Scripps College’s Motley Coffeehouse has received backlash from administration for displaying a Palestinian flag on its wall. Despite repeated calls from administration to remove the flag, the Motley’s management team has refused to take it down in a show of solidarity with Palestine.
On Wednesday, Sept. 18, the Motley’s management team received an email from the administration asking them to “promptly remove any unauthorized signage, decorations, flags, posters, or other materials.”
“The College has not authorized Motley employees to display symbols or signage endorsing a political position or perspective that could be erroneously attributed to Scripps College,” the email read.
Later that day, the email was forwarded to the student listserv by Sha Bradley, Scripps’ vice president for student affairs and dean of students. The subject line read, “Commitment to Freedom of Expression and Inclusion-Motley Coffeehouse.”
According to Bradley, the purpose of forwarding the message was to clarify the Motley’s responsibility to adhere to the college’s Advertising, Publicity, and Solicitation Policy and Principles of Community.
“As we start a new academic year, we want to reinforce our commitment to freedom of expression and inclusion,” she wrote in a preface to the forwarded message. “I look forward to engaging in conversations about creating an environment that fosters belonging, inclusion, and values community.”
Although administration only informed the student body of the dispute on Wednesday, the Motley took to social media almost a week earlier to speak on the issue and to call students to action against the administration’s demands.
On Thursday, Sept. 12, the Motley shared a joint Instagram post with Pomona Divest from Apartheid announcing that the Scripps administration had threatened to prevent them from opening “unless they take down their Palestinian flag.”
The post called for students and community members to gather for a protest that afternoon to “demand that Scripps stop vilifying pro-palestinian speech.” It also included a screenshot of an email that the management team had received from Deborrah Herbert, Scripps’ interim special assistant to the vice president for student affairs, earlier that week.
The “leaked” email from Herbert disclosed that an unnamed Scripps faculty member had shown a photo of the Palestinian flag displayed in the Motley to Bradley and Scripps President Amy Marcus-Newhall.
“I need you to understand, this is not a choice,” Herbert wrote. “The Motley is college owned and the flag must come down ASAP.”
The email referenced the college’s posting policy and reminded the Motley’s management team that any public displays on college-owned property require approval. It also went into detail about what being “college-owned and student-run” means.
“As a business open to all of the Scripps and 7C community [the Motley] needs to be a welcoming environment for all of the community, not just part of the community.”
Herbert acknowledged the student employees’ rights to their personal political opinions but also stressed that the Motley is not an appropriate space to express them.
“While student employees of the Motley have every right to hold their own personal political positions, being employed at the Motley does not turn the Motley into your personal political platform,” she wrote. “It remains a College-owned business establishment irrespective of the political viewpoints held by the student employees in any given year.”
The Motley post’s call to action, which was included alongside the screenshot of Herbert’s email, was heard by students, and at 4:15 p.m. that day, over 150 students gathered in the coffeehouse, many in keffiyehs and masks, in solidarity and in anticipation of an administrator’s arrival to take down the flag.
“Banning the Palestinian flag on the grounds that it is unwelcoming is itself a discriminatory act,” one speaker said.
The speaker also explained the addition of several flags now displayed within the Motley, which they said followed Herbert’s claim that the Palestinian flag was not part of a broader display recognizing international students at Scripps.
“Well, now it is part of a broader display that recognizes international students at Scripps, queer students, black students, immigrant students and trans students,” the speaker said. “So what we want to find out is, will Scripps administration force us to take down the Palestinian flag, among others? Does Scripps College deny Palestine’s right to exist?”
Ultimately, however, the administrator did not show up to the protest, informing members of the management team that they were stuck in traffic. With this message, organizers sent protestors home.
Still, despite threats from administration, the Motley held its inaugural “opening night” party the next night on Friday, Sept. 13 with the Palestinian flag hanging on its wall. The event was well attended and was followed by the coffeehouse’s official opening on Monday, Sept. 16.
Since then, the Motley has been operating as usual.
When asked for a statement, Scripps’ Senior Communications Manager Emily Peters responded that the college has no further comment after Sha’s email and is in communication with managers at the coffeehouse.
“There are no additional details to share at this time,” Peters wrote. “But we can confirm that College staff is continuing to engage in conversation with the Motley managers to ensure the Motley remains an inclusive and welcoming space for all members of the Scripps and 7C communities.”
The Motley, Herbert, Reeder and Sha did not respond for comment.
June Hsu contributed reporting.
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