Six Months After Student-Led Strike, Impact Still Lingers for Haverford College

By

Student-led strike
Haverford College sophomore Rasaaq Shittu, a strike organizer, said the strike was meant to "stop people in their tracks" so they could "recognize our pain and trauma and do something about it." Image via Alejandro A. Alvarez, Staff Photographer, The Philadelphia Inquirer.

A student-led strike at Haverford College brought antiracism reforms to the campus. It also caused disruption and charges of bullying that are keeping the community divided six months on, writes Susan Snyder for The Philadelphia Inquirer.

Days after Walter Wallace Jr. was shot to death by police in Philadelphia and in response to what students of color said was longstanding neglect and poor treatment of nonwhite students at Haverford, strike organizers asked professors to cancel classes and their fellow students to refrain from attending.

The student-led strike lasted for two weeks, during which most of the formal education was brought to a standstill.

The administration was then forced to find ways on how not to silence the concerns of Black students amid a national reckoning over race while also dealing with accusations of bullying and providing an education for all of its students.

Today, the administration is still trying to find ways to help its community heal.

Among other things, the school organized listening tours and webinars on educating the campus on antiracism and fostering conversation. But the effects still linger.

“This is not a quick fix,” said interim dean Joyce Bylander.

Read more about student-led strike at Haverford College in The Philadelphia Inquirer.

Stay Connected, Stay Informed

Subscribe for great stories in your community!

"*" indicates required fields

Hidden
MT Yes
This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.
Advertisement