Pomona implements new security policies, moves convocation amid protests

Following a year characterized by student protests and tension with administration, Pomona College has implemented numerous changes to its safety and security policies, including revisions to student swipe card access, masking regulations and increased security presence. 

The changes follow a tense spring semester on Pomona’s campus after criticism from students and faculty alike on administrators’ responses to student demonstrations, prompting some to protest the college’s convocation ceremony on Aug. 27.

The morning of the ceremony, approximately 70 students sat in and picketed Little Bridges Auditorium, the venue of the event, demanding that Pomona divest from all companies with economic ties to the state of Israel. 

“I know we all just got back on campus, and I know we all just wanna go back to classes and enjoy being students,” a student speaker at the protest said. “But it’s important to remind ourselves that in Gaza, there is no return back to school for these students.”

In response to the student protests, the convocation ceremony was moved online. Pomona President Gabrielle Starr expressed her dismay at the series of events. 

“I am disappointed that the event could not take place as planned due to protesters’ blocking the entrances to Bridges Hall of Music,” Starr wrote in an email to the Pomona College Community. “For the safety of all attendees, the College continued the event online only.”

On Aug. 26, one day prior to convocation, Starr announced that a mask ban – a tactic many student protestors adopted last spring to conceal their identities – would be enforced at the event with exceptions only for necessary medical reasons. Updated policies on protesting and masking seem to have been in the works since June when Starr hinted at upcoming changes.

“Our community is a fragile one, and it depends on face-to-face engagement, honesty and acknowledgment of one another’s full humanity,” Starr wrote in a June 6 email to the student body. “We have seen that masked protests on our campus undermines those principles. This will be an active subject of discussion next year as we reconsider our policies around protests on our campus.”

At 10:21 a.m. on the day of the protest, Associated Students of Pomona College (ASPC) President Devlin Orlin PO ’25 sent an email to the student body saying that he would be boycotting convocation in light of student responses. 

“I had no interest or need to go speak at an event where students that elected me are boycotting,” Orlin said in an interview with TSL. “If my goal is to get the speech out to the community, I can do that through email.”

In his email, Orlin criticized what he described as the college’s use of “violent language of carcerality” when talking about students advocating against “genocide and human rights violations.” He also referred to the increase in campus security staff as a “new battalion of campus pseudo-police” on Pomona’s campus.

Since the beginning of the term, Pomona has added four officers and one sergeant to its campus safety staff, according to a campus-wide email from Vice President Jeff Roth on Aug. 21. Roth said that the new security hires will be trained in areas including de-escalation, mental health crisis intervention and cultural competency.  

Orlin, who said that he was under the impression that Pomona’s administration wanted to decrease spending, said it was jarring to see them increase spending on campus safety. 

“There’s a bunch of other ways where that money could be better spent to support the community,” he said. “I will say that forever because even if you wanted to better address the issue of mistrust on campus, students feel like they can’t trust administrators.”

Roth’s email to students also included reminders about access to Alexander Hall, where 20 5C students were arrested on April 5 after occupying the building in protest. The building features one entrance monitored by safety officers where anyone who is not a Alexander Hall staff member is only allowed to enter and exit with an approved appointment. 

Roth also outlined the consequences for students involved in encampments, something that occurred on multiple occasions across the 5Cs last spring.

“Those who fail to [identify themselves] may be subject to sanctions, which may include internal disciplinary process, and citation, detention, and arrest by law enforcement agents,” Roth wrote in the email. 

He also went on to describe the necessity of law enforcement officers, explaining that because the Claremont Colleges don’t have sworn police officers as part of campus staff, administration relies on local law enforcement “when the safety of our community and the exercise of our academic mission require it.” 

The email also clarified that only Pomona students would be able to access academic buildings with their key card or school-issued ID, which caused issues for 5C students taking classes at Pomona. 

Having been unable to get into a Pomona academic building on the first day of classes, Lily Frasier SC ’28 said she received no communication from the Pomona administration.

“The only communication I received was from my professor directly,” Frasier said. “I wish that Pomona had emailed us to let us know what was going on.”

The safety policies have since been revised, outlined in a Sept. 5 email from Roth. In it, he explained that Pomona students, along with 5C students cross-registered in classes at Pomona, can now access academic buildings between the hours of 7 a.m. and 10 p.m.

Ansley Washburn and June Hsu contributed reporting.