Pomona Considers Coop Fountain Closure Due to Center for Global Engagement Construction

Pomona College's Coop Fountain.

Pomona College administrators are considering closing the Coop Fountain restaurant in order to relocate the college’s catering operations, which will be disrupted by the construction of Pomona’s new Center for Global Engagement. The closure was presented to the student government’s food committee as a done deal, but administrators have since back-tracked, claiming there had been a misunderstanding. 

The Food Committee of Pomona’s student government, the Associated Students of Pomona College (ASPC), was informed during a Dec. 5, 2025 meeting that the Coop Fountain would be temporarily closed during the construction of the Pomona’s planned Center for Global Engagement (CGE) — a replacement for the aging Oldenborg Center. Oldenborg houses a dining hall and attached kitchen, out of which Pomona runs its catering operations. Oldenborg is slated to be demolished this summer, with construction of the CGE estimated to take over 2 years.

The news was shared by Travis Ellis, Pomona Dining Services’s Executive Chef. Due to the meeting occurring during finals week, only two students were present. Dining Services General Manager Jose Martinez was also absent. The Independent spoke to both students, who said that Ellis told them at the end of the meeting that the Coop Fountain would be closed in fall 2026 and beyond, but that the seating area would remain open and that food trucks or a food cart would be used as a replacement. Ellis did not respond to a request for comment.

At the end of December, the information was shared by the Food Committee chair with the rest of ASPC’s Senate during a Zoom call. A senator familiar with the Center for Global Engagement project pointed out that plans for an industrial kitchen had recently been scrapped from the CGE due to budget concerns, leading to speculation that the temporary closure may become permanent, since there was no “new” catering kitchen on the horizon.

The Chair of the Food Committee emailed Martinez in early January for clarification regarding the potential indefinite Coop closure. Martinez replied vaguely that Dining Services was “waiting on final word about moving the catering kitchen and project timeline.”

ASPC’s Senate then raised the issue at their first meeting of the spring semester, sparking a chaotic jumble of communication between ASPC and administrators, as well as between administrators themselves. 

According to members of ASPC, Associate Dean of Campus Life Josh Eisenberg, present at the meeting in his capacity as ASPC’s staff advisor, was unaware of any Coop Fountain closure discussions. Eisenberg immediately messaged Dean of Students Avis Hinkson among other members of the college’s executive staff to inquire. Eisenberg told senators as they were leaving the meeting that the administrators had replied: none of them were aware of the plans. Eisenberg declined to comment on this story. Hinkson did not reply to a request for comment.

Subsequently, Pomona administrators contacted members of ASPC to clarify that no decision had been made yet. In an email obtained by the Independent, Pomona Treasurer and CFO Jeff Roth wrote to ASPC members that “As part of broader conversations about temporarily relocating catering services, our facilities team did briefly assess whether the Coop could operate with evening food service only while remaining open for daytime space use…At this point this option does not appear to be viable.” Roth added that if anything were to move forward, students, faculty, and staff would be consulted.

Dining Services General Manager Jose Martinez again emailed Food Committee leaders, writing, “the plan for the relocation of catering services has not been finalized yet, as the college is considering multiple options.” Martinez appears to contradict Roth’s promise of student, faculty, and staff consultation before a decision, though, writing that “once we have a final approved plan, I will share it with [the Food Committee].”

ASPC also sent a detailed request for clarification to Assistant Vice-President of Facilities and Campus Services Bob Robinson, who oversees Dining Services. Robinson replied on Jan. 28: “No final decision has been made regarding the relocation of Catering Services to the Coop Fountain, the closure of the Coop Fountain kitchen, or the purchase and deployment of a food truck. Multiple options are under review, and at this point none have been approved or finalized.”

Robinson also commented on the origin of the confusion, apologetically writing that, “remarks at the December 5 Food Committee meeting reflected one possible scenario under consideration in light of the Oldenborg closure. In retrospect, we recognize that discussing a potential option without a clearly articulated decision-making framework, timeline, or consultation pathway created understandable uncertainty. That uncertainty has been compounded by the lack of follow-up detail while internal analysis is still underway, and I acknowledge the frustration that has caused.” Robinson forwarded the same email to the Independent when asked for comment.

Members of ASPC have speculated to the Independent that Martinez and Robinson had made the decision to relocate catering to the Coop Fountain, or at least raised the possibility, without input or approval from student-facing administrators, and were now backtracking. 

The ASPC President wrote to the Independent in an email that they were frustrated to learn Pomona was even considering closing the Coop. “While I appreciate [Robinson’s] clarification that no final decision has been made, his email also does not actually make reference to any solution other than the Coop Fountain,” they added.

Referring to the mixed messages on how much input students would have on any decision, the President wrote that “there is a difference between being told that a change is / might happen and being consulted on that change.”

“As we approach the demolition of Oldenborg and the construction of CGE, College leadership, working closely with students and the broader campus community, will make a series of decisions to address interim needs,” a spokesperson for Pomona College told the Independent. “No such decision has been made regarding a change of service at COOP Fountain. In recent weeks, the College has continued to explore several alternatives to accommodate catering operations. Before finalizing any potential such changes, the College will consult with the food committee as well as ASPC leadership.”

In a Jan. 27 email, ASPC’s Vice President of Student Affairs and North and South Campus Representatives informed the student body of the potential Coop Fountain daytime-closure, as presented in the email from Roth. The Senators emphasized the importance of the Coop to students, writing,“If closed, this loss would be felt not only by students, but throughout the Pomona community as a whole. It would mean a further reduction in on-campus employment options, severely limiting food options when dining halls are closed, and ultimately taking away one of the few social spaces for students on campus.” 

The Coop Fountain sits in the middle of the Smith Campus Center, the heart of Pomona’s campus. Built in 1970 as the Kinsmith Coop Fountain and Courtyard restaurant, “the Coop”--as it is known by most students–was owned and operated by ASPC until 2021. Due to longstanding financial issues exacerbated by the COVID pandemic, ASPC decided in 2021 to hand over control of the Coop Fountain to the College’s dining services, signing a memorandum of understanding with the College outlining expectations for Coop Fountain services and student employment opportunities.

The College struggled, however, to honor the memorandum. The Coop Fountain has suffered from sudden closures and limited hours in recent semesters, at times closing for entire months, with Dining Services blaming staff shortages for the spotty service. In response, Coop Fountain student-workers voted to join the Dining Hall staff union in late 2024, and ASPC passed a resolution seeking to “reinforce” the memorandum, which was acknowledged by Robinson in his reply to ASPC.

Many ASPC members noted that there had already been a recent unwelcome surprise from Dining Services, who changed Cafe 47’s coffee supplier from Peet’s Coffee to Starbucks without consulting students in 2025. The change was unpopular, with students boycotting the cafe and petitioning Pomona to change suppliers over Starbucks’ labor practices. ASPC’s President wrote to the Independent that “[i]n both cases, the timing and manner of communication limited the ability for meaningful student engagement.”

Both the Starbucks and Coop Fountain controversies come at an awkward time for Pomona, whose leadership began a year-long “Shared Governance Initiative” in the fall. The initiative's stated goals are to “examine the current state of shared governance at the College, identify areas for improved clarity, communication, and collaboration, and develop recommendations to support a more transparent and inclusive governance culture.”

Commenting on the initiative in the context of this most recent confusion, ASPC’s President concluded that “[t]here is little value in a Shared Governance Initiative if its core principles are not reflected in how major decisions are communicated and developed in practice.”