The “Language of Unuttering Darkness”: A History of Dark Phrases
Joyce Kirk ‘26 and Christyn Refuerzo ‘26
Over the past fifty-five years, Sarah Lawrence has supposedly been a haven for student voices to be heard. While the College’s current administration may not currently reflect that, our history has shown an illustrative example of the power of student activism. It takes persistence and insistence for change, but Dark Phrases is living proof of that legacy. On our thirty-fifth anniversary, we wanted to share Sarah Lawrence’s history of student activism until 1989 and our origins.
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Beginning in March 1969, students performed a sit-in at Westlands to protest the tuition increase of $450. At the time, tuition cost roughly around $5,000. Thanks to donations from alumni, the then-president Esther Raushenbush (the name behind our library) was able to decrease the amount from $450 to $100. But students were still upset—they voiced a concern for elitism and lack of economic diversity among students. Despite only 10% of the student population in attendance, after ten days of the sit-in, the result began with an open task force meeting to discuss the changes for the next year. No disciplinary action was taken against the students.
Later that year, though, in May, there was a sit-in at Lynd House to protest the exploitative nature of Sarah Lawrence’s Institute for Community Studies in Mount Vernon. Despite being a supposedly community-based organization for Black folks, they failed to serve and work with the local Black community and students called for either a closure of the Institute or reallocation of control to the local community. SLC students, members of Mount Vernon High School’s Black Student Union and the Mount Vernon chapter of the Black Panther party sat in. On May 14, Raushenbush announced the closure of the Institute.
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But it was the 1989 Westlands sit-in, twenty years later, that changed the future of Sarah Lawrence. It began in 1987 with a letter from Harambe to then-president Alice Ilchman, requesting an increase in Black and minority staff and studies. In April 1988, students initiated a report on the College’s diversity statistics to reflect student demands. In January 1989, Ilchman invited students to take part in a racial diversity committee on campus.
In February 1989, it became significantly worse. A mural depicting four racist caricatures of Asian and Black men was painted in the hallway of Garrison D. Ilchman released a statement to the community and investigated. It was painted over and signed by “concerned students of color.”
In March 1989, Harambe submitted a revised proposal to the College regarding diversity among the students and staff, as well as creating a space for students of color. The aforementioned Committee on Racial Diversity, along with Gays and Lesbians Exercising Equality and Concerned Students of Color, among other student groups, endorse Harambe.
On March 13, 50-100 students of color occupied Westlands. They declared victory on March 17.
Between early April and May 12, students, faculty, and staff were in conversation regarding progress.
It was out of this sit-in that Dark Phrases was born.
In the past thirty-five years, we have gotten anger and hatred. Yet we still stand. And we recall our mission statement from our 2014 editors: “It is though we whisper to only ourselves when we speak. It is as though we bite our bottom lip with each pulse of our blood. We have long been unheard though we have never been silent. We have long existed in a world which refuses to hear us, but we refuse to forsake our own voices, our own survival. This is the language of unuttering darkness, the syntax of our own empowerment, the flesh and spirit enwombed and born in these phrases.”
In our invisibility, let us become visible. Let our voices have power.
We are willing to speak.
This piece was originally published in Dark Phrases’s 35th issue, (in)visible, in Spring 2024 to celebrate the 35th anniversary of the magazine’s founding. The editorial team wanted this to be the first published digital work to honor the vision we have for the 2025-2026 academic year—a celebration of our rich history and the innumerable possibilities of our future.