Dorcely’s argument to “View the Links” provides a framework for intersectional transformation at Bryn Mawr today. The student movement against Apartheid was grounded in emergent intersectional politics, organizing for collective liberation across gender, race, and class. The movement to Divest matters because it is a commitment to humanity, even at a small school such a change reverberates outward. This embodies adrienne marie brown’s writing on fractals, which she explains are patterns which repeat themselves regardless of the scale, micro or macro. She writes how the whole is a mirror of the parts. brown writes: “There is a structural echo that suggests two things: one, that there are shapes and patterns fundamental to our universe, and two, that what we practice at a small scale can reverberate to the largest scale.”¹ By pressuring the College to be more inclusive and committed to not profiting from exploitation, student activists were waging an anti-racist struggle locally and globally.

The efforts of the 1986 Divest movement was a predecessor to the contemporary struggles for ethical investment through divestment. In 2013, Bryn Mawr students organized and petitioned for the college to divest from fossil fuels. Their coalition argued divestment was aligned with the college’s goals such as its “commitment to “racial justice and to equity” since fossil fuel “industries disproportionately impact vulnerable, minority populations.” They argued the college could invest in renewables and still maintain or increase returns on investments.² This climate justice work continues today, as student organizers are continuing to pressure the college to commit to being principled and transparent in its investments.

The struggle to divest from Israel apartheid and occupation is a direct descendant of the 1986 movement. In the same fashion, Bi-Co Students for Justice in Palestine occupied Taylor Hall on November 1, 2023 to demand the college be in solidarity with Palestinians, particularly through divesting from Israel’s system of apartheid, occupation, and ongoing war in Gaza.³ The struggle for Palestinian rights is closely linked to that of South Africa. In observation of the International Day of Solidarity with Palestinian People on December 4, 1997, post-apartheid South Africa’s first president Nelson Mandela connected South Africa to Palestine, and made his commitment to peace. Mandela said: “We know too well that our freedom is incomplete without the freedom of the Palestinians.”⁴ Furthermore, Israel has been condemned as an apartheid state by Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, the Israeli human rights group B’Tselem, and even former US president Jimmy Carter.⁵ Ending racism in the United States is closely linked to ending racism everywhere. Student demands for financial responsibility and accountability did not emerge out of a vacuum. The divestment and anti-Apartheid movement of 1986 is now being relived and rearticulated in 2023.

1. Pancho, View All Posts By. “Fractals: The Relationship between Small and Large.” Earthling Opinion,March 1, 2019. https://earthlingopinion.wordpress.com/2019/03/01/fractals-the-relationship-between-small-and-large/.
2. The Bi-College News. “Bryn Mawr College Community Moves towards Divestment – Haverford and Bryn Mawr Bi-College News,” February 28, 2020. https://bicollegenews.com/2020/02/28/bryn-mawr-college-community-moves-towards-divestment/.
3. Jessica Schott-Rosenfield & Nomah Elliot. “Bi-Co Student Activists Remain Resolute in their Demands, Disrupt Bryn Mawr’s Taylor Hall. November 7, 2023. https://bicollegenews.com/2023/11/07/bi-co-student-activists-remain-resolute-in-their-demands-disrupt-bryn-mawrs-taylor-hall/
4. Mandela, Nelson. “Address by President Nelson Mandela at International Day of Solidarity with Palestinian People, Pretoria”. December, 4 1997. http://www.mandela.gov.za/mandela_speeches/1997/971204_palestinian.htm
5. Chappell, Bill. “Israel Is an Apartheid State, Amnesty International Says.” NPR, February 1, 2022. https://www.npr.org/2022/02/01/1077291879/israel-apartheid-state-amnesty-international.