<p>Here are two articles about the takeover of the meeting. </p>
<p>Student</a> Protestors Take Over Open Board Meeting, State Wide Array of Concerns | Daily Gazette</p>
<p>Divestment</a> Tactics Escalate: Swarthmore Board Meeting Takeover | National Review Online</p>
<p>The administration has come back with prompt, positive responses: [UPDATE:</a> Changes to A ?Day of Reflection & Organization? | The Slog](<a href=“daily.swarthmore.edu domain has changed”>daily.swarthmore.edu domain has changed)</p>
<p>Thanks for posting!</p>
<p>The Daily Gazette has printed the charts and FAQ sheet that were part of the presentation to the Board of Managers that was cut short. </p>
<p>[Swarthmore</a> Pegs Cost of Divestment at $200 Million Over 10 Years | Daily Gazette](<a href=“daily.swarthmore.edu domain has changed”>daily.swarthmore.edu domain has changed)</p>
<p>Here’s a link to another article about this topic. If you’re a current or prospective Swarthmore parent it’s probably worth a read:</p>
<p>[Swarthmore</a> Spinning Out of Control (With Videos) | National Review Online](<a href=“http://www.nationalreview.com/corner/348110/swarthmore-spinning-out-control-videos]Swarthmore”>http://www.nationalreview.com/corner/348110/swarthmore-spinning-out-control-videos)</p>
<p>I would be amused to see how many current Swarthmore parents (or even prospective Swarthmore parents) would take an article about Swarthmore from that source seriously.</p>
<p>(Note that I’m not saying there aren’t Swat parents with conservative viewpoints. Nor am I saying that conservative viewpoints are bad. What I’m saying is that a conservative periodical is not going to be providing unbiased news coverage of campus events.)</p>
<p>I was a prospective Swarthmore parent and I take it seriously.</p>
<p>Fair enough. </p>
<p>I do want to clarify, just in case it’s somehow unclear: I believe what’s going on at Swat right now should be taken very seriously indeed. I simply do not believe that The National Review provides unbiased reporting about it.</p>
<p>Harriet,</p>
<p>I’m new to these boards, and I have no dog in this hunt. My son is a HS junior, and Swarthmore is not on his radar. However, one of my closest associates at work is a Swarthmore alum, currently with one (and next year, two) kids going to school there. I came across this article and I know that he’d want to check it out, so I thought others might want to also.
I read websites all over the political spectrum. Regarding the biased nature of the source, you might want to click on a few of the links in the article and actually watch the videos and/or read some of the stuff written by the students themselves (like this one: [Swat</a> Overlaps, ?What Swarthmore Really Stands For? or, ■■■■ Your Constructive Dialogue](<a href=“http://swatoverlaps.■■■■■■■■■■/post/49900407586/what-swarthmore-really-stands-for-or-f###-your]Swat”>http://swatoverlaps.■■■■■■■■■■/post/49900407586/what-swarthmore-really-stands-for-or-f###-your)). Those links have nothing to do with the National Review.</p>
<p>Hi, Asleep at the Wheel. </p>
<p>I’m an alum. I’ve watched these and other videos, and I regularly read the student media, from the formal to the much less so (if you scroll up you’ll see that I posted a link from The Slog). I’ve also heard first-hand reports from my own current student, my recent alum, and their friends, not just over the phone and via chat but during recent visits to campus. So mine is not just a knee-jerk response to the source’s conservative slant.</p>
<p>I watched the video.</p>
<p>Swarthmore’s no longer on this family’s college list. We did visit it on our last round of college visits, and I had planned to suggest it to our second child. The videos were more than enough to remove it.</p>
<p>@HarrierMWelsch</p>
<p>What’s your thoughts? I saw the video and couldn’t help but wonder what Swarthmore Alumni, parents and students thought…</p>
<p>(Of course, as a Florida Gator, my response to the video was a strong urge to TASE them ALL! Students, innocent bystanders, the janitorial crew…)
[University</a> of Florida Taser incident - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia](<a href=“http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/University_of_Florida_Taser_incident]University”>University of Florida Taser incident - Wikipedia)</p>
