Year End Report 09-10 [pdf] - Pomona College

President’s Advisory Committee on Diversity 

Diversity Report 

2009 - 2010 

Committee Members 

Taziwa Chanaiwa Assoc. Director, Alumni Relations taziwa.chanaiwa@pomona.edu x18110 

Fred Grieman Faculty, Committee Chair frederick.grieman@pomona.edu x18450 

Katherine Hagedorn Assoc. Dean (Diversity Officer) katherine.hagedorn@pomona.edu x18518 

Kim Hartung Student knh02006@mymail.pomona.edu 

Jessica Itzel Valenzuela Student 

jiv02008@mymail.pomona.edu 

Nita Kansara (Spring) Staff, Office of Campus Life nita.kansara@pomona.edu x72239 

Kristen McCoy Staff, Housekeeping kristen.mccoy@pomona.edu x78089 

Daren Mooko Assoc. Dean, Student Affairs drm04747@pomona.edu x18639 

Tania Pantoja (Fall) Executive Assistant to the Dean stp04747@pomona.edu x7-2831 

Jennifer Rachford Director, Institutional Research jlr04747@pomona.edu x72201 

Darryl Smith Faculty darryl.smith@pomona.edu x73025 

Art Rodriguez Senior Associate Dean, Admissions adr04747@pomona.edu x18731 

Brenda Rushforth Asst Vice President, Human Resources brenda.rushforth@pomona.edu x11875 

Jennifer Scanlon Faculty jen.scanlon@pomona.edu x79268 

Maria Tucker Director, Commty & Multicult Prog maria.tucker@pomona.edu x79994 

I. INTRODUCTION 

The President’s Advisory Committee on Diversity (DC) is made up of fourteen individuals representing the 

many components and offices concerned with the diversity of our College. Although large, and therefore 

sometimes unwieldy, the many opinions and expertise make for informed discussion and well-reasoned 

decisions. Our first meeting primarily consisted of the president presenting to us his vision of our mandate and 

the pressing issues he believed were of current concern. In order to address these issues and to increase the 

effectiveness of the committee, three changes were made this academic year. 

First, although perhaps minor, it turns out to be critical to have executive notes (as opposed to specific 

minutes) taken at every meeting. These were made available to all committee members prior to the subsequent 

meeting in order to make sure that all agreed with the primary points made in previous meetings and to be 

ready to address the next issues of concern. Katherine Hagedorn took on this responsibility (with one 

substitution by Jennifer Rachford) and provided us with a foundation for each meeting. The notes, of course, 

will also serve as a record of our meetings that will be passed on to the next committee. 

Second, it was decided that if it was deemed warranted, the committee would make recommendations during 

the academic year rather than wait until the end of the year. This method of recommendation occurred twice 

(with an additional addendum) during this year, but we suspect it will occur more regularly as experience with 

this method grows. These recommendations are repeated in this report as academic year recommendations. 

Third, it was decided that it would be more efficient to divide the committee into sub-committees that would 

take on the issues immediately recognized to be important and to create or abandon sub-committees as new 

POMONA COLLEGE 

PRESIDENT’S ADVISORY COMMITTEE ON DIVERSITY Page | 1

issues arose or disappeared, respectively. The sub-committees met separately and then reconvened with the 

full committee approximately every other week. The hope was that individuals would serve on subcommittees 

where their particular interests or expertise would propel the committee forward in a timely 

manner toward progress on or resolution of an issue. The following sub-committees were formed: 1) Data 

Benchmarks and WASC, 2) Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Queer (LGBTQ) Issues, 3) 

Environmental Justice, 4) Diversity of Faculty (combined Post-doc (Mellon Fellow) and FPAC 

subcommittees), and 5) Ombudsperson. 

We are pleased to report the following accomplishments: the successful hiring of two Mellon postdoctoral 

fellows (Anna Joo Kim and C. Riley Snorton), Jen Scanlon’s incoming chairship of the Diversity Committee, 

the granting of the Diversity Committee’s request for an administrative assistant (5 hours/week), the successful 

hiring of Michele Palstring to fill the aforementioned position, and the granting of the Diversity Committee’s 

request for funds to co-sponsor lectures and other programming connected with issues of diversity. 

The rest of this report then derives largely from subcommittee reports that were written after subcommittee 

discussion and recommendation followed by full committee discussion and decision. Interspersed in these 

reports are the recommendations from this committee, both current and those submitted during the academic 

year, in order to give the context and rational for the recommendations. The recommendations are repeated in 

the conclusion to this report. It is the feeling of this committee that we accomplished many good things and 

have built a foundation for future success of this committee in its role in advising the president. 

We greatly appreciate the president’s commitment to diversity, and respond to our mandate with the 

subcommittee reports and recommendations that follow. 

II. 

WASC AND CORE DATA BENCHMARKS 

NB: Please see the full Core Data Benchmarks Report in the Appendix of this document. 

As one of three core themes in Pomona’s reaccreditation process with WASC, diversity represents an area of 

sustained focus and commitment for the College. Pomona’s mandate under WASC intersects with the charge 

of this committee to monitor and review the status of diversity and make recommendations for improvement. 

As part of this charge, the Committee regularly reviews data to help identify areas in need of targeted attention 

and understand how Pomona can more fully realize its potential as a dynamically diverse and inclusive 

community. Subgroups from the Diversity Committee were delegated to engage with the WASC process and 

compile a set of indicators to inform the task of assessing campus progress on diversity. 

The WASC subgroup from the Diversity Committee joined with a pre-existing but informal group already 

meeting to discuss the diversity theme of the WASC process. Overlapping membership between these two 

groups made it easy to join forces, and the presence of Deans Feldblum and Conrad provided important 

opportunities for dialogue between this committee and campus leadership. Members of the combined 

subcommittee (comprised of faculty, student, staff and dean perspectives) discussed the three areas of work 

highlighted within the WASC diversity theme: 

(1) Improving the climate for diversity and building an inclusive community; 

(2) Facilitating access to the full Pomona College experience for students of all socio-economic 

backgrounds; and 



(3) Strengthening academic support structures and services. 

