September 21, 2016 - 23:11
Being a white, upper-middle class student at Bryn Mawr is an interesting experience. Though interesting isn’t quite the right word… When I read about the histories of BMC I am horrified at its not-so-distant past of racism and classism, all the while staying aware that even if I were to attend this school 75 years ago I would be welcomed into the community. I would be affirmed by M. Carey Thomas for my whiteness. I am literally the kind of person who this school is made for. Knowing this, and learning about Bryn Mawr’s history through Black at Bryn Mawr is jarring for me. I learn of oppression at the hands of Bryn Mawr and know that BMC’s history of aggressive exclusion is still echoed today. It’s common to look at history and think of it as remaining in the past, but this place has an eerie timelessness about it. If we’re looking back at the present moment 75 more years from now, I’m just another student who benefits from Bryn Mawr’s methods of subjugation. I can’t remove myself from the cruel truths of BMC’s past, because we’re here living them to a different degree in the present. So how do we battle this? Where can we find true solidarity amongst ourselves while living in these stone castles built for wealthy white women?