Protecting the Residential Quality of Pomona College

One evening during our last semester at Pomona College, my friends and I sat in Frary dining hall and contemplated a prank that would create havoc among the freshman class. We were planning to fake an e-mail from an administration official claiming that due to severe housing shortages, the rising sophomore class would not be guaranteed housing. At first this struck us as a hilarious way to rattle the freshmen - but as we continued to discuss it, we realized that it could be potentially damaging to the way that our underclassmen and women perceived the residential character of the college - even after the e-mail was exposed as a prank. We decided on much more innocuous tomfoolery.

But our decision not to send the prank e-mail seems positively prophetic given the disturbing article I read in this issue of The Student Life. The news: students returning from fall study abroad programs next year will not have guaranteed on-campus housing.

One of the things that attracted me to Pomona was the school’s guarantee of on-campus housing for all students, and the high percentage of people that took advantage of this. The resulting community spirit was a huge reason that I chose Pomona over some of the larger East Coast schools I’d previously set my heart on. To suddenly declare that students taking advantage of the study abroad program during the coming semester will not be given the same guarantees offered to all students is a real problem.

I understand and respect the administration’s position. Pomona is suffering a housing crisis. More students going abroad in the fall than in the spring compounds this problem severely. They cut it incredibly close this year, and something has to give. But just because revoking the housing guarantee is the easiest move doesn’t make it the smartest for the long-term good of the college.

I never went abroad myself. I was too busy being in love with my fiancé and having the time of my life in SoCal. But as I understand it from my friends that did go abroad, there were a number of programs that they would have loved to explore but couldn’t because they would not be guaranteed credit for the semester. Pomona should look into expanding its approved list of programs, particularly those offered in the spring. To further balance the equation, they should enter students who make their study abroad plans in the spring in a raffle for some kind of fabulous prize. Those two measures alone would probably go a long way to curb the shift towards fall study abroad while preserving Pomona’s residential character.

I hope other alums that read my blog will weigh in on this issue as well. Perhaps our voices, joined with those of the TSL Ed. Board and the student body will help convince the administration that there are other ways out of this unfortunate situation that do not involve revoking guaranteed housing for even one Pomona student.