I am an 81-year-old African American Swarthmore alum who received an honorary doctorate from the college in 2012 for my multi-layered work: in social justice movements, beginning in the 1960's civil rights movement as a staff organizer in the Deep South with the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC); in documentary film production (14-hour PBS series "Eyes on the Prize", etc.) and in education (most recently as co-director of 2 NEH teacher institutes, etc.).I have always been proud to say I entered the Movement through the open environment created at Swarthmore, which supported student activists like those in the Swarthmore Political Action Committee (SPAC). I write now to support those demonstrating on Swarthmore's campus for Palestinian rights and to condemn the college's repressive crackdown on peaceful student protest. This repression does not reflect the Swarthmore that I remember. Rather, the Swarthmore I experienced nurtured me and led me to a life-long involvement in social justice work.I am close friends with Jewish SNCC veterans, now supporters of Jewish Voice for Peace, Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch and other groups that continue to condemn and organize against the genocide Israel is committing in Gaza. Just yesterday I was further enraged by a front page New York Times article with the headline: "Officers Say Gaza Nears Starvation", quoting even Israel's own military officers. We should all be enraged, as Israel commits what is clearly a war crime against the Palestinian people.Therefore, I support those on Swarthmore's campus who are strongly protesting the deliberate killing and starvation of non-combatant Palestinian peoples, the bombing of hospitals, and the decimation of all things Palestinian by the Israeli government... all with strong U.S. support. If I were on campus, I would join them. We must resist and resist strongly!

Is Swarthmore really more concerned about the big chair having graffiti on it, or a few people protesting on the lawn, than about people’s actual lives (students and non-students, not to mention the lives of Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank)?Involving the police and collaborating with the FBI were acts of real violence toward real human beings. It’s not complicated. This type of “it’s a hard decision” talk is famously a typical way to justify large-scale violence. (Just look at the phrase people have used to minimize Israel’s genocidal actions for decades: “It’s complicated.”)One of the most important things I learned while at Swarthmore, decades ago, was that it was part of my moral and ethical responsibility as a Jewish American to challenge Israel’s apartheid, occupation, colonization, and genocide. Another of the most important things I learned at Swarthmore was that where there is injustice, there is always resistance, and it’s our job as human beings of conscience to act against injustice. I learned that often, rules themselves are unjust, and that throughout history, courageous people have broken rules in order to transform society.These lessons changed the course of my life. They are a big part of the reason I’ve felt grateful to have gone to Swarthmore. Now I just feel betrayed.

As an alum, I am deeply disturbed that the Swarthmore administration has chosen to double down on its crackdown on protest, again sanctioning student organizers and inviting police into campus to arrest protesters for their nonviolent direct action.The Swarthmore that I know does not penalize protest. Its choice to buckle under pressure from federal overreach is both misguided (Columbia’s funding was pulled even after it capitulated) and undermines Swarthmore’s legacy of standing up against racism, McCarthyism, Apartheid, and other injustices. The administration claims that the students are not being penalized for protest, but your office cites politically motivated FBI scrutiny as one of the reasons for penalizing the protesters. The lack of due process for these protesters and, for some, the pretextual nature of the policy violations cited, is disturbing.On April 30, 2025, a group of Swarthmore students assembled on Trotter Lawn, reclaiming the space as the Hossam Shabat Liberation Zone. Hossam Shabat was a Palestinian journalist and university student who was killed by an Israeli airstrike in Gaza on March 24, 2025. He was 23 years old.Many of us first came to Swarthmore because of its oft professed commitment to peace, equity, and social responsibility, as well as Swarthmore's extensive history of student protest. It is shocking and shameful to watch Swarthmore double down on its repression of student protestors, all the more so in this moment of increased authoritarianism nationwide.As an alum, I demand that Swarthmore immediately reverse the suspensions of the targeted students and drop all charges against the protesters who were arrested.We believe that it is not too late to reverse course, drop the charges, and galvanize alumni support to offset any politically motivated reductions in Swarthmore’s federal funding.

Now more than ever we need people/institutions to stand up for the right to peaceful protest and to take a stand against genocide and the repression of marginalized communities. It's incredibly shameful that Swarthmore (especially as a college with so little to lose!) is bowing to political pressure at the expense of its values. One of the things that drew me to Swarthmore was its stated values around social responsibility and the history of activism by Swarthmore students. Now, instead of using your power as administrators to uphold the values of the college you represent, you're choosing to punish those who are willing to stand up for what's right. Saying that I'm feeling embarrassed to be a Swarthmore alum is an understatement.

The actions Swarthmore has taken do not align with the college's history or the reasons I chose to attend. These actions are absolutely shameful, and I am disheartened to see the college engage in silencing peaceful protests. Regardless of the seeming conflict of views of the protestors and the administration, peaceful demonstrations and free speech are of the utmost importance and should be protected, not punished. As long as the college continues its policy of punishment, I will be withholding donations or recommendations. It's with great sadness that I do so, because giving back and talking up my alma mater are important to me, as there are (were?) few places that compared to Swarthmore.

What you have done is more disrupting to the campus than all of the student protests combined. An authoritarian response in an authoritarian age. "But although the cliche says that power always corrupts, what is seldom said ... is that power always reveals."