Vol. CXXXIV NO.3

VOL. CXXXIV NO. 2

FRIDAY, SeptembeR 30, 2022

Pomona President Gabi Starr inducted into the Academy

CLAREMONT, CA

Pitzer’s CASA to expand program after $250,000 anonymous donation

LUCIA STEIN & RYA JETHA Pomona College President G. Gabrielle Starr officially joined the ranks of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences at an induction ceremony Sept. 9 to 10, following a year’s delay due to COVID-19.

Based in Cambridge, Massachusetts, the Academy was founded in 1780 during the American Revolution by John Adams and other Founding Fathers who believed a new republic needed institutions to gather and advance knowledge for the public good.

The Academy is currently led

by Starr’s predecessor at Pomona, David Oxtoby, who served as the college’s ninth president. Among the earlier inductees, Academy members range from Oprah Winfrey, Charles Darwin, Martin Luther King Jr., Nelson Mandela, Stephen Hawking and Condoleezza Rice.

An acclaimed scholar of English literature and neuroscience, as well

See STARR on page 3 CAELAN REEVES SAJAH ALI & MAYA OLSON See GE on page 3

COURteSY: SCARLett DUARte

With new funding, CASA pitzer said it will be able to pursue greater opportunities in social work.

MOLLY MURPHEY & JANE SHVARTSMAN COURteSY: pOmONA COLLeGe

As an inductee into the Academy, Starr continues to bolster educational efforts for accessibility and equity.

A recent $250,000 donation to Pitzer College’s Critical Action and Social Advocacy (CASA) program will boost collaborations between Pitzer students

and social justice groups in the Inland Empire region.

On Sept. 12, Pitzer’s Office of Communications announced in a press release that CASA received a $250,000 pledge from an anonymous donor to be divided in annual installments over the next

Basque Country, existential dread, code switching: This year’s student research symposiums at Pomona, Scripps and Mudd

five years.

Through courses and a physical space in downtown Ontario, CASA connects local residents and nonprofits with 5C students and Pitzer faculty, according to the program’s website.

5C students participating in

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Research symposiums at pomona, Harvey mudd and Scripps offer an opportunity for students to share summer research projects.

Where can you learn about monitoring seabirds in the Gulf

of Maine, Asian American music and soccer in the city of Pomona?

At Pomona College, Scripps C o l l e g e a n d H a r ve y M u d d College, students presented

See CASA on page 2

Pomona’s JBoard hosts annual fall training with restorative justice focus JAKE CHANG, JULIA SCHWARTZ & JOHN PAUL FERRANTINO

SERENA LI, SARA CAWLEY & RYA JETHA

the program take two CASA courses concurrently, along with a 125hour internship with partnering organizations. These groups range from Huerta Del Valle, a group that works to establish community

their summer work at events celebrating these college-

See RESEARCH on page 2

Last weekend, Pomona College’s student-run Judicial Council (JBoard) hosted its annual fall training, where new and returning panelists went through mock cases and training sessions with a restorative justice framework, aimed to prepare them for enacting sanctions in real hearings.

Functioning as Pomona’s disciplinary system, JBoard hears cases of alleged violations of the Student Handbook, according to its website. The board is composed of four chairs and about 40 panelists that act as a jury to determine violations of college policy as well as appropriate sanctions.

In action at the 5Cs, a restorative justice framework encourages student autonomy when promoting and enforcing community standards. However, there has been a recent push to expand these types of measures, which would include hosting roundtable discussions about proposed changes to the student

handbook’s amnesty policy.

For its latest Sept. 24 training, JBoard brought in restorative justice expert Dr. Rachel King to further infuse its framework into the council’s work. King is an experienced facilitator of this type of training, with a specialization in harassment and misconduct in higher education.

Exercises involved the students recognizing implicit bias and applying it to a mock case about a physical altercation and possible trespassing at Oasis KGI Commons. Panelists were encouraged to question current disciplinary policies, according to JBoard associate chair Stephen Fatuzzo PO ’23, who said he was pleased with the level of student engagement in the training. “[The panelists] asked really good questions,” Fatuzzo said. “We love when our panelists sort of probe and go a little deeper and ask questions about, ‘OK, this policy exists, but why?’”

JBoard hosts a training every semester, with its principal training in the fall. This includes a mock case that serves to acquaint panelists with disciplinary policies, policy vi-

See JBOARD on page 3

TSL COVID-19 Tracker covid.tsl.news

+23 cases at the 5Cs from September 18 - 24

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HMC has not provided numbers this week Scripps is no longer reporting COVID-19 data

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Data from each of the 5Cs school’s testing dashboards at press time. Visit covid.tsl.news for the most up-to-date testing infomation and historical data UNItY tAmbeLLINI-SmItH • tHe StUDeNt LIFe

ARTS & CULTURE She’s worked with the likes of Madonna and even won a Grammy, but harpist Alison Bjorkedal says being a Pomona lecturer has been one of her most exciting experiences yet. Read more on page 5.

