PHOTO ESSAY: Coalition to Diversify the Presidency Marches on Founders

Marchers in the March to Diversify the Presidency

Eve Gutman ’15 and Dawit Habtemariam ’15, among other marchers.

The marchers sung songs and demanded change.

Haverford College President Dan Weiss and marchers

The march entered Founders Hall to present over 500 signatures to the Board of Managers at a Scholarship Luncheon. Many of the Board of Managers members were present.

In the wake of President Dan Weiss’s announcement that he will be leaving Haverford College to lead the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Haverford has seen the creation of the Diversify the Presidency movement, which began as a collaborative effort between TIDE and Feminists United.

The movement produced a petition which over 500 students and members of the community signed and presented to members of the Board of Managers at April 26th’s scholarship luncheon. The petition demands:

“In our history, every president of Haverford College has been a white man. Haverford’s student body was 10% students of color by 1971, and the first female students were admitted in 1980. Thus, the presidency has yet to reflect the composition of the student body. Inspired by the efforts of our peers, Bryn Mawr College and Swarthmore College, who have already diversified institutional leadership, we assert the following: it is imperative that we appoint a woman and/or person of color as our next President. In order to foster a more nurturing learning and social environment, this candidate should have demonstrated engagement with and concern for underrepresented identities. Diversifying the presidency would allow for a candidate who can advocate for those who have been systematically marginalized in our own community. Increasing the representation of these identities in positions of power will only strengthen Haverford. We, the undersigned, believe that Haverford must diversify the presidency in terms of race and gender. We demand that the Board appoint a woman and/or person of color with demonstrated commitment to advocating for underrepresented identities as the 15th President of Haverford College.”

Watch the Coalition protest in front of Founders.