Volume XXXI Issue 5 November 18 2022

Scripps’ Halloween Party Illuminates Ongoing Tensions Between SAS and Administration

By Belén Yudess ’25 and Anne Friedman ’25 Social Media Manager and Staff Writer

On Oct. 29, Scripps Associated Students (SAS) hosted the 5C Halloween party, “Halloween: Claremont After Dark,” that was planned to run from 10 p.m. to 1 a.m. The $26,000 event was shut down by the Office of Student Life (OSE) and Campus Security at approximately 10:45 due to a large group of students storming the barricades and entering the party.

An anonymous Scripps senior recalls the chaos that ensued moments before the entrances were rushed. “I saw this rush of people and I was a little confused because it just looked very strange. They were all running in, but I didn't think anything of it because it's a party and sometimes there are mosh pits,” the senior said. “The gate was open and they weren't checking on wristbands anymore, so I just walked in. I started hearing a lot of shouting and I saw three, maybe four Camp Sec officers and the hired security officers walking very much with a purpose towards the stage and the music had stopped.”

Once OSE and Campus Security formally announced the cancellation of the party and asked everyone to leave, the Scripps senior recalled the pushback by party goers, noting many of them refused to vacate the area. “Something like 200 people rushed the gate, so there were a lot of people at this party. I'd say some close to 80 [people initially left]; that's when I got pushed to the ground,” the senior said. “I think it was Camp Sec who said, ‘We will start taking ID numbers if you don't get out of here.’”

Following this announcement, the anonymous student said they saw a hazy, smoky substance in the air, later learning it was from a fire extinguisher which had been set off by an unknown party. “It was really cloudy and people were running. And then I saw one of the hired people, it wasn't Camp Sec, holding a fire extinguisher and chasing people out.”

The party’s execution was the culmination of an already challenging planning process. A former SAS member explained the miscommunication between Scripps administration, herself, and Vice President of Student Affairs (VPSA), Kaitlyn Chen ’24.

“We (Kaitlyn and I) planned out

IN THIS ISSUE

the whole party, and we requested the upper two lawns of the quad triangle to be included, so there'd be more space. Then they told us you are going to need the fences. [Their reason for this was] because there was a man that wandered around during matriculation, and [it is easy for] people to wander in from nearby and check out what's going on, which poses a huge security threat,” the former SAS member said. “I [agreed to the fences] and said let's just fence in this whole area. [OSE] said yes, go forward. We planned out all these activities; we started talking to vendors; we started negotiating. Then two weeks later I get this random email on a Friday saying, ‘Your space has been denied, you can't use that space.’”

Eventually, it was decided that the party would be hosted on Bowling Green Lawn and extend onto Elm Tree Lawn, which could only accommodate 800 students maximum. It cost SAS $2,000 to secure the permits for the space. In addition, administration mandated

six foot fencing ($6,000), wristbands ($168), Campus Security ($1,200), porta potties ($3,160), and EMT ($2,000).

SAS party planners suggested using an electronic system to keep attendance, which SAS believed would increase the accessibility of the event. However, administration was set on wristbands.

As the SAS party planners continued coordinating the Halloween Party, they felt that additional responsibilities were being placed on their shoulders. “OSE is supposed to coordinate with Campus Security and they asked me to do it, so I contacted them and they responded saying, ‘You're not supposed to be contacting us. That’s not your job, that's the admin's job,’” the former SAS member said. “I started to notice we were doing things that they get paid for.”

The preparation and failure of the Halloween party is a representation of the greater tension that exists between SAS and administration.

“I think there's a lot of problems

that exist [between SAS and admin] and I feel hopeless,” Chen said. “I think they're so thinly stretched that [admin] don't have the capacity to care. It's clear that they do not care enough to help students feel welcomed or feel like they matter.”

Following the premature shut down of the Halloween party, SAS and administration had a meeting to debrief and discuss the event.

“The canvassing [we did about student’s experiences at the party] was to try to build a strong argument for the wants of students and how students felt that night. We had a lot of personal testimonies and evidence to present to them,” Chen said. “Unfortunately, the meeting was terrible. We presented them with the responses and the data. They said, ‘Okay.’ Then, they started gaslighting us about how we did not police the students enough, how we weren't there to tell students to behave, and how we did not do this right. Their immediate reaction was pitting it as an us versus them type of situation.”

Uncompromising commitment to inclusivity and justice.

Core

How Scripps College is Failing their International Students

The Man Behind the Message Board: Meet Glen Culbertson

Alyssa Wend '24 • The Scripps Voice

The False Activism of 5C Free the Nip

Core Restructuring Committee Gathers Community Input

By Alyssa Wend ’24 and Ellen Wang ’25 Editor-in-Chief and Copy Editor

On Feb. 16, Scripps sent an email to students calling for student representatives to join the Core Restructuring Committee. The email stated, “The goal of the restructuring is to modify the Core Program to address the issues with the Program that have been previously identified as well as those identified during the restructuring process.”

In spring 2022, the committee was formed with 14 people, including faculty and staff who have taught Core and two student representatives. The student subcommittee is currently composed of Chigozie Obiegbu ’23, Gala Lopez-Grado Salinas ’24, Anya Nyman ’25, and writing professor Adam Novy.

“We’re always talking about it as a student body like, ‘oh, Core was terrible,’” Nyman said. “I think it’s important that we have that collective catharsis about it. And also, I think that when there are opportunities, and when we can make opportunities to be like, ‘Hey, take us more seriously,’ that’s important.”

Nyman joined the committee officially this semester after Salinas left for study abroad, but she had been interested in changing Core since being in psychology professor and chair of the restructuring committee Jennifer Groscup’s Core Ⅰ class, where she first voiced ideas about restructuring with Groscup and sat in on committee sessions in the spring semester.

Most recently, the student subcommittee held a focus group for current students to share about their Core experiences. Despite students voicing a wide range of experiences, Nyman found that the focus group corroborated a general consensus regarding the need for Core to change. It also gave students a space to express specific issues for the restructuring process to focus

on, such as the way Core positions students of color.

“[One takeaway] I think is really important for Core restructuring to be very focused on is the experience that students of color have in Core; the students of color that were there and my own experience tells me that it is not a fun experience … coming in and having to explain racism and your experience being tokenized in a lot of different ways,” Nyman said. “I don’t think anybody other than the students of color really recognizes just how pervasive the very ugly feeling it is to be of color and in Core.”

The focus group, like the other forms of input collection the committee worked on, allowed the students on the committee to turn the student body’s dissatisfaction into something tangible.

“I think that it’s really important that if any school wants to be anything positive, the students have to feel like they’re being respected and able to have agency in the institution,” Nyman said.

Groscup, who was chair of the Faculty Executive Committee (FEC) in the 2021-2022 academic year, worked with the FEC to create a proposal outlining the goals of the restructuring committee, a proposed timeline, and a budget. The proposal was presented to and approved by the faculty in the spring.

Once the committee was assembled, they had weekly meetings all together with the subcommittees having additional meetings separately. These subcommittees include the faculty group, the student group, a group that designs surveys, a group that looks at past course evaluations of Core Ⅰ, a group that focuses on the history of Core and similar programs at other liberal arts schools, and a group of outside consultants.

The committee is currently in their first phase: information gathering. In the spring of 2022, the student subcommittee held a student focus group for graduating seniors as they were the last students who had

Writing 50 as a required additional class for Core. This semester, the subcommittee held another focus group for current sophomores, juniors, and seniors. Next semester, the student subcommittee hopes to host another focus group for firstyears and their immediate reaction of Core Ⅰ as the first class of the new cycle.

Next steps for the student subcommittee include taking the information from the focus groups and entering phase two where they will present the information to the Scripps community and solicit proposals for the restructuring of Core. Groscup hopes to dispel the notion that the restructuring committee will only make minor changes to Core.

“Our hope is that those proposals are going to be hugely varied and really out of the box thinking because we are interested in revamping the program totally if that’s what is necessary,” Groscup said. “What we really want to encourage people to think is … What would we do if we could create the best program possible? And maybe what that’ll be is something similar to what we have, but maybe it’ll be completely different.”

There are myriad opinions regarding the purpose Core serves at Scripps. On a conceptual level, many recognize the potential of Core’s interdisciplinary focus.

“The Core Ⅰ faculty really believe that if our students are exposed to the material we’re showing them that they will have the skills and the sensibilities and the confidence to take on their liberal arts education and to interpret this contemporary world,” Novy said.

The restructuring process has involved many different stakeholders, students and staff alike, as well as an immense amount of coordination and communication across the Scripps community.

“Sometimes as students it’s hard to see why things move really slowly, but I think in this role I’ve also seen

Scripps’ Halloween Party Illuminates Ongoing Tensions Between SAS and Administration

Continued from page 1

The anonymous Scripps senior also felt that the administration's response email regarding the party pinned responsibility for the fiasco on members of the Scripps community.

“That very passive aggressive email that all Scripps students got felt like they were just blaming Scripps students for everything that happened because nobody else got an email,” the senior said. “None of the other schools got an email, which I think is crazy.”

Chen elaborated that during the meeting, SAS acknowledged that students played a role in leading to the party being shut down; however, SAS expected administration to acknowledge their own part in creating an environment that facilitated the students' decision to storm the party.

