Pomona College students and deans gathered in the Rose Hills Theater Thursday to discuss “Policies, Procedures, and Pomona.” Dean Daren Mooko said the event was an open forum established as a direct response to an
published in
The Student Life
on September 25. This piece concerned a “beer scavenger hunt” that took place in April.At the beginning of the forum, Mooko said that the “beer scavenger hunt” was not within the scope of discussion.Mooko gave a PowerPoint presentation at the event detailing the process whereby deans will respond to alleged violations of the student code. However, when he reached a slide that explained the “Dean Investigation,” several students began to ask questions about the procedures.Students present were curious about the notion of “discretion” that deans are afforded when investigating an alleged violation. The conversation centered on whether students’ private records—such as which buildings they have swiped into on campus, and what items they have purchased from the Coop Store—could be indiscriminately gathered as evidence.Than Volk PO ’12, who coauthored the original article, was particularly vocal during the forum.“I think it was a very good starting point…but I don’t think [Dean Mooko’s presentation] was allowing enough discussion on the issues,” he said after the event. “It definitely was really, really awkward in that they didn’t want to or they weren’t letting us talk about scavvy, because it’s very clear that everything is going to trace back to this.”