In a letter to Pomona College on Aug. 20, Pomona President G. Gabrielle Starr announced that she would be taking a sabbatical during the spring semester of this academic year.
“Claremont Colleges presidents have long joined our faculty colleagues in taking one-semester sabbaticals to foster intellectual renewal, scholarly research, and professional development,” Starr wrote. “Following this tradition, during this Board of Trustees-approved sabbatical, I will focus on my next book manuscript dealing with the importance of the arts in human life and learning.”
According to a statement the Office of the President gave to TSL, Starr began discussing her sabbatical with the Board of Trustees about 18 months ago.
Edwin F. and Martha Hahn Professor of Geology Robert “Bob” Gaines will be serving as Pomona’s acting president during Starr’s absence in the spring.
“Bob has demonstrated exemplary service and leadership within Pomona College and is uniquely qualified to lead the College during this period,” Starr said in her Aug. 20 email.
Gaines has been with Pomona since 2003 and served as the vice president for academic affairs and the dean of the college from 2019 to 2022. In an interview with TSL, Gaines said that he was most nervous about missing daily student interaction, as students are the best part of his job.
“[Students] are the part of the institution that makes it run in terms of the energy, the questions that they bring, their curiosity, and the way that they challenge each other and members of the community,” Gaines said. “I hope they know that my intent in stepping into this role is to really be able to support them in the pursuit of their education here for all the students on campus.”
Gaines acknowledged that Starr’s decision to take a sabbatical might seem unconventional to students.
“It does feel unusual from the student perspective, I’m sure, to have a president taking a sabbatical,” Gaines said. “But she’s really treating it in the way that faculty members would rather than just rest up. She’s really pursuing her scholarship.”
Students seem to have mixed reactions towards Starr’s decision, with Gerard Lapuente PO ‘27 noting that he would like Starr to work more closely with students when she returns next term.
“A lot of conflicts deal with the divide between admin and the students,” Lapuente said. “I would love to see the administration learn how to be closer to students and be willing to cooperate.”
Nolwenn Sharp PO ‘26 said that she hopes reactions to student protests from the administration will be more healthy during Starr’s absence in the spring.
“I think they’re just going to replace her with somebody else who has the same values,” Sharp said. “Honestly, I think the issue is more the Board of Trustees than any president”
Gaines said that campus policies decided by the community do not leave a lot of room for him to handle campus protests with a completely different approach from Starr, but that he recognizes the sense of frustration in the community at large.
“I think a lot of the things that [protesters] are interested in accomplishing are goals that all of us in the institution would share,” he said. “I think dialogue is essential in making those things happen, and sometimes just a fresh face can help restart that conversation.”
Gaines also added that his time at the college has allowed him to develop an understanding of Pomona and its community, which will enable him to come to the table with students.
“I’m coming to the role from bringing more than 20 years of being a professor here, and working with the students is kind of what got me excited about the place,” Gaines said. “I’m hoping that we can come to the table.”
As acting president, Gaines will be overseeing the continued implementation of Starr’s “strategic vision, which centers on three areas; campus climate, equity, access, as well as transformative knowledge and creation.”
As a faculty member in 2018, Gaines was elected to help with this strategic vision and began to implement it when he served as dean in 2019. Now, Gaines will be specifically dealing with the production of the Center for Global Engagement, and implementing Starr’s Middle Income Initiative.
“We’re really making strong progress demographically, but economically, we feel like [the strategic vision] would help,” Gaines said. “And specifically put some programs into place that would aid middle-class families to send kids here.”
Starr’s absence won’t be the only administrative position Pomona has to fill this year.
Chief Communications Officer Mark Kendall is leaving Pomona after 20 years with the college. According to the Office of the President, a national search for the college’s next chief communications officer will be conducted soon.
Furthermore, Samuel Glick is stepping down from his position as chair of the Pomona board of trustees, after serving three consecutive three-year terms.
Glick first accepted the role of chair in 2015. According to Secretary to the Board of Trustees Geoff Pearson, Glick indicated that this would be his last term when he took the role for the third time in 2021.
Janet Benton served as the chair-elect during the last academic year and will take Glick’s place as the chair of the board for the 2024-2025 school year.
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