Although Chen understood the administration's responsive decision

to shut down the party, she believed that this event showcases a broader issue.

“I think in the past few years, police brutality has been a very large conversation in the United States regarding perpetuating systems and systemic discrimination,” Chen said. “[It is] a failure of the system that is supposed to be in place to keep people safe. We brought this up as a larger issue during the meeting as well.”

Chen was frustrated with admin’s response to this conversation. “It really disappointed me that they were very unresponsive to it. Nobody really said anything the whole meeting,’” Chen said. “[These larger systemic topics went] over their head. [This happens when] SAS tries to bring up topics about Core as well, and marginalized communities' experiences with discussions about race.”

Chen also noted that larger conversations regarding administration’s unresponsiveness to proposals or concerns from Scripps students stem from the unapproved senior trip to Las Vegas, as well as the lack of a formal statement regarding the overturning of Roe v. Wade. “It feels like [administration is] trying to uphold this traditionalist purity of our godmothers, but the climate has changed a lot in the past 40 years,” Chen said. “It feels like a misogynistic idea of girls who need to be protected and kept safe and sheltered, because otherwise guys will go lusting around. We come to a women's college to be empowered, not to feel babied. [It feels like they’re trying to] protect and shelter us from the outside world instead of encouraging us or teaching us to stand up and to be strong as a community.”

that there is just so much that goes into a process like this that’s hard to see from the outside,” Obiegbu said. “I still think that the students deserve to see change sooner rather than later and that’s something I hope I can contribute to.”

The Scripps faculty have also shown a deep investment in the effort to change Core.

“I was really struck by the extent to which faculty have a stake and are really frustrated … It’s not as if the faculty are trying to rain hell down on the student community,” Nyman said. “[I’ve been] heartened by the energy there is to actually do something about it, and hopefully that pulls through ultimately.”

Nyman expressed the desire to continue the dialogue between students and faculty. As part of the collaborative effort, the committee’s student representatives urge the student body to contribute and engage with the restructuring process as much as possible.

“Whenever there are opportunities for students to contribute, for example surveys or focus groups, to really share their opinions, I just really hope as many students as possible take that opportunity … because at the end of the day, Core is for the students,” Obiegbu said. “Even if maybe your Core experience is over and you’re not going to see these changes that affect your personal academic training at Scripps, it obviously matters for the future generations of Scripps students.”

Despite the challenges, the Core Restructuring Committee hopes to create a Core where students and faculty’s wants and needs are reflected.

“This is something that us students on the committee are really committed to and that actually could make an impact … and is not just an email that people delete,” Nyman said. “Yeah, it’s an institution, and we’re in it … There is some power in being a student who has an experience because that’s the whole point of Core.”

Aanji Sin ’24 Editor-in-Chief

How Scripps College is Failing Their International Students

By Juliette Des Rosiers ’26 Copy Editor Intern

Scripps College advertises itself as “a robust intellectual community [with] a commitment to diversity and inclusion” that welcomes students from any background into the community. Scripps’ lack of support for its international students exposes how the college falls short when putting these ideas into practice.

A glance at the website speaks volumes about their lack of awareness for international students. It is ridden with misinformation and is seriously due for an update. It has year-old information about international student orientation and falsely maintains that Scripps employs GeYao Liu at the Scripps Communities of Resources and Empowerment (SCORE) office, who quietly resigned earlier this year after less than a year of employment as International Advisor. Additionally, the main information page for international students also discusses International Place, a 5C-wide program dissolved over two years ago.

We must turn to the students to assess whether Scripps College upholds its value of “diverse perspectives” and treats international students as “an integral part of academic and cultural life.” I spoke with a few international students about their experience here.

Scripps international students clearly did not feel supported nor valued by the administration. An anonymous international Scripps junior said, “Admin is not a place where I feel I can go to be supported.” She continued by expressing how necessary it is for the administration to fill the position previously held by Liu. “We don’t have an international advisor. That means we don’t have a person who knows what to do with our identities. I don’t think people understand how alienating or troubling that is. We don’t have someone who actually knows what they’re doing. We just have someone who has been assigned to sign off on stuff. And that’s scary. Because it’s like, what if I am not allowed back into this country again because of you all not having someone to go through this process?”

Guidance is necessary for international students who must navigate the complex American system to reside in the country legally.

The anonymous junior continued: “If you want to work in America as an international student you need to get your Current or Optional Practical Training (CPT or OPT) authorized. If you ask someone in admin they will be like ‘I don’t know.’ I think that’s really frustrating because how do you plan for a future when there’s no one to guide you through that process?”

The current staff member tasked with reviewing logistics for international students does not have training to meet international students’ needs and is leaving on sabbatical next semester. Unmet needs lead Scripps international students to sometimes seek the other 5C international offices for assistance, a testament to Scripps’

embarrassing lack of administrative support. Understandably, the process of rehiring can be lengthy and complex. Still, the lack of action from the administration exemplifies how they do not prioritize the needs of international students. Since the forced dissolution of International Place in 2020, Scripps international students still deserve proper support when launched into life in the United States.

This year, Scripps had a preorientation hosted through SCORE for first-gen and international students. A current Scripps international freshman reflected on the experience. “It was fine. We were lumped in with the first-gen students so a lot of the events I feel didn’t apply to us. We went to get our SIM cards and our bank accounts sorted out but it was a little chaotic. At first, they said ‘choose between getting a SIM card and opening a bank account’. We need both. And I ended up emailing saying I am missing this event because I need to go open my bank account.”

Scripps should more thoroughly introduce resources at orientation; ideally, ones specifically tailored towards international students. “I will say as a first-year, new international student coming here, they provide no support,” said Shing Ru Chew ‘25. “I had no idea how to get from the airport to school. I had no idea how LAX works. I had no SIM card.”

It appears the administration does not understand the disorientation international students face from the moment they land at LAX. The administration must ask themselves: what support would I require if placed in a foreign country with only a few suitcases? That is the bare minimum for the resources they should provide an international student.

International students have also felt a lack of understanding from their peers. One student noted: “[There is no] capacity here to allow international students to grow. You have to be very careful about what you say around people because you never know what is construed differently. They never cut you any slack. And the thing is, they don’t have any empathy for the fact that you come from a different background, you have a different

lifestyle, you come from a place where the culture is so different. It’s not fair to expect us to know everything about this country.”

Additionally, international students have repeatedly experienced other students assuming that all international students come from wealthy and privileged backgrounds, even explicitly asking them about it. Not only is this inappropriate and harmful, but it is a false generalization that disregards the academic skills of international students and ignores how many of them also work multiple jobs to fund their education.

In addition, multiple international students stated that other students had grilled them on their identity with questions such as, “But are you actually from there?” This problem, one international student notes, can lead to divisions among affinity groups. “I feel like international students have a hard time identifying with their identity and other students who have the same or similar identity because they have different experiences having grown up in the States versus outside the States that creates this clash.” However, if students across groups collectively work to respect the validity of everyone’s identity and disregard preconceptions related to heritage, we can foster a community more accepting of all identities.

This discomfort international students sometimes experience also manifests in their physical space or, more accurately, lack thereof. “We don’t have a space for all the 5C international students to meet. We don’t even have a space for Scripps international students.” The student clarified when asked about SCORE, which is a space dedicated to affinity groups such as the Scripps International Community (SIC) affinity group. “There’s a huge value to SCORE and all identity-affiliated clubs are open to feeling welcome there. But it is very different for international students because SCORE is very US-centric and our concept is kind of bringing us home and stepping out of that. Like talking about the States or just kind of bonding on simple things that we very much need to detach from the States for a second. So when SCORE is so US-centric it

already makes us feel out of place. So we need a place that is solely ours.”

SIC organizes activities for Scripps international students and is also involved in building spaces to connect international students across all 7Cs. Co-chair Rhea Malhotra ’23 discussed the club’s goals. “Home away from home/extended family has always been my vision for SIC. That’s how I view the international community at Scripps. I mean, there’s a reason the majority of my friends are international students. They are the people I feel like I can be myself around. We just want to be a safe space for international students. Because it can be very difficult, being at a PWI (primarily white institution) in itself, but also being at a college where you don’t really feel like your needs are valued or acknowledged, so finding that support within your peers is really really important.”

As the Scripps College community, we need to ask ourselves how we can better support international students. Scripps can facilitate this progress through tangible steps. The administration needs to provide the Scripps international students with an international advisor dedicated to logistically guiding them. This position should not be a big ask, as Scripps College is the 5C with the lowest percentage of international students while simultaneously being the only 5C not to have an international advisor. An international student herself put it well: “Just because there aren’t that many of us doesn’t mean we don’t need support.”

Overall, the Scripps international students hope the administration can demonstrate how much they value them. Irene Ruiz ’25 summed it up: “We really don’t want it to seem like we are telling them ‘you are doing your job wrong [and] you need to make all these changes’. The message we want to get across to them so they actually listen to us and actually do something about it is: after COVID you lost your touch, you lost money, and you are not putting your priorities where they need to be. You are losing students, you are neglecting students as well. You are worsening the experiences of students and that’s where your priorities should be.”

