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Lincoln students protest food service, the closed library and campus police actions.

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Conn. student at center of Lincoln U. protests

By VALERIE RUSS
Philadelphia Daily News

russv@phillynews.com 215-854-5987

By the time Lincoln University junior Amelia Sherwood found a moth in her salad last month, she was fed up.

The school's library had been closed for renovations since January 2008 and the 20-year-old elementary-education major had complained by e-mail to the university's president.

Sherwood, a vegetarian, picked the chicken off her salad - a vegetarian salad was not available - ate some of it and found the moth, and that put her over the edge.

So, the honor student from Connecticut went on a hunger strike.

It was a small but drastic measure designed to draw attention to the closure of the library at the Chester County institution and to food services that she and others insist are poor.

She began to post fliers around campus about the library's value. She tried to convince people to avoid the school cafeteria.

Then, three days after her hunger strike began, she says, campus police "tackled" her.

On Wednesday about noon, students protested in the rain about Sherwood's treatment, about the library situation and about other campus conditions, including the food service.

"I'm very concerned," Kaukab Siddique, an English professor, said at the demonstration about Sherwood's brush with campus security.

"Our [university] president should make it clear that nonviolent protest is acceptable," Siddique said.

"That's the last bastion of freedom. You can't have police action against students who are protesting in a nonviolent way."

Alicia Sherwood, Amelia's mother, said she recently received a letter that Amelia would be honored at a ceremony Nov. 12 with other students for high academic achievement.

She said she was appalled at her daughter's alleged treatment. "I wish she would transfer," she said.

The trouble began Sept. 30, when Sherwood was posting fliers outside the cafeteria. A campus police officer asked her what she was doing and for her to produce identification.

Thinking it was none of his business, Sherwood refused, saying that she had to go to class, and walked away from him.

She went into her dorm room to get things for class, and the officer was waiting for her in the hallway, she said.

She again refused to show ID when asked, and that's when three other officers came, she said.

She kept walking, and four male police officers "tackled" her to the floor, Sherwood said. Sherwood said that she was brought to campus police headquarters and "handcuffed and chained to a chair."

She was charged by the university's judicial board with assault on the officers, among other infractions, and given a two-week suspension - later reduced to one week - and 40 hours of community service.

A university spokeswoman would not comment about the incident or Sherwood's suspension.

The demonstrators protesting on Wednesday said that campus police had used excessive force, but they were also at the campus on Old Baltimore Pike near Oxford, Pa., to draw attention to Sherwood's original points - no library and shoddy food service.

Siddique, the English professor, said part of university learning is to to be able to go into a library and browse the shelves.

"A student may go in looking for one book but may find seven others they need on the shelves," he said.

"I was appalled at the way it was happening," Sherwood, said, about the long wait for the library's renovation.

Sherwood said she had learned in a letter from university President Ivory V. Nelson that the library renovation has been delayed, in part, because the university, a state-sponsored school, did not have enough money from the Legislature to proceed on schedule with the $17 million project. The state budget impasse further delayed funding, he said.

On Tuesday, the day before the protest, Samuel W. Pressley, a university spokesman, said that despite the library's closing, students can go to "modules," or trailers, where they can request books from library staffers.

But students said that they have to wait at least 24 hours for library staffers to retrieve books.

Pressley said the library was built in 1972 and needed major renovations.

"But when it's completed, it's going to be an awesome facility, really state-of-the-art and cutting edge," Pressley said.

It may be completed by late 2010 or early 2011, he said.

Another of Sherwood's complaints was that Lincoln's cafeteria, run by Sodexo, had gotten a 60 out of 100 score during an October 2008 inspection by the Chester County Health Department.

The same records show that Sodexo's cafeteria at the School at Church Farm, in Exton, had received a 92 out of 100.

Yesterday, Sodexo spokeswoman Monica Zimmer conceded that the 2008 inspection "did not meet our high food-safety standards.

"And within 24 hours, we took action to correct all of the health- inspection concerns. We are confident that the Sodexo operation at Lincoln will pass its next inspection with high scores."

To Sherwood, the moth she found was evidence that those corrections didn't stick.

Her hunger strike lasted 11 days - she said she drank only water or juice - ending when Nelson agreed to meet with her and the two discussed her concerns.

"At that point, I wasn't hungry for anything physical," Sherwood said. "I was hungry for change, and I was hungry for a better university."

She said that nothing came of the meeting, but "I can only hope that the student body will take action and fight for their education. At the end of the day, I'm fighting for them as well as for me."

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Comments

Posted 06:23 AM, 10/30/2009

Jimmy Madison

This is the first I've seen the DN mention Lincoln University without immediately touting it as an "historically black college." Why not this time? Seriously though, Sherwood needs to sue everyone.

