Students at the Claremont Colleges are demanding their wealthy peers pay for their “mental health needs” and “family support” over the summer, through student-run mutual aid funds. Student activist group Occupy Pomona has been the primary student fundraiser for this cause. Members of the production team of “Love is Blind: Claremont,” an online dating show featuring students of the Claremont Colleges, posted on Twitter that wealthy students who fail to donate ”substantial sums” to Claremont student mutual aid funds “will be revealed/[doxxed]” on their show.
Another Claremont College student and member of the production team proposed “launching a [spreadsheet] in the next couple of days of all the heirs/heiresses” at the college to keep track of how much they donate.
In the subsequent hours, Occupy Pomona received a $10,000 donation from an anonymous donor. The producers of “Love is Blind” Claremont” later congratulated themselves on the success of their “threat.”
Pomona students are attempting to raise $200,000 to pay for the “rent, food, transportation, utilities, WiFi, assistance for family bills, as well as medical bills” of jobless students over the summer. Organizers estimate that the “average student will have expenses totaling approximately $3,000 for the summer;” however, some students need much more because they are using their grant money to support their families.
In March, Occupy Pomona successfully forced Pomona College to continue to house students on campus. Students were told to leave campus to prevent an outbreak of coronavirus on campus. When students and professors voiced their concern online over the potential spread of the virus on campus, students were caught threatening and harassing the concerned faculty members. A student staying on campus at Scripps College later tested positive for COVID-19.
CORRECTION: Previously, the writer had stated that only Pomona students were advocating for support through mutual aid funds. We have since been informed that students from all five colleges benefit from this aid, and have corrected our statement accordingly.
UPDATE: According to the producers of “Love is Blind: Claremont,” the posts in question were intended as a joke. This information comes from a post made by the producers shortly after Pomona’s administration sent out an email condemning the doxxing threats.
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