Serena Liu ’24 • The Scripps Voice

At the Late Night “Rocky Horror Picture Show:” The Musical’s Triumphant Run during Halloweekend

By Belen Yudess ’25 Social Media Manager

Hot patootie, bless my soul, I really love the 5C production of the Rocky Horror Picture Show! The musical, which featured a new cast each night, ran from Oct. 28 to Oct. 29 with another showing scheduled for Dec. 3. The 1970’s hit is centered around sexual liberation and gender expression, and includes catchy, wellknown songs such as “Time Warp” and “Sweet Transvestite.” The show included the use of a shadow-cast, meaning that while the movie played in the background, the actors would lip-sync and perform their respective characters live on stage. From the electrifying performances of the cast and their hilarious intertwinement of audience participation, this rendering of Rocky Horror will leave you wanting more, more, more, more!

Rocky Horror has the ability to connect to people, whether they’re a long time fan or eager virgin (the affectionate name for those who have never seen the live performance). “It’s a show that brings people together,” Aidan Trulove ’24 said, who played Frank N’ Furter on the Oct. 29 show. “It also is a very queer space and as someone who identifies in that way, I have never really gotten to do a show before that leaned so heavily into queer identities. Especially not one from the 1970s. I was [also] hoping to meet people who shared certain aspects of my identity or who could understand each other over our identities. And I feel like I definitely did that.”

After being cast as Frank, Trulove was very thankful for the opportunity, but she was also nervous about playing such an iconic character. “I was freaking out a little because I realized who Frank was, and I was like, that’s going to be a lot. So I was a little intimidated when I was first coming into the rehearsal space,” she said. “However, the directors were so incredibly kind and so incredibly welcoming and they made sure from day one that we understood this process was going to be entirely up to us. That was the biggest part of this process for me was that I was made to feel very safe. Everyone had a voice, everyone could express their wants and needs. It became less and less intimidating as the process continued to the point where I wasn’t even super nervous about performing.” Although she was initially apprehensive about the role, Trulove’s vivid facial expressions and overall theatricality while playing Frank made her performance illuminate the stage — just like the light over at the Frankenstein’s place! Rocky Horror was revolutionary for its time due to its transparency and positive outlook on both heterosexual and queer sex. A lot of the important (and Frank-ly most entertaining) scenes revolve around sex. Therefore, when blocking these parts, the directors paid extra attention to ensuring that the actors felt safe and supported. “A good third of all of the intimacy rehearsals were spent with the actors getting to know each other and getting comfortable in each

other’s space. And then the rest of the time was very slowly blocking one thing at a time, one motion at a time. Then we’d practice it four or five times at the end to make sure we knew the choreography,” Trulove said. “But also it was adaptable. If someone said later in rehearsal that they didn’t want to do this anymore, we cut it. The directors were extremely understanding and they never pushed us [to do something we were uncomfortable doing].”

Although this show required several weeks of long and extensive rehearsals, all the casts’ and crews’ hard work paid off, with the show becoming the highlight of Halloweekend.

“They had sent us to go recruit people to come. This was a plan all along where we would have actors out there saying, ‘Hey, come see Rocky Horror at this point in time at this location,” Trulove said. “And then I got back to the theater, put on the rest of my costume and then just there’s 600 people outside.” This outstanding turnout will hopefully allow Rocky Horror productions to be a recurring event at the 5Cs!

Similar conversations about comfort levels were held when discussing some of the outdated language of the script (such as the word Transvestite), and a few of the cruder comments used throughout the audience call-outs. “I think one of the things that made it a little bit more comfortable was having a heavily queer cast. I’m not going to say every person was queer, but a lot of that space is meant for [queer individuals],” Trulove said. “The directors [I think successfully] fostered a dialogue that was extremely queer friendly and that was driven by people who identified with those labels. So we worried less about that language [like Transvestite] and more about language like slut, like calling Janet a slut every time she comes on stage. It was learning not to associate that language with the actors themselves, and keeping them separate.”

Not only was Trulove thrilled by the audience’s energy in the packed house, she also recognized the importance of this show’s implications and message on a broader scale as well as in the 5C community.

“It’s truly an early catalyst of queer representation,” she said. “It’s such an iconic movie and it’s such a staple. Frank N’ Furter was the first time I ever saw a drag queen, even though I hadn’t seen the whole movie. But that’s a lot of people’s first connection with sexuality and with gender expression. I think it’s important to keep telling that story or keep examining it from new angles at the very least because it has become a part of queer history and queer culture.”

For updates on future productions, such as the one on Dec. 3, follow @ rockyhorror5c on Instagram.

Celebrating Women and Minority Voices in STEM Dinner

By Julia Parsa ‘26 Staff Writer

On Thursday Nov. 10th, a dinner celebrating women and minority voices in STEM was held in the Hampton Room in the Malott Commons, featuring keynote speaker Associate Professor of Chemistry Nancy Williams.

At the dinner, Williams shared her personal journey as a scientist while also discussing her role as an ally for inclusive gender identity and gender expression policies in our community.

The night started with receiving name tags and then picking tables in the Hampton Dining Room. Each table had at least two Keck science faculty members. At my table I was joined by faculty members Professor of Biology Emily Wiley and Assistant Professor of Biology Sarah Budischak. Both provided insight on what they teach and gave insight on interesting academic opportunities

that pertained to our interests.

Williams’ talk began after the dinner and conversation within the separate tables. She talked about her journey of research in the field of mechanistic organometallic chemistry and how it coinsided with her journey of discovering that she is transgender.

She was researching the design of Pt(II)-ligand complexes and how they should react with C-H bonds to form stable Pt(IV)alkyl/aryl hydrides. The beginning of her research fell around the same time as the 2008 California Proposition 8 was being voted on. If passed, Proposition 8 would have eliminated the right of same sex marriage in California. In her talk, Williams noted how important this vote really was as 18,000 same sex couples had already been married in the state of California, and this proposition being passed could possibly affect that. She remarked on how California, specifically Los

Angeles, was a lot less accepting of LGBTQ+ rights in 2008 than it is currently.

Additionally, as she continued to make strides in her research, she also started thinking about potentially transitioning into a woman. She decided to take a trip to Las Vegas to get away for a bit, where she first started experimenting with cross dressing.

Then in 2013, Williams came out publicly as transgender. This was also the time Barack Obama became the first United States president to support same sex marriage, which she said made her feel better supported in coming out.

Since coming out, Williams has been a vocal trans activist and has dedicated a lot of her time to transforming the political landscape in California and many other states through campaigning and talking to voters about LGBTQ+ issues. As the years have passed, she has continued

to promote nondiscrimination legislation for trans people.

The students in attendance at the dinner were inspired by Williams’ words and her advocacy. “As a minority woman in STEM, I was moved by Dr. Nancy Williams’ keynote address and the way she is bridging the gap between gender expression and science,” Esther Kang ’26 said. “I also found her talk to be compelling and inspiring to future leaders who wish to create change in an interdisciplinary manner.”

At the end of her speech, Williams stressed the importance of having more trans representation everywhere, especially the 5Cs, and having an easier way for trans students to be accepted to a historically women’s college like Scripps or any other one of the 5Cs. She is inspiring students inside and outside of the classroom and making a valuable impact on the queer community.

“It’s a show that brings people together.”

The Man Behind the Message Board: Meet Glen Culbertson

Frances Walton ’26 Copy Editor Intern

Waiting in line for brunch at Malott, I noticed that Glen Culbertson, the person who responded to our suggestions at Malott, was hosting a Q&A with students. I was intrigued to get to know Glen, the general manager of Malott and the person behind the message board that so many students adore. Please enjoy getting to know Glen with me!

Name: Glen Culbertson

Job : General Manager of Dining Services at Malott

Hobby: Gardening, so I have a lot of fruit trees and grow some herbs. Just spend a lot of time out in the yard.

Favorite Movie: The Big Lebowski, Napoleon Dynamite, Gladiator. However, one movie I have to watch every time it comes on is the original John Wick.

Favorite Music: I listen to a wide range of music and wouldn’t say I have a favorite, but I like Evanescence, old Guns and Roses, Yiruma, and Mana.

The Scripps Voice: What does your job entail?

Glen Culbertson: My job mostly consists of managing some managers as well as Scripps staff here, acting as a liaison between the Dining Services Department and other departments within the college, making sure that various events (as it relates to food service) go well, and just ensuring an overall quality dining experience for the students and anyone else who dines at Malott.

TSV: You have been at this job since the beginning of the school year. What has your experience at Scripps College

been like so far?

GC : I would say it has been an exceptional experience. Everyone is very friendly; from the staff to the students, everyone here is awesome.

There is a bit of a learning curve for me, but I am working through it and hoping to truly be adjusted quickly.

TSV: What is your favorite part of the job?

GC : Certainly meeting everybody. There are so many different personalities and just being able to

Walton ’26 • The Scripps Voice

meet everybody is great. It’s a cool environment, and I’m really enjoying it.

TSV: As General Manager, you are probably at Malott a lot. Do you have a favorite meal?

GC: We made this power bowl the other day, farro and just all kinds of different things, and I didn’t think I would like it as much as I did. But, I took a full bowl down in my office and just started eating, and I’m like, “Oh, my gosh, this is so good.” And it was just the weirdest because I’m not normally,

like, vegetarian kind of guy.

