When Pomona College moved into the Hotel Claremont, now Sumner Hall, from the basement of the Pilgrim Congregationalist Church in Pomona during the winter of 1888, there was little more to the Village than a railroad station, a farmhouse, and two or three small houses in the sagebrush. Now, after growing together for over 100 years, the college and the town are still learning how to get along.

"The city and the colleges are basically siblings. We all developed from the same seed," explained Executive Vice President of the Claremont University Center (CUC) Mitch Dorger. "And like siblings, you occasionally have squabbles. You see things differently."

Though the Claremont College administration and City Hall are occasionally at odds, both school and city officials agree that most of the friction in Claremont is a result of disputes and misunderstandings between Claremont residents and the colleges and their students.

President Peter Stanley sees this relationship as deteriorating, and he was disturbed by the behavior of residents who telephoned both him and Dean of Students Ann Quinley during Harwood Halloween telling them that "if we can’t sleep, then neither can you."

"I think we’re going into a new relationship with the city, and it’s not a good one," said Stanley.

During 1995 and 1996, when the CUC began to construct its new physical plant just north of First Street in Claremont, residents living on Elder Drive, just south of the development, sued the colleges, alleging that the new structure would reduce the value of their property.

Dorger believes that the nature of Claremont and its residents can make things difficult for the colleges. "The people of Claremont are very participatory in their government, and they aren’t reluctant to make themselves heard on issues that they think are hurtful to them," he said.

As a result of the suit, the structure was redesigned to be only one story, instead of the original two. Also, the CUC was forced to put a large wall around the southern side of the plant in order to reduce the negative effects of the plant on the surrounding residents.

Claremont Mayor Karen Rosenthal admits that many residents do not take the time to appreciate the colleges, and in the case of the physical plant a group of citizens did "everything in their power to stop the development." The city itself, she said, does not participate in any unnecessary monitoring of the colleges and their plans.

"The city likes to ask the colleges to adhere to city standards in building and development," said Rosenthal. In the case of the physical plant, she said that, "The city did anything in its power to help Pomona build a good facility that would help the college."

The CUC’s determination to build the Keck Graduate University has sparked a similar, but larger, uproar from citizens and students alike, who feel the Bernard Field Station (BFS) is not an appropriate location for the development of a bio-technology research institute.

Claremont resident Carol Gil recently filed an initiative with the City Attorney’s office which would put a measure on the ballot to re-zone the BFS as a conservation area, which would disallow any new construction on the land between College and Mills Avenues. Students at the Claremont Colleges are beginning a campaign to register student voters in anticipation of the vote, but about 4,000 signatures are needed in the next 180 days for the initiative to be successful.

The return of the students to Claremont this September added new voices to the ongoing protests concerning the shooting of Irvin Landrum, Jr. by two Claremont police officers after a traffic stop last January. Professors and students alike have been participating in the weekly rallies outside city hall, and Rosenthal has questioned the professors’ use of their title and their college to protest against the city.

In letter to the college presidents and Dorger at the CUC, Rosenthal states that "...professors and groups appear to be representing an official position taken by one or more of the colleges and affiliated organizations. We hope that they are not, but it is not clear to both the public or us."

Students who were made aware of this letter considered it a request from the city to silent outspoken professors, but Rosenthal says that it is not.

"[The letter] has nothing to do with whether they are allowed to voice their opinion or not," she stated.

Regardless, Stanley said that if the city were to make any request that college administrators censor their faculty, it would not be taken seriously.

Massey, the chair of the Council of Presidents, agreed in a letter responding to Rosenthal. "You have heard from our employees in many City Council meetings and hearings. I am certain you agree that free expression of differing opinions and principles of conscience is critical to our society," she wrote.

Tuesday’s City Council meeting was indicative of the increased polarization between college students and the city and its residents. Mike Flynn ’00 organized a group of about 100 students and faculty that packed the meeting and contested the city council’s alleged complacency in the Landrum case.

At the forefront of college and community tensions is the college’s continued failure in throwing loud outdoor events, as the Claremont Police Department repeatedly shuts them down due to residential noise complaints.

"If we could just get an agreement about decibel levels, it would relieve a lot of the stress between students and community," said Quinley.

Many suspect that the city can issue a permit which would allow events like Harwood Halloween to continue despite noise complaints, but city officials say that’s not likely.

Senior City Planner Steve Lustro said that the colleges can apply for a $300 Special Use and Development permit, but that its primary purpose is to allow the city to review plans for large events on private property and make recommendations.

"There is no permit that the city can issue that would allow any variations from the city’s noise standards," explained Lustro.

Rosenthal explained it this way, "If we require residents to adhere to the code we have to have students adhere to the code. Students are just as much residents as the citizens."

Dorger believes that this and other lack of concessions for the colleges from the city degrades the quality of college life, as Claremont doesn’t offer advantages similar to other college towns, such as nightclubs or youth oriented businesses.

"I’ve sort of wondered why there’s not more catering to the students. I can’t really answer that question," said Dorger.

Quinley agreed, "I think most [students] say that the city doesn’t cater at all to the 5,000 young people who live here." She added, "We don’t know if we always feel that the city values them much as they should."

Rosenthal, for her part, thinks that although many residents may not take advantage of what the colleges bring to the community, there are more things the colleges can do to make citizens of Claremont feel that the campus is open to them.

"There needs to be a symbiotic relationship between the colleges and the community, and the colleges need to commit more to the city," said Rosenthal. "There’s a number of programs the citizens would like to be opened to the city." She cites, in particular, the city’s request to hold Claremont High School football home games on Pomona and Claremont McKenna College (CMC) fields, and opening the Physical Plant lot to parking for city vehicles.

Though most seem to agree that the colleges and the cities are drifting apart, some in both camps are making efforts, however small, to close the gap.

"At the beginning of the year, there was discussion about what the student government wanted to do this year, and improving relations with the city was one of them," said Quinley, who is a faculty advisor to the ASPC.

As a result, the senate formed the College Town committee, which met for the first time last week to discuss student concerns with the surrounding community.

The committee, chaired by ASPC Vice President Putnam Shin ’00, discussed solutions for outdoor events, a possible Village-wide student discount, and a rental car program in which the college would vouch for its student drivers.

Rosenthal, who has met with both the CMC and Pomona student body presidents, says she is looking forward to greater cooperation between the students and the city, and is "just waiting for them to call."

Dorger said the administration at the colleges has programs in place, such as internships and volunteerism, to get students into the community, if only to discover that that community exists.

"One of the things we try to do is to promote getting the students off the campus and involved in the community life," said Dorger.