The Phoenix

Val Smith Announces Plan to End Presidency After 2026-27 Academic Year

February 26, 2026

News

Val Smith announces the upcoming end of her time as Swarthmore president, the community responds and prepares for a period of transition.

Student-Athletes on the Upcoming Cunningham Fields and Fieldhouse Renovations

Alex AvanesyanandLuca CampianiandEli CoganandEllie FermoandJada GreenandKatherine KermanandJames SheltonandThomas Shelton

February 26, 2026

Varsity and club athletes share their thoughts on how the recently proposed

Swarthmore Supports Harvard-Led Lawsuit Defending International Students

by Zephyr Weinreich

February 26, 2026

Swarthmore joins many other higher education institutions in support for Harvard's legal

Resilience in the Face of Oppression: Reflections on Black History Month

by Nasrin Ahmed

February 26, 2026

As BHM concludes, Nasrin Ahmed '28 discusses the importance of telling Black

A Conversation with John Alston: 32 Years of Music, Math, and Love with the Chester Children’s Chorus

by Dylan Herink

February 26, 2026

Chorus director John Alston discusses his time at the Chester Children's Chorus

Latest Stories

Swarthmore Accepts 231 Early Decision Applicants

by Ellen Stewart

February 26, 2026

McCabe Library: From Dirt to Dust

by Vivian Li

February 26, 2026

Embodying the Process: An Exploration of Gender and the Self in Swarthmore Theater’s ‘Orlando’

by Jasper Cober-Lake

February 26, 2026

Political Scientist Jonathan Kirshner Lectures on (Un)Realism in the Trump Age

by Marra Irons

February 26, 2026

Boston College's Jonathan Kirshner discusses Trump's "America First" doctrine from a classical realist perspective for the 2026 Gilbert Lecture.

Becca Rothfeld and Jonny Thakkar speaks at the Night Owls Event. Phoenix Photo/Xinto Xu

‘Making Yourself Beautiful’: Night Owls Event on The Philosophy of Mogging

by Xinto Xu

February 26, 2026

Night Owls lecture examines the meaning and implications of aesthetic expression through physical alteration and the looksmaxxing trend.

Longtime Dining Staff Member Severely Injured, Hospitalized After Dishwasher Accident

Ella WalkerandDaniel Perrin

February 19, 2026

The Phoenix reports on a devastating incident in which a Dining and Community Commons industrial dishwasher left a worker that was attending to it

The Rise, Fall, and Tentative Rebirth of Philadelphia’s ‘President’s House’ Memorial

by Zephyr Weinreich

February 19, 2026

News Editor Zephyr Weinreich '28 traces the history of America's first 'White House' through more than 200 years of turmoil and transformation.

Swarthmore Endowment Sees 9.5% Return in 2024-25 Fiscal Year

by Daniel Perrin

February 19, 2026

The college's endowment enjoyed stronger returns in 2024-25 than in the years before it. Chief Investment Officer Frank Grunseich contextualizes the numbers.

Opinions

Weekly Column: Swat Says

Rafi KarpowitzandNasrin AhmedandCorinne Lafont

February 26, 2026

In this edition of Swat Says, students share their on Swarthmore's party culture, Val Smith's recent announcement, and the renaming of Trotter Hall.

Students: Stand Up for Your Rights!

by Wyatt Brannon

February 19, 2026

Wyatt Brannon '26 argues that, if students want to have some control over how the college operates, they should use the historically radical power of student government.

The College and the CO-OP: An Interconnected History of Two Swarthmore Institutions

by Nathanael D. Brown

February 19, 2026

Former Opinions Editor Nathanael Brown takes a deep dive into the history of the Swarthmore CO-OP's intertwined, and sometime fraught, relationship with Swarthmore College.

Arts

Cirque Calder: Past and Future Present

by Alma Greenfield

February 26, 2026

A reflection on Alexander Calder's "Cirque Calder."