TSV: The Scripps student body loves your message board. How do you feel about it?

GC

: It feels like I’m able to make a difference, that I’m actually able to facilitate change. It’s nice to try to create a great dining experience by giving people what they want, and hopefully, I will be able to do that based on what is requested.

TSV : There is a lot of contention regarding The Student Life’s taco article. What are your feelings regarding it? Have you tried the tacos at other dining halls?

GC: To be honest with you? I have yet to go to any other dining hall for taco night. The way I read the article, it sounded like the only reason why CMC was better was that their line was shorter, which I don’t necessarily know if that would qualify for a great taco, but that’s okay. I certainly need to try the other tacos at the other campuses.

TSV : How is it interacting with Scripps College students?

GC : The students here are great. The comments/requests/suggestions from the students have all been appropriate and reasonable. It seems like the students here really care about their school, the dining program, and each other.

It has been a joy to know Glen this past week. He is kind, thoughtful, and invested in Malott and Scrippsies’ dining experience. I hope this gives everyone more knowledge about who writes responses to our messages on the board in Malott, as Glen is a great guy to know. Say hello or wave at Glen if you see him at Malott!

The False Activism of 5C Free the Nip

Olive Gaetz ’25 Staff Writer

There truly may be no better campus to support a movement based on liberating all chests regardless of gender or birth-sex. Claremont is a community relatively isolated from the busyness of Los Angeles but still within one of the most liberal states in the country, known for its progressive movements and protests throughout the 20th and 21st centuries.

Scripps, a historically women’s college, is a haven for students to feel comfortable in their dorms and classes among other like minded individuals from all over the world. Therefore, it comes at no surprise that the 5Cs might have a “Free the Nip” Instagram account to encourage students to feel comfortable with exposed chests in the same way that male students feel comfortable walking around or working out without shirts. Though it’s not out of the cards for an organization like this to actually exist, the @5cfreethenip account was doomed from the start.

For readers that have successfully managed to avoid discourse on Yik Yak or Fizz, 5C Free the Nip was an Instagram account that popped up last year featuring follower-submitted content of students pulling up their shirts in various locations on campus. Each photo censors out the submitter’s face as well as their actual nipples, usually with a tastefully added emoji or drawn-on scribble.

Throughout the past year, 5C Free the Nip has fought with Instagram administration to keep their account online due to Instagram’s policies about nudity, but perhaps it’s for the best that 5C Free the Nip is eventually lost to the depths of the Internet,

at least in its current form. Though social media activism can be efficient in spreading infographics and news, especially to younger audiences, it often lacks meaningful action beyond the screen. In this case, though 5C Free the Nip can certainly shed light on Claremont’s version of this movement, it only shows single snapshots of strategically-posed nude figures which doesn’t actually encourage nipple neutrality.

Though I’m certainly not against students having a space to express their sexuality and be positive about their body, as it’s no crime to want to feel beautiful or sexy, 5C Free the Nip is ultimately not at all related to the Free the Nip Movement and shouldn’t be labeled as such.

The Free the Nip movement on a global scale is not intended to be a loud movement. It doesn’t want more attention on women’s breasts, it wants less. Freeing the nipple means that women feel comfortable to have their chests out in the same spaces that men would have their chests bared: a world where men aren’t staring or making sexual comments no matter if a woman is fully clothed or nearlynude. Though the account attempts to counteract this by keeping the page private and only accepting female followers, 5C Free the Nip has an intrinsically sexual and exhibitionist nature to it that waters down any actual progress made to make nipples less sexual. Bottom line: this page is likely hurting the movement more than contributing to it.

If you’re looking to actually support the movement, look no further than the example set by the Scripps student body who have already been supporting the Free the Nip movement,

perhaps without even intending to. Many students choose to eschew bras when going to class, extracurriculars, or even just the library and encourage their classmates to feel comfortable doing the same.

Normalizing visible nipples and breasts involves having them become a part of our daily life, requiring no comments or acknowledgement that they are there. An Instagram account that puts nipples under high visibility as a symbol of confidence and sexuality does not encourage a nonchalant perspective of the female body, nor does it allow nipples to be any more “free” of the social scrutiny they are constrained to.

It would not be surprising if in the future Scripps students started going to the pool or sunbathing on Jacqua lawn with unclothed chests, setting a precedent for how Scripps will support its students and their right to their own bodies. If students are passionate about the cause and willing to be the first to set an example for their peers, the liberation of the human body is definitely within our reach at Scripps.

That being said, the Free the Nip movement has to be a gradual change of society’s perceptions of nudity and sexuality; it can’t be accomplished by simply displaying bodies on an Instagram account and expecting viewers to work on changing their personal biases and comfort alone. Students should be encouraged to pursue their own means of activism, but it’s also important to take note of how those actions are actually affecting the problem and their audience. Ultimately, despite the account’s best intentions, @5cfreethenip has only doused the Free the Nip movement instead of fueling it.

Frances

Hillerska is Filled with Pride (For School Obviously): "Young Royals" Season 2

By Belen Yudess ’25 Social Media Manager Contains spoilers for Young Royals Season 1 and 2

Sound the alarms; alert the media and monarchy (including rugby king Nick Nelson) that Prince Wilhem (Edvin Ryding) got a haircut! This is just one of the outright hilarious and surprisingly important updates of Young Royals season two.

Season two of the hit Swedish Netflix original premiered on Nov. 1 with a total of six episodes. Young Royals follows Wilhem, the 16 year old crown prince of Sweden, and his budding romance with Hillerska (boarding school) star choir student, Simon (Omar Rudberg).

Season one follows Wilhem’s struggle to grasp his new title as crown prince following the sudden death of his older brother and his newfound queer identity. He is constantly being watched and forcibly guided by his senior cousin August (Malte Gårdinger). After several wistful stares, short-lived hookups, and the intimate naming of Simon’s fish, Wilhem and Simon have sex, which is recorded by August in an attempt to playfully embarrass his cousin (just quirky cousin things, lol). August, who becomes fed up with Wilhem’s ingratitude over his royal status, releases the tape.

To salvage the reputation of the royal family, Wilhem delivers a live statement denying his participation in the video (if at first you don’t succeed, deny and deny again), much to Simon’s chagrin. Season two picks up with this unresolved tension, brewing drama, and Simon’s obsession with Wilhem’s sweater that would make Conan Gray proud.

My friend and fellow YA enthusiast, Molly Booth ‘25, roped me into watching Young Royals . After our weekly Shadowhunters watch party, which features gay legend and bicon Alec and Magnus, she insisted I give Young Royals a chance. Although I was initially reluctant, thinking it was simply a PG-13 Heartstopper (minus a dashing Kit Connor saying hi for 20 minutes), I was soon hooked by Wilhem and Simon’s precious yet passionate chemistry.

So on Halloweekend, as we finished up the shocking final episode while eating M&M’s and left (NOT RIGHT) Twix Bars, I was giddy to learn that the second season would debut in only 72 hours. After coordinating schedules and a quick Hub snack haul, Booth, Phillipa Michaels ’25, and I began our season two marathon, which ended in many freak outs, philosophical discussions, and a pining for a third season of August making comically bad life decisions.

Following Wilhem’s denial of the video, the future monarch is anxious about facing Simon and returning to Hillerska. Simon, who was subject to large-scale criticism and unwanted media attention, considers pursuing a relationship with 18 year old Marcus, who Booth lovingly calls “disgusting.” Refusing to be Wilhem’s secret, Simon begins dating Marcus, which leads

Wilhem to lash out against the royal family and become closer friends with Felice. This conflict leads to one of the most entertaining scenes in the show, where an angsty Wilhem calls his mother, the Queen of Sweden, to inform her that she has ruined his life because Simon is dating another guy (oof). Wilhem tries to rebuke his title, causing unwanted yet understandable drama, which leads to his Mother’s insistence that he begins therapy.

Right off the bat, Wilhem, whose royal status may alienate him from viewers, is depicted as easily relatable and sympathetic. He is a grieving 16 year old receiving parental pressure to be a perfect son. Although Wilhem’s mom affirms her love for him regardless of his sexuality (#ally), she ultimately expects him to maintain the bloodline through a heterosexual marriage and children.

The court threatens to make the heterosexual August prince if Wilhem cannot comply. Wilhem wants to make his family and deceased brother proud, but is tired of all the lies and barriers constructed around him. There are several moments where we see a tearful Wilhem sitting alone or breaking down in front of Felice. Wilhem is ready to express his feelings and queer identity openly, yet is constantly being shut down. The young prince beautifully presents the pain, fear, and confusion associated with young love and accepting one’s identity.

Additionally, Wilhem’s therapy apointments explore the pressure he feels at possibly being unable to handle all the expectations his parents have set for him. There is no immediate breakthrough throughout therapy, and the therapist does not attempt to fix all of Wilhem’s problems in a life changing two-minute speech. Therapy is presented as a safe space and as a process that takes time and patience.

There is a maturity and vulnerability in Wilhem that was not as apparent in the first season. Heartbreak and mistakes allow people to grow, and Wilhem’s

character development is a testament to the power of learning from these difficult experiences.

