Oh wow! I never thought my post I posted two years ago would receive so many comments, get closed down and even have a new thread created separately in response.
I just randomly decided to hop on here since I checked my spam inbox a couple of weeks ago only to see so many notifications from the original thread and now this new one! It’s spring break right now, so I hope to answer some of the questions in this thread and my original one.
@PNWmama, I’m glad my original post was of some use and you gained knowledge/insight about the woke dumpster fire that is Haverford College. There are so many people online who have never attended Haverford that will tell you my time there is not an accurate portrayal of the school—they are wrong. Haverford itself has proudly memorialized the strike and is even archiving materials from the strike to further please the woke activists that dominate the student body.
Honestly, it’s crazy to me that I’m two years out from HC. I suppose that’s what hindsight can do to you, but I’m so grateful that I made the decision in Spring 2021 to transfer out of that place. Similar to what @OldbatesieDoc wrote above, the school (students, faculty and, most importantly, the administration) was hostile and dismissive to certain students; those who did not “submit” to put it one way. I was severely depressed to the point of being suicidal. While it would be unfair to solely blame HC for my mental health struggles, I would be doing a grave disservice to all prospective applicants/Fords if I did not call out the school for its gross neglect and abuse of students like me.
Haverford College does not care about its students. The school submits to intolerance, wokeism and “political” activism that honestly is less political than it is emotional and manipulative. Politics implies civil governance, an organization that encourages respectful debate; at Haverford, civility does not exist.
It is alarming to me that colleges and universities across America, as well as the world, are succumbing to this ideology and culture of intolerance, division and hatred. I am originally from the UK, and it is sad to see that it has made its way across the pond.
My hope is that parents wake up to this reality. As much as people like to say that these colleges aren’t “hotbeds of social justice warriors and political activism,” listen to past students—students who have experienced life at these colleges and are telling you that they do breed intolerance, division and hatred. When identity functions by proxy for someone’s entire self worth, for someone’s GPA and for someone’s right to belong at a college that swore to be welcoming of all backgrounds, especially as a historically Quaker institution, there is something seriously wrong happening.
Transferring colleges was the best decision I could have made for myself as a student and a person. In my original post, I wrote about wanting to transfer to a UC; I ended up leaving HC, attending community college for a year and then applying to many UCs and also some in-state and out-of-state private schools as a prospective junior transfer ('24). My choices narrowed down to these five schools: Notre Dame, Pomona College, UCSB, Rice and Cal Poly SLO. All five of these institutions were amazing choices (it came down to Pomona and UCSB), but I ended up choosing Pomona College! Honestly, everyday I am so proud of myself that I had the opportunity and courage to do so. I received a significant scholarship from a Southern California CC organization and another named award. I also wanted to stay close to home for financial reasons.
Yes, Pomona is a liberal arts college, but it is nothing like Haverford. People are inclusive here, like actually inclusive, not just in a performative sense like at Haverford. Here at Pomona, I am able to do work in different political spheres (Claremont Institute and then also the Democrats of the Claremont Colleges), something I never would have even allowed to explore at Haverford. The academic rigor at both the community college I attended and Pomona is higher than Haverford lol. I am double majoring in CS and philosophy. I chose these majors in part because of my time at HC; the lack of ethics and morals at that school made me realize that I want to help ensure ethics and morals exist everywhere. If ethics do not exist, well, we know what happens since Haverford is a perfect example.
I hope this response helps you decide whether Haverford College is the right place for your son. It makes my blood boil how the school says that it claims to love everyone with all of the Quakerism and inner light beliefs, but it’s a lie: Haverford will not care about your child if they do not “submit.”