Swarthmore’s Student Government Organization (SGO) held a town hall on Monday, April 14, from 7:30 to 9:00 p.m. at the Intercultural (IC) Dome, providing an open space for students to voice their concerns on campus matters, including aspects of student life, the Code of Conduct, campus surveillance, and the college’s response to the current political climate. The meeting was moderated by SGO’s Diversity and Inclusion Committee, with the conversation led by students and questions directed to SGO members.
The meeting began by addressing “Aspects of Student Life,” with prompts that asked questions about students’ feelings on topics such as housing, student-led initiatives, campus inclusivity, SGO’s role in preserving institutional memory, and general suggestions for improving daily life at Swarthmore.
Chair of Diversity and Inclusion Brandon Sorongon ’27, who served as the moderator for the evening, initiated the conversation about the Student Activities Fund (SAF), which provides funding for the Student Budgeting Committee (SBC). In turn, the SBC allocates funds to clubs. The SAF does not roll over into the next year. Sorongon noted that there is often a surplus of funds and asked students in attendance what types of community projects and enhancements they would like to see funded. SGO Vice President Matt Gutow ’25 expects that there will be a SAF surplus this year.
Former SGO member Wyatt Brannon ’26 proposed that the surplus be allocated to the nearby community of Chester, noting that C4 – a student-led coalition supporting Chester Residents Concerned for Quality Living (CRCQL) – has endured significant funding cuts over the last two years. C4 recently appealed for funding for air purifiers for the residents of Chester to help reduce cancer rates, but was denied on the grounds that the funding did not directly benefit students. “I think the students benefit while people in their community benefit,” they said. Brannon is running for Chair of Internal Affairs as part of the “The People’s Slate,” a roster of candidates running together in the SGO executive board elections currently taking place.
Sorongon directed the conversation toward inclusivity, asking students what helps foster a sense of belonging on campus and how to sustain student legacy. Senator Augustella Makiese ’25 (at large) added to the question by asking students what mechanisms they envision to preserve institutional memory.
Brannon reflected on their presidential platform for SGO two years ago, where they proposed the creation of a historical committee or historian position. They suggested collaborating with the library to maintain a special collection of articles from The Phoenix, particularly focusing on student activism. “I think there needs to be a concerted effort to maintain institutional memory here on campus,” Brannon said.
One student stated that it feels like in college, “clubs are constantly dying,” mentioning that she has been working to establish a stronger alumni network to maintain a sense of community that doesn’t need to be reignited each year.
Another student, Olivia Medeiros-Sakimoto ’25, commented that, historically, alumni show a strong interest in collaborating with SGO, but are hesitant to get involved due to SGO’s affiliation with student activism on campus. She addressed concerns with the college’s Advancement team, highlighting the lack of an existing pipeline for clubs to request funding from alumni.
The next topic of discussion was the Code of Conduct, which has been marked by controversy after 24 students were charged with violating the code during pro-Palestine protests. One student spoke about their experience with the College Judiciary Committee (CJC) and the broader disciplinary process. The student described their hearing, in which nine students were present at once, and reported that some students did not have the opportunity to answer questions for themselves.
“From my own experience, it was very clear that students were certainly not seen as individual students … but rather, students were seen as an amalgamation of the fears of the institution.”
The student believes that there is a lack of oversight in the disciplinary process, recognizing that no easy solution exists. Brannon proposed that the college should model its disciplinary processes on those of other schools, acknowledging a need for greater transparency, particularly regarding its internal operations and structure.
The Current Chair of Internal Affairs, Bradley Holland ’27, highlighted that the identities of students who serve on the CJC are known only to the Chair of Internal Affairs, the SGO President, other internal affairs officers who appointed them, and administrators in student affairs.
“There is this scare of a secret police of students fearing other students, but it was determined by SGO and the college that it’s in everyone’s interest that the students serving on the CJC are anonymous to the extent that they choose to be,” Holland continued, “These are students as well, and deserve the same protections.”
Medeiros-Sakimoto proposed the idea of an honor code, which was previously brought up to the SGO by Swarthmore President Val Smith. Chair of Student Life and SGO President-elect Abby Guise ’26 stated that she supported an honor code but recognized that many people opposed it. She said this is because students did not trust each other not to cheat on exams.
One student supported the idea of an honor code, stating that the lack of trust is an issue that needs to be addressed. “I would hope the honor code could be a way that we can do that,” she said. Another student raised the issue of heightened surveillance on campus, which, she said, cultivated an “atmosphere of distrust.” They said they would support an honor code, but have concerns, like the Code of Conduct, about the code being enforced by a dominating power.
On the broader issue of surveillance, Brannon said, “I think it’s wrong to have a campus set up where certain people feel safer than others,” referencing students who don’t feel safe showing their faces at protests. One student shared her experience with surveillance during a protest, where they reportedly had over a dozen photos taken of them via CCTV cameras while walking into a building.
The student also raised a concern about the college cross-checking OneCard swipes to track students who had attended a protest. “This is a concern, and I think that this is especially a concern given the fact that people’s livelihoods, especially [those of] students who are immigrants or who are undocumented, are at threat by a larger federal body.”
The final topic on SGO’s itinerary is the college’s response to the current political climate. Regarding perceptions of the college’s commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI), the student stated that they believe Swarthmore has failed its students. They mentioned bias incident reports, noting that there are administrators with over a dozen reports filed against them, and that the reports are processed internally.
“The overwhelming conclusion to them is that they say, ‘Well, yes, this incident happened, but we don’t believe that it is an incident of bias,’” the student said.
In the face of federal funding cuts, students expressed concern over the college’s priorities if funding is reduced. Brannon advocated that the college prioritize financial aid. “That is what preserves our diversity,” they said.
The meeting concluded with SGO’s next steps: consolidating the information shared by students, which will then be presented to the Board of Managers and college partners.
Data from places like UVA and BYU have shown that Black and Asian students are disproportionately represented among those reported for honor code aka snitch code violations. More recently, at Wellesley in 2023, a dean wielded threats of honor code violations to quash student protests.