We write as Swarthmore Monthly Meeting of Friends to share our deep sadness and distress over the ongoing death toll in Gaza, including deaths by starvation and bombs supplied by our country. We also mourn the Israelis killed and hostages taken by Hamas on Oct. 7, 2023. We have continued hope and insistence that the college reconsider its investment policy in Israel. Students have been expressing their determination to speak out about this, but so far, the college seems to have focused more on disciplining these activists than on finding ways to consider their demands. So many on campus have poured their hearts and minds into the struggle over these issues, yet there continues to be concern about the administration’s decision-making process, the protestors’ methods, and the Board’s role. The polarization, anger, and distress that have been voiced on the campus are intense.
We know that many on campus are hurting, and we grieve with you. As a Quaker meeting dedicated to peaceful relationships among all people and a peace rooted in justice, we believe that a “third way” might open when a problem is held with loving attention. We hope that all parties to the campus conflict might come together in sustained dialogue, striving to engage with and hear one another so that we can achieve greater understanding and find ways to address the issues raised.
As Quakers, we stand by nonviolent protest, speaking truth to power, and an end to war and that which supports war. We will hold all campus members in the Light as they struggle to be heard and to heal. Please know that as a Friends Meeting we would like to do whatever we can to help. We are mindful of and grateful for our privileged place in the College Community. We deeply value our cooperative relationship with the college, and treasure the opportunity to minister to and worship with students, faculty, and alumni among our diverse Friends.
Quakers believe it is possible that “way opens.” We hold the unique challenges of this time in our hearts.
Swarthmore Monthly Meeting of the Religious Society of Friends
Meetinghouse and Whittier House
12 Whittier Place
Swarthmore, PA 19081-1142
meeting@swarthmore.edu
https://swarthmorefriendsmeeting.org/
Editors’ note: This article was initially released as a statement by Swarthmore Friends Meeting on May 11, 2025. It has been edited for clarity and stylistic consistency.
Statements made were well put, heartfelt and generously shared with the larger community together in order to let us discover and realize that we are directly humanely connected with much to offer one another and we seek to share Light and Love.
The College itself historically hold and values the wisdom and care of the Swarthmore Quaker Meeting.
Love and Light to all,
Maurice Eldridge ’61
“We hope that all parties to the campus conflict might come together in sustained dialogue, striving to engage with and hear one another so that we can achieve greater understanding and find ways to address the issues raised.”
What would this dialogue look like? The administration can’t even seem to acknowledge basic facts, such as how Israel is perpetrating a genocide on Palestinians in Gaza and subjecting Palestinians in the West Bank to apartheid. The morality of divestment becomes unambiguously clear as soon as you acknowledge those two simple facts.
I wonder, does it offend Quakers when Swarthmore claims Quaker values and then stays silent in the face of genocide and apartheid? I’m not a Quaker, but as an outsider looking in, that seems unQuakerly to me.