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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]is there a link to the rumor?[/quote]
Sounds like bunkum to me.

(1) I have a kid at the 5Cs and haven't heard anything remotely concerning a merger.

(2) The 5Cs are already extremely popular as reflected by their low admission rates.

(3) The 5Cs are all financially strong, and Pomona and CMC are positively loaded.

(4) I haven't read them, but I'm guessing somewhere in each school charters, etc. are commitments to certain things that would be defeated by a merger--e.g., a commitment to being a liberal arts college, Scripps's commitment to be a womens college, Mudd's commitment to STEM, etc. A merger would require each of the 5C's boards to change their school's fundamental purpose, if that's legally possible, and agree to such a merger.

(5) The 5Cs are unique in their consortium approach in America. Each school offers students something very different while still offering the consortium and a unified set of different campuses. This is a strong selling point for 5C students. Nor have I heard complaints about this structure. I'm not sure why they'd want to give it up to fundamentally change the 5Cs into a mid-size university.

(6) Each of the 5Cs is its own college. This means it has its own endowment, campus, administration, faculty, dorms, admissions policies and standards, graduation requirements, orientation programs, etc. A merger would be incredibly complex. I've only seen two college mergers, usually a bigger school gobbling up a smaller one. Merging 5 colleges at once would be insane.

(7) Even if this rumor were remotely true, there's no way it's happening anytime soon. At a minimum, I'd assume they'd teach out their current students to graduation under the current regime. [/quote]
You’re missing the key point that the new acting president of Pomona- A W&M ALUM MIGHT I ADD- has enacted a new policy of a cohesive Claremont colleges and is seeking a longer contract to carry out the campaign while the president is gone! This is major news and will likely lead to a substantially different Claremont Colleges.[/quote]
You think the "Acting" President while Starr is on sabbatical is going to radically alter the dynamics of the entire 5C system? I'm not sure that reflects the power dynamics in higher education. I'd also like to see a link or two to support this theory because there's a Grand Canyon-sized chasm between "more cohesion" and "five college merger." Also, of all the 5Cs, Pomona would arguably have the most lose in a merger since it has the largest budget, most students, and highest ranking (for what that's worth). In short, I just don't see how this idea makes much sense.[/quote]

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