College Bans Parties in Wake of Stabbings

Harvey Mudd College in Claremont has temporarily banned all campus parties in the wake of the stabbings last weekend of two students from neighboring Pomona College. A 17-year-old Fontana youth, who is not a college student, has been charged with the assaults.

Harvey Mudd’s dean of students, Michael A. Cappeto, said Friday that he “placed a moratorium” on all campus parties so the school can study its security policies and figure out how to exclude non-students from social events. “I think the parties have become a magnet for non-students and that’s just not acceptable,” he said.

The two male Pomona students were hospitalized for several days and then released. One suffered a punctured lung and the other a punctured kidney. Cappeto said the alleged assailant had crashed the dormitory party and was ejected twice. Apparently, the injured students had not attended the party but had gone there to walk a friend back to another dorm when the Fontana youth and his companions instigated a scuffle, the dean said.