The student newspaper of the Claremont Colleges since 1889

OPINIONS

SPORTS

College students have a lot to worry about, but finding period products shouldn’t be the cause of their panic, argues Zeean Firmeza PO ’26. Read more on page 7.

Losing? What’s that? The undefeated Athena’s women’s volleyball team doesn’t know. Claremont-Mudd-Scripps defended their homecourt and kept their perfect record untouched last Friday when they beat Occidental 3-0 at Roberts Pavilion. Read more on page 9.

INDEX: News 1 | Arts & Culture 4 | Opinions 7 | Sports 9

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CASA: Donation supports local organizations, funds new scholar-in-residence Continued from page 1 gardens, to Warehouse Workers Resource Center, an advocacy organization championing better working conditions for those in the warehouse industry.

In previous years, CASA program manager Scarlett Duarte said the program had a “really small budget,” which limited the scope of the program’s achievements.

CASA mostly relied on small grants secured by CASA Director Tessa Hicks Peterson, Duarte said.

The new donation creates greater opportunities to expand the program’s reach and impact on the surrounding community.

“We always do what we can with [our budget], but this opened up the space in a whole new way,” Duarte said.

Duarte said that CASA will use the recent donation to provide stipends to their partner organizations and funding for a local organizer to work for the program as a scholar in residence.

CASA will also expand its program “No Justice, No Peace,” which provides healing resources to support social justice organizers and fund more events in their Ontario space, which Duarte said she hopes will become a space that connects both Ontario and Pitzer’s communities.

“We wanted to really become a space where the students, faculty and staff can come and have meetings or whatever they need to get away from campus. Just really making it like a part of Ontario but also a part of Pitzer,” Duarte said.

Reflecting on the new donation and her time at the program, Helen Chirigos PZ ’25, who took the two CASA courses offered at Pitzer in fall 2021, said programs like CASA have a lot of potential but need to be carefully and respectfully executed.

“When [community engagement is] a requirement as it is in many classes, I think it ends up being this disingenuous relationship,” Chirigos said. “Even with CASA, I felt like mentors were taking energy that they could have put towards just doing their work or teaching people who are going to remain a part of the program. They could have been training people like that instead of someone like

me, who was gonna go back to college half a year later.”

Chirigos said that the program could use some of the funds from the anonymous pledge to develop a more reciprocal relationship with its partner organizations.

“I think the money could be used to financially invest in these partnerships that control the change … redistribute that grant money for grassroots [organizations] that know what they need to put it toward,” she said.

For her internship, CASA placed Chirigos with Youth Mentoring Action Network, an organization serving youth of the Inland Empire with “an emphasis on race, ethnicity, class, citizenship, gender and sexuality,” according to the program’s webpage.

To Aditi Madhok PZ ’23, who completed her semester with CASA online due to COVID-19, having more sources of funding for the program is crucial.

Madhok said the program connected her to the Inland Empire and taught her how to promote intercultural understanding and community engagement, which has been useful when applying to fellowships and directly engaging with Claremont’s neighboring communities.

“I thought it was even more critical to have these kinds of partners in a setting in which COVID exacerbated these types of crises, especially for our essential workers,” Madhok said.

“Even though I wasn’t around Claremont, I think it also gave me a little bit of a proximity to what exists in the Inland Empire.”

Madhok said it was important for 5C students to get involved in programs like CASA, be it by directly participating in them or by attending some of their events, such as talks.

“The sooner you do these kinds of programs, the more it forces you to reflect and connect some of those frameworks to the realities and limited experiences of communities nearby you,” Madhok said.

SeptembeR 30, 2022

RESEARCH: Students express gratitude for college-funded summer passion projects Continued from page 1 funded projects.

Pomona hosted a weeklong symposium from Sept. 19 through 23 showcasing research and internship projects across 60 disciplines.

“You can’t just be a passive consumer of knowledge,” Associate Dean of the College Pierre Englebert said. “Producing knowledge really helps you learn about scholarship, the academic world and how knowledge is produced — and that’s part of learning.”

At Pomona, summer opportunities were funded v i a t h e c o l l e g e ’s S u m m e r Undergraduate Research Program (SURP) and the Pomona College Internship Program (PCIP).

Naomi Tilles PO ’22 received funding to pursue a project called “El Derecho a Decidir: The Right to Decide in the Spanish Basque Country.”