Corinne’s Connections Puzzle: Symposium, Sort-Of

by Corinne Lafont

February 26, 2026

Answers Below

Sports

The Best 60 Days of Sports?

by Charlie Watson

February 26, 2026

Charlie Watson '27 discusses exciting athletic events taking place in February and March.

Athlete of the Week: Jack McHenry ’27

by Katherine Kerman

February 26, 2026

Lacrosse player Jack McHenry '27 shares about his goals, routines, and experiences as a student-athlete at Swarthmore.

Swarthmore Women’s Lacrosse Seniors Anticipate Their Final Season

by Olivia Huang

February 19, 2026

Olivia Huang '29 interviews her graduating teammates about their reflections on strong college careers.

Features

The Ultimate Swarthmore College Quiz: Are You a Stereotypical Swattie?

by Megumi Jindo

February 19, 2026

Take the ultimate Swattie quiz and see — I bet you are a Swattie! Answers: If you mostly got 1), Yay, you belong at this school! You are the “Swattie” who wakes up right before class because you’ve worked your butt off

From My Dad to Yours

by Zoe Washington

February 12, 2026

Washington '29 shares a father-daughter playlist, the first of a monthly column.

Comic: Frosty Frenzy

by Paris Kampel

February 12, 2026

Men’s, Women’s Tennis Are Strong in Tournament Play

by Scoop Ruxin

September 27, 2012

The Swarthmore men’s and women’s tennis teams each had successful weekends, winning several matches in elimination-style tournament play. The men hosted the Tim Berman Invitational and sent players to the Saint Joseph’s Invitational, while the women competed in the USTA-ITA Southeast Regional

Amanda Beebe

by Daniel Duncan

September 27, 2012

Amanda Beebe ’15 Whitehouse Station, New Jersey / Hunterdon Central WHAT SHE’S DONE: Placed 6th in the McDaniel Women’s Fall Invitational and 2nd in the Swarthmore Fall Invitational as the sole female Garnet golfer. FAVORITE CAREER MOMENT: Making first team All-Conference this

Golf Takes Its First Swings in Fall Tournaments

by Daniel Duncan

September 27, 2012

Golf may be a spring sport above all, but competition takes place year-round. The Swarthmore golf team started off its 2012-13 campaign last weekend with the Penn State Harrisburg Fall Classic, and then hosted the Swarthmore Fall Invitational on Monday. During the

Inn-sanity: The Phoenix is Unsure That the Benefits of the New Hotel Will Outweigh the Costs

by The Phoenix

September 26, 2012

Four years after first being proposed to the Board of Managers, the Town Center West Project (also known as the Swarthmore Inn) near PPR may soon break ground — but many students still have reservations about the benefits, if any, that the

So Far to Go: Hilton’s Words Remind Us to Stand Up to Bigotry

by Sean Bryant

September 26, 2012

“Ewww. Eww. To get fucked? Gay guys are the horniest people in the world. They’re disgusting. Dude, most of them probably have AIDS … I would be so scared if I were a gay guy … You’ll, like, die of AIDS.” These

Middle East Turmoil: Solidarity is Messy

by Danielle Charette

September 26, 2012

Two years ago, a number of Swatties braved the February cold, dressed in white and marched across campus in a display of “solidarity” for the Egyptian uprising against then-President-cum-Dictator Hosni Mubarak. These students, like many Americans, hoped freedom, not radical Islam, was

Disappearing Doctors: A Shortage of Physicians May Burden Our Health Care System in the Near Future

by Patrick Ammerman

September 26, 2012

What does the Affordable Care Act — aka Obamacare — mean to you? Is it a long-overdue promise of universal health care? Is it moving America in the wrong direction — towards socialism? Has it become mainly a political tool being played

Bryn Mawr Asian Dance Team Goes Tri-Co

by Cecilia Paasche

September 26, 2012

Editor’s note: This article was initially published in The Daily Gazette, Swarthmore’s online, daily newspaper founded in Fall 1996. As of Fall 2018, the DG has merged with The Phoenix. See the about page to read more about the DG. Mayuri