Data benchmarks were designed with these three areas in mind and with the goal of providing snapshots across 

a broad landscape of campus life. The subcommittee discussed efforts to review the structures and processes 

within Student Affairs to assess diversity on campus and other data-gathering initiatives across the College to 

help shed more light on the climate for diversity at Pomona. One theme within these discussions was how to 

improve the data infrastructure so that we may compile a more complete picture over time of our progress. 

This theme reflects ongoing discussions within the full Diversity Committee since its inception in 2005. To 

this end: 

1. We recommend that the president encourage departments and programs to include the climate 

for diversity as a key area for study in routine assessment and data collection activities. 

While the forms and contexts for diversity will vary, the collection of data that will allow for a robust look at 

the climate in various areas and from various angles is a common priority across the College. These angles 

include (but are not necessarily limited to) race/ethnicity, sex, LGBTQ, income, disability, etc. This 

recommendation applies equally to academic departments undergoing self-study, administrative offices 

conducting reviews of programs and services, and institutionally coordinated assessments and surveys. While 

it may not be feasible or appropriate to probe every angle of diversity in every instance, we wish to promote 

the collection of demographic and other relevant information and the disaggregation of data as “best practices” 

in campus-wide assessment activities. We solicit the assistance of all those who lead and participate in these 

activities to help make this a more consistent practice at Pomona. This assistance may take the form of 

ensuring that written guidelines for program review (administrative or academic) emphasize the importance of 

assessing the climate for diversity in its various forms and contexts at the College and call for the collection 

and analysis of data to enable that assessment, or developing review processes and guidelines where none 

currently exist. 

Data from this year’s diversity benchmarks raised many questions for the Committee. We present the 

following observations about these data and outline our key concerns and questions: 

Faculty 

The picture for faculty diversity is mixed. On the one hand, Pomona does very well in terms of the overall 

percentage of full-time faculty of color compared to peers both nationally (as noted in the benchmarks) and 

against a more tailored set of liberal arts peer colleges. 1 However, the picture is much more nuanced when 

one considers the distribution of faculty of color and women across divisions at the College, by rank, and over 

time. For example, faculty of color are somewhat underrepresented in Division II disciplines, and women are 

much less represented in Division III fields than in other areas. Also, the representation of women at the 

associate level is robust and, over time, should lead to more diversity in the full professor ranks. However, 

women are less well represented at the assistant professor level. 

In general, trend data indicate that efforts to increase faculty diversity have leveled off over the past few 

years. 2 The Committee worries that efforts to diversify the faculty may have reached a plateau and is 

1 See peer college comparison at: 

https://wfs.pomona.edu/jlr04747/www/faculty%20ethnicity%20peer%20comparison_06292009.pdf?uniq=-tyzwpf 

2 See Tenure Track and Tenured faculty trends at: http://www.pomona.edu/administration/institutionalresearch/summary-statistics/faculty.aspx 



concerned about the real potential for the College to lose significant ground in these efforts as it moves into an 

era of economic turbulence and constrained hiring. 

Further, the Committee is concerned about the gap between the percentage of full time faculty of color at the 

College (27 percent) and the percentage serving on elected governance committees (11 percent). While we do 

not yet have a clear picture of this gap historically, or a clear understanding of why it exists, the fact remains 

that governance at the College cannot be healthy and vibrant without the inclusion of diverse perspectives. 

2. We highlight the absence of diversity in elected governance committees as an issue of critical 

concern for college governance and recommend the College take steps to more fully understand 

and remedy this phenomenon. 

Admissions/enrollment 

Pomona has made some gains in student enrollment with respect to students of color. The representation of 

both black and Latino students in the 2009 entering class was at its highest proportion in nearly a decade, 3 and 

the College continues to enroll one of the highest percentages of students of color among selective liberal arts 

colleges. 

At the same time, work remains. We may talk about students of color broadly speaking, but we must also 

recognize the variation and diversity even within distinct ethnic/racial categories. In the past Pomona has not 

systematically tracked the many Asian subgroups, for example. With new federal reporting guidelines 

becoming mandatory in 2010-2011, Pomona will have the capacity to track these and other subgroups more 

systematically and in more detail. 

Recruiting, enrolling and supporting students from low-income family backgrounds is also an important focus 

of the College, with programs like QuestBridge and other campus initiatives working to increase the 

proportion of low-income students in recent years. The 13 percent of students Pomona reported as Pell-grant 

recipients in grant year 2007-2008 (the most recent year for which peer data were available) roughly 

encompasses students from the lowest two income quintiles nationally and puts Pomona at the median of a 

selected list of peer colleges. The Committee backs the College’s continued focus on low-income students – 

as well as middle-income students whose families are often tightly squeezed by college costs – in its 

recruitment and financial aid initiatives. 

Student engagement & academic support 

The benchmarks include a sample of indicators from the Senior Survey that highlight student engagement in 

“high impact” activities, i.e., those characterized by high levels of student-faculty contact, high expectations, 

active learning, high time-on-task requirements, diverse formats for learning, etc. 4 Research with faculty, 

study abroad, and internships represent three opportunities for students to get involved in these kinds of 

activities at Pomona, and they may serve as a barometer for gauging various aspects of student involvement. 

Two additional indicators – time spent working for pay and studying/doing homework – provide perspective 

on the experience of students from low-income backgrounds and the degree to which they are balancing 

financial necessities with academic demands. We note the following trends: 

3 See enrollment trend data at: 

https://wfs.pomona.edu/jlr04747/www/Enrollment%202008_longitudinal.pdf?uniq=ppddyc 

4 Kuh, G. (2009). High-impact educational practices: What they are, who has access to them, and why they matter. 

Association of American Colleges and Universities. 



• Participation in research with faculty varies widely across racial groups, with Asian students and 

foreign students participating far more in these opportunities and black students participating far 

less. Participation in other high impact activities is much more equitable across race/ethnicity, 

but with Asian and foreign students somewhat less involved in study abroad. Choice of major 

invariably affects these trends: A disproportionate number of Asians major in science- and 

research-related fields, while black students are disproportionately represented in the social 

sciences. 

• In general, women are more involved in these kinds of activities than men, with the disparity 

most apparent in study abroad. 

• By income, some differences are apparent but small. Participation across income categories is 

fairly equitable. 

