College Reckoning & Repair Efforts
Bryn Mawr’s Mission Statement affirms our commitment “to reflect upon and work to build fair, open and welcoming institutional structures, values, and culture.”
The College's principal architect was the College’s first dean and second president, M. Carey Thomas, who became an influential national advocate for women’s advancement. Like some who were part of the Progressive Movement, however, Thomas embraced and contributed to the eugenics movement, and her vision for Bryn Mawr and for women excluded African Americans and reflected ethnic and anti-Semitic bias. The College continues to grapple with this complex legacy and the harms that resulted, and has made advancing equity and inclusion central to its mission and its vision of institutional excellence.
Bryn Mawr strives to build a welcoming community for all while we gain insights from our history. The following ongoing projects seek to create change where it is most needed.
Ongoing Projects
Art Remediating College Histories
The ARCH Project (Art Remediating Campus Histories), in partnership with Monument Lab, is a multi-year collaboration with students, staff, faculty, and alums to design a thoughtful process for commissioning a lasting campus public artwork that responds to the legacy of exclusionary practices at the College. This vital work builds on previous and ongoing College-supported efforts to reveal and repair harm, reckon with Bryn Mawr College’s history, and create a forward-focused path toward inclusion and repair.
Old Library Renaming
The building now known as Old Library opened its doors in 1907. During the celebrations of the College’s 50th year in 1935, the library was named in honor of M. Carey Thomas, the College’s influential first dean and second president. This was also the year of Thomas’s death. In 2018, the building was renamed Old Library and in 2023 the building was returned to its original architectural facade.
Recovering and Uncovering College Histories
An exhibit in Old Library that provides a timeline of initiatives and research projects that continue to shed light on our past, acknowledge harms, remind us of stories that are missing—while sharing those that have been recovered—and contribute to a fuller understanding of the College.
Advancing Equity, Inclusion & Anti-Racism
The College recognizes that racial justice and equity are foundational values, and that work to achieve them is urgent as well as an ongoing priority. Over the past decade, often inspired by the activism of BIPOC students and other members of the community, Bryn Mawr has worked to come to grips with the history, legacy, and ongoing effects of institutional racism and bias.
Who Built Bryn Mawr?
Over its 135+ years, the College has been sustained by countless individuals — not just the presidents, trustees, and donors memorialized on campus. Who are the people whose contributions have been forgotten, or too long overlooked? How can we tell their stories? How can we commemorate them? This collective research project aims to recognize the wide range of alumnae/i, faculty, and staff who have made important contributions to building Bryn Mawr.
Black at Bryn Mawr
The Black at Bryn Mawr program brings to light the previously hidden stories and experiences of African-American students, staff and faculty at the College. The program draws on the initial research of Grace Pusey '15 and Emma Kioko '15.