7C and national organizations denounce Pomona College’s response to student arrests

Following the arrest of 20 students at Pomona College by the Claremont Police Department (CPD) on Friday, April 5, several 7C and national organizations have released statements condemning Pomona’s response, pointing to both the academic disciplinary and legal prosecutions sanctioned by President G. Gabrielle Starr.

Starr both authorized the call made to the police department and issued interim suspensions — effective immediately — for students who entered and did not leave Pomona’s Alexander Hall on Friday in protest of the administration’s removal of a “mock apartheid wall” put up in front of Pomona’s Smith Campus Center (SCC) on March 28. Both local and national organizations have since begun to issue statements regarding the events, many of which are demanding that Pomona drop all charges against the students and revoke their suspensions. Some are also calling for Starr’s resignation.

According to James Gutierrez, a lawyer representing all 20 students, the students charged with trespassing will face a misdemeanor charge with the possibility of receiving diversions — an alternative procedure wherein the prosecution is halted due to a negotiated agreement between the defendant and the prosecutor, possibly resulting in the complete dismissal of charges. He also explained if the college decides to drop the charges “that would alleviate everything.”

“I think if the school is what it says it is — a righteous, higher learning institution of higher consciousness — then they’ll drop [the charges],” Gutierrez said. “They’ll understand that most of this country — especially conscientious students — are against genocide, and they want institutions that they revere to not be associated with the State of Israel who’s presently killing people wholesale.”

Gutierrez became familiar with the Claremont Colleges while supporting Claremont Community for Palestine’s push for a ceasefire resolution by the Claremont City Council. He stated that since the hearings of the arrested students will likely come after the end of the spring semester, he will be able to represent them no matter where they’re located.

“A lot of these students are going to be going home for the summer, and a lot of them live on the East Coast,” Gutierrez said. “So I will be able to represent them without them being present.” 

However, regardless of whether Pomona decides to press charges, arrested students at Pomona are already facing severe academic discipline.

According to an email sent to faculty at 8:32 p.m. on April 5 by Starr, all arrested Pomona students will be issued interim suspensions — a sanction imposed by the college without the approval of a judicial body.

Article II, Student Affairs, Section B i “Interim Suspension” of the Pomona College Student Code explains, imposing an interim suspension is only allowed if the sanction protects the safety and well-being of the college community or ensures the student’s physical or emotional safety. The college can also issue an interim suspension if the sanctioned student poses “a credible threat of disruption or interference with the normal operation of the college.”

As a result of their suspensions, the college immediately revoked building access from the arrested Pomona students on April 5, preventing them from returning to their dorms.

In response, the Associated Students of Pomona College (ASPC) Executive Council released a statement on April 5 condemning the interim suspensions on grounds that they “circumvent” the Judicial Council, Pomona’s student-led disciplinary body which makes final decisions on all suspensions, and deny students due process.

Starr seemed to address these criticisms in an email sent to Pomona alumni on April 6 claiming the arrested students are subject to Judicial Council procedures and the school will “of course follow all our rules.”

She claimed in the email that Pomona provided support for housing and board expenses to students with financial need.

The Executive Council also encouraged all implicated students to exercise their right to an appeal.

According to Article II, Student Affairs, Section B ii “Preliminary Sanction Review Board (PSRB)” of the Pomona College Student Code, all students who receive a preliminary sanction are entitled to submit a petition to have the sanction reviewed by the PSRB. Students have 36 hours to submit a petition after being notified of the sanction.

In the statement ASPC’s Executive Council called on Pomona to revoke all suspensions, halt suspending additional students and drop all charges against the protesters.

“History has shown expelling those you disagree with deepens fractures rather than brings a community together,” the statement read. “Silencing students, whether it be through suspension or the confiscation of students’ protest materials, does not address the root cause of the issue we face today: the majority of the student body believes the College’s alleged morals must be reflected in its investments and associations. President Starr and the Board of Trustees cannot ignore this any longer.”

The Executive Council statement is referring to Pomona’s campus-wide referendum in February. Of the 1,035 students who participated, 90.8 percent voted for disclosure of investments in weapon manufacturers aiding Israel; 81.7 percent voted for full divestment from all associated companies.

The statement additionally denounced Starr’s decision to call the police on who they described as peaceful protestors, calling it a “direct call for violence and dangerous confrontation.”

“Pomona administrators willfully chose to endanger their students, which we find unacceptable and shameful,” the statement read.

This was further detailed by ASPC President Timi Adelakun PO ’24, who sent an email to Pomona students claiming that calling the police only served to escalate the situation.