Posted 09:13 AM, 10/30/2009

xi_lives

Clear case of racial discrimination against this student. Anyone find it coincidental that a moth was found in a black student's salad? A clear case of the ongoing legacy of slavery.

Posted 10:10 AM, 10/30/2009

cut2thechase

The first question one must ask is - why did she refuse to show ID? Of course anyone would be, & has a right to be, suspicious when security asks to see ID & the person refuses. What is the officer supposed to do, say "oh, ok"? And for "xi_lives" - if you're not being completely tongue-in-cheek, you a complete idiot...

Posted 10:23 AM, 10/30/2009

tootincommon

I visited that campus as an out of state high school student in 1996 and the food was BARELY edible :-p It smelled bad, the meat was unrecognizable, the taste of the lemonade made me think of urine. It's insane to think that 13 years later, students are still being fed this garbage.

Posted 10:32 AM, 10/30/2009

WWTDD

So now bad food is considered racism? Where does it end with these people? These are the kind of people who would cry racism if they were rearended by a white car. Obviously they're enrolled in "Al Sharpton race relations" 101.

Posted 10:48 AM, 10/30/2009

KevSim

Sorry, when campus security asks to you to show ID, it is their business. Break the rules, pay the consequences. Oh right, it happened to a black person so its automatically racism.

Posted 10:52 AM, 10/30/2009

xi_lives

No justith, no peath!

Posted 10:52 AM, 10/30/2009

Venerable_Bede

Although it's a "historically black university" run by black people, I'm sure somewhere along the line the Man will be blamed. (Probably for not funding it sufficiently). Heaven forbid we would examine the management of the school (which is black) to see if the problem might be there.

Posted 10:54 AM, 10/30/2009

Bronx

Come on ... it's not like Lincoln is a legitimate college. If she is that upset let her transfer to a real university. What college have any of you ever heard that "closes" their library for close to two years?

Posted 11:49 AM, 10/30/2009

formerphilly

Bronx, first of all Lincoln University is a legitimate accredited university. What rock did you crawl out of that you would make such an idiotic comment? The library is in dire need of repairs, so they are in process of renovating it. Lincoln has and will continue to produce great contributors to society. Check your facts before you put your foot in your mouth. tootincommon, I will admit that at the time you went to Lincoln for a visit, the food was deplorable. Students spoke out and it improved greatly. Unfortunately, it appears Lincoln has resorted to subpar food once again. I am still not ashamed of my alma mater because I received a quality education that resulted in me being a very productive member of society who can confidently compete with graduates of any so-called prestigious university any day. I do not agree that the library should have been closed for this long period and hope they will do all they can to accomodate the students in this matter, as well as the cafeteria debacle. After all, they are not going to school for free and deserve to have a place to eat healthy foods as well as a place to study and learn.

Posted 12:18 PM, 10/30/2009

FreeVoice

I'm only (sightly) confused about the comments re: racism here. I don't think that was the point of the article. the point is that students at a (Black) university are being treated as second-class citizens by their administration. Their complaints are not being addressed and they're being intimidated when they ask questions and protest. How seriously can this university take its students if it doesn't offer them the very basic scholarly requirement of a LIBRARY? Did parents know their children would be going to a UNIVERSITY that lacked a library when they agreed to pay tuition? True, she didn't show her ID, but police called her by name and asked her to stop. Did they really need to throw her to the ground? Handcuff and CHAIN her to a chair? Why is a small female honor student, who had been starving herself for three days seen as such a threat that she needs to be thrown to the ground forcefully? This sounds like police brutality to me. And how can one expect a mind to grow when a body isn't nourished? I believe the comparison offered in the article about Sodexo getting a 92 at the school in Exton vs. a 60 (failing grade) at Lincoln speaks volumes about the concern of this administration for its students. Shame on Lincoln. What "legacy" are they fulfilling?

Posted 12:23 PM, 10/30/2009

MacDaddy

O please, sorry your school is not catering to your vegan taste buds. Just transfer already.

Posted 12:27 PM, 10/30/2009

bird11

Slow news day? 12 people standing with signs protesting the "continuing legacy of slavery" by a historically black college because of a moth in a salad???

Posted 12:40 PM, 10/30/2009

bahrvelous

What's with these comments, racism wasn't mentioned in the article.

Posted 01:01 PM, 10/30/2009

FreeVoice

The "moth in her salad" is hardly the main point here, although it is distressing. The point is she was brutally handled and suspended for voicing her concerns. The point is a university needs an OPEN library! I also see signs with the fantastic quote by Cornel West: "Justice is what Love Looks Like in Public" And where does the article say "vegan'? And why shouldn't she be given food to accommodate her choices? Temple (Sodexo) serves vegan and kosher food? She's paying for it, isn't she?