Dear Swarthmore Community Members,

On Monday, Oct. 7, the student organization Swarthmore Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) posted the following message on its Instagram account: “Happy October 7th everyone! In honor of this glorious day and all our martyred revolutionaries … ”

We expected that this week’s one-year anniversary of October 7 would elicit a range of emotions and reactions across the campus community and that people would process it in different ways. We also expected some would mark the occasion with protests and acts of dissent. What we didn’t expect, however, is that members of our campus community would celebrate October 7 — a day of unimaginable violence and the death of so many innocent people. A day that began a horrendous escalation of war in the region that has claimed tens of thousands of lives and continues to cause unimaginable pain and suffering.

Swarthmore College condemns the statements made in the SJP Instagram post and rejects the glorification of violence. Celebrating the killing of innocent people is shocking and reprehensible. I would hope, despite all the various and often opposing views that exist at Swarthmore, we can at least agree on that.

Some will read this email and say we’re unfairly targeting SJP. That’s not the case. If a student organization publicly celebrated the deaths of Palestinians, we would be equally outraged. This is not about taking sides; this is an appeal to those responsible for the post to truly think about what it means to be part of a community and how your words affect those around you.

Some will say we’re stifling SJP’s rights of expression. The post itself is evidence that this is not the case. Beyond that, our job — the College’s mission — is to prepare students to contribute to a better world, including by building an “inclusive residential community that enriches our experiences and expands our worldviews.” Wishing followers a “Happy October 7th” and referring to it as a “glorious day” flies in the face of those goals.

Some will say we’re being overly sensitive or that we’re mischaracterizing the language used. Any reasonable, objective reading of the post would prove otherwise. We have received dozens of complaints from students, faculty, staff, parents, alumni, and others from beyond our community who read this post the same way.

Campus resources for those who were hurt or offended by the SJP post are listed below. Students, I hope you are using the resources that feel best to you. Whether that be CAPS, the Interfaith Center, the Intercultural Center, your student deans, your friends, or your faculty, I hope you are finding comfort in your immediate community.

Sincerely,

Stephanie Ives
Vice President for Student Affairs

The College has resources to help support campus community members through challenging times such as these. Students may reach out to Counseling and Psychological Services or the Interfaith Center. The student deans in the Division of Student Affairs are also available to assist in a variety of ways. Faculty and staff members have access to support through our employee assistance program, Carebridge, which is secure and confidential.