"It is not a rumor," confirmed Barbara Jefferson, the Director of Advancement for the Claremont University Consortium (CUC) on Tuesday, March 4. CUC is "pushing" for the purchase of Keck Graduate Institute's (KGI) land parcel on the Bernard Field Station for development.

This is not the first time the colleges have decided to build on this land. On March 26, 2001, more than 100 students protested plans to build on the KGI parcel by assembling outside Pendleton Business Building. Six students chained themselves to concrete-filled garbage cans barricading the building, according to Students for the Bernard Field Station and the LA Times. After those chained to the barricades were hauled away with a forklift, 15 students blocking the entrance were arrested, according to the LA Times, and more than 100 protesters suspended, according to Students for the Bernard Field Station.

Students objected to building on the Keck parcel for a host of reasons including protecting the endangered coastal sage scrub ecosystem, preserving the academic resource for biology and environmental studies students, protecting a sacred place for the Native American Tongva people, and opposition to KGI because of its association with biotechnology.

CUC CEO Bob Walton has communicated the plans to develop the KGI parcel in memorandum to the presidents of the colleges, who comprise the board of CUC, said Jefferson. Walton wrote in one memorandum to the Council of Presidents, which Pomona President David Oxtoby forwarded to the Pomona student body, "It should be noted that these 11.4 acres are not part of the Bernard Field Station and are explicitly identified in the December 2000 Settlement agreement with Friends of Bernard Field Station as available for development."

The 2001 protests and a lawsuit by Friends of the Bernard Field Station culminated in a settlement that preserves 45 acres of the field station for 50 years. This is now the only land officially dubbed the "Temporarily Restricted Robert J. Bernard Field Station" out of the approximately 86 acres of land owned by CUC and KGI that is currently used as a field station, according to CUC's "Statement on Land Use and Planning." KGI plans to put up a fence around their 11.4 acre parcel until the deal goes through, limiting access to that portion of the field station, according to Students for the Bernard Field Station.

Walton announced the plan at an all-staff company meeting on February 19, according to the Director of Advancement. CUC plans to sell property on 1st Street, currently used as an administrative facility, to Pomona College, then buy the KGI-owned parcel to build a new administrative facility and library service center.

Pendleton Business Center, the site of the infamous 2001 protest, has been in need of replacement. Previously, CUC had planned to build a new facility on the 1st Street property, but this changed upon learning of the availability of KGI's parcel.

Erica Helson (PZ '08), a leader of Students for the Bernard Field Station believes issues of personal pride may be contributing to the decision to relocate the administrative offices to the property north of Foothill. "Pendleton, the location of the lockdown in 2001, would be moved to the KGI portion of the BFS. This move is too symbolic to be an oversight," Helson said.

"By using the north campus property, the needs of two colleges will be met," Jefferson, CUC Director of Advancement, said. Pomona seeks new property and KGI seeks to sell their land. There is no other reason for developing the KGI parcel beyond the benefit of the colleges, Jefferson said.

Developing the KGI parcel would also enable CUC to expand parking for members of the consortium and relieve the overflow of student parking into the community. Furthermore, the eastern CUC land holdings, known as "The Quarry Pit" was found largely unsuitable to build and reserved for pending priority requests from other CUC institutions on the southern end, Walton said.

Pomona Director of Media Relations, Cynthia Peters, said "If Pomona was offered the 1st Street land for a reasonable price, Pomona would consider buying it. For some time Pomona has been concerned about space for any long-term future needs." The land would be purchased primarily to hold for the future and used in the meantime as a new home for grounds or some other short-term purpose.

"Pomona believes that the Bernard Field Station is a valuable education space, and there's no question about that," Peters said. However, she said Pomona has a minimal role in influencing the decision to build on the KGI parcel. "If Keck wanted to build on their parcel, there is nothing Pomona could do. If CUC were to buy the parcel, Pomona would be one voice on a Board of more than 20."

Students for the Bernard Field Station contends that Pomona has the opportunity to prevent development on the Keck parcel by refusing to buy the 1st Street property from CUC, which would provide CUC with the funds to purchase the KGI land

Walton made a point of being open with the student body throughout the process by recommending in the memorandum, "The information shared with the CUC staff about our progress may also be of interest to members of your community and I encourage you to share this update as you see appropriate. I will continue to provide you additional information as it becomes available."

Walton wrote in the memorandum, "Although both of negotiations are proceeding in a successful manner, I included in my announcement to the CUC staff that nothing is certain until either or both of these discussions are successfully concluded."

"Everything is in the conversation stage," Jefferson, CUC Director of Advancement said.

In conversation among environmental activists on campus, rumors of a plan to develop the KGI parcel have taken center stage.

Pitzer professor Melinda Herrold-Menzies, who uses the BFS for several classes to teach students about native plants and especially the coastal sage scrub ecosystem, said, "I know my Pitzer students are very upset about potential development of the KGI-owned piece. They have already passed a resolution affirming student desire to protect all pieces of land in the BFS including the KGI-owned piece. I imagine that there will be a lot of protest."

