohibits them from entering campus without written permission. Because the student in question is a first-generation, low-income student who is independent from their family, this sanction will not only make it impossible for the student to graduate as planned; it will also leave them unhoused and financially precarious. Although the student may appeal, the appeal will be decided by the Vice President of Student Affairs or her designee – that is, by the same office that issued the charges.
Never before in Swarthmore’s history has a student been suspended for peaceful protest. Moreover, the suspension was based on a charge of assault for using a megaphone indoors – an interpretation of “assault” with no precedent at Swarthmore. National civil liberties organizations inform us that there is also no precedent in Pennsylvania or United States case law for assault charges involving the use of a megaphone.
The suspended student is one of fifteen students sanctioned for their participation in pro-Palestine protests between October 2023 and March 2024. Nine students were given one-semester probations, and one student was given a two-semester probation. Students placed on probation are not considered in good standing in the College during this period and are barred from Residential Peer Leader roles such as RAs, GAs, and SAMs – jobs that allow several of these students to pay their tuition. Although students from many backgrounds participated in the protests, those sanctioned are predominantly students of color and FLI students; the most severe sanctions were given to Arab and Muslim students. Three of those sanctioned are non-citizen students who are now vulnerable to arrest following Trump’s promise to deport non-citizen students who have participated in pro-Palestine protests.
The punitive measures that Swarthmore has taken against its students align the college squarely with the Trump administration’s efforts to criminalize and repress student protest. Three days after Swarthmore announced the suspension, ICE arrested and jailed Columbia University activist Mahmoud Khalil, revoked his green card, and began deportation proceedings against him. Trump has promised, “This is the first arrest of many to come.” Indeed, just yesterday, ICE arrested another Columbia student, Leqaa Kordia. Swarthmore’s suspension of a student for pro-Palestine protest places their future at risk – and by facilitating the Trump administration’s efforts to criminalize student protest, it endangers our whole community. Scholars and rights groups warn that this flagrant assault on free speech and the chilling of student activism that it is intended to provoke will extend far beyond pro-Palestine activism; it sets the stage for the criminalization of all manners of dissent.
In their January 25 statement, “Against Anticipatory Obedience,” the AAUP writes of the Trump administration’s attacks on colleges and universities: “It is the higher education community’s responsibility not to surrender to such attacks – and not to surrender in anticipation of them. Instead, we must vigorously and loudly oppose them.” But we have seen too many colleges and universities decide to do the Trump administration’s bidding instead. At this historic moment, the College must decide whether it will facilitate the Trump administration’s repression or whether it will stand by its students and their right to political protest. We call on you to defend our students and to demand that Swarthmore revoke this suspension.
Signed (list organized alphabetically):
- Sabeen Ahmed, Philosophy
- Diego Armus, History
- Carolyn Bauer, Biology
- Jen Bradley, Educational Studies
- Nicolette Bragg, Writing Associates Program
- Megan Brown, History
- Timothy Burke, History
- Rachel Sagner Buurma, English
- Aurora Camacho de Schmidt, Emerita Modern Languages
- Pallabi Chakravorty, Dance
- BuYun Chen, History
- Lara Cohen, English
- Sahr Conway-Lanz, Library
- Maggie Delano, Engineering
- Bruce Dorsey, History
- Wambura Fobbs, Psychology
- Lila Fontes, Computer Science
- Natalie Mera Ford, Writing/English
- Sibelan Forrester, Russian/Modern Languages and Literatures
- Will Gardner, Japanese/Modern Languages and Literatures
- Farha Ghannam, Sociology and Anthropology
- Brian Goldstein, Art History
- Caitlin Goodman, Library
- Sam Handlin, Political Science and LALS
- K. David Harrison, Linguistics
- Andy Hines, Aydelotte Foundation
- Steven Hopkins, Religion and Asian Studies
- Nina Johnson, Sociology and Anthropology and Black Studies
- Roseann Liu, Educational Studies
- Edwin Mayorga, Educational Studies and Latin American/Latino Studies
- Brendan McGeever, Cornell Visiting Professor 2025
- Shailen Mishra, Writing Associates Program
- Lynne Molter, Engineering
- Keith O’Hara, Computer Science
- Lei X Ouyang, Music, Asian American Studies, and Asian Studies
- Zachary Palmer, Computer Science
- Katie Price, Lang Center
- Bob Rehak, Film and Media Studies
- Christopher Robison, French & Francophone Studies / Modern Languages & Literatures
- Ellen Ross, Religion
- Moriel Rothman-Zecher, English Literature / Creative Writing
- Christy Scheutze, Sociology and Anthropology
- Peter Schmidt, English Literature, Black Studies, Environmental Studies
- Ahmad Shokr, History
- Lisa Smulyan, Educational Studies
- Tracey Mia Stewart, Music and Black Studies
- James Truitt, Libraries
- Roberto Vargas, Library
- Edlin Veras, Sociology and Anthropology, Black Studies
- Mark Wallace, Religion and Environmental Studies
- Jonathan Washington, Linguistics
- Abigail Weil, Library
- Bob Weinberg, History
- Patricia White, Film and Media Studies
- Matt Zucker, Engineering
“The punitive measures that Swarthmore has taken against its students align the college squarely with the Trump administration’s efforts to criminalize and repress student protest.”
Thank you! This is what I have been saying. The Swarthmore administration is not just capitulating to the fascists; they are participating in fascism. I am once again asking the Board of Managers and administration to stop doing this and divest already.
hear hear! From the University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign
Alums are organizing to reverse the suspension! Please join us by emailing reverseswarthmore at gmail dot com or @swatalumniforpalestine on Instagram or Swarthmore Alumni for Palestine on Facebook!
It is hard to believe that at a university founded by Quakers, that vaunts its Quaker heritage, that offers a Peace and Conflict Studies major, that has alumni who have organized protests for social justice, has stooped to the point that using a megaphone too close to someone’s ears is now considered an . . . assault. –Shawn McHale, class of ’82.