• While students from family backgrounds of $100k and less are typically working more hours per 

week than others, this doesn’t appear to affect the amount of time these students are able to put 

into academic work outside of the classroom. 

Academic support has been a target of concerted institutional focus over the past several years, including a 

recommendation in the 2005-2006 inaugural report from this Committee to “increase support for tutoring for 

all students at Pomona, recognizing that students who are first-generation or students educated in less rigorous 

curricula might need more help.” Since that time, coordinated efforts by the Dean of Students Office have 

included raising the visibility of tutoring services, tracking participation in these services more systematically, 

beefing up outreach to students with low-grade notices, and supporting the professional development of 

faculty advisors. The Committee fully supports these efforts and looks forward to learning more about their 

impact. In the meantime, we reviewed two indicators relating to academic support: Student satisfaction with 

both pre-major advising and advising within the major. One clear pattern applies equally across the board: 

Students are less satisfied with pre-major advising than advising within the major. (This trend is not unique to 

Pomona; it persists across the spectrum of institutions that participate in the Senior Survey). Satisfaction was 

higher for advising within the major, and overall satisfaction increased from 02-04 to 05-08. However, while 

the trend over time was positive for most students, satisfaction with major advising actually decreased for 

Latino students and especially for black students. The Committee is interested in watching these indicators 

over time as the College focuses on refining a model of holistic advising that better supports students of all 

backgrounds. 

The Committee also considered graduation rates in the context of academic support and asked whether the 

College is doing all it can to support students throughout their journey here. Black students from the five 

cohorts considered were somewhat less likely to remain at Pomona through the completion of their degrees 

than other students. While the gap is relatively small, in combination with other data that show areas of 

disengagement and disconnection for black students, the Committee views this as a signal that Pomona’s work 

to build an inclusive and supportive community for all students is not yet done. 

Climate and community 

By now, campus climate is a familiar phrase in national and campus dialogue about diversity, though it is still 

often misunderstood or dismissed as something too intangible to really assess or understand. But in fact, 

decades of research have helped refine and clarify the concept of climate as an important aspect of college life 

with very real consequences for student achievement. 

Generally, it has been focused on the psychological dimension and described as the attitudes, perceptions, and 

expectations that define an institution and its members. These perceptions, of course, are linked to historical 

institutional legacies of inclusion and exclusion, structural diversity, and patterns of interaction. The fact that 



different groups have different perceptions of the campus does not render climate unreliable or intangible; 

rather it highlights the fact that some aspects of campus life have more salience for some groups than others. 

Moreover, the various interrelated aspects of campus climate are linked to a broad range of educational 

outcomes. In other words, perceptions have real consequences for student success. 5 

Two of the climate items from the Senior Survey demonstrate a pattern that has been very persistent over a 

period of many years: Students of color, particularly black and Latino students are much less satisfied with 

campus community and the climate for minority students than white students. Differences in these perceptions 

are evident by income as well, reflecting the intersection of race and income. There has been some 

improvement overall in students’ views of the climate for minority students, but these improvements are based 

largely on the perceptions of white students. 

In short, the data affirm what many on our campus know well already: Not all students experience Pomona in 

the same way. Further, we note the apparent lack of improvement in campus climate over time for students of 

color, at least as measured by these limited indicators on institutional surveys. The Committee supports the 

College’s efforts as highlighted in the WASC process to continue pushing beyond these simplistic measures in 

developing a more robust understanding of how to target institutional programs and resources in ways that 

have a positive impact on the climate for diversity. 

To that end, we reiterate the need for additional data to augment campus discourse about diversity and climate. 

In connection with the above recommendation to include the climate for diversity in routine assessment 

activities in all areas of the College, we highlight issues relating to our LGBTQ community as particularly 

timely and urgent. The benchmarks show that sexual orientation is the predominant target of bias incidents 

tracked since 2002. This statistic speaks volumes by itself, but we have little other data to review regarding 

the climate for LGBTQ students, faculty and staff. Other dimensions of campus climate – including the 

experience of individuals with disabilities, students from immigrant backgrounds, and the intersection of 

multiple identities – offer opportunities to further broaden the scope of inquiry and dialogue on campus 

climate. 

III. 

LGBTQ ISSUES 

The Diversity Committee wants to first acknowledge some major steps that were achieved this year in regards 

to our LGBTQ students. 

• We are very excited about the end of year announcement that the funding had been obtained for the 

2010-11 school year to expand the QRC Coordinator from a part-time to a full-time position. We 

recognize that our Dean of Students Office and Pomona’s administration played an important role in 

getting the other Claremont schools to contribute funding for this position. This is an historic moment 

for the QRC and the Claremont Colleges as a whole. We are optimistic that the schools will find a way 

to permanently fund this position in the future and ask that Pomona continue to advocate for this with 

the other Claremont Colleges. 

This followed our first academic year recommendation: 

5 See Hurtado, Milem, Clayton-Pederson, and Allen (1999). Enacting diverse learning environments: Improving the 

climate for racial/ethnic diversity in higher education. ASHE-ERIC Higher Education Report, Vol. 26 (8). Washington, 

D.C.: The George Washington University, Graduate School of Education and Human Development. 



3. Recommendation to the President Regarding QRC Coordinator from the President's Advisory 

Committee on Diversity, March 26, 2010 

RECOMMENDATION: The President’s Advisory Committee on Diversity recommends that the 

Queer Resource Center Coordinator position increase from a half-time to a full-time position. If the 

rest of the consortium is not prepared or able to contribute, the committee recommends that 

Pomona establish and fund the position on its own. 

RATIONALE: In the 2008-09 Diversity Committee report, a full-time coordinator position at the 

QRC was listed as a long-term goal for the College: “The committee recommends that the College 

take the lead in establishing a full-time position for the Coordinator of the Queer Resource Center.” 

In response, President Oxtoby said: “The Dean of Students began last year, and will continue this 

year, an effort to obtain funding from the other Claremont Colleges to support the QRC and enable 

the hiring of a full-time Coordinator.” 

The Diversity Committee asks that Pomona College revisit last year’s recommendation and move it 

into the category of short-term/immediate goals. We support the need for a full-time position at the 

QRC as one of the college’s highest priorities. 

