On April 28, eight candidates squared off at Pomona College for the largest California gubernatorial debate yet — a spectacle students likened to a political sitcom. With antics like Chad Bianco accusing his opponents of “lying to these kids,” or Katie Porter hanging her head in mock exhaustion, the debate offered the audience a candid look into the orderly disorder of state politics.
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Pomona College to host California gubernatorial debate: Here’s what to know
On Tuesday, April 28, Pomona College will host the first of four California gubernatorial debates in Bridges Auditorium. 5C students, faculty and administration eagerly anticipate the event, and student political organizations will put on related events such as watch parties and post-debate panels.
Only Pomona students were allowed to enter the selective ticket application to attend the debate in person, but student groups such as the Claremont College’s League of Women Voters (LWV) and 5C Democrats will host watch parties for others to engage in dialogue surrounding the debate.
Former TCCS employee sentenced to 13 months for embezzling $1 million from 7Cs
On Wednesday, April 22, Steven Anthony Cowles, a former employee of The Claremont Colleges Services (TCCS), was sentenced to 13 months in federal prison after admitting to embezzling over $1 million from the Claremont Colleges this January.
Over a period of 10 years, Cowles embezzled $1,000,571 through 1,343 unauthorized wire transactions. According to court documents, Cowles used a “P-Card,” an employee purchasing card provided by TCCS intended for buying parts and supplies for the colleges, to conceal the wire fraud. He created fictitious invoices and documents while also linking the P-Card to his personal PayPal account, court documents said.
CMC and Scripps join SoCal campaign for stricter gas boiler regulations
Claremont McKenna College and Scripps College passed resolutions this month to support phasing out large industrial gas boilers in Southern California.
Jaden Yang PO ’28 and Clarissa Aquino PZ ’26 have led the charge at the 5Cs to pass student resolutions on gas boilers. The end goal of the campaign is to convince the South Coast Air Quality Management District (SCAQMD), a government agency that oversees air quality standards, to phase out the use of medium to large-sized boilers across Southern California.
They hope to get all 5Cs to support the resolution by the end of April, so they can show full support for shifting away from gas boilers at the SCAQMD’s next board meeting on May 1.
Student organizations collaborate to push Metro U-Pass initiative
The 7C Transportation Working Group is developing a plan to bring Los Angeles Metro’s U-Pass, a reduced-fare transit pass, to the 5Cs. The group said the program would expand student opportunities and reduce car dependency.
The group — composed of students from the Claremont Urbanists, a club for urban planning, and the Associated Students of Pomona College (ASPC) Sustainability Committee — is advocating for the colleges to enroll in a pilot plan in which The Claremont Colleges Services (TCCS) would purchase U-Pass from LA Metro to give students who pay a one-time $2 fee unlimited rides across a network of 10 transit agencies.
Motley and Scripps Store close on admitted students day amid staff strike
The Motley Coffeehouse and Scripps Store were closed on April 17, admitted students day, due to student staffing shortages. While the Motley’s barista bar was nonoperational, its lounge area hosted recurring teach-ins that outlined the workers’ demands and recounted the coffeehouse’s political history.
In light of the recent administrative decision to assign a supervisor — Interim Vice President for Student Affairs, Stacey Miller — to oversee each organization, 77.6% of Motley staff and 95% of Scripps Store staff voted to strike today, according to each of the business’s student co-heads.
5Cs to switch to 100% renewable electricity
Presidents across the 5Cs announced Friday, April 17 that the colleges will transition to 100% renewable electricity by enrolling in the Clean Power Alliance (CPA), following a yearlong 5C Environmental Justice (5CEJ) campaign to phase out fossil fuels.
The “Claremont Off Fossil Fuels”campaign proposed the Colleges stop purchasing electricity from Southern California Edison (SCE), an investor-owned utility that primarily relies on fossil fuels, and instead enroll in the CPA, a not-for-profit energy provider that offers 100% renewable electricity options. The Claremont Colleges’ Business and Financial Affairs Committee and the consortium-wide presidents committee have now approved the proposal.
Milo Slevin PO ’28, campaign co-founder, said the transition marks a concrete shift in how the Colleges demonstrate their commitment to sustainability by taking action that immediately reduces carbon footprint.
Inside-Out program plans restructuring following Norco prison closure
Following a year of uncertainty regarding the program’s future, the 5Cs’ Justice Education Center (JEC) appointed a new interim director, Tessa Hicks Peterson, last month. Peterson has since initiated plans to pilot multiple new partnership models next fall for Inside-Out, as the program navigates reconstruction following its partner institution’s, the California Rehabilitation Center (CRC) — also known as Norco prison — closure in the fall.
Inside students currently participating in Pitzer’s Pathway-to-BA program are set to graduate on May 19 after fulfilling the 32-credit course requirement. They will then be relocated to other prisons in California, but they haven’t been told which facilities they’ll be transferred to, according to Peterson.
CWPD and QCL see declines in sign-ups; student employees say AI is to blame
Sign-ups at Claremont McKenna College’s Center for Writing and Public Discourse (CWPD) and Quantitative and Computing Lab (QCL) have declined significantly this academic year. Some student employees attribute the trend to students’ growing use of AI tools for academic support and say a continued lack of sign-ups may result in staff cuts.
This spring, the CWPD has only seen around 345 appointments, according to its sign-up portal — an approximate 50 percent decline in use compared to last spring, when the center received 700 student appointments, according to an email from Associate Director Chloe Ray sent to writing consultants last May.
Several current and former student QCL employees confirmed the center experienced a similar decline in sign-ups.
Pomona students report buying and trading room draw times due to housing crisis
During room draw this past week for fall 2026 housing, students at Pomona College have reported trading and bidding for housing selection times — including thousand-dollar bids and internship offers. This follows the college’s decision to demolish the Oldenborg Center in May and subsequently reduce on-campus housing.
Taking down Oldenborg, a 120-bed language residence hall, is part of the college’s $125 million Center for Global Engagement (CGE) project to replace the dorm, dining facility and language center. CGE is set to open in fall 2028 and, once completed, will house 200 students.