Pomona College will officially have a Media Studies Department on July 1. The soon-to-be department, however, is already facing problems of downsizing. After this semester, Rick Blackwood and Lauri Mullens, both professors of media studies, will be leaving Pomona. Blackwood’s departure is especially problematic as there is no immediate replacement for him.

Pomona College announced a voluntary early retirement plan (VERP) on Apr. 21 for eligible staff and faculty members. Administrators hope that the measure will reduce the college’s number of full-time employees, and cut down on labor costs.

Five 5-C graduating seniors were granted prestigious Watson fellowships by the Thomas J. Watson Foundation. Anoush Suni PO ’09, Irene Toro Martinez PO’09, Brian Dolphin PI ’09, Kyle Delbyck SC ’09, and Brandon Horn HM ’09 are five of 40 students nationwide who will each receive a $28,000 grant for a year of independent study outside the United States.

 

A group of Pitzer College students protested an off-campus talk on April 20 by Jim Gilchrist, founder of the anti-immigration group the Minuteman Project, eventually breaking up the meeting.  The event was sponsored by the Mountain View Republican Club, a group based in La Verne and not associated with the 5Cs.

Pomona’s summer housing policy has undergone several modifications since last summer. The largest change was the introduction of less-strict interpretation of current policy, while retaining a no-tolerance policy for drugs and alcohol.