By Ben Lauren PZ ’25

On Sunday, Oct. 27, the Pitzer College Student Senate voted unanimously in favor of Resolution 61-R-3, sponsored by the Claremont Student Worker Alliance (CSWA), “supporting CSWA’s demands to rehire Adan Campos and condemning Pitzer’s anti-immigrant practices.”

The resolution demands Pitzer allow Campos — who worked directly for Pitzer as a cook for eight years and then for one year as a sous chef at Pitzer through Bon Appétit Management Company — “a fair opportunity to return to a cook position Pitzer.” It additionally calls on Pitzer to fix its alleged understaffing problem in dining services and addresses alleged anti-immigrant practices by the college.

Campos, a Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) worker who Bon Appétit terminated earlier this year after his visa expired, has been seeking to return to Pitzer as a cook since he renewed his visa in March. Campos alleges that Pitzer has continually refused to consider his application.

Since his termination, Campos has applied for three cook positions at Pitzer, not Bon Appétit, the day they were opened to the public, being rejected within three days of applying each time. In all three cases, Pitzer Human Resources (HR) informed him the position had been given to an internal candidate.

According to the collective bargaining agreement (CBA) between Pitzer and its workers, Pitzer must give internal candidates 30 days to apply before opening the position to the public. Since his first application was rejected, Campos has been consistently suspicious that Pitzer would have made any of the jobs public if a candidate was already that far in the hiring process.

However, Pitzer Chief Operating Officer and Treasurer Laura Schaefer stated that the hiring process can move much more quickly for internal candidates.

“It could be a very quick switch flip for something that’s already in process,” Schaefer said. “I don’t think we have to go through the same background checks that take [the same] time you would with an external applicant. I think it’s probably just an agreement upon whether or not they have the skills to do that role and then they’re promoted to it.”

The resolution comes after a third delegation by students and Pitzer workers on Oct. 21, found Pitzer’s HR office completely empty. As a result, the group marched to Broad Center where they spoke directly to Pitzer Chief of Staff Jim Marchant, Vice President of Student Affairs Andrés Fernández and Secretary to the Board of Trustees Melanie Lacy Sorenson, where they argued administration is refusing to engage in dialogue.

“It’s ridiculous that we were told to go to people in charge — to admin, to HR — to talk things out instead of taking things in our own hands … and then you weren’t even there,” a student said during the Oct. 21 delegation.

According to Pitzer Senior Class Representative Sara Kimura PZ ’25, who authored the senate resolution, the most important part of passing this resolution is that it will be voted on by the College Council during their next meeting on Dec. 5. While the College Council does not have the power to directly hire Campos, Kimura believes this will force Pitzer administration to actively listen to their demands.

“Even if admin refused to interact or talk or have a discussion with CSWA, during the next College Council … they will have to actually discuss it, there will be a vote,” Kimura said. “It means that the admin will have to interact with it and acknowledge the unanimous support from the Pitzer Student Senate and the massive support that CSWA has gathered through [its] petitions.”

Schaefer, meanwhile, claimed she has been open to conversation, referencing a meeting she had with Campos and CSWA representatives in October. She claimed that the CBA put restrictions on the college’s ability to rehire Campos, given that it encourages them to look to internal candidates first.

“[Even] if an internal applicant got promoted and they didn’t work out, an internal applicant is going to get preference over an external applicant,” Shaefer said. “We want to support our existing people and give them the chance … According to our CBA, I can’t hop an internal applicant without a really good reason.”

Paz Lopez-Benitez PO ’27, a CSWA representative and a sponsor of the resolution, disagreed with this point, stating that the resolution provides a framework for a fair process.

“It’s fully within power to rehire Adan in a way that fully abides by the CBA and is very fair and respectful to the internal employees who still work in the dining hall, while still recognizing that returning Adan or giving Adan a cook position in the dining hall.”

During the senate meeting, several students and dining services workers spoke on their positive experiences with Campos. One of these speakers, Enoch Kim PZ ’25, a student worker at McConnell Dining Hall, described Campos as an “older brother figure” in his life.

“When I first started working at McConnell dining hall … I was incredibly nervous,” the student worker said. “Adan … brought me in under his wing … And since that day, for the next year, Adan has been … someone who has consistently been kind and respectful to me in every single way possible.”

