A proposal for revision of the current Pomona College demonstration policy, marked with notes suggesting the explicit inclusion of the CEO of the Claremont University Consortium in a section previously referring only to college presidents, was delivered to The Student Life on Wednesday by a source wishing to remain unidentified.

The section in question, regarding the rights of administrators when students from other colleges are protesting on their campus, currently states, "In an emergency situation, any president or representative designated by the president or by the Board of Trustees of any of the Claremont Colleges is empowered by the Board of Trustees to take appropriate action, including summary suspension from the college. Any such action would be temporary, pending diposition of the matter by the regular judicial process."

Some students involved in this semester’s protests regarding the Bernard Field Station allege that these corrections acknowledge that Brenda Barham Hill, current CEO of CUC, did not have authority to summarily suspend protestors under the current policy.

According to Dean of Students Ann Quinley, the current policy does include Barham Hill in those administrators who can summarily suspend students for actions taking place on their campuses. Quinley also noted that, while the document was one of the drafts of the policy that she is currently revising, she does not know who wrote the changes. She indicated that the document was the product of her work with the Student Affairs Council, the 5-C Board of Student Deans, and had been stolen from her office.

We have been working to revise this policy for almost a year, said Quinley. "By the time of our last meeting [of a subcommittee of the Council of Student Deans], the demonstration at Pendleton had occurred, and we were trying to make the language regarding CUC as clear as possible."

There has been some confusion in the past as to what authority administrators have with regard to students involved in infractions on campuses that are not their own. President Stanley thought that, in this situation, administrators such as Barham Hill only have the authority to recommend summary suspension, not to actually enforce it.

Quinley believes that this understanding is incorrect. "If you do something bad at Claremont McKenna, the president can suspend you from Pomona," she said. "It says this in the demonstration policy. After 1993, the presidents clarified that this was the case."

"[In addition,] there is no doubt in my mind that CUC is under the current policy, that it is intended to be included," Quinley said. However she also said that the point may need to be clarified: "If that is not clear to the reader, then it will be made clear."

Other changes to the policy will attempt to make the language regarding CUC and police involvement more explicit.

On June 9, 2000 the Council of Presidents made a request to the Council of Student Deans to look at the protest policy and try to come up with common agreements, according to Quinley. A subcommittee of Quinley and one other dean was formed to work on the current policy.

"We were to look at the policy, make it more modern, and talk to the police [about their involvement]," Quinley said. "There will be nothing new except the last section, regarding the police."

The proposal TSL received states "our charge from Brenda reads in part: the council wishes the student Deans Committee ‘to discuss with a representative of the Claremont Police Department and Director of Campus Security Lena Robinson . . . protocols and expectations regarding situations in which law enforcement officials might be called to campus to assist with student disruptions.’"

This proposals draft number three in a series of at least five edits; Quinley said that the current version includes more specific wording about police involvement. While the colleges are not required to press charges against any protestors, the police would prefer that, were they to be called in, this would be the outcome.

A complete copy of the confidential document is available online at http://www.tsl.pomona.edu.