^{"I believe that they all tried having conversations at their own colleges, but eventually they decided that the takeover of Alexander was a very symbolic way of demonstrating that the students were very serious about these issues, that this was something that lots of groups cared about."}

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[Transcript]

So the takeover of Alexander really started with the fact that there was a great need for more faculty, more diversity at the colleges and I think for a long time the students had been aware of it. But, all of a sudden, it became very clear that the students really wanted more faculty of color at the colleges and they just were not here. And so, it took time before the takeover of Alexander really came about and I think a lot of student groups met together. First the student groups were meeting independently, having conversations – Black students, the Asian students, the Latino students – but then they came together and realized they had the same concerns about diversity at the colleges. And so then, basically, they said, well you know, let’s talk about an action that might bring about some change. I believe that they all tried having conversations at their own colleges, but eventually they decided that the takeover of Alexander was a very symbolic way of demonstrating that the students were very serious about these issues, that this was something that lots of groups cared about. So in essence, when you look at who was in the takeover of Alexander, it was primarily Latino students, but there was also Black students, Asian students, and white students in there because the Jewish group also felt very much that this a social justice that they were concerned about. It drew together a very interesting component of students and it drew them together in a way that the action resulted in  - the result of the action was, the takeover of Alexander Hall. And it’s interesting because you know, students talk amongst themselves and they came together and they drew this conclusion. And they decided they would do it. What’s amazing about the takeover of Alexander Hall is that the president of Pomona was very gracious about the student takeover. Of course our students were not crazy, for example, they did not go on a rampage and break all the windows; they didn’t throw chairs out of the second floor; they didn’t pillage the place … they were respectful. And one of the things that was very clear was that they had very serious issues and because they had very serious issues, they were respectful, and so that brought about a very different behavior from the administration.

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