The name of the ASPC VP of Finance has been omitted for safety concerns.
As the death toll in Gaza surpasses 28,000 as a result of Israel’s escalating attacks, tensions at the Claremont Colleges have heightened in response.
Rafah, a city on the Southern Gaza strip, was once designated a “safe zone.” Now, although an estimated 1.4 million Palestinians have fled to the area, it is in danger of losing that status. On Thursday, Feb. 15, UN aid Chief Martin Griffiths warned that those seeking refuge in Rafah might be “forced into Egypt if Israel launches its planned military operation against the border city.”
At the 7Cs, community members have been increasingly active in matters surrounding the Israel-Palestine conflict.
On Monday, Feb. 12, students on Pomona College’s Class of 2024 Mailing List received an email from an anonymously run Gmail account demanding the immediate removal of the Associated Students of Pomona College (ASPC) Vice President (VP) of Finance from office. The demand was in response to an Oct. 7 Instagram story that she posted after Hamas’ attack on Israel that same day.
The email, titled “Why is Jew Hater — — Eligible to Serve on ASPC Senate?,” was addressed to ASPC President Timi Adelakun PO ’24. In it, the authors introduced themselves as a “coalition of Jewish Sagehens” with concerns about the actions of the ASPC VP of Finance.
Specifically, they condemned a TikTok video that the VP reposted on Instagram on Oct. 7. In the video, which was captioned “Free Palestine,” a man was shown carrying out celebratory actions with the text “POV: Me with 0 Palestinian blood rn” typed out over him.
A screenshot of the Instagram story was provided in the email, along with a link to the original video.
The Feb. 12 email implied that, by reposting this video, the VP of Finance appeared to be celebrating Hamas’s Oct. 7 attack on Israel. They further suggested that this violated the Code of Ethics in Article I of the ASPC bylaws.
“In violation of the Code of Ethics, Ms. — has demonstrated callous disregard towards human life and fails to regard the welfare of others, in particular students who are Jewish and/or Israeli (Jewish or otherwise) at Pomona College,” they wrote.
They then argued that, had the video been in response to a different event, action would have been taken to remove the ASPC officer in question.
“If an ASPC Senator had celebrated (1) the death of George Floyd, (2) the murder of gay men at Pulse nightclub after that shooting, or (3) the Boko Haram attacks in Nigeria in 2023, it is beyond obvious that ASPC would take action and demand the resignation of that Senator,” the email read.
The email’s authors suggested that it was only fair for ASPC to respond to the VP of Finance’s actions in a similar way.
“It is now incumbent upon ASPC to apply the same standard with respect to hatred toward Jews and Israelis,” they wrote. “In accordance with ASPC’s bylaws and for her violations thereof, Ms. — should be held accountable to her peers and removed as an ASPC Senator immediately.”
The email was signed by “Jews and Israelis of Pomona College.”
Later that day, Dean of Campus Life Josh Eisenberg emailed the Class of 2024 apologizing to them and to the VP of Finance. According to Eisenberg, an unexplained error resulted in the approval and sending of the anonymous email. He stated that this type of content was not usually permitted to be sent out on the mailing list.
“The content is unacceptable on our listserv,” he wrote, referring to the software that enables the college to send out mass emails. “Anonymously sending this type of material over the listserv does not reflect the expectations we have of our community as set out in the Student Code.”
Pomona President Gabrielle Starr expressed a similar disapproval in an email sent to the Pomona community the following day.
“The language in the subject line constituted a personal attack, and the use of the personal listserv in this manner was unacceptable under our Student Code,” she wrote.
She then stated that the error with the listserv had been addressed and called on community members to remain respectful of each other.
“At this time of global conflict and mourning, we need to hold our values and commitments to one another as a community of learning,” she said. “I ask that every member of our community treat each other with care and respect in the days ahead.”
In a correspondence with TSL, Pomona Divest Apartheid — a student-run organization advocating for Pomona’s divestment from Israeli apartheid — condemned both the Feb. 12 email and Starr’s response.
“Pomona Divest from Apartheid condemns the listserv approval of the email that was sent to seniors on Monday which effectively doxxed a Black Latina Pomona student simply for being pro-Palestine,” they wrote. “The email is another example of Pomona’s administration holding a double standard to any pro-Palestinian speech.”
The organization also suggested that Pomona’s administration has been selective with which situations it deems worthy of “repression.”
“It should be noted that [Starr’s] response to the doxxing email and last semester’s arrest of a Brown professor were both virtually ignored/slowly responded to by Pomona while student protests against an ongoing genocide were immediately met with harsh repression,” they wrote.
In referring to the “Brown professor,” the organization points to last semester’s Nov. 29 arrest of a Pomona faculty member who was demonstrating in solidarity with Palestinians on campus. Starr did not directly comment on the arrest, although she did send out an email about the threats of “antisemitism, Islamophobia and shared ancestry discrimination” several days after the incident.
