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11/5/2020
Haverford College Mail - [Hclibrary-staff] Fwd: [HC-STRIKE] Seeking Support re: Bullying
Elizabeth Jones-Minsinger
[Hclibrary-staff] Fwd: [HC-STRIKE] Seeking Support re: Bullying
Terry Snyder
To: hclibrary-staff
Thu, Nov 5, 2020 at 3:33 PM
Friends,
I am sharing this email with you as a way to give direct voice to students on the matter of the emerging narrative of
bullying. As discussed this morning, we have all heard this framework of bullying from students and faculty, and as I
reported it was also discussed and debated at the faculty meeting. I appreciate the framework that students are offering
here and plan on internalizing this thinking. I encourage you to think about it as well. Doing so will help advance our work
of anti-racism and anti-whte supremacy work that is required of us.
With best wishes,
Terry
---------- Forwarded message --------From: Brandon Pita
Date: Thu, Nov 5, 2020 at 1:29 PM
Subject: [HC-STRIKE] Seeking Support re: Bullying
To:
Good afternoon,
I hope this finds you at a great point in your day. I'm just passing along a message from the HC-Strike
organizing team regarding the “bullying” narrative emerging on campus. If you have any questions,
comments, or concerns please submit them here or reach out directly to disrupt.haverford@gmail.com.
As a result of the harm imposed by members of Haverford’s administration and the organizing that
ensued which led us to the strike today, the, so-called, Haverford community has seemingly never been more
polarized. Having reflected on the many different responses to this movement, we recognize a need to
rebuild some level of trust and understanding within this community. While the college takes the time and
energy to outline our demands to their fullest extent (i.e budgets, timelines, and established oversight), we
would like to work towards bridging the divisions within the community so that we can all move forward
with transforming the college into the anti-racist institution we believe it can be.
In previous correspondences, President Raymond has expressed deep respect for the passion and hard
work that BIPOC students have exhibited as they pursue systemic change at Haverford. Students have
written statements, held office hours, town halls, and facilitated one-on-one meetings all in the hopes that
students and faculty would support these anti-racist efforts. Fortunately, a lot of this work through the strike
is now occurring at a community-wide level, with students educating one another and learning alongside
each other. Unfortunately, these conversations have been deemed as “bullying” acts and “attacks” on
‘innocent’ students. Upholding the narrative that student organizers are bullying other members of this
community is deeply problematic. These narratives and accusations are not only false, but also play into
racist, tone-policing, reactions that spawn out of white discomfort. These narratives serve the purpose of
undermining and delegitimizing the work of the organizers and BIPOC that are striving to bring concrete,
structural change to the college and the community. While bringing the issues of BIPOC and FGLI students
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11/5/2020
Haverford College Mail - [Hclibrary-staff] Fwd: [HC-STRIKE] Seeking Support re: Bullying
to the forefront of everyone’s mind and disrupting the college’s processes to do so may be uncomfortable for
some, we would like to remind folks that BIPOC and FGLI don’t exist at this college for the benefit of those
from more privileged backgrounds. Our voices will be heard and our demands will be met even if it makes
those from the dominant groups uncomfortable.
The rhetoric of "bully-ing" in characterizing BIPOC-led anti-racist efforts as aggressive is a
continuation in a long line of criminalizing and vilifying folks of color, especially Black people. It has
historically been used to stifle Black and brown leftist movements. As Dr. Zuleyka Zevallos states, “there is
no ‘nice’ way to talk about racism.” The discomfort that arises from these conversations does not warrant
highly charged labels such as “bullying.” To say that students from underrepresented and marginalized
backgrounds are bullying other members of the community, most of which share dominant and privileged
identities, does not recognize the importance of understanding where power is positioned and inequitably
distributed across this community and the countless other communities like it across the nation. Many of the
professors, students, and parents claiming to be bullied hold privileged identities and positions of power over
the same BIPOC students that are asking them to meet the bare minimum in recognizing their humanity. The
reality is that many faculty, students and parents are simply uninformed on the lived experiences of BIPOC,
and therefore perceive ill-intent in confrontation and conversation on their lack of support around systemic
and institutional change. Although there are sessions in Customs— and now during the strike— meant to
teach students about identity, privilege, power, positionality, race, racism, classism, etc., many students have
seemingly forgotten these teachings and have proceeded to demonize BIPOC and FGLI students for our
transformational anti-racist efforts.
We are asking you, as someone with some form of power within the community, to make a statement
to your networks condemning these oppressive and racist narratives. These accusations are inappropriate and
harmful to BIPOC and we are severely limited in our ability to bring real institutional change if not all
community members are receptive to change and sympathetic to our generations-long struggle. We ask that
you release this statement as soon as possible in order to relieve organizers and members of the community
in support of these antiracist efforts from this incredible burden.
In anger and in power,
Women of Color House, Black Students Refusing Further Inaction, Black Student League, and every single
BIPOC student this institution has failed
-Brandon Pita (He/Him)
Haverford College | Class of 2022
B.A. Candidate in Sociology
Mellon Mays Undergraduate Fellow
-Terry Snyder
Librarian of the College
Haverford College
370 Lancaster Avenue • Haverford, PA 19041
(610) 896-1272 desk
(she, her, hers)
_______________________________________________
Hclibrary-staff mailing list
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Haverford College Mail - [Hclibrary-staff] Fwd: [HC-STRIKE] Seeking Support re: Bullying
Hclibrary-staff@lists.haverford.edu
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Seeking Support re: Bullying
Email from Brandon Pita, Class of 2022, circulated on behalf of Women of Color (WOC) House, Black Students Refusing Further Inaction (BSRFI), and the Black Students League. The email discusses perceived bullying of students by strike organizers, which the authors attribute to white discomfort with calls by Black and brown people for radical transformation. The email was forwarded to library staff by Terry Snyder.
Women of Color (WOC) House (author)
Black Students Refusing Further Inaction (BSRFI) (author)
Haverford College Black Students League (author)
Pita, Brandon (author)
Snyder, Theresa R., 1960- (contributor)
2020-11-05
3 pages
born digital
2020_11_05_[Hclibrary-staff] Fwd_ [HC-STRIKE] Seeking Support re_ Bullying