• We would also like to applaud the adoption of a gender-neutral housing policy at Pomona College. 

The Diversity Committee sees this as a very positive change for all students. It is an especially 

important step in creating a safer and more comfortable residential environment for our transgender 

students. 

While recognizing these significant steps, the Diversity Committee feels that many issues for our LGBTQ 

faculty, staff and students remain in front of us. Of most concern are the numerous bias-related incidents that 

occurred around the Claremont Colleges this school year. The majority of incidents reported this year, as has 

been the case for many years, were sexuality or gender-identity related. In addition, there was the highly 

visible and hurtful situation involving Walker Wall being painted over within a couple hours of a two-day 

project turning it into a giant rainbow flag had been completed. Three weeks after the much-debated Walker 

Wall situation occurred, a rock was thrown through the window at the Queer Resource Center while students 

were inside. The escalation of harassment and discrimination against our LGBTQ population has the Diversity 

Committee even more committed to looking into these issues. It is of the utmost importance that we are 

providing a safe and comfortable environment in which all members of our community can work, live and 

thrive. That is not currently the case for our LGBTQ population. 

The Diversity Committee has identified three areas that we would like the College to focus on for addressing 

the needs of our LGBTQ faculty, staff and students. 

4. We recommend that the College prioritize assessment of campus climate for our LGBTQ 

students, faculty and staff. 

As noted in the section on WASC and Core Date Benchmarks, the College is lacking any data on our LGBTQ 

population and in order to have a better understanding of their experiences living and working here, we must 

put in place a series of ongoing measures to assess the climate. It is important to note that although some 

issues cut across the demographics of the faculty, staff and student populations, there are some concerns that 

would impact certain groups differently or only apply to certain groups. Specific challenges and privacy 

concerns exist in trying to gather information about LGBTQ employees. The Diversity Committee recognizes 

those challenges and intends to reach out to several areas of the college community to work on appropriate and 

beneficial ways in which to do such assessment. Some groups we expect to work with include Human 

Resources, the Deans Office, Staff Council and the Executive Committee. 



It will be a challenging process to assess the climate and needs of each of the LGBTQ faculty, staff and 

student constituencies but it is something that the Diversity Committee feels is absolutely necessary for the 

College to undertake during the 2010-11 school year. 

5. We recommend that the College consider a new tenure track faculty position in Queer Studies as 

one of our highest priorities and that such a position be supported as soon as the College is able 

to fund any new faculty positions. This is a position that has great potential to diversify both our 

faculty as well as our curriculum, which we see as being essential to our mission of creating a 

more inclusive, healthy and diverse community. 

The committee believes that the College needs to actively support the Gender and Women’s Studies Program 

in its efforts to broaden the curriculum and course offerings to meet student interest and demand. Pomona has 

an opportunity to be a leader among liberal arts colleges by supporting Queer Studies as an important 

interdisciplinary field examining the identity, lives, history, and perception of a minority population. At 

various points, on this campus and at colleges and universities across the nation, similar struggles were 

undertaken to advocate for initial recognition of now robust fields such as Chicana/o-Latina/o Studies, Black 

Studies and Asian American Studies. Today, these fields are essential parts of Pomona’s academic life, with 

many other departments and programs tying into these interdisciplinary subjects. Yet, there was a time when 

students, faculty and staff had to fight to be heard on bringing this content into courses and the curriculum. We 

connect those past battles to today and the need to recognize Queer Studies as an area of academia that should 

be added to our curriculum. 

While there is a need for a dedicated Queer Studies position in GWS, there is some important work already 

taking place in the classroom. Across the Claremont Colleges, there are a variety of courses being taught that 

address queer issues or focus on queer content. These courses have strong enrollment, as noted in the Queer 

Studies proposal submitted to FPAC this year. The enrollment numbers indicate the large student interest in 

these topics, even though there is no major and little curricular emphasis on Queer Studies at this point. The 

Diversity Committee recommends that proactive measures be taken to facilitate the development of this 

growing student demand. We intend to work with the Intercollegiate Women’s Studies Program to collect and 

disseminate information regarding course offerings that include queer content. Pulling together the efforts 

taking place at various colleges will make the academic offerings that currently exist more easily accessible to 

someone interested in pursuing this type of class. An additional benefit is increasing awareness to the faculty 

in general that queer topics are pertinent to a large and diverse group of academic areas. We foresee having a 

list available that is similar to what IWS does for women’s studies courses. 

It is important to note that Scripps College has funded a new faculty position for Queer Studies and hired 

someone to begin teaching in the 2010-11 school year. The Diversity Committee applauds Scripps for this 

move and encourages Pomona College to follow suite. We do not regard the Scripps position to be one that 

fills our college’s need or absolves us of the responsibility to meet that need. While our students and IWS will 

certainly benefit from there being a faculty member at Scripps that focuses on Queer Studies, the Diversity 

Committee strongly believes that Pomona College itself needs to expand and diversify our curriculum to better 

serve our students. 

6. We recommend that the College do an internal review of the policies, procedures and practice 

that have a direct impact on our transgender faculty, staff and students. This is essential if we 

are to provide a safe, welcoming and supportive environment for transgender individuals that 

are currently part of our community, as well as transgender individuals who are considering 

joining our college. Such a process should involve the Dean of the College, Campus Life, Student 

Affairs, Human Resources and Health and Counseling Services. 



Listed below are some resources that will help with this internal review: 

• “Transgender Inclusion in the Workplace,” released by the Human Rights Campaign Foundation in 2008. 

http://www.hrc.org/documents/HRC_Foundation_- 

_Transgender_Inclusion_in_the_Workplace_2nd_Edition_-_2008.pdf 

• “Ways that U.S. Colleges and Universities Meet the Day-to-Day Needs of Transgender Students,” 

provided by the Transgender Law and Policy Institute 

http://www.transgenderlaw.org/college/guidelines.htm 

• “Access and Equity for all Students: Meeting the Needs of LGBT Students,” a 2009 report by the 

California Postsecondary Education Commission 

http://www.cpec.ca.gov/completereports/2009reports/09-14.pdf 

The Diversity Committee highlights several key areas for transgender inclusion that are most in need of 

immediate review: 

Documentation 

• Providing the option for someone to use a “preferred name” for all college proceedings. See the 

Preferred Names Policy at University if Michigan 

http://www.itcs.umich.edu/itcsdocs/r1461/ 

• Provide a process by which someone who has transitioned and/or legally changed his/her name can 

easily update all personnel records with name and gender changes 

• Change all college forms and paperwork to allow people to self-identify their gender, instead of 

limiting categories to male and female. This includes forms related to students (i.e. housing, 

admissions, registrars, health services, etc) and faculty/staff (i.e. human resources paperwork). 