Also, Wilhem’s flirting techniques are golden. Every time Wilhem smiled in Simon’s direction, the three of us completely lost it. The classic reaching for the same pencil so the hands meet: check! The struggle to open the pencil box so Simon can be his knight in shining armor: PLEASE! And honestly, whose heart would not melt hearing a confident yet terrified Wilhem whisper, “I could be free with you.”

Although Wilhem left Simon to deal with the fallout of the video alone, he is constantly trying to earn back Simon’s trust throughout season two. Wilhem apologizes profusely about his past actions and sacrifices his responsibilities as prince for Simon’s sake. Wilhem made a mistake, but he actively tries to let Simon know his genuine love for him. On the other hand, Simon is initially very unreceptive and a little unfair about Wilhem’s rationale behind his decisions. Even though Wilhem attempts to explain his precarious situation as prince to Simon and consistently reaffirms his loyalty to him, Simon refuses to consider things from Wilhem’s perspective and always accuses him of dishonesty and insincerity.

Meanwhile, Simon is in a strange relationship with Marcus (yuck), with the latter being slightly manipulative about Simon’s surface-level feelings for him. When Simon tries to break up with Marcus, Marcus convinces him to stay in the relationship and continues to do this every time Simon expresses doubt. It is one thing to fight for a relationship, but another to refuse to let go with full knowledge that the other person is not ready for the commitment. Also, Marcus is a literal adult, while Simon is only 16. Although it may be consensual, it’s still a little icky. Relationships, as Shadowhunters has so kindly taught me, take effort.

Simon rewrites the Hillerska anthem in honor of Wilhem. “But what we were,

no one can rewrite... But I’ll remember you for all my days” (for sure about school pride, no subliminal message). Simon is clearly still in love with Wilhem, and though Wilhem tries to meet him halfway, Simon does not want to row the remainder of the distance.

This confession was a culmination of Wilhem’s growing bravery and embracement of his identity that allowed him to stand up for what he believes in and stir the pot of tradition and begrudging silence within the court.

On the day of the speech, Wilhem becomes extremely nervous about talking in front of so many people. Although it seems he is going to back out, leading to August giving the speech in his place, like the showstopper (and heartstopper) he is, Wilhem struts up to the podium and proceeds.

Initially, Wilhem sticks to the script, expressing his appreciation for his family and Hillerska. But after looking at Simon, he divulges the dishonesty rooted within being a member of the monarchy. Finally, in the mic drop moment of the century, he owns up to his involvement in the sex tape and gives Simon and the camera one last mischievous smile.

Wilhem overcame everyone’s expectations of him and made an autonomous decision about his life. This confession was a culmination of Wilhem’s growing bravery and embracement of his identity that allowed him to stand up for what he believes in and stir the pot of tradition and begrudging silence within the court.

Season two of Young Royals explores the angst, sadness, and happiness of romantic and platonic teenage relationships. It is uncertain whether a third season is in the works, but as Booth, Michaels, and I agreed, if this is the end, then we will remember Silhem for all of our days.

Courtesy of Netflix

"Big Mouth" Season 6 is Taking a Turn

By Aviva Maxon ’24 Staff Writer

Big Mouth’s sixth season came out, and so did some of its characters.

The show continues to use the same jokes as the first five seasons, and this writer at least is a little tired of the same short dick joke and the fourth wall breaks. However, as the show has progressed, the characters have grown older and maybe even wiser. Season six deals with coming out, family dynamics, body image, asexuality, and religion. All in all, the new season has some interesting things to say, even if this comedy is not funny anymore. This is your official spoiler warning!

There are three episodes that highlight the good of the show and what it has to say about coming out, body acceptance, and sexual milestones.

Episode two “Twenty-Two and You” explores coming out. Jay wants to bring his new boyfriend, Matthew, to meet his family, but they are all incapacitated in some way or another. In the past few seasons, Jay’s exploration of his sexuality happened through plenty of masturbation and sex with inanimate objects, and he was fine doing all that on his own. Jay then embarks on a journey to find his half-siblings from his father’s numerous affairs to come out to them. Aside from the outlandish number of half-siblings and the tragic circumstances that surround Jay’s home life, the need to come out and truly be seen comes through throughout the episode.

Jay is comfortable coming out at school and wants to share this part of himself with his two older brothers and mom, but can’t because they do not make the time for him. This episode deals with coming out as a very personal and intimate thing that you do because you love the people around you, and want to share

yourself and who you are with them. It shows that just because you are ready to share might not mean that others are ready or able to listen, but that does not take away from who you are. This reflects an experience that resonates with many viewers: being comfortable internally but not being able to share outwardly. Coming out is complicated and difficult, and Big Mouth does a good job showing its nuances.

The jokes mostly fall flat and are a little too on the nose, but the show explores identity and growing up in a nuanced and truthful way that I have not seen other shows do.

Later in the season, asexuality is explored through new character Elijah. He and Missy start dating and even though he really likes her, he does not want to kiss her; when they eventually kiss, he doesn’t enjoy it or feel what he has been told he is supposed to feel. At first, Elijah assumes that something is wrong with him, and he turns to Jesus, who takes the place of the Hormone Monsters for Elijah, for help. His exploration of sexuality differs from the other characters, partly because he is exploring uncharted territory for the show with asexuality, and partly because he comes from a very religious background.

The church portrayed in this season was a generally very positive, warm, welcoming, and caring community. But the characters still carry issues with religion in other contexts; at one point, Missy and her parents get into an argument about whether it was okay for Missy to be going to church and the messages she was receiving there.

Elijah spends time with himself and realizes that he is asexual, partly from a conversation with his aunt, who is also asexual. His aunt coming out to him makes him

see that asexuals exist and that asexuality is not something to be ashamed of. Throughout this story arc, Elijah was treated with love and care from those around him, which allowed him to be himself. In contrast, with Jay’s coming out, Elijah is not ready to share with everyone and only tells Missy at the end of the season. Elijah was heard and met with compassion whereas Jay was ignored and pushed aside. Both show real stories of coming out and the varied struggles surrounding that experience.

Episode three “Vagina Shame” deals with feelings around vaginas, and how just having one can bring shame. The episode follows four stories of four characters. First, Jessi gets a yeast infection, and with her mother away, she does not know what to do. Next, Missy deals with whether masturbation is okay or not. Third, Lola deals with the expectation that women do not have pubic hair from porn. Finally, Caitlin “Cheese Girl” learns she cannot have a natural birth and feels that her body is failing her. She meets Jessi in the bathroom and the two are able to support each other and take the shame out of their issues. The episode gives an air of hope and camaraderie to people with vaginas.

The episode is very visually vulgar but talks about vaginas in a very real way that feels like a conversation between friends. One of the main themes of “Vagina Shame” is that as a society, we are uncomfortable talking about our genitalia and the only way to change that is to talk about it openly with compassion and acceptance.

Episode four “Rice Purity Test” takes the characters through taking the Rice Purity Test, a real online quiz that counts the number of “impure” acts someone has done to score their “purity.” The cast learns about the test and then takes it and compares scores. Deviant Jay has a score of three, while Nick has a 92.

Most of the kids range between 75 and 85. This causes Nick to spiral about how he is behind the rest of his peers. Everyone tells him that he needs to do more to lower his score. Nick enlists Jay to help him check some things off the list. Jay agrees to help and check some more things off his list, which includes incest.

Incest has been a recurring topic in Big Mouth , and took on a main plot point in season three. Most of the characters are disgusted by the incest plots, but they also tolerate them. This is an incredibly uncomfortable and upsetting theme of the show that is unnecessary and takes away from what could be good stories.

Jay says that he and Nick are essentially brothers, which would make the two of them committing sexual acts incest. In the end, they do not go through with it, but the intention and the show’s obsession with incest is apparent. The show repeatedly brings in incest plots and brings up past plots. This season consistently mentioned Andrew kissing his cousin, and it is upsetting. Big Mouth tries to laugh it off, but it is just not funny.

This episode had a good opportunity to share the message that everyone develops at different points and it does not matter what you have or have not done sexually, but it was too focused on trying to be funny and following to many different plots.

The rest of the season also deals with family trauma, capitalism, and being comfortable with yourself and your family. These themes are more surface-level and at the forefront of the plot. The jokes mostly fall flat and are a little too on the nose, but the show explores identity and growing up in a nuanced and truthful way that I have not seen other shows do. These topics are important and should be portrayed more in media so we talk about them and move society forward.

“Falling For Christmas:” Netflix’s Take on the Classic Hallmark Christmas

By Anna Peterson ’25 Staff Writer

A s we approach the holiday season, I have come to anticipate many of my favorite festive activities: drinking hot chocolate, baking cookies, and curling up with a good Hallmark movie.

But oh no! It is 2022, and the years of cable television are dead. How will I watch my favorite “girlboss to wife” Christmas movies now? Do not fear — Netflix has saved us this December with its new film Falling For Christmas

Our story begins with the heiress and super-snob, Sierra Belmont (Lindsay Lohan). Daughter to Beauregard Belmont (Jack Wagner) of Belmont Hotels, she enjoys a luxurious life of champagne, caviar breakfasts, and a professional glam squad.

