On Behalf of the SASS Executive Board
Founded in 1966, Swarthmore’s Afro-American Student Society (SASS) established itself around Black student activism and collective care. SASS was formed by students across the African diaspora to advocate for and safeguard Black student life. We recognize that there is a need for action at this moment, as our institution is replicating tactics of surveillance and punishment against members of the Black student body. This long-standing history of injustice is the exact reason for our organization’s founding.
We condemn Swarthmore College for its historical and contemporary lineage of white supremacist repressive tactics of surveillance weaponized against Black, brown, and any other marginalized folk. The school has issued eight major misconduct charges against students for the alleged distribution of zines, an exercise of their First Amendment right to free speech as Americans. Swarthmore claims that these students “threatened and/or promoted violence” on campus in order to charge them with “Bullying and/or Intimidation” and “Endangerment or Affliction of Physical Harm.” Framing them as “threaten[ing] and promot[ing] violence on campus” sets a precedent for criminalizing free speech and endangers student activism on campus. The zines discussed the Board of Trustees and where investments are being sent.
The college’s distortion of character and disregard for these students’ rights reveal its sole intention: punishment. SASS recognizes the danger of this practice and has outlined reasons to advocate:
- If we remain silent, we are complicit in the pattern of the infringement of our rights and in practices that are designed to silence us. If one student can be targeted, the entire campus is at risk.
- Swarthmore College, alongside Public Safety, targeted two Black students — surveilling them for weeks, using “eyewitness” reports from Public Safety officers, OneCard transactions, and CCTV footage logs. This active surveillance is designed to gather evidence with the intent to further criminalize and punish Black bodies, which are disproportionately seen as threats.
- Members of our community have reported that Public Safety requested OSE for a list of students living at a given address from school records — OSE immediately gave up the students’ private information. PubSafe identified the two students as they are the only Black people residing at that address. In addition, we heard that an OSE employee falsely claimed that a Black student distributed a pamphlet and reported this unfounded information to Public Safety. This is racial profiling, as the student was not in the same building as the employee at the time of the supposed event. We learned that Public Safety later entered the student’s off-campus apartment without their consent — an abuse of power that should not be tolerated. SASS condemns the joint action by Public Safety and OSE for employing these dangerous tactics.
- Swarthmore prides itself on upholding a legacy “committed to freedom of expression, including the freedom to protest and dissent peacefully.” Students were peacefully sharing information and expressing their beliefs. A maximum punishment of expulsion does not align with the values the institution holds or the “crime”/action they’re being charged with.
- Swarthmore expects that everyone will ignore this injustice in order to punish students privately — it is imperative that we, as students, speak up and stand in solidarity with our peers.
SASS, as an organization rooted in activism, recognizes this moment as reflective of a longstanding history of Swarthmore’s targeting of Black students. We condemn Swarthmore College’s use of Public Safety in a joint effort with the Office of Student Engagement for their actions. We at SASS call on the student body to share and sign the petition in support of our peers.
