As students vacate one pro-Palestine encampment at Pitzer College, another has emerged at the Claremont Colleges consortium, this one taking over the commencement stage and lawn at Pomona College.
Student protesters decided to dissolve their encampment at Pitzer Sunday morning, two days after Pitzer leadership agreed to share information about the institution’s investments. Students have demanded the college stop doing business with Israel or companies that support its offensive in Gaza.
“Pitzer admin’s commitment to disclosing the percentage of the endowment in weapons manufacturing is not nearly enough,” encampment organizers said in a post on Instagram, adding the move to dissolve the protest was neither a statement of victory or defeat.
By Monday morning, pro-Palestinian students at Pomona College were setting up their own encampment to continue their call for divestment in Israel.
On Thursday, a majority of Pomona College faculty voted in support of students’ demands that the institution “divest from corporations complicit with war crimes and other human rights violations committed by the Israeli government in Israel/Palestine,” according to a news release from Pomona Divest from Apartheid.
Beginning at 5 a.m. Monday, Pomona College students had begun constructing an encampment in the commencement space in Marston Quad.
This is the second Pomona student encampment. In early April, an encampment occupying the same space was dismantled by officials and led to the arrest of 20 students after they took over an administration building.
Pomona College has made no further comment about the new encampment beyond an earlier official statement: “Our students, faculty, staff and alumni hold a range of viewpoints. Throughout the year, college leaders have offered to meet with student protesters and will continue to do so. We will promote safety for all members of our community and pursue our educational mission, considering the full range of viewpoints.”
Early Monday, there were no reports of counter-protests or a planned removal of the Pomona encampment.
This is a developing story. Check back for updates.
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