Written by Betsy Helm, a student at Bryn Mawr College
Cross-posted from WeArePowerShift.org
What happens when you try to silence an important issue? Well, as the members of Swarthmore’s Social Responsibility Committee found out today, someone will be there to turn up the volume. Today, students participating in a march at Swarthmore College did just that–with silence.
Armed with a banner, signs, and orange patches to show solidarity with divestment, students from Swarthmore and several schools across the nation, coalition members, and supporters marched to protest Swarthmore college’s refusal to even so much as discuss fossil fuel divestment and show solidarity with Swarthmore Mountain Justice (MJ), the group spearheading the divestment campaign. Throughout the entire march, everyone remained silent, mirroring the silence with which the college has treated efforts to divest. Marchers walked from Sharples dining hall, passing through buildings and crowds and even a tour for prospective students and parents, all the way to the committee meeting displaying loud, bright signs stating “Divest Climate Destruction” and “Our Silence is Political.”
When marchers reached the site of the meeting, they lined the halls to greet all the committee members as they arrived for the meeting, offering fliers and orange solidarity patches to everyone. Some people eagerly the accepted fliers and patches, but others seemed less than enthused. There were definitely a few exasperated sighs, head shaking, and “I’m judging you right now” looks. But regardless, students kept up their silent support and solidarity with Swarthmore’s efforts.
When the two students with MJ, Maria Elena and Ben, went to take their seats at the meeting, a chorus of “solidarity snaps” broke out as marchers showed love and support, the only deviation from the silence yet. And when the door closed and the meeting began, marchers applauded each other and their supporters in honor of an action well done.
As marchers gathered their things and filed out of the building, one thing was definitely clear: some things can never be silenced.