Latest news with #Swarthmore
New York Times
27-05-2025
- Business
- New York Times
Trump Is Crossing So Many Lines
To the Editor: Re 'Trump Blares Profits, Eliciting Barely a Peep,' by Peter Baker (news analysis, front page, May 26): Many politicians use the advantages of their office to enrich themselves. They have a unique and highly advantageous portal into vast amounts of information not accessible to everyday people like you and me. They also rub shoulders with ultrawealthy individuals who are only too happy to curry favor by offering them lucrative investment opportunities. But arguably no political leader ever has so aggressively, so swiftly and, most remarkably perhaps, so openly capitalized on and monetized his position like the current president of the United States. We can all see it; he's not even trying to hide it. Of course, no one should express faux shock and surprise, as accumulating great wealth has always been his goal. To this president, he who dies with the most money 'wins,' and he's determined to be that person. Ken Derow Swarthmore, Pa. To the Editor: Contrary to your article's assertion, President Trump has not 'moved the lines of accepted behavior in Washington.'
Bloomberg
15-05-2025
- Business
- Bloomberg
Masters in Business: John Montgomery
Barry speaks with John Montgomery, President, CEO, Founder and Portfolio Manager of Bridgeway Capital Management. His responsibilities include the firm's strategic direction, investment management and risk oversight, portfolio management, and mentoring. John holds a Bachelor of Science in Engineering, a BA in Philosophy from Swarthmore College, and graduate degrees from MIT and Harvard Business School. Later, as a student at Harvard, he investigated methods to apply modeling to portfolio management and began applying these methods to his own investments in 1985. John left the transportation industry in 1991 to perform full-time research on his investment models prior to launching Bridgeway in 1993.
CBS News
04-05-2025
- Politics
- CBS News
1 student, several others arrested at Swarthmore College as pro-Palestinian encampment is disbanded
Nine people, including a current and former student, were arrested after a pro-Palestinian encampment was broken up on Swarthmore College's campus Saturday morning, the school announced. According to the college, the four-day encampment was set up on Wednesday afternoon by members of the suspended organization, Swarthmore Students for Justice in Palestine, among other students. The protesters wanted the school to divest from companies that have contracts with the Israeli government. Swarthmore President Val Smith issued multiple announcements to the community, citing the encampment's rise and fall and how the college's administration responded. Smith said the Swarthmore Students for Justice in Palestine organization set up the encampment on Trotter Lawn and repeatedly used social media to invite the public to join the protest. Swarthmore then responded by limiting vehicle access to the campus and advising the community to avoid the area. Several of the protesters were fully masked and refused to identify themselves to college staff members, violating multiple college policies and posing a safety risk, Smith said. According to the college's policies, students are prohibited from failing to provide accurate identification when asked by school officials or using tents on campus lawns to form an encampment. The policy violations do not relate to the content that the protesters were speaking of. Swarthmore officials asked the protesters to disband, or they could be placed on interim suspension. By Thursday, college officials discovered parts of the campus property had been vandalized. Swarthmore said the student organization also continued to invite the public to join the encampment over social media. Swarthmore issued seven interim suspensions on Thursday to the student protesters they identified. Officials also issued trespass notices to everyone at the encampment and asked them to leave the area. If not, this would lead to criminal trespassing charges. Swarthmore then told the protesters the encampment had to end by 1 a.m. Saturday, and failure to do so would result in possible expulsion or arrests for trespassing. The college said the student organization then shared on social media that the encampment was there to stay. "With rising concerns about safety and security on campus, a continued and growing presence of individuals unaffiliated with the College, warnings from outside law enforcement agencies, and no signs that protestors were willing to engage in conversation that would bring the encampment to an end, I felt we had no choice but to seek outside assistance from local law enforcement," an announcement from Smith read in part. Twenty-five police officers intervened Saturday morning, telling protesters to leave the encampment or be arrested. Swarthmore said many of the protesters dispersed, but others stayed. In total, authorities arrested nine people, including a current and former student. Those who were arrested now face misdemeanor trespassing charges. Smith said the two people affiliated with Swarthmore will be put on interim suspension and not allowed on campus until the student conduct process is over. "As painful as this moment is, I hope it can also serve as an inflection point — a chance to return to the principles that have long defined our community," Smith wrote in part following the arrests. "We can choose to engage across our differences with openness and curiosity, to challenge one another's assumptions with both conviction and respect, and to lead with care and compassion, even in the most trying times. In doing so, we can build upon what binds us together, and foster a more resilient and inclusive future."
