by Ila Bell | Special to the Courier

Pomona College hosted a “coffee talk” session February 27 to update staff and students on next steps as it prepares for a final decision on the proposed acquisition of Claremont Graduate University, which may come as soon as May.

The event was led by Vice President and Chief Operating Officer Jeff Roth, and Executive Director of Strategic Innovation KJ Fagen. It was billed as part of a larger effort to engage the Claremont community in the acquisition plans throughout the semester, allowing students to drop in informally and ask questions. It was the first of five Pomona has scheduled through the end of the semester, May 8.

The possible merger comes on the heels of CGU’s well-publicized effort to shore up a more than 10-year financial deficit.

Fagen and Roth said both colleges have high hopes for the partnership and that discussions will continue leading up to a final decision by their respective boards of trustees in the spring.

“During this stage, what we’re doing is we’re meeting very closely with CGU officials, with their finance team, their legal team, and our team,” Fagen said. “We’re all getting together and we’re talking about what a partnership might look like, how it would be legally structured, how the two organizations would interact, and trying to figure out what makes the most sense for CGU’s stability and strength. The next major decision is to have our boards really decide if the partnership is feasible and if they want to go forward,” Fagen said.

Pomona does not have a hard deadline for the decision.

“It’s more important that we get it right than we get it done by a particular day,” Roth said.

Pomona entered negotiations about a partnership with CGU last spring, and the initiative was formally announced in December 2025. Since then students from both colleges have expressed concerns about the independence of the institutions and restructuring of the Claremont Colleges consortium.

Roth and Fagen said Pomona is working to ensure students know the college will not become a graduate degree institution and the characteristics that make up Pomona will remain intact.

“It is very possible to preserve all of that and still support the graduate institution to achieve success,” Roth said.

Both Pomona and CGU recently created webpages to answer common questions.

“CGU students would remain CGU students and earn CGU degrees,” reads a post at CGU’s website. “Over time, a partnership could expand academic and professional opportunities while protecting the student experience.”

Roth said Pomona is prioritizing college community feedback during the spring semester.

“On our side, we’re spending a lot of time engaging with our community and listening and trying to get input from students, trustees, faculty. That’s been a process we weren’t able to do in the fall, and we’re really catching up for lost time,” he said.

The two institutions have a long history of collaboration, as CGU was the second institution to join the consortium after Pomona. This fact, Fagen said, makes the partnership even more organic.

“There is a fabulous spirit of collaboration,” Fagen said. “And, you know, it’s been really wonderful to get to know them better and work with them more closely. And I’m excited about the changes that they are working on.”

Both Fagen and Roth said working with CGU has been a positive experience.

“We’re excited to see what comes out of their process,” Roth said. “We’re impressed by their commitment to really pick up these challenges. It’s very, very innovative the way that they’re doing this.”

Bell is a sophomore writing and sociology student at Scripps College and is originally from Montana.