What is Transformative Justice?

Transformative Justice is a practice that shares origins in Black feminist movements and Indigenous communities. In this framework, we recognize the potential for each individual to cause harm in our community, and that any harm caused affects the entire community, not simply individuals. Transformative Justice aims to center the needs and concerns of survivors of harm, while addressing the systemic cycles of oppression and privilege that facilitate harm and prohibit interventions into harm. Transformative Justice centers anti-carceral responses to harm that allow marginalized survivors, especially survivors of color, to find justice and repair. We believe a Transformative Justice framework is our best chance at creating a safer, more just campus.

Why use direct action as a form of protest?

Direct action is a movement strategy based on the idea that we won’t be able to win over the hearts and minds of our opponents by begging them or convincing them that our demands are what the College needs. Protest in the form of direct action is a way to demonstrate where power in society, or in our case, where the power in the Swarthmore community, lies through acts of civil disobedience––acts that break social rules, norms and expectations. Forms of direct action include, but are not limited to, sit-ins, rallies, walk outs, marches, and strikes. This is a space where protest can get creative to motivate a message or make people think about an issue differently. Direct action is usually framed as an escalated move, acknowledging that our needs have ventured beyond dialogue and that past efforts to communicate our needs have not been heard. 

While it may seem that a direct action’s goal is to attract the attention of our opponents, its primary goal is to address the electorate or, in our case, the student body, in a way that will increase support for our movement, even if campus becomes more polarized in effect. Direct action allows for an opportunity for passive allies and neutral actors to join the movement, thus demonstrating where true power lies. As more and more of the student body engages in direct action, we begin to remove support from oppressive systems, forcing the hands of the administration to make decisions in our favor.

Are there other ways to protest/get involved that are less risky?

We acknowledge that many forms of direct action are risky for many students, especially actions that go up against our employers, fellow students, public safety, and, as proven by recent events, the police. O4S understands the privilege it takes to feel comfortable protesting freely at Swarthmore and in the broader world, and we want to prioritize the safety of survivors and allied protesters first and foremost. With that in mind, O4S does not and will never exclusively organize high-risk direct actions. We often begin pathways of protest and escalation with open meetings, days of flyering, tabling and banner drops as well as moments of silence or speak outs that are all low-risk actions. We are always looking for community members to help host meetings, and organize flyering/tabling events etc! This is also a space where creativity to strategize new forms of protest is extremely welcome, especially in light of the way Swarthmore is treating protesters from the spring of 2019, we can never be too careful or too prepared. We know that the College is scared of how successful we are; we cannot let them silence us by using fear tactics.

Has anything worked?

Yes! With the support of so many students and members of the broader community, since our founding in the spring of 2018, we have been able to: hold a successful 9-day sit-in that led to the resignation of a harmful dean; gain a seat at the table to make changes to Title IX policy, including creating new protective policies; push for important changes in related practices; and organize protests that lead to the termination of both Delta Upsilon and Phi Psi and end greek life on Swarthmore’s campus entirely.

What is there still to do?

A lot. We’ve been able to push the College to make important changes but they still won’t take action on creating administrative accountability, ending the harm of Public Safety, instituting options and requirements for behavioral change (see below) and creating more resources for queer and trans survivors of color inside and outside of Title IX.

What is a “behavioral change requirement”?

The vast majority of students who commit sexual violence return to or remain on campus, with no intervention into their violent behavior. We believe addressing harm in a transformative way requires ongoing programs with trained facilitators to ensure the behavior actually ends. Other institutions have such programs and we believe it is irresponsible that Swarthmore has so far not implemented this crucial resource.

Who’s who in the administration?

A large part of what O4S does is meet with relevant administrators to push the implementation of our demands. In order to understand the many ways that O4S engages with the administrators, it’s important to know who is who:

Valerie Smith, President of the College

Jim Terhune, Dean of Students

Greg Brown, Vice President of Finance

Beth Pitts, Associate Director of General Counsel, formerly Lead Title IX Investigator

Sarah Willie-LeBreton, Provost

Nathan Miller, Dean of Student Conduct

T. Shá Duncan-Smith, Dean of Diversity and Inclusion

Ed Rowe, Chief of Staff to the President

Bindu Jayne, Title IX Coordinator

Mike Hill, Director of Public Safety

Sam Smemo, Associate Director of Public Safety

David Ramirez, Director of Counseling and Psychological Services

Many, though certainly not all, of these administrators are open to collaboration and communication, but we cannot consider them allies. They all work for the College and each one of them has power that they are using against us to further harm survivors of sexual violence.