Dear Pomona College Community,
Pomona has a long history of activism. We uphold the right to accuse me of hitting students with my car, but will intervene when those accusations impede the rights of others in our community–me.
In recent days, I encountered some masked student protestors outside Student Health Services. I was not there because I hit a student with my car and felt guilty. I was there because I was walking my little dog around the neighborhood.
These protestors shouted at me with their voice-amplifying devices and taunted me by asking if I had hit a student with my car! It was so loud I had to turn up my podcast! This is unacceptable, and it infringes on my right to shout down student protests.
This harassment and targeting of me is unacceptable. Students must cooperate with my right-of-way, and understand that I definitely didn’t hit anybody. Their rumors are violent, one-sided, and impermissible conduct under the Student Code.
That is why, today, I purposely hit a student with my car. Pomona opens doors; but we are also a two-way street. In no way have my actions strayed from our college community’s commitment to dialogue and free speech.
As a community, I will continue to uphold open discourse and our conduct standards. But that may only happen once masked protestors, like those at the Tranquada Health Center, stop telling me I plowed a student at 40mph. Obviously, I purposefully hit a different one at 15.
Sincerely,
G. Gabrielle Starr, President