Another student, Camille Townsend PZ ’26, praised Campos for his efforts toward supporting students like themself with allergies and brought up his innovative contributions to McConnell.

“Adan is the person who came up with the idea for the mac and cheese bar, the French toast bar and the poke station,” they said. “He’s really a creative force and he’s someone who’s really looking out for the safety and wellbeing of all students.”

José Ochoa, a cook II at Pitzer and shop steward for the Pitzer workers’ UNITE HERE Local 11 union — an assigned representative and advocate for his fellow union employees — stated there “was no reason for not hiring Adan right now.” Ochao explained that Campos’ eight years of experience would provide extensive help for what he believes is an understaffed dining hall.

“I feel it; I work six days a week because we’re understaffed,” Ochoa said. “We need him … We are human beings putting our bodies in extra heat. Our knees hurt, our bodies hurt, and we need people to help. That’s what Adan was really good at. He was always helping everyone in the kitchen.”

In his interview with The Outback, Campos explained Pitzer has been attempting to solve this alleged understaffing problem by hiring temp workers — a practice banned by the CBA except for catering special events like graduation or in extreme circumstances. Campos questioned why they would want so many inexperienced workers in the kitchen.

“To me, it just makes no sense,” Campos said. “Get someone who knows what you’re doing instead of random temps. Temps are hit or miss. Sometimes you get good employees, and sometimes you get people who don’t know what they’re doing.”

Pitzer administration has pushed back on these allegations. According to Kimura, during her and CSWA’s meeting with Schaefer, she claimed that the temps were all filling in for employees on leave, which would not break the CBA.

“They were supposed to get rid of all the temp workers that they previously had used, except for very, very specific cases,” Kimura said. “Workers at McConnell are reporting multiple temp workers circulating in and out trying to alleviate that overworked status … We’ve got no guarantee yet from admin that [they] are saving a spot for a unionized employee that is a way for some like medical leave, or some emergency.”

At the Senate meeting, a CSWA representative claimed that Schaefer had called the allegations of understaffing “subjective,” yet its effects are clearly visible for students.

“Students go eat at McConnell and eat off of paper plates and use plastic utensils for multiple meals at a time,” the student said. “That’s a very clear sign of understaffing in the dishwashing sector alone.”

During her interview with The Outback, Schaefer stated that Pitzer has been attempting to help Campos find other jobs including management opportunities elsewhere with Bon Appétit; however, he explained that these are significantly lower paying than even entry level positions at Pitzer.

“I’d rather just be working at a McDonalds for that pay than go back to Bon Appétit,” Campos said.

According to a CSWA representative during the Senate meeting, these jobs also do not provide the same protection for DACAmented workers, with Pitzer’s CBA promising DREAMers a five year buffer to get their visas renewed. Lopez-Benitez explained how the resolution addresses Campos’ immigration status. 

“DACA status is very important to this story,” Lopez-Benitez said. “Bon Appétit does not have the protections that members of the Pitzer community deserve and that Adan deserves.”

The bill addresses “anti-immigrant behavior” by Pitzer, indirectly referencing an alleged conversation between Campos and Pitzer Dining Services General Manager Miguel Menjivar, in which he supposedly attempted to dissuade Campos from applying by claiming that Donald Trump would potentially heighten restrictions on DACA workers.

Schaefer stated while she would not support that comment, she doesn’t know if it was really made.

“That is not necessarily helpful information to say … and not very appropriate if you’re in any kind of position of authority,” Shaefer said. “I also don’t know for sure that he said that, or why he would say that. I know Miguel, and I think a lot of him as a person.”

Schaefer maintains that Pitzer would be glad to have Campos back as their employee or for Bon Appétit, but pushed back on Campos’ allegations Pitzer HR revoked a job they had promised him.

“The desire to help him was absolutely there, but we didn’t make promises to him that we couldn’t really keep,” Schaefer said. “I said publicly many times that [we’d] take him back … we’re not trying to prevent him from coming back.”

Still, Lopez-Benitez believes the senate resolution will be a positive step in the effort to rehire Campos.

Student Senate represents the student body and the opinions of the students on Pitzer campus,” Lopez-Benitez said. “One big thing about this passing, especially unanimously, is [proof] Pitzer students want Adan back. They disagree with the actions that Pitzer administration has taken and the rhetoric that they’ve decided to double down on.”