Swarthmore College students disband fraternities associated with sexual violence, Pennsylvania, U.S.A., 2019

Swarthmore College, a liberal arts college located just 11 miles southwest of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, has a history of fraternity and “Greek life” and college social organizations in the United States that involve members living together in designated houses and participating in various social and philanthropic events. Since the establishment of the two fraternity chapters, Phi Psi and Delta Upsilon, in 1889 and 1894, respectively, there have been numerous cases of sexual assault, homophobia, and racism associated with them. Throughout the history of the fraternities, Swarthmore students and survivors of sexual harassment and assault wrote and filed numerous reports with the college’s Title IX office and expressed their concerns to the Swarthmore administration for the harm done by these fraternities. (Title IX is a federal civil rights law that prohibits sex discrimination and protects against sexual harassments and assaults in educational institutions). Despite these student actions, Swarthmore College remained unresponsive and failed to address the cases effectively. In tandem with student organizing around Title IX policies, students also formed the Swarthmore Coalition to End Fraternity Violence. This student-led and mainly women-led Coalition began its efforts by pressuring the administration to end its ties with the fraternities and to ban Greek life from campus with multilateral support from the student body, faculty, alums, and the surrounding community.

On 3 April, 2019, Swarthmore Coalition to End Fraternity Violence created a Tumblr page, "Why Swarthmore's Fraternities Must Go", an anonymous online submission-based archive that allowed individuals to share their first or second-hand experience with fraternities on Swarthmore’s campus and also their hopes for transforming the spaces occupied by Phi Psi and Delta Upsilon. This marked the beginning of their campaign to disband Swarthmore’s fraternities. Daria Mateescu '20, Morgin Goldberg '19, Olivia Smith '21, and Amal Haddad '22 were identified as the leaders of this Coalition, making the Coalition a fully women-led campaign. Various clubs and organizations on campus began sending their letters of support in solidarity with the Swarthmore Coalition to End Fraternity Violence. 

The Coalition's demands were three-fold: 1) Swarthmore terminates its leases with the two fraternities, (2) Swarthmore bans Phi Psi and Delta Upsilon altogether, (3) Swarthmore works with marginalized communities in reimagining the use of the space after the fraternities are dissolved. As submissions to the Tumblr page and campus student publications, such as The Phoenix and Voices, continued to gain momentum, campus awareness of the issue rose.

Momentum peaked among the student body two weeks later on 18 April, when The Phoenix and Voices received an anonymous leak about Phi Psi, including a 12-page description of meeting minutes that detailed the racism, homophobia, sexual assault, and other explicit violations of human rights and campus safety that members of the fraternity committed at an annual Phi Psi tradition party. Days later, Voices published another anonymous leak in Voices, containing 21 pages of "internal minutes" from the other fraternity, Delta Upsilon, which similarly detailed acts of discrimination and violation. Organization 4 Survivors and the Swarthmore Coalition to End Fraternity Violence met to plan a protest during a meeting of the College’s Task Force on Student Social Events and Community Standards. The campaign received an outpouring of support from students, campus organizations, alums, faculty, staff, and families. In publications and news articles, alums and students across different class years shared their experiences with the fraternities and their frustration toward the administration for their unresponsiveness.

Later that day, on 18 April,, in a letter to the student body, Dean Jim Terhune expressed his and the administration's share of outrage toward the outright discriminatory actions and violation of rights detailed in the leaked documents. Terhune promised that the committee would discuss the incidents in the Task Force on Student Social Events and Community Standards meeting. However, the administration was widely unsupportive of the student protests and actions happening across campus and showed frustrations through email communications and interactions with students toward the campaign. Student protesters expressed frustration and anger at the administration's attempt to suppress the campaign by framing their protests as "harassment." 

The following day, on 19 April, around one hundred people gathered in Parrish Hall on Swarthmore College’s campus and demanded the Task Force on Student Social Events and Community Standards release its recommendations immediately. However, David Singleton '68, Board of Managers Co-chair, relayed to the protesters that the Task Force had not finalized its recommendation and report at that time. 

As the student body awaited a response from Swarthmore's administration, the Coalition and organizations on campus continued to organize to dissolve the fraternities and the termination of its lease. The Swarthmore Coalition to End Fraternity Violence initiated an Action Network campaign: A Google Form pledge created by Priya Dietrich '18, titled "No Donation Pledge: Swarthmore must terminate its leases with fraternities." This survey  circulated among students, alums, and parents of students. The Coalition encouraged individuals to withhold donations to the College until the College met the Coalition's demands. In the hope of creating new associations and meanings to the space now held by fraternities, Swarthmore Coalition to End Fraternity Violence, Organization 4 Survivors, and Sync-Up Zero Waste hosted an event called "Transforming the Frat Spaces: Takeover and Sleepover" on the evening of 20 April . To their shock, the students discovered that student artwork and the door of the Intercultural Center had been vandalized with paint the night before the event. No one knew the identities of the perpetrator(s), but the Intercultural Center Interns wrote an open letter to the student body condemning the vandals and underlined that the Intercultural Center would remain strong in the face of intimidation.

The following week, student protestors attempted to initiate conversations and raise their demands with school officials. On 22 April, core members from Organization 4 Survivors asked Andrew Barclay, who served as a liaison with the fraternity, to discontinue the college’s permitting of event requests by the fraternities. Two days later, on 24 April, Organization 4 Survivors members protested outside Dean Nathan Miller's office, questioning his negligence on fraternity misconduct and violations. As of 24 April, the Coalition’s petition had received 894 submissions.

On 27 April, Swarthmore students started a sit-in at the Phi Psi fraternity house. The Coalition led numerous student activists in chants and displayed banners that wrote: "this house is ours" and "decades of violence behind this door." In response to the sit-in, members of Phi Psi mocked the protesters and called Public Safety, which later involved Swarthmore Borough Police. Phi Psi leadership claimed they rejected Swarthmore Borough Police's offer to arrest students participating in the sit-in, but Police presence continued throughout the sit-in into Sunday. 

The sit-in grew: at times, over one hundred students were present at the lodge. Efforts from the student body, alums, faculty, staff, family, and clubs and organizations continued to fuel the campaign. On 28 April, President Val Smith, in an open letter, shared her decision to suspend fraternity activities pending the outcome of the external investigation.

The two fraternities, Phi Psi and Delta Upsilon, announced their voluntary disbandment on the night of 30 April, the fourth day of the sit-in. Student activists celebrated their victory. The Coalition released a statement, “DU AND PHI PSI HAVE DISBANDED, BUT WE ARE NOT DONE,” claiming continued action until the administration formally terminated the fraternity leases and met all of their demands. 

The Task Force on Student Social Events and Community Standards released its Final Report on 3 May. The report elaborated on the Task Force's recommendation to end leasing practices in general, increase oversight, and discuss future use for the houses. The report also mentioned that an agreement was not made on whether to ban Greek life entirely on campus.

On 10 May, in "An Update on Student Social Events and Community Standards from President Smith", President Val Smith officially ended the College's leases with the fraternities and banned Greek Letter Organizations altogether while promising future negotiations with students on the utilization of the space. All three of the Swarthmore Coalition to End Fraternity Violence's demands were met by the College.