Woman Says She Was Unwelcome at Main Line College Because She’s Muslim

Stock photo of a Muslim woman wearing a traditional headscarf like the one West Philadelphia resident Ashley Davis alleges in her lawsuit led to controversy at her job at Harcum College in Bryn Mawr (Getty Images)

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Woman Says She Was Unwelcome at Main Line College Because She’s Muslim

A Muslim woman from West Philadelphia filed a federal lawsuit recently against Harcum College in Bryn Mawr, alleging that the junior college discriminated against her because of her gender and faith.

Ashley Davis was hired as a campus safety officer at Harcum in August 2024. According to the lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, her work environment changed in 2025 after she began wearing a headscarf and other clothing reflecting her Muslim religion.

In May 2025, Davis alleges, her male supervisor told her not to wear “Muslim stuff” to the school’s graduation, adding “I have seen you with your hair and makeup done – you should just come like that.”

The lawsuit further claims that the same supervisor once stood over her in a manner prohibited by her religion and that when she requested that he move back, he “took offense at her correction and began treating her disparagingly” and refused to step away. The suit says that another Muslim female employee at Harcum experienced discrimination from the same supervisor but resigned rather than file a complaint.

Davis alleges that Harcum stated in emails to staff and at staff meetings that the college prohibited headscarves, which made her feel “targeted” as she was the only employee at the time who wore a headscarf or other Muslim clothing while on the job.

She eventually filed a formal complaint with human resources against her supervisor, but the lawsuit alleges that the school did nothing to stop his behavior; instead, he retaliated by scheduling her for shifts that he knew she’d be unable to work because of her own schedule. Davis says that Harcum terminated her in September 2025 because she didn’t work her scheduled shifts, but her attorney argues that this reason was just an excuse to get rid of her. According to the lawsuit, the school offered her a severance package that would have required her to waive any future discrimination claims. She says she declined the package.

The suit accuses Harcum College of sex discrimination, religious discrimination, retaliation, and the creation of a hostile work environment and seeks unspecified compensatory and punitive damages. A spokesperson for the college did not respond to a request for comment.

Caught On Tape

You may have heard that someone vandalized Roxborough High School over the weekend with graffiti depicting swastikas and racial epithets. Police have released surveillance video showing the alleged doer:

Anyone with information is asked to call Northwest Detectives Division at 215-686-3353.

The Other Red Hat Society

If you’re looking for giant flags of a ripped Donald Trump as Rambo, machine gun and all, or just maybe one of those red MAGA caps, you might want to head up to Bensalem, where the Trump Store, which opened in 2020 and is set to close by the end of the month, is offering deep discounts on prez merch. You can even get “Trump ‘28” items there, though a third term for the president would (seem to?) be a Constitutional impossibility. Store owner Mike Domanico told 6ABC that business has slowed and he now plans to focus on his other business: selling targets and other such things at gun shows.

By the Numbers

$20 million: What it sounds like you’ll need if you want to purchase The Shops at Liberty Place, the retail portion of the skyscraper at 1625 Chestnut Street. The miniature mall, which sports a Victoria’s Secret, GNC, and one of those ubiquitous Auntie Anne’s pretzel joints, among other shops, just went up for sale. (P.S. Are you as shocked as I am to learn that a soft pretzel from Auntie Anne’s costs $6.99? What am I missing here?)

2: Thieves caught on surveillance camera using a sledgehammer to break into the Lululemon Store at Suburban Square in Ardmore and then making off with a bunch of the pricey clothes. Their getaway car? A U-Haul truck. The same store was hit two years ago in a similar fashion.

5: Days you can spend in prison in Delaware if you’re caught smoking weed in public. Yes, the state legalized marijuana in 2023, but the legalization covered only possession and growing it at home. The law did not extend to puffing on the sidewalk or in a local park. But officials are working on new legislation that would eliminate the possibility of time behind bars and limit the penalty to a small fine.

Local Talent

With all of the commercials he’s been filming encouraging folks to blow their mortgage money on Internet gambling, it’s hard to imagine that North Philly native Kevin Hart has time to do anything else. And yet, he just inked a huge deal licensing his name to the sprawling intellectual property company Authentic Brands, which owns everything from “Shaquille O’Neal” to “Marilyn Monroe”. There’s no telling exactly how this might play out in the real world but suffice to say you’ll be seeing even more of the Kevin Hart name being spread around. Hopefully it all works out better than did his latest movie flop Die Hart 2: Die Harter. Ugh.