Sennia Vann, a freshman from West Philadelphia, returned from dinner with her older sister on Sept. 16 and came back to what seemed like a stay away warning. Scrawled on her door was “Go away,” followed by a racial slur.
After hearing of this horrific act, Delaware Valley Friends School, located in Paoli, decided to react with kindness. Being a Quaker school, the community acted fast.
“When I heard about the incident, I immediately felt sadness. Our country continues to struggle with issues of equality and inclusion around race, but when hate is intentionally directed toward people simply because of the color of their skin, it is shocking,” Kirk Smothers, head of DVFS, said.
This is not the first time DVFS reached out a helping hand to a community. According to Tom Lees, head of the Diversity Committee at DVFS, the school has sent posters for students at Penn and Kaiserman Jewish Community Center in Lower Merion.
“I personally delivered those posters and I was able to see the positive impact it had on people. When the students on our student Diversity Committee heard what had happened to Sennia, they immediately suggested that we create a poster again,” Lees said.
Christa Harp, parent of an alumna and a current student at DVFS, was in shock.
“Navigating the first year of college presents challenges in and of itself, and coming back to your dorm and seeing this type of racial slur on your door must have been so upsetting and frightening for this student. This is her home and she is being attacked in her home,” Harp said. “We send our children to college and expect that they will be safe and when this type of incident occurs, it’s extremely upsetting.”
Sufyann Brown, junior at DVFS, was one of the first to sign the poster.
“I signed the poster because I would hate for something like that to happen to me and I would hate for someone I know to have to go through that pain,” Brown said.
Following Brown, a few friends also did not hesitate and signed the poster.
Hearing about the incident, Anya Metts, a junior at DVFS, was right behind Brown to sign the poster.
“I wrote to the girl [Sennia] that we can always talk, even though she doesn’t know me. I am here for you and I know your pain and racist people need to learn from their mistakes,” Metts said.
When Vann heard about what the local Quaker school was doing, she was moved.
“I’d like to thank the Quaker school, first, for allowing their students to support me,” Vann said. “Secondly, I’d like to say [to the school] keep doing what you’re doing with your students because it obviously is instilling a great set of values into the students.”
DVFS plans on presenting the posters to Vann during the gathering, a time where the entire school sits in silence for reflection before announcements.
“The poster is great for reassurance that not everyone in the world is like the person who wrote on my door. It’s kind of a new light at the end of the tunnel that I didn’t know I needed,” Vann said.
