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Haverford College strike: Students protest over officials’ comments on Walter Wallace Jr. death
11/6/20, 12:06 PM
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Haverford students on strike after college
officials’ comments on Walter Wallace Jr.
death
by Susan Snyder, Posted: November 3, 2020
HOLDEN BLANCO/HAVERFORD COLLEGE
Concerns that Haverford College wasn’t doing enough to support its
Black and brown students had been mounting, students say.
Then came the email last week from the president and dean, urging
students not to participate in protests in Philadelphia after police shot
and killed Walter Wallace Jr.
Students said they were incensed that Haverford, which is supposed
to care deeply about social justice, would try to interfere with their
right to stand up against injustice. Within hours, hundreds poured
onto the college’s Founders Green in protest.
https://www.inquirer.com/education/haverford-protest-walter-wallace-police-strike-students-20201103.html
Page 1 of 12
Haverford College strike: Students protest over officials’ comments on Walter Wallace Jr. death
11/6/20, 12:06 PM
Now, some students are refusing to attend classes, do course work, or
perform jobs at the college, and they said their strike — in its sixth day
Tuesday — will continue until the college gives into their wide-ranging
demands. The demands include removing the president as the chief
equity and diversity officer‚ protecting and supporting students’
participation in protests, and treating equitably and providing more
support and aid to first-generation students, students of color, and
LGBTQ students.
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The college appears to have met at least one demand; students called
for Haverford to close on Election Day so that all students and
employees could vote. Haverford canceled classes and made the day a
paid holiday. But it was too little, too late for students, who say they
have been serving on committees and calling on Haverford to do more
for a long time.
» READ MORE: Fatal shooting of Walter Wallace Jr. prompts
heated protests
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“It was kind of a breaking point," sophomore Ayanna Madison said of
the email from president Wendy Raymond and dean Joyce Bylander,
“and a reminder that all the work we have been putting in has done
absolutely nothing to change this institution and we have to do
something that will.”
https://www.inquirer.com/education/haverford-protest-walter-wallace-police-strike-students-20201103.html
Page 2 of 12
Haverford College strike: Students protest over officials’ comments on Walter Wallace Jr. death
11/6/20, 12:06 PM
The concerns are emblematic of growing unrest on college campuses
that have been inflamed by the deaths of more Black people at the
hands of police and a pandemic that has worsened inequities.
Students at the University of Pennsylvania last week also sharply
criticized an email from campus leaders that talked about Wallace’s
“death” but didn’t mention police. The city is preparing to release
video of Wallace’s shooting on Wednesday.
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In a statement, Haverford said: “The College supports our students in
pursuit of both a truly just and equitable society as well as systemic
change at Haverford." The college has responded to students and
"welcomes the full community’s reflection while looking forward to
doing the work associated with the process of reform.”
It’s unclear how many students are participating in the strike, but it
also is impacting Bryn Mawr College, which has a close relationship
with Haverford in which students at each campus can take classes at
the other. Some Bryn Mawr students have joined in the strike in
solidarity.
Student organizers estimate several hundred students — about 1,000
are living on campus — are involved and encouraging the rest to take
part. Some faculty also have canceled classes in solidarity, including
members of the anthropology department, said Madison, a psychology
and linguistics major from Dayton, Ohio.
https://www.inquirer.com/education/haverford-protest-walter-wallace-police-strike-students-20201103.html
Page 3 of 12
Haverford College strike: Students protest over officials’ comments on Walter Wallace Jr. death
11/6/20, 12:06 PM
» READ MORE: How Haverford, Swarthmore, and other small
college campuses hope to fend off the coronavirus
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After George Floyd’s death at the hands of police in Minneapolis
earlier this year, Raymond called on the campus to become
“antiracist,” which now rings hollow to student strike organizers.
Last Wednesday, two days after Wallace’s shooting and as protests in
Philadelphia continued, Raymond and Bylander wrote to the campus
that another Black American “has met an untimely, violent death at
the hands of police.”
They continued: “Now is not the time to go to Philadelphia. Our fear is
that for every righteous protester in the street, there are other actors
afoot; we have seen this across the nation far too often, in cities large
and small, in college towns and urban centers. There are individuals
who might seek to spin this moment out of control and cause harm
and havoc.”
And participating won’t bring Wallace back, they wrote.
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https://www.inquirer.com/education/haverford-protest-walter-wallace-police-strike-students-20201103.html
Page 4 of 12
Haverford College strike: Students protest over officials’ comments on Walter Wallace Jr. death
11/6/20, 12:06 PM
“I was just really upset,” said senior Soha Saghir, former cochair of
Haverford’s honors council. "To not protest against police brutality
doesn’t make sense,” especially when it happened a few miles from
campus.
She would have liked to hear the college say: “If you want to stand up
against this injustice, we are behind you.”
Raymond and Bylander followed with another email, emphasizing that
they were not trying to suppress students' rights to protest but were
concerned about their safety.
In a letter to students Tuesday, Raymond said she affirms their right to
participate in protests as long as they follow health safety protocols,
including COVID-19 testing. She also made some concessions in other
areas.
But Madison said students found the response inadequate.
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She doesn’t want to see Raymond removed as president, she said, just
as chief equity officer.
“We don’t believe anything she has done was done with malicious
intent,” Madison said. “We believe a lot of what she has done has been
done in ignorance.”
Posted: November 3, 2020 - 5:46 PM
Susan Snyder | @ssnyderinq | ssnyder@inquirer.com
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https://www.inquirer.com/education/haverford-protest-walter-wallace-police-strike-students-20201103.html
Page 5 of 12
Haverford Students on Strike After College Officials' Comments on Walter Wallace Jr. Death
Article in the Philadelphia Inquirer by Susan Snyder published on November 3, 2020. Snyder outlines the events leading up to and occurring during the Haverford student strike.
Snyder, Susan (author)
Blanco, Holden (photographer)
2020-11-03
5 pages
born digital
2020_11_03_Philadelphia_Inquirer_Haverford College strike_ Students protest over officials’ comments on Walter Wallace Jr. death