“You’re breaking his heart, you’re mocking him. He’s just trying to express his love and you guys are just not letting him do that,” said one Haverford senior about the confiscation of certain Prom Comm Valentines. In an exclusive interview with two Haverford students whose Valentines were confiscated, the boys reveal how heartbroken they were to find that their messages didn’t go through.
The Agnes Irwin and Haverford Valentine’s Fundraiser has for years been the highest-grossing of all Prom Comm fundraisers. Most of the time, the Valentines exchanged between the students are lighthearted, but according to Prom Comm Head Lily Hollander, a few were too crude or impolite to send this year.
When asked about what they wrote, Boy 2 brushed the question off: “It’s alright, it’s alright.” Boy 1 clarified, “Let’s be clear, when he went into this apparatus he was thinking in a respectful mindset, you know? He was just trying to have fun with it.” Boy 2 then explained that he “was just trying to write a Valentine to the woman [he loves].”
The Haverford students emphasized how meaningful they felt their messages were. Boy 2 requested to be quoted saying, “I was just trying to find the love of my life” and at one point in the interview stated that “love’s the only word I can think about, just love.”
The boys brought up several arguments that their Valentines should have been sent. Boy 2 stated, “I paid a dollar for about ten of them. So they should’ve all went through because I paid for them.” They also suggested that the situation violated their First Amendment right to freedom of speech. “We have freedom of speech to write whatever we want, and express the love we want,” said Boy 1. (Sorry, Constitutional freedoms are not protected in the context of a private school messaging fund-raiser)
The failed Valentines spurred contemplation and anger in the students. Boy 1 explained that the incident “makes [them] wanna reflect upon [their] entire lives. The 18 years of [their lives]. Together 36 years. That’s a lot of years.” Boy 2 added that this means “36 years of living down the drain.” Boy 1 even revealed that he wants to send an appeal to Mrs. Keidel herself because he “can’t take it any longer.”
