A professor of geology at Pomona College in Claremont, California sent an email to the student body advertising a course on earthquakes in Southern California. However, Professor Linda Reinen said that she is preferring students of color request her low-enrollment course. According to The Claremont Independent, here is what she said:
I encourage students who PERM this course to indicate how their background, experience, and/or interests could contribute to diversifying perspectives in the course. In resolving PERMs I will strive to identify students for whom the small-section setting has the potential to be of particular benefit. I am especially interested in seeing PERM requests from students of color, first generation or low-income students, international, and students early in their college career (first two years); such students are especially encouraged to apply.
According to The Claremont Independent, Dr. Reinen did not respond to the newspaper’s request for comment on how one’s race, income, national origin, or age were necessary in registering for a course about earthquakes.
This email follows an outrageous letter written by Pomona College students that claimed that truth is “a construct of the Euro-West that is deeply rooted in the Enlightenment, which was a movement that also described Black and Brown people as both subhuman and impervious to pain.” The same letter also called upon administrators to “take action” against The Claremont Independent‘s editorial staff for “its continual perpetuation of hate speech, anti-Blackness, and intimidation toward students of marginalized backgrounds.”
Here is the flyer Prof. Reinen sent to the student body at Pomona and the rest of the Claremont Colleges.
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