While staying in one of her father’s

hotels for Christmas, she ventures on an off-road ski trip with her self-obsessed influencer boyfriend, Tad (George Young). One marriage proposal and a slight tumble down an unmarked ski slope later, our protagonist finds herself in the hospital with severe memory loss. And who does she meet when she wakes up? The dreamy, newly widowed ski lodge owner, Jake (Chord Overstreet, aka that one guy from Glee).

This movie was a clear rip off of the Christmas movie formula created and sustained by the Hallmark and Lifetime Channel. However, the plot is not my main criticism of this movie — it’s sappy but still maintains some funny bits and sweet moments.

Instead, I find myself more concerned with the driving concepts and stereotypes of this film. It felt as though the director, Janeen

Damian, used ancient social media buzzwords and a lazy satirization of the wealthy to carry the comedy aspect of this movie.

Between ironic jokes about Tad’s influencer lifestyle and Sierra not knowing how to make her bed, it just fell flat for me. This perspective has been done a million times before and much better — Netflix, it’s time for a new trope.

Unfortunately, this is not the end of my critique. The acting was superficial and ingenuine. The main characters fall in love with each other, yet, they barely hold eye contact throughout the movie. Sierra interacts more with Jack’s daughter (Olivia Monet Perez) than him.

Aside from one dancing scene, the audience never even sees them being explicitly romantic with one another. Their chemistry reads so phonily that it almost makes you cringe by the end. When watching

the characters interact, it feels disjointed — the connection between Jack, his family, and his love interest appear awkward and superficial to the viewer.

While this movie does many things wrong from the lens of a pretentious film critic, it is not bad when considered within its genre. Sierra learns to work hard, find love, and do good for others. She breaks the bounds of her “rich girl” status, and the ever-present “spirit of Christmas” guides her through tough decisions.

This movie accomplished everything intended for it; it leaves the audience with a cozy and nostalgic sense of holiday cheer. If you want to achieve this feeling, I recommend putting this movie on in the background of a Christmas party or using it as white noise to study for finals.

P.S. I love Linsday Lohan.

Brunch Rush: A Guide to Brunch at the 5Cs

By Simren Khan ’26 and Abby Gustafson ’26 Staff Writers

Like many other students at the Claremont Colleges, we take brunch very seriously. After assessing the options at many different campuses’ dining halls, we have reached our conclusions on where students should dine on the weekends. Additionally, we created a cheat-sheet to brunch at the 5Cs. Our rankings are separated into five categories: seating situation, variety of each menu, general taste, wait time, and ambiance.

Collins: Fortunately, one of the greatest things about Collins was that it had essentially no wait time, even for the omelet bar, which at other dining halls take quite a long time. Unfortunately, this was where the good things about Collins ended. The ambiance of Collins alone made us never want to return. While there is a good amount of variety in the food options at Collins, many seem to be very basic, and nothing stands out. Aside from the banana pancakes, many options could be found at neighboring dining halls. Our favorites at Collins were the banana pancakes and omelets, but the smoothies, hashbrowns, and eggs were lacking. Our final ranking left Collins at a 6/10.

McConnell: While the classic Pitzer orange adorning the walls of McConnell can be hard to look at, we found McConnell to exceed our expectations. Not only is there a large variety of breakfast options, but the food itself is truly delicious. The omelet bar, pastry selection, and general hot section were the major highlights. However, the M&M pancakes stole the show! They have the perfect ratio of M&M to pancake, making them truly delicious. We also enjoyed the juice bar because of the variety of fresh juices and smoothies available. The seating in McConnell can sometimes be stressful because of how busy it gets, but for the most part, finding seating isn’t too difficult. One of the most important factors for our ratings was waiting time, so being able to get all of our food under 10 minutes was a big plus. McConnell is the place to go if you’re looking for some staple breakfast

Malott

Seating Situation: 2/2

General Taste: 2/2

Variety/Menu: 2/2

Wait Time: 0/2

Atmosphere/Ambience: 2/2

Total: 8/10

options. For these reasons, we think McConnell deserves a 9/10 in our ranking.

Malott: Malott exceeded all expectations regarding taste, variety, seating, and ambiance. The acai bowls on Saturdays attract many students across all campuses, making wait times and lines exceptionally long. There are plenty of traditional breakfast options as well as vegetarian options, such as tofu scramble and meatless chicken. We noticed that pancakes and waffles are a staple at all of the dining halls, but the berries, whipped cream, and other delicious toppings make Malott stand out. Malott also provides ample seating, both indoor and outdoor. Our favorite spot to sit is in Seal Court, where there are always friends to sit with and beautiful scenery around us. We may have been biased toward Malott as Scrippsies, but the 8/10 ranking speaks for itself.

Hoch: The Hoch gave us a great start to our Saturday. We appreciated more than just the food. Like many other dining halls, they have an omelet bar with a wide variety of toppings. The omelets are not

Collins

Seating Situation: 1/2

General Taste: 1/2

Variety/Menu: 2/2

Wait Time: 2/2

where the variety stops — they also boast a large selection of pastries and donuts. The layout of the Hoch provides students with a lot of open space, meaning there were short lines and areas were not congested. You will never be searching for an open seat at Hoch in the morning, and when you sit down, the warm sun from the large windows will set the perfect aesthetic for your brunch. If you are a coffee person, you will have many options to choose from with the coffee machine which makes lattes, mochas, espresso, and more. The pancakes, waffles, hash browns, and donuts were the table’s favorites, although there truly is something for everyone at the Hoch, awarding it a ranking of 8.5/10.

Frank: Frank only being open on Sundays may be why we had to fight to get a table. While the food was scrumptious, the struggle to find a table was not. We loved the bagels with fresh locks and the plentiful sushi options. The outdoor omelet bar was a nice surprise, creating a fun environment and we loved eating outside in the sun. Another plus was that the wait times weren’t as bad as some of the other dining halls. Overall, Frank is a great option for a

Hoch

Sunday brunch! For these reasons, it ranked at 7.5/10.

Frary: Frary, on the other hand, had a different atmosphere entirely. While the building was beautiful, we found it difficult to find a spot among the long tables, which was not a challenge we wanted to take up on a weekend morning. The star of the morning were the different types of pancakes and french toast options, along with the typical omelet bar. There were plenty of vegetarian options amongst the mainline breakfast, and our only complaint for Frary was the breakfast hours, as we needed to prepare to make it there before it closed at 10 am. Therefore, Frary deserved the ranking of 6/10.

While we may face some backlash from our ratings, we see this to be our civic duty for The Claremont Colleges, and to lie in our ratings would be a disservice to our community. We were incredibly pleased with the variety of options at every dining hall and the workers’ kindness at each college. Our numerical rankings are listed below, and each category represents a factor that we thought influenced our brunch experience. Each category represents 2 points out of 10.

Seating Situation: 2/2

General Taste: 1/2

Variety/Menu: 2/2

Wait Time: 1.5/2

McConnell

Seating Situation: 2/2

General Taste: 2/2

Variety/Menu: 2/2

Wait Time: 1.5/2

Atmosphere/Ambience: 1.5/2

Total: 9/10

Atmosphere/Ambience: 0/2

Total: 6/10

Atmosphere/Ambience: 2/2 Total: 8.5/10

Frary

Seating Situation: 0.5/2

General Taste: 1/2

Variety/Menu: 2/2

Wait Time: 1/2

Atmosphere/Ambience: 2/2

Total: 6.5/10

Frank

Seating Situation: 1/2

General Taste: 2/2

Variety/Menu: 2/2

Wait Time: 1/2

Atmosphere/Ambience: 1/2

Total: 7/10

Aanji Sin ‘24 • The Scripps Voice

Emerging Artists to Listen to: Noah Kahan, Gracie Abrams, and quinnie

By Abbie Bobeck ’26 Staff Writer

As the air in Claremont turns sharp and cool, and the sun sets a little too early, new music brings us comfort. Although I have been listening to Taylor Swift’s Midnights, and The 1975’s Being Funny in a Foreign Languag e nonstop, I can’t forget about the emerging artists whose music has brought me joy (or sadness) lately.

While Noah Kahan was no new artist to me, his new album Stick Season has garnered him the popularity he has always deserved. His 2019 songs “Mess” and “Hurt Somebody” were hits among a niche group of folkpop listeners, with the likes of Adam Melchor, Vance Joy, and The Head And The Heart. Stick Season has reached new audiences, especially thanks to TikTok; there are so many songs on the album that stand out, but the album itself is extremely cohesive. Kahan’s sound is reminiscent of an evening bonfire with your closest friends, particularly in New England, as you get toasty and spill your deepest secrets.

While the lead single “Stick Season” was an early favorite before the album even arrived, there was so much more to discover once the album dropped. The first track on the album, “Northern Attitude,” is what screaming into the wind and letting go of your pain feels like. The song starts off melodic and slow and builds into an epic crescendo of fast-paced bass and drum beats, with Kahan belting his heart out. The song feels extremely personal, like an apology to someone for being who you are. The song’s ending is what cuts me deep, as Kahan belts out the chorus with no music in the background, and we can hear the pain and honesty in his voice shine through.

“She Calls Me Back” also stood out to me because it is one of the more upbeat tracks on the album, and the drum beats and Kahan’s fast-paced singing mesh so well. The chorus is so catchy, I dare you not to sing along.

