On April 5, 2024 at approximately 4:00 PM PDT, pro-Palestine protesters from multiple Claremont Colleges entered Pomona's Alexander Hall through 'false pretenses' and occupied President G. Gabrielle Starr's office. Starr emailed the community at 4:26 PM PDT calling out an anti-Black racial slur used against an administrator. At 5:40 PM PDT, riot-gear officers from four police departments arrived. The first arrests came at 6:33 PM PDT. Twenty people were arrested, including students from Pomona, Scripps, and Pitzer.
Alerts
4
Response
—
Killed
0
Injured
0
Institution
Pomona College
Private Liberal Arts · CA
~1,700 studentsPomona Alert
Confirmed Timeline
Alert Sequence
4 messages in sequence · 1 verified verbatim
Some alert texts below are approximate reconstructions from news coverage, not confirmed verbatim transcripts. Reconstructed texts are shown in italic with a dashed border. Verified verbatim texts have a solid border and are marked accordingly.
I am writing to update the community regarding steps we are taking after a group of individuals refused to identify themselves to Campus Safety and Student Affairs staff, and proceeded to verbally harass staff, even using a sickening, anti-black racial slur in addressing an administrator.
Direct verbatim quote of President Starr's 4:26 PM PDT email opening sentences, widely reproduced in news coverage
Notable for explicitly naming the racial epithet directed at a Black administrator — an unusual level of specificity in a campus alert
Sent approximately 26 minutes after protesters entered Alexander Hall, indicating rapid administrative response
UPDATEEmail+1h 14m
Approximate reconstruction·400 chars
Pomona Community: Law enforcement officers from the Claremont, Pomona, Azusa, and Covina police departments have arrived on campus in response to the ongoing occupation of Alexander Hall. Individuals inside Alexander Hall who do not leave voluntarily will be subject to arrest. Faculty, staff, and students should avoid the area surrounding Alexander Hall. Campus Safety is coordinating the response.
This text has been reconstructed from news coverage and may not reflect the exact original wording.
Reconstructed from TSL and Claremont COURIER reporting that approximately 24 officers from four police departments arrived at 5:40 PM PDT
Officers arrived in 'full riot gear' per Claremont Undercurrents photo coverage
The four-department mutual-aid response is unusual for a small liberal arts campus and reflects Claremont's location at the intersection of multiple police jurisdictions
FOLLOW-UPEmail+2h 7m
Approximate reconstruction·403 chars
Pomona Community: Police have begun making arrests at Alexander Hall. Individuals are being escorted from the building and processed by Claremont Police Department. Faculty, staff, and students should continue to avoid the area. Counseling and support resources will be available to community members affected by today's events. We will share additional information once the situation is fully resolved.
This text has been reconstructed from news coverage and may not reflect the exact original wording.
Reconstructed from TSL reporting that the first arrests began at 6:33 PM PDT, with arrestees led out in zip ties and placed in a police van
Approximately one hour elapsed between the riot-gear deployment and the first arrests, suggesting a final warning period
Pomona did not publish a complete verbatim archive of this evening's emails
ALL CLEAREmail
Approximate reconstruction·507 chars
Pomona Community: Alexander Hall has been secured. Twenty individuals were arrested, including students from Pomona, Scripps, and Pitzer. All arrested Pomona students will be placed on interim suspension effective immediately. Out of an abundance of caution, the building will remain closed through the weekend. Counseling resources are available through the Wellness Center and Chaplains Office. I am grateful to law enforcement, Campus Safety, and members of the community who supported one another today.
This text has been reconstructed from news coverage and may not reflect the exact original wording.
Reconstructed from Claremont COURIER and Algemeiner end-of-day coverage; Pomona did not publicly archive the verbatim email
Interim suspensions imposed without judicial hearings drew sustained condemnation from Pitzer faculty and 5C and national legal advocacy groups
The 'interim suspension' mechanism allows Pomona's administration to bar students from campus immediately, pending later disciplinary proceedings
Context
Background
On April 5, 2024 — a Friday afternoon during a spring-term that had seen over 200 demonstrators blocking College Avenue earlier in the day — a group of pro-Palestine protesters from Pomona, Scripps, and Pitzer entered Pomona's Alexander Hall around 4:00 PM PDT. Campus Safety later determined the group had provided false information to gain access to the locked building. Approximately 30-40 protesters occupied President G. Gabrielle Starr's office while another 100-150 demonstrators gathered outside. At 4:26 PM PDT, Starr emailed the community the now-widely-quoted message describing a 'sickening, anti-black racial slur' used against an administrator. At 5:40 PM PDT, approximately 24 officers in riot gear from the Claremont, Pomona, Azusa, and Covina police departments arrived. The first arrests came at 6:33 PM PDT, with arrestees led from the building in zip ties. Twenty people were arrested in total — 19 for misdemeanor trespassing and one for obstructing an officer. All arrested Pomona students were issued interim suspensions without a judicial hearing. Pitzer's Executive Committee of the Faculty and faculty from across the Claremont Colleges issued statements condemning the arrests and suspensions. The event marked the first 2024 spring-term mass-arrest at a small liberal arts college and set the stage for the May 6 Marston Quad encampment and the subsequent October 7 Carnegie Hall takeover.
Analysis
Key Findings
01First documented 2024 spring-term mass-arrest event at a small liberal arts college — distinct from the much larger Columbia, USC, and UCLA arrests that came later
02President Starr's 4:26 PM PDT email is one of the rare 2024 campus messages to explicitly name a racial epithet, breaking with the typical sanitized language of administrative communications
03The 25-minute response window from sit-in start to first community alert, and ~2.5 hours from alert to first arrest, is fast compared to Ivy/R1 timelines that often spanned days
Outcome
Twenty people were arrested — 19 for misdemeanor trespassing and one (Sara Orr, 21) for obstructing/delaying an officer. Of those arrested: 7 Pomona students, 8 Scripps students, 5 Pitzer students. All arrested Pomona students were issued interim suspensions without a judicial hearing. The arrests sparked condemnation from Pitzer's faculty and faculty at other 5C institutions. This was the first 2024 spring-term mass-arrest event at a small liberal arts college.