To the Editor:
Recently, associate editor Satya Nelms announced via Instagram that she had resigned from her role at this paper. She said she did so after learning from editor Rachel Pastan that the publishers were acquiescing to community members who felt that The Swarthmorean was printing too many articles focused on racial and social justice issues in our town. The next day, the publishers posted to the paper’s website a rebuttal of that version of events. In this letter, they announced that Rachel had also resigned.
We are writing to state our unequivocal support of Rachel and Satya, our deep disappointment that the publishers asked them to run fewer stories about racial justice in order to make room for “lighter” fare, and our concern that this extraordinary local resource is now imperiled because of the publishers’ actions.
The Swarthmorean has served generations of readers. We are grateful that the publishers stepped up to purchase the paper at a time when its future was uncertain. Rachel brought something new and meaningful to the paper. She introduced entertaining features, commissioned articles about our town’s complicated history, and spotlighted community members — and experiences of living in this community — largely overlooked by the paper in the past. Satya provided keenly reported articles about local events and incisive personal essays.
When writers and editors take the time — often at personal cost — to share the pain of living within a racist society, or point to the ways that residential segregation rests at the very foundations of our neighborhoods and traditions, we should listen and strive for allyship.
What happens now largely depends on whether the publishers and fellow residents are ready to listen. We share a continual obligation to reflect on how our own actions perpetuate the very biases and inequalities we ultimately hope to dismantle.
Sincerely,
Dilruba Ahmed, Swarthmore
Lee Awbrey, Rutledge
Dana Bauer, Swarthmore
Andrea Belasco, Swarthmore
Margaret Betz, Swarthmore
Shom Bhuiya, Swarthmore
Julia Boerth, Swarthmore
Tom Boerth, Swarthmore
Sara Bressi, Swarthmore
Delma Broussard, Swarthmore
Laynie Browne, Wallingford
Eve Buckley, Swarthmore
Danielle Callahan, Swarthmore
Kristen Childers, Wallingford
Bess Cohen, Swarthmore
Clare Keefe Coleman, Swarthmore
Liz Corson, Wallingford
Nancy Crickman, Swarthmore
Jayatri Das, Swarthmore
Kathryn Davis, Swarthmore
Rebecca Davis, Swarthmore
Steve DiNardo, Swarthmore
Susan Duncan, Media
Douglas Durian, Swarthmore
Shannon Elliott, Swarthmore
Jed Esty, Swarthmore
Carol Fanconi, Media
Jane Fritz, Swarthmore
Carol Jean Gallo, Swarthmore
Joseph Gallo, Swarthmore
Rebecca Gerber, Wallingford
Japbir Gill, Swarthmore
Andrea Goulet, Swarthmore
Brittany Graham, Wallingford
Jonathan Hodgson, Swarthmore
Mark Hoffman, Swarthmore
Kerry Hogg, Swarthmore
Dana Homer, Swarthmore
Samina Iqbal, Swarthmore
Sydney Jenkins, Swarthmore
Eric Jensen, Swarthmore
Lauren Johnston, Swarthmore
Raymond Johnston, Swarthmore
Erin Kennedy, Swarthmore
James Ker, Swarthmore
Fariha Khan, Swarthmore
Andrea Knox, Swarthmore
Susan Lathrop, Swarthmore
Abby Lausch, Swarthmore
Vanessa Levy, Prospect Park
Andrea Liu, Swarthmore
Anne Lund, Swarthmore
Megan MacAlpine, Swarthmore
Mary McCabe, Swarthmore
Katie McKinstry, Swarthmore
John McKinstry, Swarthmore
Jennifer McNamara, Swarthmore
Mary McTernan, Swarthmore
Tom Melvin, Swarthmore
Allison Moore, Swarthmore
Reisa Mukamal, Swarthmore
Helen Nadel, Swarthmore
Virginia Adams O’Connell, Swarthmore
Clair Oaks, Swarthmore
Rob Oaks, Swarthmore
Jo Park, Swarthmore
Jennifer Pfluger, Swarthmore
R. Brooke Porch, Swarthmore
Kathleen Raffaele, Swarthmore
Roberta Riccio, Swarthmore
Caroline Roben, Swarthmore
Brock Roben, Swarthmore
Adam Roben, Swarthmore
Andy Rosen, Swarthmore
Paula Rosen, Swarthmore
Maura Rubley, Swarthmore
Carol Savery, Swarthmore
Robin Schaufler, Swarthmore
Kim Schmucki, Swarthmore
Victoria Shelter, Swarthmore
Lila Slovak, Swarthmore
Emily Spengler, Swarthmore
Birgit Splitt, Swarthmore
Edward Thornton, Swarthmore
Corey Ullman, Swarthmore
Sharlie Ushioda, Swarthmore
Elizabeth Vallen, Swarthmore
Raluca Verona, Swarthmore
Wendy Voet, Swarthmore
Gudrun Weinberg, Swarthmore
Kabeera Weissman, Swarthmore
Gary Weissman, Swarthmore
Aurora Winslade, Swarthmore
