by Andrew Alonzo | aalonzo@claremont-courier.com

On Friday, October 11, Pomona College President G. Gabrielle Starr addressed the recent protest at Carnegie Hall in a community letter titled, “Incidents at Carnegie Hall and the Road Ahead.”

Masked students from The Claremont Colleges stormed Carnegie Hall and vandalized property during a nearly four-hour occupation on Monday, October 7. One Pomona College professor told the Courier he saw college officials and a campus safety officer get pushed, shoved and elbowed by protesters. No arrests were reported.

“As we head into fall break, I write with the hope that you will take care of yourselves and one another, because we need one another, and we need care, as the violation of our collective life on campus on October 7, 2024, has shown,” Starr’s message began. “The takeover of Carnegie Hall and the events that ensued should be unfathomable in a close-knit, ethical, and caring learning community such as ours. Our academic mission was directly targeted. Faculty, students, staff, and high-school student visitors were subjected to intimidation and fear. This is unacceptable.”

Protesters enter Carnegie Hall on the Pomona College campus. Photo/courtesy of Julia Eason, Claremont McKenna College

Starr then expressed a collective “Thank you” to campus safety and student affairs staff; those who helped evacuate the building; faculty who provided space to displaced students and professors; to the Associated Students of Pomona College; and to the facilities and information technology services staff who worked to restore Carnegie.

The letter went on to read, in part, that “the destruction in Carnegie Hall was extensive and the harm to individuals and our mission was so great.” Inquiries about the damage cost of Monday’s demonstration have yet to be returned by president Starr or Pomona College Interim Chief Communications Officer Patricia Vest.

Efforts to identify participants in Monday’s protest are ongoing.

“I want you all to know that, based on our extensive but still growing inquiry, the vast majority of those who occupied Carnegie are not Pomona students. Starting this week, disciplinary letters are going out to students from Pomona and the other Claremont Colleges who have been identified as taking part in the takeover of Carnegie Hall. Student groups affiliated with this incident are also under investigation. Individuals who are not students will be banned from our campus. Additional evidence is still under review.”

The college will not comment on individual disciplinary cases.

“I anticipate that, within the scope of the student code, and commensurate with individual circumstances, sanctions will range widely, including campus bans, suspension and expulsion — a step we do not take lightly. As always, we have due process on our campus, with opportunities for appeal.”

Starr wrote that “Every Sagehen … has a role to play in rebuilding our sense of collective responsibility, and in finding a path forward that restores our community,” and ended the message looking toward the end of the semester.

“As we head into the final months of the semester and the year, let us embrace this commitment together. Let us not lose sight of what unites and makes us strong. We are given great gifts, gifts that we must bear in trust for this generation and every generation to come,” she wrote. “I am proud to be part of this community, and I look forward to being with you, engaging alongside you, and setting our feet together on a path that, even at our most profound moments of disagreement, leads to higher ground.”

The full statement from Starr is posted at pomona.edu. Visit pomona.edu/president, and click “statements/messages” on the sidebar.

On Saturday, the Courier sought comment in response to president Starr’s remarks from Pomona Divest from Apartheid and Claremont Students for Justice in Palestine, grassroots pro-Palestine activist groups comprised of students from The Claremont Colleges; and Mudders Against Murder, a Harvey Mudd College Dissenters chapter. None have responded.

Demonstrations by student protesters over the months have mainly called for Pomona College to divest from companies they say aid Israel’s offensive in Gaza. Before the October 7 rally, students staged a demonstration outside of Bridges Hall of Music to disrupt Pomona College’s convocation ceremony on August 27. Other instances this fall have included protesters vandalizing Alexander Hall, student Amazon lockers and dining areas, according to the protest activity page.

The college noted that recent protest activity has intensified.

“This fall semester, we have seen escalating acts of harassment and intimidation carried out against College faculty, staff, and students by individuals who conceal their identity through clothing and masks and refuse to identify themselves upon the request of staff or faculty. These acts include protests and vandalism in the late hours of the night outside the President’s house. In addition, Board of Trustees members have been viciously targeted online and via postal mail.”

In response to last semester’s pro-Palestinian encampment outside Marston Quad and other activisms, Pomona College changed its rules regarding campus demonstrations for the 2024-25 school year, including banning encampments, making Pomona College buildings accessible by ID or key card only, adding safety officers to direct traffic to and from Alexander Hall, and hiring one sergeant and four officers to the campus safety force.

Pomona College provided hyperlinks to its speech and student codes, and to The Claremont Colleges demonstration and event space request policies.