Quaker courage started as a germ of an idea between a few Penn alumni, after they attended the One Million Rising (nokings.org/rise) training in July 2025. In that training, we learned how the many pillars of society—arts, education, business, media, law, etc.—can each play an important role in maintaining our democracy. We watched as pressure was increasingly put upon Penn, Harvard, Columbia and other universities to comply with rules and demands that are at odds with academic freedom, free speech, equal opportunities for all, and the rigorous research and inquiry which has long drawn faculty and students around the world to Penn and other U.S. universities.
We pondered this throughout the summer. In the meantime, we watched as Crimson Courage at Harvard and similar campaigns supported their own universities in addressing similar attacks.
During Penn’s Homecoming on November 7, we launched our first action—a letter writing campaign. Members of our group went to Homecoming and talked with alumni at the event. At that time we called ourselves MAIP (Maintain Academic Freedom at Penn). We shared a short handout with our goals, and the name and addresses of President J. Larry Jameson and the Chairman of the Board, Ramanan Raghavendran.
Our conversations were very positive. Everybody we spoke to shared our concerns and many said they too would write letters. The letter campaign is ongoing. We encourage you to write too!
Shortly after Homecoming, we renamed the group Quaker Courage, to align with courage groups at other universities and with the Indivisible Courage Campaign. In December 2025 we registered Quaker Courage with Indivisible and now participate in that network.
As Quaker Courage launches, we hope to meet, learn from, and collaborate with other Penn groups already supporting Penn in standing up to its values. If you are aligned with such a group, please reach out to us at info@quakercourage.org!