Discussion Collective Eli Cohen

On February 13th of this year, The Pomona College Advocates for Survivors of Sexual Assault, the 15 year old peer-to-peer support program, was unilaterally put on hold by the Pomona administration. Why exactly did they need to be disbanded immediately? When they are reinstated, what form will the program take? Why weren't the advocates given more forewarning? The decision felt drastic, and without clarity around the impetus behind the choice, left many students confused and angry.

But when viewed in context of the last decade of Claremont's constant cycle of crisis around Title IX, the decision feels more inevitable than unprecedented. Pomona College’s Title IX Advisory Committee is the third working group in just six years. Three of the five colleges have been named in Department of Education investigations. The college's have been sued by students on eight separate occasions.

For the third installment of our series on Sexual Assault at the Claremont Colleges, we're asking a simple question without any straightforward answer: how did we get here?

A project stemming from Aimee Bahng's Gender and Women's Studies class, in this bonus episode, Lucy Gold, August Khan, and myself look into derogatory language. More specifically, we want to see how offensive words are complicated by the process of "reclaiming language," or the re-association of typically demeaning words to empowering affirmations or even signals of solidarity and belonging.

When Orientation Adventure—Pomona's four-day outdoors trip for incoming students—was cancelled, campus activism sprung into rare form. Petitions were circulated, meetings were held, statements were drafted, and alumni were notified. Within exactly one week, the Dean of Students Office retracted their decision. Many students were relieved, but an equally large contingency was furious.

In the second part of our series about sexual assault on campus, Title IX, and “the lists,” I talk with a person who understands these lists in a ways most of us cannot—he’s actually on one of them.

Our original conversations were held in private, have been transcribed, and are reproduced here by a voice actor—all identifying information has been removed. We talk about the experience of being on one of the lists, how he thinks Title IX could be changed, and what he thinks accountability looks like.

While this interview is in no way exhaustive, his perspective and experience is an important part of understanding how issues of sexual violence are being handled at the Claremont Colleges. Please send all thoughts, questions, and concerns to eli.cohen@pomona.edu.

Content Warning: Sexual Violence

Resources:
PO Advocates 24hr line: (909) 503-7972
Project Sister 24hr line: (909) 626-4357

On October 4th of this year, Pomona College’s Dean of Students sent an email banning the use of anonymously-created lists that kept students out of campus events. Some people were furious, others were relieved, and many students were learning about the practice for the first time.

Though many specifics about these lists remain unknown—how long the practice had been in place, how many groups were using such lists, or how many names had actually been submitted—moral stances on “The Lists” became one of the most salient conversation in campus politics.

To start off this three part series on “The Lists”, we try to learn from students what they were, why they were made, and if they are really so different from practices that have existed outside the Claremont bubble for some time.

Referenced and Additional Works: https://discussioncollective.org
CW: Sexual Violence
Resources:
PO Advocates 24hr line: (909) 503-7972
Project Sister 24hr line: (909) 626-4357

Fear not ardent listeners! Season two is on it's way! And there's even a promo clip this time, so we're already eons ahead of last year. Recalibrated, reinoculated (it is flu season), and ready to go, DisCo season two is just around the corner!