by Mick Rhodes | editor@claremont-courier.com

Pomona College has entered into exclusive talks regarding the possible purchase of Claremont Graduate University, which, if completed, could help alleviate CGU’s long-standing financial woes.

“Late this spring, a group of Pomona faculty, staff and trustees began to engage in the confidential, independent review process that CGU had established to explore the potential value of a partnership with another institution,” Pomona President G. Gabrielle Starr wrote in a December 18 letter to the college community. “After months of evaluation and review, we are now legally permitted to discuss the process publicly.”

CGU interim President Michelle C. Bligh released a similar statement on December 18.

“Today, I am delighted to announce that CGU has entered exclusive negotiations with Pomona College,” Bligh wrote. “The spirit and intent of this agreement, approved by the Board of Trustees at both CGU and Pomona, is a true alliance, an opportunity to co-create a new model of graduate education for the 21st century. This would not be a bailout or merger. Should we reach a partnership agreement, CGU would preserve its name and graduate identity.”

CGU recently published a page on its website devoted to the possible sale at cgu.edu/partnership-initiative.

Pomona also created a webpage with information about the possible purchase at pomona.edu/partnership-initiative.

“This collaboration would preserve CGU’s important role in the consortium while positioning both schools to innovate and thrive in an evolving higher education landscape,” read a post on Pomona’s webpage. “Together, we have the potential to build on our complementary strengths and deepen our shared commitment to excellence in education.”

Starr wrote in her December 18 letter that Pomona faculty, staff and trustees have been engaged in an independent review process to explore the potential value of a partnership since late last spring.

“Our Board has been carefully evaluating this matter as well, including assessing the extensive information and insights provided by Pomona’s working group,” Starr wrote. “Our Board has been carefully evaluating this matter as well, including assessing the extensive information and insights provided by Pomona’s working group.

“Among other issues, the Board and the working group have considered whether this partnership may, in fact, be essential to protecting and preserving the Consortium. Both Pomona and CGU have been part of the Consortium since its founding 100 years ago by Pomona President James Blaisdell. CGU was the original graduate institution within our distinctive higher education Consortium, and Pomona and CGU share a century of partnership based in President Blaisdell’s founding vision of collaborative educational excellence.”

Starr emphasized that nothing binding has yet been decided.

“Any binding decisions on this matter will only follow discussions across the Pomona community, which we are initiating today,” Starr wrote. “CGU will likewise take its own steps to engage its own community as it determines best.”

Bligh wrote about the schools’ long-standing alliance.

“The relationship — the partnership — between Pomona and CGU goes back to our founding in 1925,” she wrote. “We share a visionary president in James Blaisdell, who believed in collaborative educational excellence. It is serendipitous, perhaps poetic, that the potential for a new partnership has been kindled in our Centennial year.

“A partnership does not alter the need for CGU to redefine its place in higher education. As I have shared before, I believe we are entering a great new era for the university. We embrace both the opportunities and the challenges that lie ahead.”

Former interim CGU President Tim Kirley told the Courier in September 2024 the university — which is celebrating its centennial this year —  had been operating at a deficit for more than 10 years, and was at a financial crossroads. Kirley said CGU needed to “… significantly grow the [then $190 million] endowment, increase research funding, and candidly evaluate our assets, programs, and internal operations.”