Earlier this evening, Pomona College President G. Gabrielle Starr announced that Pomona would be reopening its outdoor facilities to students living off-campus. Facilities to be opened include the Haldeman Pool, the Pauley Tennis Court, and the Strehle Track. The facilities will be accessible under a reservation system.
In her email Starr explained that “[a]s Pomona and partner institutions call on our county to work with us to bring back in-person higher education, officials have now agreed to first steps toward a limited reopening of some campus facilities.” Starr stated that Pomona “[is] now able to open outdoor facilities for recreational sports activities and physical conditioning” for students living off-campus in the Claremont area. According to Starr, “[o]utdoor sessions for groups of 10 or fewer people to provide academic or social support are now permitted as well. [Pomona] also [is] addressing with the Claremont Colleges consortium the process for re-opening the library at limited capacity for current students, faculty and staff.”
Starr noted that Pomona “[does] not have approval to bring students back to campus for spring, and remote learning will continue for this semester.” Nevertheless, as Pomona announced earlier this semester, the college “[is] planning for the full return of students in fall, with in-person instruction and on-campus living. The campus is ready. [Pomona is] ready.”
The email also reiterated Starr’s commitment to lobbying LA country to accelerate the process of a student return. In her email the president said that “Pomona will continue to take the lead in advocating for Los Angeles County to quickly provide details on the path for returning students to campus for fall. In its approach to higher education, our county has become increasingly out of sync with neighboring counties, the rest of the nation and, most importantly, the science of the pandemic. We seek to work together for the right course.”
Starr also explained that “life on campus in the fall will be different from the way it was pre-pandemic, and we will all need to keep at required safety measures, but it is time for students countywide to get back to in-person education.” Despite the college’s recent announcement that the Student Health Services (SHS) of the Claremont Consortium had been approved to distribute vaccines, as of now Pomona does know “when SHS will receive a supply.”
Starr concluded by urging all members of the Pomona community “to get vaccinated as soon as they become eligible and not to wait for SHS to receive a supply. This is something we can all do to move toward the goal of returning students to campus and advancing our vital academic mission.”