Faulstich, a fellow Pitzer environmental studies professor, agreed, noting Students for the Bernard Field Station started organizing against this immediately. "I have no idea what these protests will look like, but it would not surprise me if they were intense," he said.

A leader of Students for the Bernard Field Station (SBFS), Kirsten Brewer (PZ '08) said, "Most students I talk to about are not in favor of development. That being said, there are surely many more out there that are undecided, probably because they don't know anything about it. I've been a part of SBFS since I was a freshman and much of our work has been just to make sure everyone knew about the BFS and the controversy in 2001."

SBFS worries that fragmentation of the Bernard Field Station will affect the preserved area. "All habitats are subject to negative fringe impacts, so taking away 11 acres actually takes away a lot more. Also that section has some of the best habitat. Its some of the least impacted coastal sage scrub, it has vernal pools and borders right up on the pHake Lake," Brewer said.

Helson agreed that the Keck parcel is an essential piece of the field station. "Most importantly, this land holds the largest, intact piece of coastal sage scrub on the property. This 'small' portion makes up about one eighth of an already limited field station. Every bit developed greatly reduces the number of species the BFS can sustain. Activity on the periphery of undeveloped land that borders urbanized land also supports fewer species. If the KGI property were developed the new periphery would run right along the lake. This would affect the type of species students could study at the lake."

Helson said that the toad population, which depends on the vernal pool as a breeding ground is a favorite study subject for the elementary children who participate in LEEP, an environmental education partnership through Pitzer.

Beyond environmental and educational purposes, Helson believes the BFS has an important role in social justice. "Furthermore, the BFS is a sacred space for the local Tongva people living in the region. Today in the United States we are given few opportunities to right the wrongs committed against the native people of this land. I feel the least we can do to honor and respect the Tongva community is to protect the BFS," Helson said.

"The bottom line is SBFS takes a no compromise stance when it comes to developing even one of the BFS's 86 acres. If the colleges continue to chip away land from the field station, whether it is a 4 foot wide strip or 11 acres, eventually there will be nothing left," Helson said.

Activists not only disagree with developing this particular site but with the philosophy of expansion. CUC is dedicated to the vision of the land donors, who envisioned building more institutions in the consortium, based on the Oxford model.

While CUC feels they must pursue the academic intents of this land though building new institutions, Helson believes that land donated for educational purposes could not be better served than by use as a field station. Our academic needs have changed since the founding of the colleges, she said.

Brewer said the colleges should not measure their success by expansion. "Many involved with CUC measure the institution's success by the growth rate of the Claremont Colleges" Brewer said. "From looking over their website they seem to function on a corporate business model, not as an academic institution."

Herrold-Menzies sees the philosophy of expansion as troubling as well. "To borrow a phrase from a very perceptive Pomona student, CUC decision-makers seem to have a sense of CUC 'Manifest Destiny.' They have a mission to build out every piece of land they have and cover it with Claremont University Consortium buildings," she said.

"I believe that the Consortium should draw attention the Claremont Colleges and Graduate Schools with innovative and creative thinking. As discussions about environmental sustainability increase on our campuses, the Consortium should be a part of that discussion. They should be promoting the colleges as examples of environmental sustainability. Pitzer, Harvey Mudd and Pomona have recently built 'green' buildings that have received national attention. We should not keep thinking along conventional lines—the conventional lines that have created an LA County and Inland Empire that represent senseless sprawl, highways jammed with traffic, and smog that harms humans and the natural environment. Let's do something innovative," Herrold-Menzies said.

She believes that developing the quarry pit would be much more valuable despite the hurdles and cost involved and she imagines the quarry could be the sight of ground-breaking green building.

Students and faculty involved in activism for the BFS anticipate that any controversial decisions will wait until summer, when few students are around to protest.

"Unfortunately it is very likely that these plans will not be finalized until June, after I have graduated," Brewer said. "Let it be known that these issues will not be dropped if it appears the deal is going to go through."

Brewer said that while she believes Pitzer will oppose building, she implores alumnae of colleges that declare support of the plan to halt donations and write to the administration.

Helson also encourages contacting the administrations. She hopes that through educating those with power in the administrations, students can make them see the value of preserving the entirety of the field station. SBFS especially encourages students troubled by plans to build on the BFS to email Pomona President David Oxtoby asking him not to purchase the 1st Street property from CUC. SBFS is also circulating a petition in the dining halls.

Ultimately, SBFS hopes to resolve the conflict over the BFS in a mutually beneficial manner, such as an environmental masters school on the land, said Brewer. "I hope that a serious dialogue about the future of the BFS is begun and that we can try to find a resolution that satisfies the needs of both the consortium, in terms of expansion, and the students and faculty that use the BFS."