Kahan’s 12th track “Homesick” was an immediate standout to me, and I haven’t been able to stop listening to it. What is so amazing about this track and Kahan in general is how funny and relatable the lyricism is, while also being catchy and effortless. Some of my favorite lyrics on the track

include: “The weather ain’t been bad if you’re into masochistic bullshit,” “I’m tired of dirt roads named after high school friends’ grandfathers,” and as someone who has spent a ton of time in Boston, “I’m mean because I grew up in New England” really struck a chord. This track especially displays Kahan’s lyrical genius and his ability to transition folk music into pop hits for everyone to enjoy.

While you might know who Gracie Abrams is already, or just heard about her because she is an opening act for Taylor Swift on tour this summer, her music has grown so much in the past two years. Something I appreciate about Abrams’s music is how raw and vulnerable it is. If you love Phoebe Bridgers and Lizzy McAlpine, Abrams’s music will only add to your sad girl tunes repertoire.

In her latest single “Difficult,” Abrams bears all and pairs her usual gutwrenching lyrics with a catchy chorus. “Difficult” is all about self-reflection and Abrams’s personal struggles with relationships with others and herself, hence the lyric “I’ve been speaking to my therapist, I call her every weekend.”

Taylor Swift’s frequent collaborator Aaron Dessner produced and co-wrote “Difficult” with Abrams, which perhaps is why the song is so incredible.

Another stand-out track from Abrams is her 2021 single “Mess it Up”; another revealing song about Abrams’s deepest insecurities and her failure to keep a relationship with her significant other. “Mess it Up” is a song many of us can relate to, even if we’ve never been in a relationship because everyone knows how it feels to reflect on an incident where you wish you could have changed the way you acted.

Abrams’s 2022 single “Block Me Out” also felt deeply relatable. Another Aaron Dessner collaboration, “Block Me Out” is a song about feeling trapped in anxiety and fearing your past self. With beautifully melancholic lyrics like “After all this time, I should be a pretty crier” and “Until I’m left to myself, it’s honestly kind of funny how every voice in my head is tryin’ its best to haunt me,” Abrams perfectly captures the desire to block out anxiety-ridden thoughts that cloud her mind. “Block Me Out” is the anxiety anthem I’ve always dreamed of crying to.

The Only Female Surfer in Sierra Leone

By Rebecca Allen ’25 Staff Writer

Waves break and Overhead gulls cry, Feasting on sandwiches. They litter the greasy Cement parking lot Facing the beach. In the horizon, Cargo ships. I imagine them As the contemporary Nina, Pinta, and Santa Maria. With their dull lights illuminating The water around them, They are merely black dots If you squint hard enough.

In the water, A lone surfer Rides a wave Just barely escaping Its collapse, Gliding eternally into The horizon.

The water is Briny and opaque, There are no shells here Only tar spots and Dissolving driftwood.

Another artist who has made their way into my Spotify playlists for the past few months is newcomer quinnie. quinnie went viral on TikTok over the summer for their beautiful song “touch tank,” which portrays a loving and intimate relationship with a male partner using summer motifs. A refreshing love song that focuses on the singer’s pleasure, and female pleasure in general, it was so heartwarming that it immediately blew up on social media when it was released. The bridge includes an extremely vulnerable and clever lyric that astounded me: “You took my breath away so now I can’t suck in my stomach around you anymore,” which alludes to not feeling insecure around their partner because they feel so loved and safe in that relationship. quinnie’s unguarded lyrics and graceful sound form a beautiful message into a soft, transparent track.

This fall, quinnie released their ballad “man,” which they described in a TikTok as “a song about men who will use a facade of softness to convince you they are more harmless than the rest.” The song’s message rings true with the pervasiveness of male manipulators in the music

industry and the plethora of male artists being called out for sexual harassment and abuse. “man” has a powerful message and quinnie’s expert lyrism and breathtaking voice lend themselves to an important story of an abusive relationship, and rejecting bad behavior from men in general.

quinnie’s latest drop “itch” is another soft-spoken song worth listening to. “itch” is about the anticipation of kissing your crush and the anxiety that comes with falling for someone. Check it out and hear for yourselves why quinnie is slowly taking over my TikTok feed and my Spotify.

Finding new voices to blast through my headphones is always such a special endeavor. Emerging artists always bring effervescent passion and joy to their work, and it is always cool to discover them before they become mainstream. These are just a few of my favorite underrated artists dropping great songs this fall, and I hope their songs resonate with you,

After

By ANONYMOUS

you don’t think about ME, but you are on MY mind every time I walk outside every time I meet someone new every time I have a first kiss and Wonder will I maintain control

you don’t think about ME, but you are on MY mind every time I see your home town every time I go back every time I put on a short skirt and Wonder will I be ok

you don’t think about ME but you are on MY mind every time I have power every time I feel strong every time I am better and Wonder

where I went wrong

Image Courtesy of quinnie

Don’t Miss Out on Study Abroad

Ellen Hu ’24 Editor-in-Chief

A

s I reflect on my semester abroad so far, I can’t ignore the many questions, doubts, and stress that came before my decision to be here. Yet, when I frame those moments within the many other moments I’ve experienced over the past three months, I can’t even remember the sinking feeling in my stomach.

Studying abroad is a once in a lifetime experience where you have the opportunity to break the Claremont bubble, push yourself out of your comfort zone, and build new skills. It’s shaped me in ways that I hadn’t even thought about before arriving.

While it sounds cliché when I say that taking classes in a different country pushes you out of your comfort zone, I can’t ignore how broad the impacts are. After all, simply entering a new space is equivalent to entering the unknown.

As a part of my program, DIS Copenhagen, I have a core course that meets regularly and has classrelated travel. My course is on ice cores, something that I had heard about but never learned a lot about in my student career. I had chosen the program because of this course and the connections Denmark has to ice core science, but that didn’t mean that I wasn’t nervous.

they were pushing onto me. The pressure I had originally felt to follow the majority of people without masks disappeared when I was confident in myself.

Not everything is inside of the classroom. Entering a big city in a new part of the world came with cultural adjustments that took time to embrace, but led to moments of realization about how I function in relation to others.

I felt extremely unprepared as I stepped foot into the classroom for the first time. Surrounded by graphs with data collected from ice cores and students from some of the top universities in the United States, I was intimidated.

Yet, I knew that I didn’t want my entire semester to be composed of quietly sitting in the corner while everyone else took a hands on approach. I was going to understand it all. All I had to do was start engaging more in the classroom.

So I did. Every class I tried to answer at least one question and I slowly began to realize that the once-intimidating content was actually digestible if I engaged with my professor and my classmates. I’m learning things I never would have had the opportunity to learn in Claremont.

Differences in the perceptions surrounding mask wearing also challenged me to be confident in my choices and personal beliefs when I first arrived. Most people in Copenhagen do not wear masks, so when I turned up to classes as the only student wearing a mask I felt like I stuck out.

Some professors asked me why I was wearing one and there were times when I felt like I was having a harder time connecting with other students. Nonetheless, these tests provided me with the opportunity to reassess my own comfort level and stand up for what I believed was best for me.

At some point it was no longer about what others thought or what

I don’t drink alcohol or smoke, so when high school students I walked by on the street boasted beers, I was a little taken aback. I had completely forgotten that the drinking age in Europe was so much lower than in the United States.

According to the World Health Organization, Danish youth drink more alcohol than their European counterparts. Drinking is deeply ingrained into the culture, and I quickly realized that going out to drink was one of the best ways to socialize in the local community.

Entering a big city in a new part of the world came with cultural adjustments that took time to embrace.

Nonetheless, I eventually found that volunteering at food banks on the weekends allowed me to meet new people living in Copenhagen without having to drink. While I may not be engaging with the culture in the same way others are, I’ve made peace with it.

I don’t think I completely understood what the Claremont bubble was until I arrived in Denmark. It isn’t just an isolated physical location, it’s also the people that you find.

One of the first people I met lived in my housing site and also happened to be applying for the same student photographer position that I was. He could have easily been competitive with me, but instead we’ve built each other up and enforced the value of each other’s work. He’s become one of the most important people of my time here not only because of how supportive he’s been, but also because of the way that he thinks and pushes me to think.

The future is terrifying and something that I have prolonged thinking about seriously for a long time now. Yet, the conversations that we’ve had have made me stop and consider my options with a level head. He looks at the future as something to be excited about and uses the present to network more options. Over the past few months, he’s started to instill this excitement into me as well.

I’ve also become good friends with a student at Smith College who has taught me about finding footing in new situations. As an international student from Paraguay, she has opened my eyes to what studying abroad could mean and how it’s possible to overcome the associated challenges. I come away from our conversations both realizing how I live in a U.S. bubble and with new insight into the world.

While you do get to break the Claremont and U.S. bubble, it also doesn’t hurt to connect with fellow 5C students while abroad – one of my classmates is from CMC! Through travel and studying, he’s helped me reinforce that I know what I’m doing and encouraged me to apologize less. Breaking the bad habit has been so much easier with him by my side.

Of course, the best part about studying abroad is the opportunity to get out and explore a new place for an extended amount of time. Living and working in a new space has allowed me to see the place in a completely different light – I’m not just a tourist,

I have become a semi-local.

I have coffee shops I would recommend, I know all of the little spots to visit if you want to get away from the tourists, and I have designated walking and running routes if I want to get away from the world.