Pomona Divest from Apartheid stands alongside many other campus organizations and coalitions urging for support of Palestinian liberation.
On Feb. 10, two days before Monday’s email, over 40 faculty members at the Claremont Colleges released a statement announcing their establishment of a Faculty for Justice in Palestine (FJP) chapter. According to the statement, the formation of the chapter — which joins chapters at over 90 other institutions — followed the publication of a Claremont Consortium Faculty Statement on Gaza last October. The Oct. 31 statement was signed by 186 7C faculty members and endorsed by four departments.
Along with providing a detailed account of the events following the Oct. 7 Hamas attack and highlighting the history of violence towards and oppression of Palestinian people in the region, the Feb. 10 FJP statement urged community members to educate themselves and support Palestinian movements for freedom.
“We urge all those concerned at the Claremont Colleges and beyond to further the emancipation of Palestinians from apartheid and colonial domination to redouble efforts to promote [the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement] on campus and in professional associations and civil society organizations everywhere,” the statement read.
In a correspondence with TSL, Claremont FJP explained that the new chapter was formed by faculty members in an effort to address many of the concerns highlighted in the Oct. 31 statement on Gaza.
“Faculty members attentive to the need to advocate for academic freedom and free speech protections in the current campus climate came together as a collective that became the FJP,” they said. “At the same time, faculty at institutions across the US were issuing similar statements and forming collectives. Through meetings at conferences and online, these organic formations have coalesced into the national Faculty for Justice for Palestine network.”
In line with this, FJP chapters across the country work to support pro-Palestinian organizing on college campuses, according to the Faculty for Justice in Palestine Network website.
“FJP is a national network of organized academic chapters, composed primarily of faculty and staff, that emerged during the genocidal war on Gaza’s population and its built environment,” the website states. “FJP supports campus groups of faculty and staff who are organizing for Palestinian liberation.”
Claremont FJP summarized the purpose of their existence on campus in their correspondence with TSL.
“In practical terms, FJP allows us to support existing student protests and actions, to collaborate on joint actions, and to strategize on how to move forward BDS and ceasefire measures,” they said. “Our primary goals are to support student-led activism for justice in Palestine across Claremont, to support academic freedom and free speech related to this activism, and to continue educating ourselves and our peers about these matters.”
In the Feb. 10 statement, Claremont FJP further expressed its mission, stance and goals in regards to Palestinian liberation through the listing of its “Principles of Unity.”
“FJP calls for an end to Israel’s occupation and colonization of Palestine,” one of the principles states. “We insist on the fundamental rights of Palestinians to self-determination and legal equality and we pledge to respect, protect and promote the rights of Palestinian refugees to return to their homes and lands.”
They also clarified that their support for pro-Palestinian organizing is not tied to antisemitism or other forms of discrimination.
“FJP rejects the conflation of support for Palestinian liberation and criticism of Israel with antisemitism,” the statement reads. “We stand against racism and oppression in all its manifestations.”
James Morrison, a professor of literature and film at Claremont McKenna College and supporter of FJP, expressed his struggles with understanding his own stance on the topic. He spoke about his previous reservations about denouncing Israel’s actions, stating that he has since changed his mind.
“I think that Israel is now challenging its former supporters, including me,” Morrison said. “And I begin to wonder whether I can continue to say that I support Israel’s right to exist. I think it’s going to be harder for people like me to justify a both sides-ism now that the Israeli state has proven itself so willing to move in violently, without even any particular regard for casualties among civilians.”
The newly established Claremont FJP chapter has begun its support of Palestinian movements on campus. In its Feb. 10 statement, the group announced itself as a community co-sponsor of the #SuspendHaifa motion currently being voted on at Pitzer College. The motion, which was passed at the Student Senate level on Sunday, seeks to end the college’s study abroad program with the University of Haifa in Israel.
According to their statement, FJP also supports the BDS movement, insisting on college divestment from Israeli institutions. Their support of this movement is something that appears to be shared among many community members at the Claremont Colleges.
On Monday, Feb. 19, voting will open via email for a referendum at Pomona centered around disclosure, divestment and academic boycott. The referendum, which was initially introduced by Divest Claremont College, follows the passing of over 100 BDS motions on college campuses across the globe and has been endorsed by 34 on-campus groups.
As stated in a Referendum Information Sheet provided to the ASPC Senate, the goal of the referendum is to give students a voice in Pomona’s relationship with the state of Israel.
“This referendum will provide a safe outlet for a formal student body vote on our campuses’ relationships (financial & academic) with the apartheid system in the state of Israel,” the sheet reads. “This is an accessible way to publicize & historicize student opinion on the College’s ties to apartheid.”
Voting will close on Feb. 21.
On Feb. 16, this article was updated to include information from a statement by Claremont FJP.
Courtney Chen contributed reporting.
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