For more than six days, some Haverford College students have refused to attend class, do course work or perform college jobs.

Organizers say the strike now involves hundreds of students, and some faculty who have cancelled classes in solidarity, writes Susan Snyder for The Philadelphia Inquirer.

They are protesting the college administration’s response to protests in Philadelphia over the fatal police shooting of Walter Wallace Jr.

College President Wendy Raymond and Dean Joyce Bylander sent an email last week urging students not to take part out of concern for student safety.

Some students were angered by the email, which they say runs counter to Haverford’s support for social justice.

There’s been growing student unrest over the deaths of Black people by police and inequities heightened by the pandemic.

“It was kind of a breaking point,” sophomore Ayanna Madison said, “and a reminder that all the work we have been putting in has done absolutely nothing to change this institution and we have to do something that will.”

In a statement, Haverford College responded: “The College supports our students in pursuit of both a truly just and equitable society as well as systemic change at Haverford.”

Read more about the student strike at The Philadelphia Inquirer.

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