That being said, Denmark has a lot to offer for being such a small country. I’ve been here for more than half of a semester and I still haven’t explored every neighborhood in Copenhagen yet.

The best part about studying abroad is the opportunity to get out and explore a new place for an extended amount of time.

The thing is, studying abroad does not mean that you’re confined to the city or region you’re taking classes in. Throughout the semester I’ve had the opportunity to visit Prague, Vienna, Budapest, London, and many other areas of Denmark outside of Copenhagen. As I write this, I’m also packing for my trip to Greenland.

It’s hard to go out of your way, fill out another application, and pack everything up to study abroad for a semester, but it’s a formative experience that you won’t be able to replicate otherwise. You’ll discover more about yourself and find that the world is much bigger than what you’ve known before.

Courtesy of Jiayu Ho '24

Ellen Hu • The Scripps Voice

I don’t think I completely understood what the Claremont bubble was until I arrived in Denmark.

All Scripps Fashion is Bad (Except for Mine; Mine is Perfect)

By Nina Howe-Goldstein ’25 Org Studies Major with Morals

There exists a truism about people who spend too much time on Twitter: that, in futile efforts to avoid imaginary cancellation, they will never just say “I like cheese.” It must always be preceded and bookended by impassioned declarations that they know of the dairy industry’s numerous animal rights abuses; that they apologize for its equally adverse environmental impact; that they hold space for lactose-intolerant persons who cannot similarly enjoy their beloved cheese.* They fear not being seen as “maximally inclusive.”

The same is true of our collective behavior as students, I think. Because we’re all busy figuring ourselves out, we let each other get away with damn near everything — though not out of true grace or understanding, but through a moral anxiety that permits everything under the sun in the name of girlboss-style empowerment.

But because I am a uniquely uninhibited, enlightened individual in the history of this college, I will say what we’re all thinking: oh my god, Scripps fashion sucks so hard.

Picture the median Scrippsie. Now think about how bad their clothes are. It’s awful on so many levels: the national supply chain shortage has hit the college’s stock of bras; the fits (in the literal sense) struggle to the point of seeming structurally

insecure; the clothes are just so ugly, because the median Scrippsie has yet to internalize that multiple layered patterns, thrifted heritage, and the occasional cowboy boot does not a “look” make. Most outfits are generally unsuitable for a learning environment, let alone a professional one — I once saw someone wear a bikini top to history class (and before you go accusing me of misogyny, consider the simple premise divinely established when God created the universe in 4004 BCE: don’t wear a swimsuit to class).

And because we have the great misfortune to live in Claremont, California, this is all imbued with a thin veneer of revolution. Thrifting, mullets, and freed nipples are taken to be unambiguously transgressive — never mind that half the population of our enclosed HWC sports them. We are strong believers (and, subsequently, enforcers) of bizarre standards of self-expression.

This manifests through the delightful habit of the Scripps College student body — like lemmings hopping off a collective earnest cliff — to stifle even the most mild critique in the name of inclusivity. Remember last year, when the Gala party’s dress code was supposed to be “formal,” and the poster meekly suggested that one could go thrifting in the Village if they lacked a dress? The backlash was so intense that the party itself (apparently achieving omnipotence

for the duration of its Notes app apology) had to clarify a lack of intent to exclude some imaginary person who lacked a single nice outfit or $20 with which to acquire one. We’re all so paralyzed by the prospect of hurting feelings that we become the most pathetic, nonbinary-est puritans since Sock kicked Axel out of the polycule for weaponizing xir neurotypical privilege by asking zer to do the dishes.

That is why I propose the only viable solution to the Scripps fashion crisis: absolute conformity to my style in particular. I like to think that I dress like a (relatively inspired) normie, buying solid new and thrifted pieces with a focus on textiles and good conditions for workers. I like solid color blocks and reliable brands; I avoid polyester like the plague but make no pretenses of environmental perfection. In a concession to my wokest relatives’ anxieties that I’m secretly nonbinary and just not telling them (I’m not), I even buzz my hair, wear big earrings, and put on the occasional overall. But that’s not even important. If clothes are beyond reproach, then I feel comfortable saying that mine are perfect! And therefore, everyone should dress exactly like me! It will be a simple system, wherein I post my next day’s outfit to Instagram nightly, and the entire college simply imitates me overnight.

My devoted legions of readers will remember that I opened the year by

explaining the basic arguments of philosopher Olúfẹmi O. Táíwò’s recent book Elite Capture . He argues that through “identity politics,” identity as it exists in our modern understanding has been far removed from its original solidarity-building liberatory potential. Rather, identities become weaponized commodities at the hands of people who see it as little more than a way for them (as individuals, not a collective) to come out on top.

(“A motherfucking Táíwò callback?!” I imagine you’re collectively crowing. “This bitch has done it again!”)

But the ongoing Scripps Fashion Crisis, I would argue, is even worse than “elite capture” — because it’s way stupider. We have no real eliteness to capture (we haven’t gone on to work at D*******... yet) and still we play games as though we are, because we’re all trapped in this bubble together with nothing to do but go thrifting.

The great tragedy of Scripps’s fashion is that we have none. However, as I have argued is objective, this can be solved by simply taking our woke puritanism to its natural conclusion: absolute orthodoxy with the Howe-Goldstein school of style. Get dressing, friends.

*Every Friday when I arrive for work at the Makerspace, I make a point of taunting my friend Raka with the large stick of cheddar which I will consume over the course of my shift. One of us is lactose intolerant, and it’s definitely not me.

Aanji Sin ’24 • The Scripps Voice

Friends with Fits: A Love Letter to the Style of Suite 232

Aleecia Sharpe ’23 and Quincy Johnston ’23 Staff Writers

T he great love letters of history are written with unapologetic infatuation. This is our sappy love letter to the incredible souls we have spent the last few months with in our suite, enjoying every late night laugh, scheming conversation, and morning ballad. Totally smitten with the present, we see the future approaching too fast for us to comprehend. As half of us leave for jobs in the real world and to study abroad, we wanted to record our love for our tiny corner of the Scripps community within the archives.

Each of our suitemates has a one-of-a-kind sense of self and expresses it to the world through their personal style. This is our celebration of the people and place we love.

Mihika DeSouza ’24 is a person with simple fashion requirements. Her first priority is and always will be comfort. Always on the move but unmissable, she is striking in bright colors that match her loud

personality. The classic DeSouza look includes a pair of knock-off Walmart converse, a necklace from her family that daintily points to her unshakable sense of self, and her eye-catching nails (done by @noratboz_13). Her style can be muted compared to her unabashed attitude, which inspires us to take advantage of every moment.

Aleecia Sharpe ’23 is an icon living. She instills intention into everything. She steps out of her curated room every morning, backlit by pink neon lights and in a haze of soothing essential oils. Armed with a shoe collection that could scare the shit out of any Claremont hypebeast, Sharpe casually weds bohemian pieces with edgy individuality. Gold waist beads. An underlined nameplate. Her introspective style encourages us to see the beauty in building our sense of self.

Simran Sachdeva ’23 is the queen of sarcasm, from her slipper collection that features cartoon sharks and unicorns to her ironic t-shirts reflecting the positive energy she brings into every situation. But even more ironic is her genuine love for cute preppy

styles of headbands, cardigans, and tie tops. Topped off with meaningful delicate rose-gold jewelry and light perfume, even as she labels this as cringe, Sachdeva always reminds us to appreciate our natural contradictions.

Most of the time we spot Mika Sacré ’24 sporting cozy sweats and a baseball cap. But when she decides to show out, she doesn’t play games. She is the perfect embodiment of zero or a hundred — no in between. Sacré once told us the only way she will listen in class is if she is dressed to the nines, with a full face of makeup and a flawlessly stylized fit. Her style is intelligently matter-of-fact and hints at the things she loves; Formula 1 racing hats, baseball gear, and coke zero product placement.

Quincy Johnston ’24 is our inhouse flea market queen and style advisor. Every day she surprises us with the perfect union of mixmatched patterns, chunky silver jewelry, and eccentric footwear. Her style lies in her confidence to assemble a simultaneously bold and funky combination of pieces that embody her distinctive look. Colorful clashing socks and an

exceptional collection of cowboy hats serve as the foundation for a never-ending wardrobe of oneof-a-kind t-shirts and thrifted treasures. Johnston’s confidence is contagious and pushes us all to explore our individual fashion.

Angelina Astillero ’23 is, simply put, fucking cool. Her style tells a narrative of self that makes you feel like you are being let in on a well-kept secret. She combines the perfectly fitting baggy jeans of a seasoned snowboarder chick, the Adidas sambas of a New York City girl, the hidden placement of a dancer’s past, and the boxy silhouette of a Danish summer. Four years ahead of any trend we could attempt to predict, Astillero employs the wildest sunglasses and classic bandanas to exude her vision of the fashion future that emboldens us all to want to keep up with her.

When we started this article, we wanted to embrace sentimentality for our preemptive nostalgia. Thank you for embracing our partially cringy desire to preserve this moment in time and record what it means to watch your college years slowly slip out of your grasp.

Aleecia Sharpe ‘23 and Quincy Johnston ‘23 • The Scripps Voice