Sarah Lawrence President Receives Backlash for Failed Wordplay
Sela Corliss ‘26
At a press conference on Oct. 27th—coincidentally held on Sylvia Plath’s birthday—Cristle Collins Judd’s speech ended with her noting that she is “aware that many of our students identify with the LGBTQ+ community, but as far as I’m concerned, you all fit under ‘G’: Gryphons.”
Much of the student body took offense to the president’s comment, some labeling her statement “anti-Sarah Lawrence,” and others calling it “classic Sarah Lawrence.” Speculations surrounding the speech have circulated on the Instagram account SLC Anonymous. Some posts claim Judd was in fact pranked and was not aware that her speech would be concluding with that line. Others say that she had taken polls with the faculty and together they had come to a consensus that the suggestion of “G for Gryphon” would not be received poorly. So far, no Sarah Lawrence professors or faculty have agreed to comment on the incident.
By the next morning, seemingly almost every possible surface on the Sarah Lawrence campus featured a play on the letter G, antagonizing Judd. The frequently painted board outside of Bates dining hall reads, “G = GET CRISTLE OUT OF HERE,” and the large piece of wood in front of Hill House says, “G means Give me back my tuition, thief.” Another reads “(G)ive me a (G)oddamn break.” Students posted flyers calling for the immediate impeachment of Judd on trees and cell towers, and passed them out in common areas.
Judd’s response to the fallout has been out of the ordinary. The president has embraced a sort of defeatist attitude and has completely given up on any attempt to rectify the situation. In an Instagram story posted late last night, Judd simply posted, “Y'all knew what I meant,” in green letters on a black background. Students were quick to point out that Judd’s post was not actually an entirely opaque black screen, and instead appeared to be a selfie that the president took in the dark.
An Instagram account with the username @gr33ng0ddess has been very active in the comments of the SLC Anonymous posts, so much so that students have been led to believe that the profile is Judd’s burner account. The evidence cited by students trying to prove the identity of “Green Goddess” includes the lack of a profile picture or posts, the fact that every comment from the account is defending Judd and mainly that every comment ends with #thatssosarahlawrence.
This morning, Judd made her first public appearance since the incident; she was seen smoking a cigarette on the bench in front of the Barbara Walters Campus Center. The Sarah Lawrence president was sporting sweatpants, Uggs, a messy bun, wired headphones and her signature green trench coat. She was reportedly muttering to herself “After everything I’ve done for them and this is how they treat me. Whatever happened to feminism?”
A source close to Judd confirmed that she is “taking time to learn and reflect, and also considering getting a nose ring.” As of right now it is unclear if it is a septum or nostril piercing, but this is a developing story. The source also shared that in an act of defiance, Judd proposed adding a class entitled “Wordplay 101.”
As part of the intense backlash, students are allegedly urging their parents to “knock a zero or two off” of their usual donations. This caused concerns about what such a drastic drop in funding could mean for the school, though at a board meeting on Monday it was decided almost immediately to just cut the professors’ pay.