New York Post
03-05-2025
- Politics
- New York Post
Police arrest 9, break up pro-Palestinian encampment at Swarthmore — as college president cites FBI scrutiny
Police arrested nine protestors, including seven agitators, while breaking up a pro-Palestinian encampment on Swarthmore College's campus in an ugly scene Saturday — a 'terribly difficult' decision the school's president says was prompted by FBI scrutiny. One current and one former student of the private liberal arts school in the suburbs of Philadelphia were arrested, while the seven others were activists who were not affiliated with the college. 'The promotion of the protest on social media drew the attention of law enforcement agencies, including the FBI, who urged us to bring the encampment to an end as quickly as possible,' Swarthmore President Valerie Smith said in a statement. 6 Police gave protestors a 10-minute warning Saturday morning to vacate or be arrested. @swarthmoresjp / Instagram 'Many, if not all, of the protestors — both students and non-students — were fully masked and tried to remain unidentifiable,' Smith added. In an Instagram video posted by Swarthmore Students for Justice in Palestine, Vice President of Student Affairs Stephanie Ives is seen arriving at the encampment just before 8 a.m. Saturday, accompanied by two police officers. 6 Protestors are asking the school to divest from Israel. @swarthmoresjp / Instagram 'This encampment and the actions you've been involved in put this community at risk,' Ives tells protestors. 'Because we cannot even identify you, we do not know whom amongst you is a student and who's not.' Police then tell students they have 10 minutes to pack up and go. 'Leave Swarthmore College property — or you will be arrested,' said Swarthmore Borough Police Chief Raymond Stufflet. 6 Around 30 police officers lined up Saturday to arrest protestors. @swarthmoresjp / Instagram When students refuse to leave, about 30 police officers begin breaking up the encampment — throwing lawn chairs, tearing signs and pulling down tents, as students chant 'free Palestine.' Dozens of cops are seen lining up to handcuff students — at one point four officers pulling and pinning a protestor to the ground. 6 Some protestors were pinned to the ground as others yelled at police to let them go. @swarthmoresjp / Instagram 6 Police arrested nine people Saturday, most of them unaffiliated with the school. @swarthmoresjp / Instagram 'Let them f—ing go, pig!' a protestor is heard yelling. 'Get the f–k off them.' The encampment first formed Wednesday, and the college said it suspended seven students earlier this week. Swarthmore is one of 60 colleges at risk of having federal funding taken away over what the US Department of Education has said is antisemitic discrimination and harassment on campus. President Trump on Friday said he was stripping Harvard University of its tax-exempt status, escalating a showdown with the Ivy League university. 6 The encampment began Wednesday, and seven students were suspended earlier in the week. Getty Images
Mint
03-05-2025
- Politics
- Mint
Swarthmore College Breaks Up Campus Protest Citing FBI Scrutiny
(Bloomberg) -- Swarthmore College said it called in police to break up a pro-Palestinian protest camp on its grounds after federal law enforcement pressed for an end to the demonstration. Police arrested nine people on Saturday, including one of the private liberal arts school's students and a former student, Swarthmore President Val Smith said in a statement. 'In addition to placing the community at risk, the promotion of the protest on social media drew the attention of law enforcement agencies, including the FBI, who urged us to bring the encampment to an end as quickly as possible,' Smith said. It's the latest campus incident to draw scrutiny from President Donald Trump's administration, which has frozen or threatened federal funding for universities, including Harvard, Columbia and Cornell, that it views as promoting antisemitism and other policies it disagrees with. This week, Trump stepped up the pressure by threatening to strip Harvard University of its tax-exempt status. At Swarthmore, a 161-year-old institution in the Philadelphia suburbs, the camp was organized by a pro-Palestinian student group that was suspended by the college and also attracted outside protesters, Smith said. She said her decision to call in police, which she called 'terribly difficult,' was necessary to ensure safety on campus. Swarthmore Borough police and the Delaware County Sheriff's Office didn't respond to requests for comment. Two federal grants have been cut at Swarthmore, which is far less reliant on federal funding than large research universities, the college's campus newspaper reported in April. Federal funding makes up a small fraction of Swarthmore's $220 million operating budget for 2024-25, according to the report. More stories like this are available on First Published: 4 May 2025, 02:45 AM IST
