Prior to the 2020 Strike
March 12th, 1970: a group of 35 black students and 45 white students marched to visit President McBride and deliver another, longer, and more specific list of demands from the 1968-1969 year. (1)
- Among the list of demands were the addition of five new courses to the curriculum (Black Intellectual History, the History of the American Working People, the Black Family, Black Political Participation, and the Black Urban Experience), the hiring of four Black Studies professors, and updating the library’s offerings to adequately represent Black authors and intellectuals.
- “One of the demands issued on March 12 was the creation of a cultural house. They initially requested Spanish House (Perry House) but were told by President McBride that Spanish House was slated to become Russian House by a 2 year-old agreement. My research leads me to believe that the students of the Sisterhood were given Longmaid House as a result of the March 12 demonstration, although I have been unable to find sufficient evidence for this claim. What we do know is that on March 12 they demanded a cultural center and in her response to their demands, President McBride definitively promised a center. Later, in 1972, we know that students of the Sisterhood protested the conditions in Longmaid House (which was in such disrepair it was considered useless as both a cultural center and residence) to President Wofford. Longmaid House, located at 1000 New Gulph Road near the Batten property, would go on to play an important role in the first fight for Perry in 1972.” – https://blackatbrynmawr.blogs.brynmawr.edu/2015/03/17/unwavering-dissent-part-i/#identifier_7_149
February 28, 1972: The women of Sisterhood issued to Dean McPherson and President Wofford a demand for Perry House.
March 8th, 1972: President Wofford promises Sisterhood* Perry House
Spring 1988: “the Bryn Mawr Minority Coalition printed a petition in the College News calling for mobilization against racism and classism in course curricula. The petition, signed by more than 400 students and several faculty members, came on the heels of a decision made by College administration in 1987 to not hire new faculty for courses on the histories of marginalized groups, but to incorporate histories of women of color into existing courses instead.”
https://blackatbrynmawr.blogs.brynmawr.edu/2015/04/09/institutional-change/ (2)
April 8, 1988: “a list of the Minority Coalition’s demands were printed in the College News. These demands included hiring more faculty of color, increased pay for Bryn Mawr’s majority Black housekeeping and food service staff, and seminars to increase sensitivity to issues of racism and classism on campus.” https://blackatbrynmawr.blogs.brynmawr.edu/2015/04/09/institutional-change/
November 14th 1988: In reaction to the Minority Coalition’s forum to form an action plan to combat racism on campus, the bathrooms in Thomas Great Hall and Campus Center were found covered in graffiti. There was graffiti affirming all marginalized groups on campus in response to bigoted graffiti targeting Jewish, lesbian, and Latina students.
1998: Kwanza Price, a student at BMC, calls attention to the structural demise and calls for a larger commitment from the college to creating a thriving Black cultural space. https://cookcenter.blogs.brynmawr.edu/2015/05/05/a-comprehensive-history-of-perry-house/?fbclid=IwAR1T7_R-9LUER-ujhq_dt5gyD3gjuumSB99W-0jSyUpU55ucazkLUhQlWts
Fall 2012: Perry House is deemed inhospitable due to lack of institutional upkeep and is closed. Students start a long and arduous process of trying to convince the college to fund the upkeep of the cultural center. This includes plenary resolutions, emails, protests, and more.
September 2014: White students in Radnor hang up a confederate flag and draw the mason-dixon line on the floor. College administration responded to the event belatedly and provided conflicting advice, leaving many students feeling unsupported.
November 2015: Student release a list of demands including “Perry House will NOT be demolished” and the renaming of “Thomas Hall”
2018: Student protest to rename Thomas Hall and remove the inscription of her name (the Board of Trustees elect to change the name but not remove her portrait or inscription)
Strike 2020
October 29 2020: BiCo Students go on strike in response to the death of Walter Wallace Jr. in Philadelphia, Haverford College’s response, and ongoing systemic racism within the institution.
November 3rd: Bryn Mawr Strike Collective releases their demands
- Strike from Class, Strike from work (except non-BIPOC dining hall workers), and Strike from all extracurriculars including athletics.
November 6th: Response from the College on the strike
November 6th: Sit-in at Old Library
November 6th-9th: Sometime between this, faculty are told to start teaching classes again amidst concerns for accreditation. Faculty that had canceled classes due to the strike start teaching classes, many supportive faculty hold class as a space to discuss the strike and continue anti-racist work.
Some professors do not penalize students that are still striking. On the other hand, some professors start penalizing students for missing class, forcing students to face academic repercussions for continuing to strike.
November 9th: The first teach-in “Imagining Radical Access” is held. The Strike teach-in program would go on to organize and host multiple teach-ins a day for the rest of the strike.
November 9th: President Cassidy sends an email out to the student body.
“ I support any student’s right to protest, and I am deeply committed to the transformation of Bryn Mawr College as it aspires to be an anti-racist institution, but our community is being torn apart by a lack of cooperative action and, more seriously, by a lack of respect for one another as individuals and by actions that have no place on this campus.
In my communication to the community yesterday, I urged respect and honoring of individual rights. Whatever the important goals of the strike and the demands, the College cannot countenance shaming, harassment, and intimidation of students or faculty to achieve them. The College cannot and will not tolerate a climate of fear where, amongst other examples, students are afraid to eat in the dining halls for fear of humiliation or for being seen as racist. The acts of intimidation that I am witnessing and that many students and faculty have described violate the core principles of the Honor Code and violate our obligations to one another as members of a community. They are also unproductive in achieving the stated goals of the strike.”
November 9th: A sit-in outside of Goodheart is organized in response to President Cassidy’s email accusing the strike of tearing the community apart.
November 11th: Haverford strike ends but Bryn Mawr strike continues
November 11th: Town Hall with administration, students, faculty, and staff
November 13th: Town Hall. President Cassidy, Tim Harte, and Dean Walters state that they will step-down if they don’t meet the strike demands.
November 14th: Sit-in at Taylor Drive
November 16th: President Cassidy apologies for her previous statement surrounding bullying and responds to the strike demands.
November 17th: Town Hall to discuss President Cassidy’s response to the strike demands
November 18th: Report card released on the college’s response to the strike demands – https://docs.google.com/document/d/110A6mqq9vH-7L7ALrxm3soHtojurlrib9ClrgFoe7ZM/edit
November 19th: Strike ends “This strike was a response to the legacy of trauma and anguish and the historic lack of sympathy, true productivity, and an adequate response from the College. Through this strike, we have collaborated with students, faculty, staff, and alums. We have researched theories, policies, realities, and practices to inform our own methods, structures, and documents. The collective held town halls to hear and to engage the College in all discourse, produced educational opportunities for all members of the College to attend, and reimagined the structures that perpetuate racism, white supremacy, and other systemic inequities. Although the strike has come to an end, we urge all of you to join us as we transform from the Bryn Mawr Strike Collective into the Bryn Mawr Black Student Liberatory Coalition.”