In 1791, Jeremy Bentham conceptualized the panopticon as a mode of prison design: A circular design with cells around a central tower, allowing the warden to observe inmates at all times. Then, in 1973, Michel Foucault applied this concept to the political world, arguing that the state could enact constant surveillance on its citizens as a means of social control.
Here at the Claremont Colleges, our academic institutions take on the role of the state, surveilling their students to police behavior and heighten fear of dissent under the guise of safety concerns. Now I know it sounds absurd to compare 5C administration to a surveillance state, but the concerns exist and ought to be addressed.
As a result of this surveillance, the comfort of students in expressing dissent is limited, all the while true security concerns go unaddressed. The campus’ surveillance exists through basic measures, such as security cameras and tightened demonstration policies. But it manifests more insidiously, too, with Pomona College administrators utilizing ID swipe card data and WiFi tracking to locate students at any given time and inform disciplinary action.
In the spring of 2024, Pomona updated their safety protocols to restrict students in response to protests against Pomona’s investment in corporations complicit in the Israeli genocidal campaign. The implementation of ID card swipe access to academic buildings the following fall enabled Pomona, and presumably the other 5Cs, to have continuous access to information on students’ movements, data they utilize to their advantage.
For instance, I personally know someone who has received an email from Housing and Residence Life that began, “Based on your ID card activity, we know you are on campus.” Aside from being seriously weird, the fact that you are unable to exist privately on campus should be a cause for concern. Students are not adequately warned that Pomona will have access to this type of information upon entry to the institution.
Despite the fact that these security measures are put in place in the name of student safety, the campus still faces unauthorized individuals gaining access to private student spaces, a problem they have yet to meaningfully address. Lyon Hall has had repeated instances of intruders entering the dormitory and exposing themselves to students. Somehow, we know where students are at all times, but still cannot adequately protect them.
New campus safety officers have been hired, and more security cameras have been installed around the campuses. These measures were taken at the same time protest encampments were disallowed, not after break-ins or incidents of indecent exposure, making it hard to feel that these changes were geared towards student protection.
This surveillance is not something we can opt out of; it follows us in the backdrop of any given moment we are on campus. For instance, we are obligated to use campus WiFi to complete assignments on Canvas and respond to endless emails, but at the expense of Pomona’s ability to pinpoint our location at any given time.
The fact that the increase in security personnel has had no impact on crime on campus — such as the continued prevalence of bike theft — suggests that these increased security precautions are not truly aimed at reducing crime; rather, they are part of this surveillance apparatus.
These developments have led to an aggravated surge in student tracking over the last couple of years, which curtails student participation in broader political movements, particularly those that the colleges view as opposed to their interests. Take Pomona’s response to the occupation at Carnegie Hall, where the administration notified over 70 students that they were identified participants in the demonstration, and even banned a member of the student press covering the protest.
“College campuses have long existed as hubs of student expression and activism and Pomona’s attempt to diminish that through increased surveillance disguised as security is reprehensible.”
It is painfully obvious that Pomona’s, and the 5Cs’ more generally, approach to safety is more concerned with policing and punishing student activity than it is with actually creating a safe campus environment.
Whether it is their announcement of heightened restrictions on demonstrations in the Resolution Agreement with the Anti-Defamation League and the Louis D. Brandeis Center for Human Rights Under Law or their previous arrest of students engaged in protest at Alexander Hall, Pomona has cultivated a culture intent on restricting student behavior.
This is not how things should be, and it certainly doesn’t have to be this way. College campuses have long existed as hubs of student expression and activism and Pomona’s attempt to diminish that through increased surveillance disguised as security is reprehensible.
Pomona has a responsibility to ensure students feel not only safe, but also protected by their institution. Especially in a time in which increased tracking exists from the state and immigration enforcement agencies, our liberal arts college should not also engage in these Machiavellian tactics of watching. For our institutions to engage in this tyrannical monitoring is entirely antithetical to the cooperative and collaborative ethos that a liberal arts college ought to espouse.
We have a responsibility here as students, too. Students have participated in this tracking of one another, with some insidiously capturing and sharing photos of protestors that the administration used to identify individuals during divestment protests. We have a responsibility to condemn this behavior and work to dismantle it by being more cautious in the way that we document each other’s actions and whereabouts, purposefully disengaging from surveillance
Pomona and the other 5C administrations must seriously re-evaluate their safety policies and rein in the tracking and observation of their students. Their insistence on this surveillance has not made our campuses safer; it has only put students’ safety and education at risk while creating discomfort and disconnect between the administration and the students. I do not believe the recent security practices serve anyone, and Pomona must do a better job at adhering to morally decent practices when it comes to student discipline and safety.
Alex Benach PO ’28 is from Washington, D.C. and tries to wear cute outfits every day in case they’re being watched.
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