In the early hours of September 9, Harwood faculty resident Valorie Thomas reported an argument between several Pomona students and herself to Campus Safety. An officer arrived at Harwood at 1:40 a.m., to find that the students had already left.

Officers spoke with Professor Thomas until shortly after 2 a.m.

The case is headed for the Judiciary Board, but many details are in dispute. There are allegations of misconduct from both sides.

Thomas, who lives in the Harwood faculty residence with her daughter, allegedly heard loud noises coming from outside her window. There were about six or seven people, whom she asked to move.

According to Thomas, they yelled back at her, using profanity. When she came out, two students were still there, one male and one female. The two students continued using profanities, as well as what Thomas characterized as "racial remarks."

Thomas alleged that the female then pushed her, at which point Thomas went inside her house and called Campus Safety. She stated that she later filed a police report with the Claremont Police Department and with Dean of Students Ann Quinley.

The two students, who requested they not be named in this article, disputed Thomas’ allegations. The female student was unwilling to speak at length until the case has been decided, but the male student agreed to speak both about the events that took place and the current Judicial Board charges.

According to him, the original noise that began the confrontation was from an ambulance and that "any cursing was not directed toward her, although she used verbally abusive language directed at us. "

He flatly denied that there had been any "physical contact" between either of the students and Professor Thomas.

While he was not sure if someone had mentioned Professor Thomas’ race as a means of identification, he said that there had definitely not been any slurs or hostility associated with it.

The student commented that he had filed a complaint accusing Professor Thomas of harassment and that "allegations of racial comments" were not being considered by the Judicial board.

Both parties said they were taking the Judicial Board proceedings extremely seriously. "I’m concerned about this personally, and in terms of our community," Thomas said.

The students, however, expressed concern over the purpose of the charges, while insisting upon their innocence.

"I didn’t do anything wrong," said one of the students.

"I am defending myself against accusations by a Pomona professor and that is a difficult thing to do," the other student said.

Thomas said she wanted the incident to be handled in "a serious and responsible way," but that it was ultimately up to the community to decide how to react.

"I’m not telling people what to do or how to think," she said. "If there is going to be dialogue, I want it to be productive, serious dialogue and not inflamed, reactionary dialogue."

Quinley would not comment directly on the substance of the case, citing pending Judiciary Board action. "I want to see everyone treated fairly," Quinley said. "Everyone involved has the right to privacy."

Thomas expressed confidence in the collge’s ability to handle the situation through its own internal processes: "This is a difficult, unpleasant situation [and] I feel like Ann Quinley takes this seriously and is trying to do the best she can."