Gender-Neutral Bathrooms 

Progress was made several years ago to provide a gender-neutral bathroom option in all college dormitories. 

We recommend that a thorough investigation of all other campus buildings be undertaken and a plan put in 

place to provide gender-neutral bathroom options throughout the college. In addition to our academic 

buildings, some key places that need safe and accessible bathrooms for transgender individuals are Smith 

Campus Center, Rains Center, Alexander Hall, Honnold/Mudd Library, and Student Health Services. The 

following guidelines are recommended: 

• Where single stall male/female restrooms currently exist, such bathrooms should immediately be 

designated gender-neutral (this only requires a sign change). 

• If single stall options do not already exist, consideration should be given to the possibility of 

converting or adding a gender-neutral bathroom option somewhere in the building. 

• As standard practice, any future buildings and building renovations should include the creation of at 

least one single stall gender-neutral restroom. 

• A restroom map should be created and posted on the college website, listing the locations of all 

gender-neutral restrooms on campus. 

Benefits and Health Care 

Improving our health insurance policies to provide transgender-inclusive coverage is of paramount 

importance. This includes our employee plans as well as the student health plans. Colleges and universities 



across the country are beginning to recognize this need and many (including Harvard, the UC System, 

University of Pennsylvania, Washington University, Emory, Caltech and Stanford) have moved forward to 

offer some trans-related services for faculty, staff and/or students. 

http://www.hrc.org/issues/transgender/college-university-transgender-benefits.htm 

IV. 

DIVERSITY AND ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE AT POMONA 

Since the first Earth Day in the 1970s, environmental initiatives have become central on college campuses 

across the nation. This has been especially true in the last decade. Yet, across the country, there is minimal 

racial and ethnic diversity among students who are engaged in campus greening initiatives. The same is true at 

Pomona College. 

As the country moves toward green jobs and increasing opportunities for green businesses, it behooves the 

College to train a diverse leadership for such positions. It is not enough to develop green jobs for the already 

diverse blue-collar work force; the College has a place in developing a diverse leadership within the green 

industry. If the College commits to addressing diversity in its sustainability initiatives, it will be a national 

leader in this regard, especially among its peer institutions. 

When questions arise about “diversity and the environment” on campuses, they are often dismissed and it’s 

often suggested that students of color are simply not interested in environmental issues. However, oftentimes 

on college campuses, initiatives are framed such that they resonate with students who have prior knowledge of 

environmental issues especially those that affect middle class, often white populations. We suggest here that 

Pomona continue to build upon its ongoing initiatives with an emphasis on an inclusive sustainability 

campaign by considering the following suggestions. These recommendations were drawn from subcommittee 

discussions and conversations with Bowen Close, Director, Sustainability Integration Office and Prof. Char 

Miller, Director, Environmental Analysis Program: 

7. We recommend that the College accomplish the following suggestions in order to increase the 

diversity of those involved in the environmental programs and initiatives at our College: 

IN PROCESS 

• Sustainability Integration Office should continue to make progress in diversifying the pool of 

applicants for Sustainability Integration Office positions by working with the Draper Center, 

AARC, CLSA and OBSA as well as drawing on other existent networks that are linked with 

students of color. 

• Continue to identify speakers and show films that acknowledge the breadth of environmental 

issues affecting various communities. (These events are typically hosted by various offices 

including the Sustainability Integration Office, The Draper Center, EA, the Office of the 

President, Dean of Students, etc.) 

GENERAL 

• Sustainability Task Force place emphasis in its report on creating a more inclusive green 

campaign on campus. 


PRESIDENT’S ADVISORY COMMITTEE ON DIVERSITY Page | 10

• Set aside funding for events that will attract a diverse student population and raise awareness of 

environmental issues. 

• With regard to awards and funding related to sustainability initiatives include the wording 

“students of color are especially encouraged to apply”. 

• Identify members for any environmental awards selection committees who have a broad 

understanding of environmental issues. 

CURRICULAR 

• Cross list appropriate environmental/justice courses with Environmental Analysis, Africana 

Studies, Chicano/a Studies and IDAAS. 

• Diversity Committee subcommittee members work with Teaching and Learning Center and EA 

to develop workshop for faculty on incorporating environmental issues across the curriculum. 

• Diversify faculty who teach environmental and environmental justice courses. EA should 

continue to reach out and target a diverse group of faculty that can bring environmental justice 

topics into their courses. Additionally, future hires for the college should consider the need to 

diversify the faculty teaching in this curricular area. 

OTHER STUDENT OPPORTUNITIES 

• Changing OA to include visits to various environmentally related facilities: water treatment 

facilities, wind farms, transportation facilities, etc. During these trips, community 

environmental impacts would be highlighted. Initially, the community engagement and SoCal 

Adventure trips could be easily adjusted to include these locations. The additional benefit is that 

these trips tend to be the most diverse of all OA trips and thus, we would be engaging these 

students with social justice and environmental causes as they start their Pomona careers. As a 

long-term goal, we recommend that all OA trips integrate aspects of environmental awareness 

and social justice causes, tied to the location and surrounding communities of the trips’ 

destination. 

• The Draper Center and the Sustainability Integration Office work with the AARC, OBSA and 

CLSA to identify students interested in environmental issues. 

• Through their close ties with workers, students, particularly RHS, can assist in conveying the 

importance of green solvents and other sustainable materials, which create a healthier work 

environment for workers. Students are important in this regard especially if they’re 

knowledgeable of the national and international environmental justice movement and its 

emphasis on worker safety and environmental health. 

