Steaming mad students at California’s Pomona College are having a meltdown over one unusual aspect of the president elect’s decisive win in the 2024 election — the number 47.
One alumni of the liberal-leaning school wrote a screed in the student newspaper claiming ownership of the “sacred number,” which they emblazon on signs and stickers as a good luck charm because of its connection to the institution’s history, according to the LA Times.
They complain that Trump has demeaned the digits in their eyes by becoming the 47th president.
“It feels like Trump and his followers have appropriated my favorite number,” wrote Hugo Martin for the outlet.
Trump’s MAGA hats, which are emblazoned on the sides with “45-47” have made Pamona alumni who refer to themselves as the “47 Society” feel uncomfortable donning their once beloved number, Martin said.
“Well, this is the worst thing to happen to our beloved number, possibly ever,” one graduate wrote on the 47 Society’s Facebook page.
Another alumni of the Claremont, Calif. school even scratched his number 47 car sticker off of his rear window and another has reconsidered getting an honorary 47 tattoo since Trump’s win, Martin said.
Graduate Terril Jones told the outlet he worries about wearing his Pomona 47 hat in public, worrying he will be identified as a Trump supporter in public.
“It’s a number dear to Sagehens who have long considered it their own,” Jones told the outlet. “I definitely feel that the Trump campaign has co-opted it in a way that makes it difficult for all people who love 47 to display it.”
The college, about 35 miles east of Los Angeles, has been in the news in recent months for vowing “immediate suspension” for pro-Palestine student protestors.
“My hope is that this will die down after four years, if not earlier, and the number 47 won’t be associated with any particular politicians,” he said.
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