Pomona Comms Chief Leaves Just Two Months in after Yearlong Search

When, after a one year search, Pomona College’s then acting president Bob Gaines announced Katharine Laidlaw as the College’s next Chief Communications Officer, Gaines hailed her as a “strategic communications leader.” Barely two months after her warm welcome, she was already on her way out, with a replacement announced only a week later. Her premature departure is another bump in the road for Starr’s administration, which has faced heightened criticism from faculty and students over the past few years.

Pomona's Smith Campus Center.

The search for Pomona’s Chief Communications Officer (CCO) began after former CCO Mark Kendall announced at the close of the 23-24 academic year that he would leave Pomona after two decades of working for the College. While Pomona searched for a new CCO, Patricia Vest led the office on an interim basis. The timing was poor, and as Gaines wrote in the announcement, the College’s Office of Communications was without a permanent leader during “a challenging year,” in which Pomona received unprecedented scrutiny over its handling of protests and alleged antisemitism and Islamophobia on campus. 

The search committee, staffed by administrators, trustees and faculty members, narrowed down candidates until Gaines announced Laidlaw’s hiring in late April. The announcement has since been deleted from the “news” section of the College’s website.

“A creative strategist and Emmy-winning producer, Katharine [Laidlaw] has led transformative initiatives to expand the reach, influence and impact of creative education and enterprise,” wrote Gaines in an email to the school. 

Gaines listed her previous experiences at the Spoleto Festival and the Interlochen Center for the Arts, a performing arts festival and arts education center respectively. Laidlaw’s only professional experience in higher education was at the University of North Carolina School of the Arts, where she worked for over nine years – first as a producer, then as chief marketing officer.

“Together, we will demonstrate the power of the liberal arts to develop critical thinking, unlock creative capacity, and inspire meaningful change,” Laidlaw, a graduate of Davidson College and the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill, said in the hiring announcement.

Laidlaw had not yet moved to Claremont when the long term viability of her tenure as CCO came into question. While the College maintains that Laidlaw left to attend to “family matters,” a source familiar with the situation told the Independent that “personal issues” led to her departure. According to a second source, tensions allegedly arose between Starr and Laidlaw as Starr’s heavily involved leadership style differed from the independence and trust Laidlaw expected.

At the end of June, it was announced to Pomona staff that Laidlaw would be leaving on July 7, just 70 days after her hiring was announced. Posts announcing her hiring were deleted from Pomona’s website, and by the end of July Laidlaw had entirely removed Pomona College from the “experience” section of her LinkedIn. Laidlaw could not be reached for comment.

Katharine Laidlaw, the outgoing chief communications officer. Photo credit: Pomona College

A week later, on July 14, Starr announced in an email that Eric Abelev had been selected as the College’s next CCO. The announcement made no mention of Laidlaw until the last paragraph, Starr succinctly writing that “Abelev succeeds Katharine Laidlaw, who stepped down last month to attend to family matters.” According to a person familiar with the proceedings, Abelev was the runner-up candidate in the initial search. He previously served as Assistant Vice-President at the University of Southern California’s Office of Executive and Community Communications.

Eric Abelev, Pomona's new chief communications officer. Photo credit: Pomona College

While Starr was on sabbatical during the final phase of the search, she did participate in finalist interviews and had returned to her office before Laidlaw left Pomona. The Office of the President did not respond to a request for comment.

“We have full faith in our executive search process,” Maria Watson, Pomona’s Vice President for Advancement said in a statement to the Independent when asked whether the situation would prompt any changes to the search process for senior administrators. Watson, who led the CCO search committee, declined to comment on the search process itself or why Laidlaw was the original pick.

Laidlaw’s coming and going is one more event in a season of turbulence for Pomona’s administration. The summer has seen multiple high-level administrators leave their roles at Pomona, including the Dean of the College, the Director of Athletics, and the Registrar. Informing the Associated Student of Pomona College – the school’s student government – of the change, a Pomona administrator added “not kidding…” to the news of Laidlaw’s abrupt departure. 

Nevertheless, Abelev has settled in and expressed optimism about Pomona’s future. “In these first few weeks,” Abelev wrote in a statement to the Independent, “I’ve benefited tremendously from a series of candid conversations - with students, faculty and colleagues in the administration - about the challenges we have faced and continue to face - as well as the opportunities that lie ahead. These conversations, which I’m continuing at pace over these first few months, will inform a forward-looking communications strategy that can support both our pressing needs and long-term goals.”

Speaking on communication’s role in the administration-student body dynamic, the ASPC President told the Independent that “students will always want to understand the reasoning behind administrative decisions, and clear, transparent communication is essential to fostering that understanding. I also hope on the College's end, no one ever feels they need to conceal the true reasons behind their decisions, because openness is ultimately what's needed for building trust.”