FOCUS ON OFF-CAMPUS COMMUNITY 

• Similar to changes to OA, part of reframing the College’s understanding of environmental issues 

is gaining an understanding of environmental issues facing local communities. Gaining a better 

understanding of local environmental issues, the organizations addressing them and linking a 

diverse group of students with these organizations is another means of diversifying the students 



interested in environmental issues. CDO, Draper Center, EA and Sustainability Integration 

Office can work together on this. 

V. DIVERSITY OF THE FACULTY 

The primary means to increase and sustain the diversity of the faculty, both with respect to personnel and to 

the curriculum, is to provide attractive, meaningful opportunities to future hires and to create and nurture an 

academic and professional environment that will welcome and keep outstanding scholars from a diversity of 

backgrounds, cultures, and experiences. Establishing goals and benchmarks as was discussed in the section II 

in order to monitor progress and to assess the campus climate is a means by which the Diversity Committee 

can advise the president on this issue, but of more direct impact is the Committees involvement in hiring. The 

two avenues currently available to the Diversity Committee are the Mellon Postdoctoral Fellow program and 

interaction with the Faculty Personnel Advisory Committee. 

MELLON POSTDOCTORAL FELLOWS 

The Diversity Committee led the search for two Mellon Postdoctoral fellowship positions at the college. We 

solicited nominations from departments and programs through two separate rounds of the search process. The 

final pool of nominations included some tremendous scholars for consideration. Because of the importance of 

these positions, the impressive and large pool of candidates, and the difficulty in securing a candidate because 

of their number of job offers, the committee spent a good deal of time in the process. The committee used 

several criteria in their selection of candidates: 

• the candidate’s research and teaching record, including teaching philosophy 

• Short-term and long-term staffing needs (e. g, could the Fellow become a permanent hire?) 

• How the department or program would mentor the Fellow 

• Where the department or program would house the Fellow 

• How the Fellow's research expertise might benefit other programs or departments at the College. 

• Would the candidate add to the diversity of the faculty and the college? 

• Would the candidate diversify the curriculum in new and beneficial ways? 

• How does the candidate’s expertise relate to the 2009-2010 Faculty Position Advisory committee 

(FPAC) rankings for new faculty positions? 

The first round of interviews for two finalists (Seeta Gangadharan, nominated by Media Studies; and 

Simanique Moody, nominated by Linguistics/Cognitive Science) were conducted in March 2010. Seeta 

Gangadharan declined to come to campus for an interview after having accepted a postdoctoral fellowship at 

Yale University Law School. The other finalist, Simanique Moody, declined our offer (after mulling it over 

for several weeks) in favor of a postdoctoral fellowship from UC Santa Barbara. The Diversity Committee 

renewed the call for nominations from departments, and received a larger pool than we received the first time. 

The committee then selected two candidates from the nominations and with agreement from the president and 

the Dean, the two candidates (Anna Joo Kim, nominated by Environmental Analysis; and C. Riley Snorton, 

nominated by Media Studies) were brought to campus in early May. After impressive on-campus interviews, 

offers were made to each candidate, and the candidates accepted. Due to a variety of factors, the two 

candidates will begin their fellowships in January 2011 (rather than in September 2010), and will conclude 

their fellowships in December 2012 (rather than in July 2012). The Diversity Committee is thrilled with both 

Mellon Postdoctoral Fellows. Environmental Analysis nominee, Anna Joo Kim, brings a new and important 

angle to the curriculum with her work on urban and environmental planning, ethnic studies and social justice 

issues. The Media Studies nominee, C. Riley Snorton, does cross-disciplinary work on race, gender, sexuality 



and the media that will be of great interest to many people at the colleges. We anticipate both Fellows to be 

strong additions to the Pomona faculty. 

Because the DC believes the Mellon Fellow Program is an important tool for sustaining and increasing the 

diversity of our faculty, we make the follow recommendation: 

8. We recommend that the College make every effort to continue the Mellon Fellow Program or a 

program similar to it. Furthermore, we recommend that the program be extended to all fields, 

particularly the sciences. 

DIALOGUE WITH FACULTY PERSONNEL ADVISORY COMMITTEE 

The Diversity Committee and the Faculty Personnel Advisory Committee (FPAC) interacted this year 

primarily through exchange of emails and a recommendation from our committee. In these ever-changing 

economic times and their effect on limiting new faculty position availability, the necessity of interaction and 

extent of influence that the Diversity Committee could have over the limited roles the FPAC possesses was 

called into question. However, because of the critical role that faculty hiring has on the diversity of the 

College, it was agreed that such interaction was indeed important if only to confirm the College’s commitment 

to diversity via this avenue. 

It was specifically agreed that the committees (or representatives from each) should meet near the beginning of 

the first semester to reinforce the need for diversity in general and also specifically where particular needs are 

required. We realize that the FPAC can only react to proposals that are sent to it, but several areas of overlap 

make a dialogue between the committees beneficial: 1) ranking of positions by the committee could include 

diversity and specific diversity needs as a criterion; 2) selection of Mellon Fellow candidates would profit 

from knowing what positions are being proposed; 3) in its advisory role to the president, recognition of 

specific curricular needs that could be met by strategic hires should include diversity considerations; and 4) in 

its role on advising on transition of a program to department status, diversity considerations may be included if 

applicable. 

9. We recommend that the Diversity Committee and Faculty Personnel Advisory Committee meet 

annually near the beginning of the first semester to exchange information regarding faculty 

hiring (including Mellon Fellows) in order to advance the cause of faculty Diversity. 

In our role as advisory to the president, the FPAC and its actions were the subject of one of our academic year 

recommendations. It was delivered in two instances as an original recommendation and an addendum, and is 

repeated below. 

10. Recommendation to the Faculty Personnel Advisory Committee (FPAC) and the President from 

the President's Advisory Committee on Diversity, March 26, 2010 

RECOMMENDATION: In accordance with the mandate from the President's Office to propose 

new approaches to increase the diversity of Pomona College, the President's Advisory Committee on 

Diversity recommends that when the FPAC prioritizes faculty positions, strong consideration be 

given to positions that can diversify our faculty or positions that emphasize scholarship on race, 

ethnicity, class, gender, sexuality, disability, and postcolonial theory. 

