25 August 2023
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"You Are Here": A 5C Map and Guide
Isabel Suh ‘24 • The Scripps Voice
By Isabel Suh '24 Head Design Editor
W
elcome to the Claremont Colleges! The 5Cs are unique since there are five different campuses to explore and hopefully memorize, instead of just one. For the first few months, as any normal first-timer at a new school, I was often confused when I explored the campuses. Aside from constantly looking at the map on my phone, I learned some tips and tricks to help me orient myself wherever I am at the 5Cs.
If you know where north is and what campus you’re on, you can ascertain the general direction of all the other schools and hopefully your next destination from that. If you see mountains on the horizon, you’re facing north. Harvey Mudd is the northernmost school, then Scripps, Claremont McKenna, and Pomona to the south, with Pitzer to the east of Mudd and Scripps. As I’m sure you’ve already noticed, the Claremont Colleges are unique in that each campus has its own style of architecture. With a few exceptions, what the buildings
look like are a dead giveaway as to which campus you’re on. Scripps, touted as one of the most beautiful campuses (as someone who applied to Scripps in part because of how pretty it is, I am definitely not biased), is influenced by Spanish Colonial architecture with the terracotta roofs and white walls with an abundance of greenery and fruit trees around campus. Across Platt Boulevard, you’ll come across Mudd. Known for the “warts” (square knobs affixed on many of their buildings) spread throughout campus, Mudd’s build-
ings have a much more brutal version of the “sad beige aesthetic”, with the harsh lines of their gray and beige concrete buildings. The boundary between Mudd and Pitzer might be less obvious, but you’ll know when you’re on Pitzer’s campus by the abundance of desert flora and signs that avoid using the word “garden” to describe what they call a multi-species common. CMC is fairly distinct — the modern-looking campus is scattered with odd avant-garde sculptures and the Cube (otherwise known as the Living Room) is one of the more iconic landmarks at the 5Cs. My personal favorite are the three red brick “Lego building” dorms on the south part of campus. Pomona has that neoclassical architecture, and many of the dorms look similar to Scripps’s dorms. While the campuses are pretty consistent in their aesthetics, there are some exceptions. Pomona’s Sontag and Dialynas dorms (my friends and I have nicknamed that area as Dontag) don’t fit in with the rest of the campus since they were built by CMC and then sold to Pomona. Steele Hall and Kimberly/ Wilbur Hall have a similar story; they were built by Mudd and then later sold to Scripps, though Kimbo/Wilbur was originally a dorm for the first female Mudd students. One other confusing thing is the fact that there are multiple buildings at the 5Cs with the same name. There are multiple Sontags (one dorm at Mudd, one at Pomona, the Greek Theatre), multiple Keck buildings (one lab at Mudd, the portable labs, and the main science center), multiple Seavers (all of the science labs, the Seaver Theatre, and an administration building), multiple Mudds (Harvey Mudd, Mudd-Blaisdell, the Hive/Seeley Mudd building, the library, East Hall at Mudd) and many Clarks (three Pomona dorms and one Scripps dorm). With five campuses (seven if you include KGI and CGU), there is so much to explore! My last piece of advice is to befriend people from each school (to mooch off of their swipe access to many buildings), eat at each of the dining halls and cafes, and to just go on walks and enjoy Claremont.
Flex vs. Claremont Cash: Where and How Can I Use It? By Ellen Hu '24 Editor-in-Chief
T
he next time a barista at The Motley asks you whether you’ll be using flex or Claremont Cash to pay for your drink, you won’t have to look at them with a blank stare. The Claremont Colleges have two forms of currency associated with a student’s individual student ID. While both can be used at the majority of locations on campus, there are several differences that are important to be aware of. Flex, or flex dollars, can be used solely at restaurants, cafes, food shops, and coffee shops around the 5C campuses. Once you enter a 5C non-college-specific area, however,
this can become confusing. The Claremont Colleges Library offers a cafe on the first floor where flex can be used; however, this form of currency is not accepted at The Huntley Bookstore which is located across the way. Flex is usually used to purchase food in addition to your dining hall swipes, but you do have the option of using flex to pay for a dining hall meal if you run out of swipes. This option can be useful if you are bringing a guest into the dining hall. The amount of flex dollars you are provided at the beginning of the semester is associated with the meal plan that you purchase. If you switch your meal plan during the semester, your flex balance will change ac-
cordingly. While it may seem appealing to save up your flex, you should be sure to use it before you leave campus for winter break. Flex does not roll over into the next semester — if you don’t use it, you’ll lose it! On the other hand, Claremont Cash is not specifically associated with food and can be used anywhere flex is used, including The Huntley Bookstore, Student Health Services, and The Claremont Colleges Library. Laundry machines in all Scripps dorms only take Claremont Cash, so you will have to add to your balance. Funds can be loaded onto your card either through an online portal or through the Connections office located in The Claremont Colleges
Library. It is important to note that a convenience fee is applied each time you reload your balance online, but not at the Connections office. Claremont Cash is unique in that several off-campus vendors in The Claremont Village will accept it as payment. Hendrick’s Pharmacy, Bert & Rocky’s, Pizza n’ Such, 42nd Street Bagel, Some Crust Bakery, 21 Choices, and Dominoes are just a few locations where it can be used. Flex and Claremont Cash balances are available to view on The Claremont Colleges Transact website. Issues and questions about either can be answered at the Connections office which is open from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on weekdays.
1030 Columbia Avenue | Claremont, CA 91711 | Box 839 | scrippsvoice@gmail.com | Volume XXXII | Issue Zero