On Tuesday, Nov. 12, Scripps College’s Motley Coffeehouse and the Claremont Student Worker Alliance (CSWA) held a town hall discussion about the coffeehouse’s newly blank walls and its next steps in regaining autonomy over the space.
This discussion comes one day after the Motley’s official reopening, which followed a nearly month-long closure. Scripps administrators initially shut down operations on Oct. 5 after weeks of conflict with the Motley student management team over pro-Palestinian organizing within the space.
Prior to this shutdown, the Motley’s walls were adorned with activist-oriented visuals: posters reading “Black Lives Matter” and “Trans Lives Matter,” artwork calling attention to imperial violence in the Congo, Sudan and Palestine and several different national flags.
But when over 50 students filled the coffeehouse at Tuesday’s town hall, the walls were blank.
“There is just something so inherently haunting about that, and about coming into this space and seeing the way it’s completely shifted,” a Motley manager, who requested anonymity because of the backlash that they said management has received, told TSL. “Over three years of working here, the walls have never looked like this.”
Attendees shared similar feelings on a piece of white butcher paper spread out across the Motley’s tables as speakers opened the town hall discussion.
Speakers began by discussing Scripps’ Advertising, Publicity and Solicitation Policy, which the administration previously accused the coffeehouse of violating after it displayed a Palestinian flag on one of its walls. The policy requires approval for any flyers in or on college-owned property and restricts the display of authorized materials to designated spaces.
“The Motley’s decorations never before had to have any pre-approval,” one CSWA speaker said. “The flyer policy is not relevant to the [Palestinian] flag and doesn’t make sense.”
Speakers explained that, in reopening, the administration gave the Motley the choice to either do so with blank walls or with the implementation of an “open call” for decoration. According to several Motley managers, this suggestion was perceived as vague and confusing.
While not confirmed by the administration, managers assumed that an “open call” would enable the entire 5C community to come in and hang whatever they wanted on the coffeehouse’s walls.
One Motley barista, who requested anonymity due to privacy concerns, equated the implementation of this call to “releasing the autonomy over the space that the Motley team has had for over 50 years.” They added that an open call would contradict the Motley’s mission.
“It would release or significantly undermine our commitment to uplifting and centering marginalized voices, which is exactly what makes the Motley more than a business and makes our community feel safe,” the barista said in an interview with TSL.
The barista also emphasized that the Motley’s current undecorated state is unprecedented in its history and that it should not be normalized. To them, the walls are meant to be fun, vibrant and a demonstration of the coffeehouse’s values.
In an effort to return the Motley’s walls to their previously decorated state, coffeehouse workers drafted and presented a new decoration proposal to the Scripps administration that is currently pending a response.
Speakers at the town hall explained that the Motley’s proposed policy aims to return control over the space to Motley staff while also incorporating elements of the admin-proposed open call. The policy would encourage customers to use a coffeehouse blackboard as a “free speech zone,” rather than leaving every wall open for public use.
The speakers also highlighted the role Motley customers and the greater 5C community hold in staying informed about the situation and recognizing their own part in the ongoing negotiations with administration. This involves attending future town hall meetings and getting involved with CSWA, they said.
“At the very least, when you come in to get your coffee, recognize that every single person behind that bar was put out of a job a month ago,” the anonymous Motley manager told TSL.
Speakers then pointed to an anonymously created petition to support Motley workers in their ability to decorate the coffeehouse independently.
“The Motley is open right now, but without autonomy,” a CSWA speaker said.
A little over a week after the town hall discussion, on Nov. 20, Scripps President Amy Marcus-Newhall addressed the updated status of Motley-administration negotiations in an email to the Scripps college community.
In addition to highlighting progress made between the Motley staff and administrative members, Marcus-Newhall also corrected inaccurate information that she shared when announcing the coffeehouse’s closure on Oct. 5.
“I regret the harm and stress the Motley student staff experienced due to inaccurate and delayed information,” she wrote. “Although the Motley student staff and the College have differing perspectives on the other reasons justifying the closure of the Motley, both groups are committed to continuing conversations to clarify and codify policies, operations, roles, and responsibilities for the Motley’s future operations.”
Marcus Newhall’s email acknowledged the Motley’s newly proposed decoration policy, something that one Motley manager, who requested anonymity for privacy reasons, perceived as a sign that the college is committed to reviewing it.
“I wouldn’t say that everything’s settled,” they said. “I think we still have a long way to go, and I think they know that too. But I think that they’ve heard us, and we’ve heard them, and I think we’re all still trying to repair the harm that was the Motley’s closure.”
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