RATIONALE: The College needs to continue to diversify our faculty and our curriculum in all 

disciplines, especially in those departments and programs that lack diversity. In order to do so, we 

must support new faculty positions that have the potential to expand our course offerings in areas of 

race, ethnicity, class, gender, sexuality, disability, and postcolonial theory. These faculty and 



courses are assets to the college. Especially in light of the current Faculty Growth proposal, we must 

maximize any opportunity to diversify both our faculty and our curriculum. 

11. Addendum to March 26, 2010 FPAC Recommendation to the President from the President's 

Advisory Committee on Diversity, May 10, 2010 

Given the recent FPAC recommendations for new and replacement hires, the President’s Advisory 

Committee on Diversity wishes to underscore the need for your strong consideration of the fields of 

scholarship listed in our recommendation. In particular, we recommend that the GWS (Queer 

Studies) and the Theatre (Ethnic Studies) positions, positions that will diversify the curriculum, be 

given special consideration in this respect in determining the ranking of positions of new hires for 

the College. 

VI. 

OMBUDSPERSON 

The need for an ombudsperson was established in previous years. A search for a person for this position was 

undertaken in the previous academic year, but was not successful. We believe that part of this failure was due 

to the desire to have the person in this position fill two roles: advisor and facilitator in the resolution of 

grievances and an advocate for employees to address problems or grievances. The first role is the typical one 

for an ombudsperson, the second is not. 

This issue was a very difficult one for the committee because there was a push to move forward on obtaining 

an ombudsperson, but it was tempered the realization that failure was likely if the role of this position was not 

clearly defined and understood. At the end of the academic year, it was decided that a several forums should 

be held at the beginning of the next academic year to accomplish two purposes. The first is to clearly define, 

perhaps by bringing in an expert, the role, responsibilities, means of operation, and limits of an ombudsperson. 

The second is, once this is understood, to get a sense of the attributes we would need our ombudsperson to 

possess to meet this role successfully in our environment. We do not believe that we need to re-establish the 

need for an ombudsperson. 

12. We recommend that the College sponsor a series of forums regarding the potential role(s) and 

qualities of a successful ombudsperson at Pomona College. 

The need for an ombudsperson was made apparent by the call from several faculty members that the Diversity 

Committee take on this role in the recent concern over a change in distribution and roles of our cleaning staff. 

It is clear that the DC should not be acting in this role, but someone needs to do so. It is time to revisit the 

ombudsperson position. 

We discussed at length the expressed need of advocacy for employees, particularly with regard to staff 

employees concerning their grievances with upper management and, particularly, when there are cultural 

differences between the parties involved. Although the administration has made great strides in improving the 

avenues for redress of employee complaints, it appears that these avenues are often not recognized or 

understood by many. We make the following recommendation: 

13. We recommend that the vice-presidents of each area, together or individually, communicate 

clearly with their employees via pamphlets, website, or other succinct means about the available 

personnel and methods for handling problems or grievances. 



VI. 

CONCLUSION 

The Diversity Committee considered, investigated, acquired data about, studied, and advised on many areas 

impacting diversity at our College. This work culminated in a series of recommendation placed in context and 

given with rationale in the narrative above. The recommendations are repeated here for ease of reference. 

1. We recommend that the president encourage departments and programs to include the climate 

for diversity as a key area for study in routine assessment and data collection activities. 

2. We highlight the absence of diversity in elected governance committees as an issue of critical 

concern for college governance and recommend the College take steps to more fully understand 

and remedy this phenomenon. 

3. Recommendation to the President Regarding QRC Coordinator from the President's Advisory 

Committee on Diversity, March 26, 2010 

RECOMMENDATION: The President’s Advisory Committee on Diversity recommends that the 

Queer Resource Center Coordinator position increase from a half-time to a full-time position. If the 

rest of the consortium is not prepared or able to contribute, the committee recommends that 

Pomona establish and fund the position on its own. 

RATIONALE: In the 2008-09 Diversity Committee report, a full-time coordinator position at the 

QRC was listed as a long-term goal for the College: “The committee recommends that the College 

take the lead in establishing a full-time position for the Coordinator of the Queer Resource Center.” 

In response, President Oxtoby said: “The Dean of Students began last year, and will continue this 

year, an effort to obtain funding from the other Claremont Colleges to support the QRC and enable 

the hiring of a full-time Coordinator.” 

The Diversity Committee asks that Pomona College revisit last year’s recommendation and move it 

into the category of short-term/immediate goals. We support the need for a full-time position at the 

QRC as one of the college’s highest priorities. 

4. We recommend that the College prioritize assessment of campus climate for our LGBTQ 

students, faculty and staff. 

5. We recommend that the College consider a new tenure track faculty position in Queer Studies as 

one of our highest priorities and that such a position be supported as soon as the College is able 

to fund any new faculty positions. This is a position that has great potential to diversify both our 

faculty as well as our curriculum, which we see as being essential to our mission of creating a 

more inclusive, healthy and diverse community. 

6. We recommend that the College do an internal review of the policies, procedures and practice 

that have a direct impact on our transgender faculty, staff and students. This is essential if we 

are to provide a safe, welcoming and supportive environment for transgender individuals that 

are currently part of our community, as well as transgender individuals who are considering 



joining our college. Such a process should involve the Dean of the College, Campus Life, Student 

Affairs, Human Resources and Health and Counseling Services. 

7. We recommend that the College accomplish the following suggestions in order to increase the 

diversity of those involved in the environmental programs and initiatives at our College: 

IN PROCESS 

• Sustainability Integration Office should continue to make progress in diversifying the pool of 

applicants for Sustainability Integration Office positions by working with the Draper Center, 

AARC, CLSA and OBSA as well as drawing on other existent networks that are linked with 

students of color. 

• Continue to identify speakers and show films that acknowledge the breadth of environmental 

issues affecting various communities. (These events are typically hosted by various offices 

including the Sustainability Integration Office, The Draper Center, EA, the Office of the 

President, Dean of Students, etc.) 

GENERAL 

• Sustainability Task Force place emphasis in its report on creating a more inclusive green 

campaign on campus. 

