Voices of Protest

Photographs courtesy of Robbie Lynch ’24, Hannah Foley ’23, Maddy Cho ’25, Sophie Mulvihill ’25, Zoe Dubelier ’23

“I want there to be a zero tolerance policy for anti-semitism or bigotry, especially from administration because I think so many people came to this school — I know I did — because it projects an image of being so progressive and so forward thinking compared to other institutions. What the h*ll did Katherine Bergeron expect recruiting people based on that? And now suddenly she wants to act all surprised when people act on what they wanted to see in the first place. Speaking as a Conn student, speaking as a Jew, the zero tolerance policy for any kind of discrimination and the fact that Katherine Bergeron hasn’t resigned by now. If she had any dignity, she would be gone by now.” -Alexander Jutt ‘24

“I’m in the spring musical and […], as published this morning, we’ve decided to stop all rehearsals/productions until the occupancy is over and the demands are met. So it’s heartbreaking for us because it’s something that we’ve put a lot of time and passion and energy into, and also a lot of money from the school. But recognizing that this is bigger than all of us and whatever individual things we have going on, it’s for the greater good that we are all a part of this together, because we’re stronger in numbers. So, yeah, I’m not worried about missing commitments. If the show happens, it happens. If it doesn’t, we’ll be sad, but […] this is a part of history, right now, that I want to be participating in.” -Mia Lowy ‘23

“We’re very lucky to have the teachers that we have. I know yesterday, many of my teachers sent a message. All of my teachers have officially canceled classes at this point because they’re standing in solidarity with us. And I think that that really just speaks to the faculty and that perspective of, I don’t know how to exactly word it, but we’re all united against the Board and against Kathy B., especially Kathy B. right now. And that really just speaks to it [—] the fact that the faculty is standing with us.” -Liz Nanavati ‘23

“I have had the opportunity over the last seven days to witness tremendous courageousness….I respect [the students’] desire to express themselves” -Dean Victor Arcelus

“I am a fervent purist when it comes to the constitution. This is what democracy looks like. I support the constitution when it comes to all sides. I’m a purist when it comes to free speech. This is democracy in action.” -Dean Andy Strickler 

“I felt inspired by the fact that, as a senior, I don’t feel good about leaving Conn in the state that it is in. And I feel like I want to have some impact on the community that, for a while, gave a lot to me. But I feel [it] has not delivered over the past year especially but for years before that too. I think it really comes down to wanting to leave this place having done something and having made an impact for the people that have organized this.” -Wylie McCann ‘23

“I think it was especially evident last night how amazing this community is and how much we come together to support each other. So, also as a senior, leaving this community the way it is, I want to make sure that this community stays so amazing and is so supportive of each other and we can’t do that unless we get more funding for our BIPOC and minority communities as well.” -Heather Everett ‘23

“the unsatisfactory answers from the board trustees where it seemed like they didn’t even know what was going on in general, which is kinda, deplorable.” – Anonymous

“I really believe what everyone is fighting for and I think if there’s more people here it is actually going to get something done. So the more people here to support it the better.” -Alex Coughlin ‘26

“I joined the protests because I saw injustice, and I can’t stand injustice personally. I heard the stories of everyone who’s been personally impacted as well as our team [which] has been personally impacted by the resignation of Dean King, and I felt like we needed to do something to enact institutional change.” -Anna Taylor ‘26

“I work in DIEI and I, along with a lot of other students, have been personally impacted by President Bergeron’s actions, and enough is enough” -Nora Cahill ‘23

“I have always been a very active person in making sure that everyone has an equitable place in this world, and I want everyone’s voices to be heard. I have been personally affected by Katherine Bergeron both in personal interactions and her policy and her lack of care for students, it has been building over my three years here, it is good time that we have done something about it.” -Birdie McDonnell ‘24

“What inspired me to join was just my fellow classmates also being really excited about actually making change.” -Ainsley Cornwall ‘26

“Just seeing everyone collectively get together and all the problems and seeing them throughout the past years, it is really cool that we get to be here in the moment and get to protest.” -Anonymous 

“I think just being a part of the change and making sure that my fellow classmates are being heard and just coming together as a college to make sure the institution can better itself.” -Anonymous  

“I can’t stand by a college that doesn’t support marginalized groups and my friends, so I am here to help all of them in any way I can.” -Gwen Anderson ‘26

“We have definitely seen how preformative the administration is. This school preaches equality and things like that and we haven’t really seen that followed through, so I am excited to see change.” -Skylar ‘26

“Just being on this campus and seeing how hurt all students are and the fact that there is no change being done has inspired me to do something.” -Emily Swintak

“Showing solidarity with our fellow students who are choosing to be locked in.” – Bridget McTague

“I think the anger speaks for itself. There was a lot of energy on campus last night and, hopefully, that will motivate people throughout the rest of the week.” – Lizzie Elsbree

“I think just wanting to support our community […] it’s very easy to see that the problems on this campus are very bad and its worse for some students as opposed to others […] showing up to support everyone on this campus is really important.” -Anonymous

“It is all about supporting everyone and understanding that these issues haven’t been fixed and they need to be.” -Anonymous

“Anyone can look up any country club and the only reason that they started letting Jewish people in was for tax purposes. They just wanted to pay less on taxes, which is very f*cked up.” – Anonymous

“I feel like it wasn’t really a decision to join the protest, it was more so just something that needed to happen.” -Anonymous

“This is definitely the correct procedure to put pressure on the Board of Trustees and Katherine Bergeron to resign.” -Anonymous

“I hope that President Katherine Bergeron resigns. I hope that DIEI gets a lot more funding. I hope that staff get paid more. I hope that student staff get treated better. I hope that the culture follows with the overall goals of the College and actually makes sure that they’re translated into tangible action.” -May Kotsen ‘23

“First and foremost, I have so many friends in DIEI, and I have seen them (probably since I first came to Conn) struggle to get the support from the institution. Especially after Dean King’s resignation, seeing how defeated and upset they were, I cannot stand by any longer.” -Anonymous

“The institution teaches us a lot of values in our classes and our community, and then completely violates them in its own practices.” -Anonymous

“Defy KB. Defy has been a huge thing on campus here for a while and it wasn’t supporting a system that I fully trusted, so I thought it was kind of a little ironic.” – Patton Balzebre ’25