回收旧图书馆

On March 21, President Kim Cassidy and the Board of Trustees announced that later this year the College will remove the inscription honoring Bryn Mawr’s second president, M. 凯里·托马斯，老图书馆入口.

在给社区的留言中, the board explained that the decision reflects an acknowledgment of “the harm and hurt Thomas’s legacy of exclusion, racism, and antisemitism has caused for so many” and the continued damage inflicted by the presence of the inscription on the building.

“This decision,卡西迪在另一条信息中写道, 是经过董事会非常仔细的研究和审议后达成的, is reflective of how our thinking must continue to evolve as we seek to create a campus community that feels inclusive and welcoming to all.”

倾听与学习

移除碑文的决定是经过几年的倾听和对话之后做出的, where the board sought out the reflections and experiences of many in the community—including students, alumnae/i, staff, faculty, 还有管理人员，他们正在为实现公平和归属感而进行校园工作.

从1935年到2017年，旧图书馆被称为托马斯图书馆. 在2017年弗吉尼亚州夏洛茨维尔的白人至上抗议活动之后., 卡西迪在2018年董事会的一项决定中宣布暂停使用该名称, 这座建筑被重新命名为旧图书馆.

在研究社会公平建设方面取得的进展, open, diverse, 自2018年更名以来，包容性校园, the board concluded that retaining Thomas’s inscription on the building “now sends an unwelcoming message too powerfully placed to be offset or clarified by countering narratives elsewhere.”

寻求平衡

Cassidy stressed in her March message that the College will not erase Thomas from its official history, but rather will seek balance in how she is credited for her work in women’s education while acknowledging the social beliefs she held and promulgated that conflict with our current values at the College.

“我们认识到解决托马斯遗产的各个方面的重要性,” said Cassidy, 解释碑文, along with the previously displayed bust sculpture and oil portrait of Thomas currently in storage, will be accessible for further intellectual inquiry that allows for purposeful engagement with these objects and a reckoning with the full stories behind them.

During her tenure as dean of the College from 1884 to 1894 and then as president until her retirement in 1922, Thomas was one of the country’s leading public advocates for women’s education and was also prominent in the women’s suffrage, women’s rights, 以及世界和平运动. 她的去世引起了美国各地教育机构领导人的悼念.S. who recognized and praised her significant national impact on higher education for women at both the graduate and undergraduate levels.

像托马斯一样坚定地努力为女性建立一流的学术机构, 她的视野仅限于富裕的白人妇女的教育, and her embrace of eugenics and outspoken racist and antisemitic beliefs have caused pain for generations of students, staff, and faculty.

通过移除铭文, the College strives to open a door to healing and encourage the continuing work to make Bryn Mawr a community of welcome and belonging.

This step is part of a broader effort to provide the College community with opportunities for engagement, reflection, 并为解决校园种族偏见的系统性问题做出贡献. The acknowledgment of Thomas’s complicated legacy is seen as a key step in a larger process of articulating and embracing a fuller sense of the College’s past.

参与社区

作为回收旧图书馆过程的一部分, the campus community came together in April for two events designed to connect the building with the College’s current values and aspirations and recreate it as a space of campus ownership and belonging.

第一件事, on April 14, 聚焦于老图书馆的历史, 包括最近对当前学生的用法和意义的反思, faculty, and staff. Professor Emerita of Sociology Mary Osirim reflected on hearing Angela Davis and other icons of activism speak in the space, 而罗布·威廉姆斯, 长期的客房服务员, 分享了他自己对这个空间的回忆. Fatmata Sesay ' 23, who serves as serves as SGA’s Social Justice and Equity Chair and a student coordinator for the Black at Bryn Mawr program, 谈到她如何欢迎最近的决定, 在布林莫尔的大部分时间里，她在这栋楼里感到不舒服.

该活动还提供了回收空间的切实途径, 包括互动舞蹈表演和在岩石上画画的机会, 传达社区成员希望在建筑中看到的价值观和情感.

A second event, 一周后在泰勒大道举行, gave the campus community an opportunity to enjoy music and ice cream and get creative as they shared ideas—in words and images—about who else they would like to see recognized on the walls of Old Library and what events or alternative traditions they would like to bring to Old Library/Great Hall. 创作的作品成为大会堂临时展览的一部分.     

展望未来

布林·莫尔的学生, faculty, and staff have long been engaged in exploring the College’s histories and legacies (see sidebar on previous page). 自出版 献给雅典娜的祭品, 推荐全球十大博彩公司排行榜的125周年纪念文集, in 2010, the College has increasingly formalized its support of ways to share its rich histories—including the Black at Bryn Mawr tour, 数字和实物展品包括 谁建造了布林茅尔?, 和HIST 268讲述布林莫尔的历史, 引导学生对学院档案进行研究的实践课程.

“创造一个包容和归属感的校园的工作是持续的，需要关注, renewal, 有目的的行动,卡西迪说. “I am proud of the work we are collectively doing to understand our past and simultaneously create new systems that promote equity, inclusion, 以及对未来的归属感.”

The 历史部分 浏览学院网站, 现在被命名为“历史与遗产概述”,” has been streamlined to better reflect ongoing College projects of reckoning and repair and to provide links to past history projects and related resources.