<p>Swarthmore is about to launch a capital campaign to fund their new strategic plan. I really doubt that President Chopp and the Board of Managers are going to be willing to signal to alumni and other donors that the college is willing to give up an estimated $200 million over the next decade in order to mollify Mountain Justice.</p>
<p>Of course one can argue whether or not the $200 million cost is a good estimate of the cost to the endowment from divestment, but it is the Board of Managers’ estimate, and it seems foolish to assume that there would be zero cost to such a move. I think it will be hard to go to donors and make the big ask at the same time the college seems to be willing to shoot itself in the foot financially (if they were to institute the divestment Mountain Justice is advocating).</p>
<p>Now if the college felt that the cost of divestment were small and that Mountain Justice members and sympathizers had hundreds of millions of dollars they were ready and able to donate to the college, things might play out differently. But students, even noisy ones, are only at the college for a few years and any college takes a much longer perspective on things. The Board of Managers and President Chopp will have many things in mind, including not only the upcoming capital campaign but also the college’s 150th anniversary celebration next year. It will be interesting to see how they navigate these challenges.</p>
<p>All these students have done is to ensure that there will be no more open board meetings where anything serious is discussed or decided, only closed ones. The video is not an edifying spectacle. The circling thing and the “leave now or join us” bit were all creepy and intimidating. </p>
<p>If these students want to be taken seriously, they shouldn’t act like middle school bullies.</p>
<p>^That’s actually quite false. Three or four board members said to me, “we need to do something like this every board meeting.”</p>
<p>When you’re standing up for yourself after getting publicly raped on campus, I wouldn’t exactly call that acting “like middle school bullies.”</p>
<p>Much of the problem with this discussion is that so many issues are getting rolled together there is no clarity or thoughtfulness that can lead to true problem solving. While there may be some thematic similarities between the divestment question and on-campus rape/student safety - e.g. protection and vulnerability - broad indictments are unhelpful and make individuals sound foolish and reactive. Students must be safe on campus and should expect that they be protected - totally fair and reasonable. Deciding that fraternities are the source of evil (and I’m not pro-Greek) and therefore should be abolished spreads the blame farther than necessary, inflames the situation unnecessarily and inappropriately accuses innocent bystanders (and yes some are). Do you really expect that people are going to stay neutral if they have been unfairly accused? Now the fervor indicts the entire school through the demands of divestment - “you’re either with us or against us.” Isn’t there a moral responsibility to consider the future of the school and its solvency? - especially a school that encourages students to have these conversations.</p>
<p>I have read this with interest as the parent of a soon to be freshman. From my discussions with students on admitted students day, neither concern (eg divestment/sexual harassment ) seemed to be of serious concern. Having seen the video, I must admit that the “protest” seemed a bit staged, as if it had been organized rather than an organic movement. I wonder how much of it is the formalized agenda of an outside group? As a former prosecutor, I can say that the sexual harassment/potential rape issues are concerning. But these dynamics are complex, and need to be approached as such. Simple sound bites don’t address the multi faceted issues adequately.</p>
<p>Another article on this topic, written by a Swarthmore student, is on WSJ’s editorial page. Here’s the link: [Danielle</a> Charette: My Top-Notch Illiberal Arts Education - WSJ.com](<a href=“Danielle Charette: My Top-Notch Illiberal Arts Education - WSJ”>Danielle Charette: My Top-Notch Illiberal Arts Education - WSJ)</p>
<p>There’s a perception that the sexual assault issues aren’t of much concern? Isn’t that concerning in and of itself?</p>
<p>AsleepAtTheWheel - thanks for the WSJ article - thoughtfully written and seemingly balanced in comparison to the video of the board meeting. Power grabs don’t lead to discourse, greater understanding and resolution. They are counter to everything that liberalism stands for.</p>