On Oct. 27, “The Swarthmore Worker” released its inaugural issue. Copies of the paper — one double-sided, tabloid-sized page — appeared in libraries, dorm lounges, and other gathering spaces around campus. The edition featured several articles by Swarthmore students and one by a Sci Cafe staff member, a graph displaying statistics about Swarthmore Dining and Environmental Services employment, and advertisements for upcoming events with campus workers’ rights group Solidarity at Swarthmore (SaS).
The new publication is a project of SaS, with a mission (per a statement on the masthead) to highlight the common interests of Swarthmore’s student and staff populations. SaS member and founding Worker contributor Jonah Sah ’27 spoke with The Phoenix about the club’s plans for the paper.
“The goal of the [Worker] is to build community on campus by sharing the perspectives and experiences of staff, students, and faculty,” Sah said. “People who work and live at Swarthmore have common interests, from keeping campus safe from budget cuts to creating a culture of kindness and respect. ‘The Swarthmore Worker’ hopes to help us realize and work towards these goals together.”
In addition to his role in bringing the paper about, Sah wrote an article for the first issue. His opinion piece, titled, “Why is Swarthmore Crying Poor,” called on the college’s Board of Managers to make greater use of the Swarthmore endowment to improve conditions on campus.
Sah shared similar sentiments in an interview with The Phoenix earlier this fall. Through the Worker, however, SaS hopes to create a forum in which Sah and other students and staff members can voice such concerns directly. Sah said that the SaS team was inspired by local union newspapers that provide workers with news relevant to their own lives.
The new outlet for labor discourse has elicited excitement from SaS’s more recent recruits in particular. Two of the three student pieces in the inaugural edition came from members who joined the club this year.
“When Jonah brought up the idea of a newspaper, I became much more invested,” said Darius Kim ’29, one of the club’s first years. “I thought a newspaper was a great idea to build much-needed community between staff and students.”
Staff, too, were enthusiastic about the publication’s potential. Matt Fecanin, who contributed a piece about his experience working at Sci Cafe, shared the following: “I like [the] mission of wanting to improve student-worker relations. The students, and interacting with you all, [are some] of my favorite things about the job, so I decided to contribute.”
“The Swarthmore Worker” plans to continue publishing regularly through the 2025-2026 academic year.
Editor’s Note: Ella Walker ’28 and Eleanor Xu ’28, writers for the inaugural issue of The Swarthmore Worker, are also News Editors for The Phoenix.
