Pomona Conspiracies Mostly Nonexistant
By Kyle Warneck
News Associate

Why was the Sagehen Server really shut down? Is “Trailer Clark” part of a secret plan? Why do some courses not count for PAC credit when they obviously meet a PAC? Why do some good professors leave, and why have some bad professors stayed for so long? Are these somehow related to the secret society called “The Trustees”? Who really is Cecil the Sagehen?

For a college that boasts about its happy students, Pomona seems to have an awful lot of conspiracy theories. If one reads any of a variety of student publications including The Student Life, one finds more than a little suspicion towards the administration. Underlying many articles and editorials is the sense that administrators have something to hide. As exciting as these theories are, the only real secret society at Pomona is Mufti, and school administrators have been trying to punish them for vandalism for a decade.

Why are students so cynical about our administration? Pomona’s culture of conspiracy theory is both a product of our times and a product of our college. Students at Pomona, liberal or conservative, are part of a generation that is naturally suspicious of authority. As in the movie SLC Punk, if you are in Pomona College’s administration, you must have “sold out” sometime. This “don’t trust any over-30 thinking” is magnified by the nature of Pomona College. While it is not unusual to see a faculty member in jeans and a t-shirt, the College’s top administrators dress in formal business attire. While many of them attempt to be accessible, they are relegated to their own building, behind heavy oak doors and a legion of secretaries. Most of them reside on the mysterious second floor of Alexander. Most students will never visit the second floor of Alexander, unless meeting with the aforementioned secret group, “The Trustees.” Even the elements of the college that most benefit students are reasons for suspicion. The College’s tremendous financial resources put Pomona in the league of big business in an era where “indie” is cool.

But beyond the differences in style, the suspicion towards the administration reflects a sense of powerlessness amongst the student body. Students do not know what happens in Alexander and presume that is the way the administration wants it. Students feel shut out by the administration.

I think many administrators find these attacks frustrating and confusing. Our administrators work 60 to 70 hours a week because they want to make the school a better place. Their long hours are sincerely dedicated to making Pomona a better place for students. While at times they might disagree, I suspect that they feel the process is very open. When a student publication gets the details wrong, it is their hard work students are demeaning. Decisions at this school are made after much discussion and careful study. While the administration recognizes that criticism is healthy for an institution, those attacks can be frustrating. For example, students often criticize the school for the under-representation of students of color. This is an issue that the administration is openly concerned about but is also very challenging to solve. When students engage in a healthy questioning of school policy, it is easy to become defensive. Especially since even administrators feel shut out sometimes. Like at any college, trustees do hold a lot of power. Pomona is forced to work with the consortium even when it does not want to. The city must approve every new building permit, and the CPD are the ones that shut down Harwood Halloween each year. Finally, Pomona is based on a tradition of faculty governance. Faculty votes decide many major school policies.

We all have something to learn. Students and administrators need to give each other some credit. We have to assume that everyone is acting with the best possible intentions.

Students need to recognize that the administration tries to act in the best interest of the students. While it is appropriate and important to question and criticize decisions, it is important to make thoughtful criticisms. The administration is not out to get us.

Similarly, the administration needs to take student concerns seriously. The administration needs to realize that it is not as transparent as it thinks it is. Much of the information that they assume to be public is distributed in faculty forums and email groups. Students are left out of the loop. Whether this is by accident or by design, the administrators should consider communicating with students as an important part of their job, just as they do with trustees and faculty. The burden should not always be placed on students to find the right person and to ask the right questions.

Students and administrators should stop looking for conspiracies and start working together to build the future of Pomona.