“That choice was reckless and was another horrible decision against the spirit of de-escalation,” Adelakun said in the email. “Knowing the history of police brutality, police calls can lead to murder, imprisonment, deportation, and much more … It is alarming to see such an abuse of power and lack of skill in crisis management. There needs to be training, re-hiring, or other permanent and impactful actions immediately because this is unacceptable.”

Adelakun additionally responded to Starr’s April 5 email to students, which claimed administrators called for the removal of the mock apartheid wall in preparation for events on Sunday. Adelakun believed Starr was referring to Pomona’s 4/7 Day celebration, which was planned to be held at the SCC on Sunday.

However, Adelakun explained that the organizers of 4/7 Day had coordinated with the sleep-in demonstrators and would not interfere with the event whatsoever.

Early on April 6, ASPC announced on Instagram that 4/7 Day was canceled, once again calling for Pomona to lift the suspensions, drop charges and reinstate students’ access to their dorms.

It is unclear whether arrested students from schools other than Pomona will receive any disciplinary action on their home campuses. As of publication, Scripps College has failed to comment on the status of its students.

In the twenty-four hours following the arrests, multiple student government bodies across the consortium have also released statements of solidarity.

Close to midnight on April 5 the Pitzer College Student Senate Executive Board issued a statement on Instagram condemning Pomona’s actions, writing they were “appalled and horrified by the actions of the Pomona College administration at the peaceful protest at Alexander Hall.”

According to the statement, a Pitzer student and member of the Student Senate was standing on the sidewalk when they were “violently apprehended” by police and charged with trespassing and obstructing/delaying an officer.

The Senate’s Executive Board then expressed they stand in solidarity with the senator and the other 18 arrested students, encouraging all students to email Starr and request an immediate lift of the Pomona students’ suspensions.

On April 6, Scripps Associated Students (SAS) published an Instagram statement demanding Pomona drop all charges, withhold suspensions and reject measures that restrict access of non-Pomona students to campus. They claimed Scripps students have not been suspended.

SAS also demanded that Scripps halt Pomona’s disciplinary actions against protesters until fair hearings are conducted and publicly commit to refraining from “deploying militarized police against peaceful student demonstrators.”

“We are aware that as of right now, Scripps students are not currently under suspension,” the statement read. “We want to reaffirm our desire that students facing disciplinary action are not deprived of their academic pursuits, housing, or participation in campus life during this period.”

Several campus organizations have put out statements in support of the arrested students, as well.

The Claremont Consortium Faculty for Justice in Palestine released a statement calling the college’s response “shameful” and urging for all charges to be dropped.

“Today’s escalation by Pomona College’s leadership, which led to student arrests, represents a clear choice by Pomona College to put students at risk and suppress students’ right to free speech rather than meaningfully engage with the hundreds of students opposed to their policies,” the statement read. 

The faculty harkened back to previous protests at the college, citing an action in February 1993 when a group of students advocating for revised hiring procedures occupied Alexander Hall. The protest ended after two days and the college established a task force. 

“In the past, Claremont Presidents have employed conflict resolution approaches and negotiation skills to de-escalate such situations,” the statement read. “President Gabi Starr, instead, forced a gross and immediate escalation.”

The 7C Arab Students Alliance followed suit in a statement on April 6, also calling for Pomona to drop all charges, revoke all interim suspensions issued, and halt suspending additional students. 

The statement called out the school for its lack of support for Palestinian and Southwest Asian North African students. It described the students’ arrest and the arrest of a professor last semester as creating a systematic pattern of silencing Palestinian and Pro-Palestinian students.

“The November arrest and yesterday’s arrest demonstrate the school’s priorities: instead of divesting from complicity in genocide, they are arresting community members for speaking up against oppression. Pomona is complicit in the Palestinian genocide.”

National organizations have also taken to social media to publicly denounce Pomona College’s actions regarding the April 5 arrests.

National Students for Justice in Palestine (National SJP), a grassroots organization that supports over 200 Palestine solidarity organizations on college campuses across the U.S. and Canada, posted a tweet on Saturday, April 6 at 10:20 a.m. telling its 11,300 Twitter followers to “flood the inbox of Pomona College” to demand action. 

At 2:44 p.m., the tweet was updated with an email template calling for Starr’s immediate resignation under the hashtag #RESIGNPRESIDENTSTARR. As of April 6, the template has been retweeted by ARMY for Palestine and Writers Against the War on Gaza.

 

Correction: An earlier version of this article said Claremont Police arrested a total of 19 students. The correct number of arrests is 20.