On Friday, May 10, Pomona College President G. Gabrielle Starr emailed a statement to the Pomona community announcing Pomona’s commencement ceremony, scheduled for Sunday, May 12, would be moved off campus to the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles.
Starr’s announcement came during an ongoing Gaza solidarity encampment organized by Pomona Divest from Apartheid (PDfA) that began on May 6 on Pomona’s Marston Quad, the planned on-campus site for Pomona’s commencement ceremony. Originally contained to just the graduation stage, the encampment expanded to the steps of Bridges Auditorium, with students rearranging the white fences that lined the quad to create a blockade.
In her statement, Starr explained the ceremony will now take place at 6 p.m. instead of 12 p.m. and graduating students are required to take a bus to the venue to attend mandatory rehearsal at 3:30 p.m.
“We are deeply grateful for your patience in this extraordinary situation and we look forward to honoring our graduates on Sunday,” Starr wrote in her statement. “We sincerely apologize for the inconvenience of these changes made to ensure that the Class of 2024 can graduate with their loved ones in attendance. Additional safety measures will be in place and transportation to the venue will be provided for graduates.”
In an email with TSL, Mark Kendall, Pomona’s communications director, did not specify what these safety measures would be, nor if Pomona has been in contact with the police in regards to the event.
“Appropriate safety plans are in place,” Kendall said in his email. “Additional info on Commencement is on our web.”
Starr’s email additionally did not mention any plans to help families or other guests to attend the event, nor is any information available on the “Information for Families and Guests” page of Pomona’s website.
ASPC Vice President of Finance Daysi Manrique PO ’24 sent an email to the student listserv providing information on discounts for car rentals through Pomona’s corporate accounts with Enterprise Rent-a-Car and National Car Rental. Dean of Student Life Josh Eisenberg forwarded Manrique’s email and added the Metrolink runs from Claremont to Union Station on Sundays. He linked the Metrolink schedule, linked Google Maps directions and reminded students the cost is $10 for a weekend pass.
In an Instagram post on May 11, PDfA responded to the college’s decision, calling out Pomona for making the last-minute change rather than negotiate for divestment. They believed that based on the lateness of the booking, holding commencement at the Shrine would have cost Pomona an exorbitant amount of money.
“Pomona is feeling the pressure,” they wrote. “Admin would rather spend hundreds of thousands of dollars to move graduation instead of engaging with [students’] demands. They’re idiots.”
AEG Special Event Venues, which books events for the Shrine, has not responded to TSL’s request for more information on the venue’s cost as of publication.
While the encampment shows no indication of leaving, in a joint Instagram post with SoCal Students for Justice in Palestine and the Los Angeles, Orange County and Inland Empire chapter of the Palestinian Youth Movement on May 11, PDfA revealed intent to potentially disrupt commencement at the Shrine, announcing an event called “So-Cal Shut it Down for Palestine” which will take place at the Shrine on May 12 at 3:30 p.m.
“In an attempt to avoid accountability to their [students’] call for divestment from the zionist state, Pomona college has moved their commencement ceremony to the Shrine Auditorium,” they wrote in the post. “Let’s show Gabi Starr, [USC President] Carol Folt, [UCLA Chancellor] Gene Block, and countless other violent administrators that we will not let them avoid Palestine as long as they aid and abet genocide! No graduation as usual. Anywhere.”
PDfA was unavailable for further comment as of publication.
This is a breaking story and will be updated as more information becomes available.
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