• Set aside funding for events that will attract a diverse student population and raise awareness of 

environmental issues. 

• With regard to awards and funding related to sustainability initiatives include the wording 

“students of color are especially encouraged to apply”. 

• Identify members for any environmental awards selection committees who have a broad 

understanding of environmental issues. 

CURRICULAR 

• Cross list appropriate environmental/justice courses with Environmental Analysis, Africana 

Studies, Chicano/a Studies and IDAAS. 

• Diversity Committee subcommittee members work with Teaching and Learning Center and EA 

to develop workshop for faculty on incorporating environmental issues across the curriculum. 

• Diversify faculty who teach environmental and environmental justice courses. EA should 

continue to reach out and target a diverse group of faculty that can bring environmental justice 

topics into their courses. Additionally, future hires for the college should consider the need to 

diversify the faculty teaching in this curricular area. 

OTHER STUDENT OPPORTUNITIES 

• Changing OA to include visits to various environmentally related facilities: water treatment 

facilities, wind farms, transportation facilities, etc. During these trips, community 



environmental impacts would be highlighted. Initially, the community engagement and SoCal 

Adventure trips could be easily adjusted to include these locations. The additional benefit is that 

these trips tend to be the most diverse of all OA trips and thus, we would be engaging these 

students with social justice and environmental causes as they start their Pomona careers. As a 

long-term goal, we recommend that all OA trips integrate aspects of environmental awareness 

and social justice causes, tied to the location and surrounding communities of the trips’ 

destination. 

• The Draper Center and the Sustainability Integration Office work with the AARC, OBSA and 

CLSA to identify students interested in environmental issues. 

• Through their close ties with workers, students, particularly RHS, can assist in conveying the 

importance of green solvents and other sustainable materials, which create a healthier work 

environment for workers. Students are important in this regard especially if they’re 

knowledgeable of the national and international environmental justice movement and its 

emphasis on worker safety and environmental health. 

FOCUS ON OFF-CAMPUS COMMUNITY 

Similar to changes to OA, part of reframing the College’s understanding of environmental issues is 

gaining an understanding of environmental issues facing local communities. Gaining a better 

understanding of local environmental issues, the organizations addressing them and linking a 

diverse group of students with these organizations is another means of diversifying the students 

interested in environmental issues. CDO, Draper Center, EA and Sustainability Integration Office 

can work together on this. 

8. We recommend that the College make every effort to continue the Mellon Fellow Program or a 

program similar to it. Furthermore, we recommend that the program be extended to all fields, 

particularly the sciences. 

9. We recommend that the Diversity Committee and Faculty Personnel Advisory Committee meet 

annually near the beginning of the first semester to exchange information regarding faculty 

hiring (including Mellon Fellows) in order to advance the cause of faculty Diversity. 

10. Recommendation to the Faculty Personnel Advisory Committee (FPAC) and the President from 

the President's Advisory Committee on Diversity, March 26, 2010 

RECOMMENDATION: In accordance with the mandate from the President's Office to propose 

new approaches to increase the diversity of Pomona College, the President's Advisory Committee on 

Diversity recommends that when the FPAC prioritizes faculty positions, strong consideration be 

given to positions that can diversify our faculty or positions that emphasize scholarship on race, 

ethnicity, class, gender, sexuality, disability, and postcolonial theory. 

RATIONALE: The College needs to continue to diversify our faculty and our curriculum in all 

disciplines, especially in those departments and programs that lack diversity. In order to do so, we 

must support new faculty positions that have the potential to expand our course offerings in areas of 

race, ethnicity, class, gender, sexuality, disability, and postcolonial theory. These faculty and 

courses are assets to the college. Especially in light of the current Faculty Growth proposal, we must 

maximize any opportunity to diversify both our faculty and our curriculum. 



11. Addendum to March 26, 2010 FPAC Recommendation to the President from the President's 

Advisory Committee on Diversity, May 10, 2010 

Given the recent FPAC recommendations for new and replacement hires, the President’s Advisory 

Committee on Diversity wishes to underscore the need for your strong consideration of the fields of 

scholarship listed in our recommendation. In particular, we recommend that the GWS (Queer 

Studies) and the Theatre (Ethnic Studies) positions, positions that will diversify the curriculum, be 

given special consideration in this respect in determining the ranking of positions of new hires for 

the College. 

12. We recommend that the College sponsor a series of forums regarding the potential role(s) and 

qualities of a successful ombudsperson at Pomona College. 

13. We recommend that the vice-presidents of each area, together or individually, communicate 

clearly with their employees via pamphlets, website, or other succinct means about the available 

personnel and methods for handling problems or grievances. 

In addition to the concrete issues addressed in this document, one common theme that pervaded all areas we 

considered was the need for increased, effective communication, not only between parties involved in a 

particular diversity matter, but also between the Diversity Committee and our College community that it is 

trying to serve. With respect to the latter, the members of the Diversity Committee are grateful to the 

president for agreeing to our request to establish a fund with which we will co-sponsor lectures and other 

events about diversity. The hope here is that via recommendations external to the committee and presented to 

the committee we will become more aware of concerns and topics that we should be considering. We believe 

it will also increase the visibility and mission of the Diversity Committee. Along these lines, we have begun 

and will continue to make our website an effective tool and wide-open window for those inside and outside of 

our community who wish learn more about our College’s commitment to diversity. To enable these everincreasing 

goals of our committee to be accomplished, we are also very happy that the president has agreed to 

our request for administrative support via an administrative assistant. This support will undoubtedly aid in the 

organization of the committee’s multitude of activities and communication between committee members. 

We believe that we have accomplished a great deal this past academic year with the recurring realization that 

there is much to be done. We hope that we have provided the president with valuable information and advice. 

We, in turn, thank him for providing us with a clear directive on how we can best help him, and the College, in 

its pursuit of providing a diverse and welcoming community in which all can thrive. Via our work, we believe 

that we have constructed a firm foundation on which the committee can propel forward in its mission to 

provide useful advice on the means to improve diversity on our campus.

Year End Report 09-10 [pdf] - Pomona College

You also want an ePaper? Increase the reach of your titles

Delete template?

Save as template?