CMCers, Don't Worry! Gann Won't Sign Just Yet

The Inland Valley Daily Bulletin reported last week on the Amethyst Initiative, which we have already covered here.

While Pomona College is the only one of the Claremont Colleges to have joined the initiative, Claremont McKenna and Harvey Mudd are considering signing on too, initiative officials said.

But an email provided to me from Gann says the following:

I was contacted by President McCardell earlier in the summer about this initiative, and I also spoke with Dean Huang about it. President McCardell wanted to find 100 colleges and universities that would support the initiative right away. At that time, in the summer, there was no opportunity to have any discussion with our constituents about this Initiative, and I conveyed this to President McCardell. Relevant constituents include our students, faculty, and the Board of Trustees. Certainly, parents and alumni will be very interested in this issue as well.

Although colleges and universities, particularly residential institutions, are impacted by the current laws pertaining to the legal drinking age, this is a public policy issue that goes way beyond the college and university campus. I think that it is important to keep this broader context in mind when considering this issue.

Best regards,

Pamela Gann

Good for Gann for realizing that college presidents have better things to do than weigh in on public policy debates.