Tilles spent the summer in Bilbao, Spain, to conduct interviews with leaders from various Basque parties about what self-determination means to them.

Tilles was grateful to have received funding for international research and told TSL she hopes research opportunities for students pursuing international projects will continue to expand as COVID-19 restrictions loosen.

“I understand that COVID restrictions made Pomona decide to not allow [most international research] this year, but I really hope that in two, three years more students will have the opportunity to do that,” Tilles said.

Oluyemisi Bolonduro PO ’23 enjoyed creating “Mirrored,” a creative writing project about her Nigerian nationality and Yoruba roots.

“I think it’s a grand shift when it comes to college pursuits and sends a very

strong message that all types of thought can be funded and supported,” Bolonduro said.

Pomona provided stipends of $3,000 to over 150 students this summer. Englebert, who leads student research at Pomona, is working to expand funding for summer opportunities.

“We’re doing fundraising, and we hope to be able to fund even more,” Englebert said. “We hope to be more generous — we want to make sure we provide fair opportunity.”

Scripps also showcased student research over afternoon tea on Sept. 21.

“Having ownership of their scholarship encourages students to see themselves as independent scholars, provides them with key training and gives them the necessary skills and confidence to apply to top graduate schools and/or a position previously considered out of reach,” Associate Dean of Faculty Jennifer Armstrong said via email.

Students who received summer funding submitted a report, presented posters over tea at Seal Court and created a video for Instagram.

Mirabella Miller SC ’24 received summer funding through Scripps’ Esterly Award, which supports what would otherwise be an unpaid internship. It also provides access to independent summer research projects or collaborating with a professor on research over the summer.

Miller pursued a project called “Dystopian Sweetheart,” spending the summer creating a podcast and website.

“I explored young women’s online presentations and how they relate to existential dread,” Miller said. “I was interested in pursuing [this project] because it felt very relevant to my life, and it was something I encountered daily on social media.”

Miller said the process of receiving funding was straightforward and accessible.

“I filled out one form to

apply to multiple different funds,” Miller said. “And then as the deadlines for funds passed, [Scripps] let me know what I did and didn’t get.”

N i n a H o we - G o l d s t e i n S C ’25 received summer funding from Scripps through the Mellon Interdisciplinary Humanities Initiative to research Morris Cafritz, the largest real estate developer in Washington D.C. from the 1920s to the 1960s.

H o we - G o l d s t e i n s a i d s h e wishes the Scripps administration had provided more guidance to students doing research over the summer.

“It confused me that very little was seemingly asked of us in the end,” Howe-Goldstein said. “It’s interesting to look at the way Scripps quantifies the deliverable products of this research.”

At Harvey Mudd, students presented their summer research Sept. 22 at an in-person poster session at Hixon Court.

As part of their Summer Undergraduate Research Program, Harvey Mudd student researchers completed 10 weeks of faculty-sponsored research spanning disciplines from biology to computer science.

Each summer, close to 200 Harvey Mudd students pursue projects alongside nearly 40 faculty members across every department of the College, according to Harvey Mudd’s website.

Lilian Zhu HM ’26 conducted a project titled “Code Switching: Semantic Density and Programming Language Learnability.” Zhu felt that the summer research experience gave ample opportunities to explore code switching from different angles.

“I got to learn other areas of computer science that other students were researching through weekly CS chats with everyone,” Zhu said via email.

“Professor Bang and everyone else were very supportive throughout the whole summer, and my experience has ignited my passion for math and computer science.”

Climate strike rally encourages 5C students to ‘Speak Out’

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members of Speak Out Now and rally attendees share personal experiences facing the climate crisis.

REIA LI In solidarity with over 500 Climate Strikes happening worldwide, dozens of students from across the Claremont Colleges gathered last Friday at Pomona College’s Walker Beach to participate in a climate strike rally and share their personal experiences with climate change.

Bradley Gonmiah HM ’23, a member of the national group Speak Out Now, organized the rally with the help of students from the other 5Cs. Speak Out Now is a “revolutionary socialist organization” with members in the Bay Area, New Jersey and other cities across the United States, according to their website.

Activist Greta Thunberg’s Fridays For Future campaign inspired Gonmiah to host the rally. The organization called for a Global Climate Strike on Sept. 23 to “demand policymakers and world leaders to prioritize #PeopleNotProfit,” according to their website.

The goal of the rally was to show

the attendees that they were not alone in fighting climate change, according to Gonmiah.

“I think a lot of times, people can get kind of bogged down and feel as if it’s a personal problem, even though this is a really global issue,” Gonmiah told TSL. The rally was held in a “speak-out” format that Gonmiah learned about after reading the book “Without Apology: The Abortion Struggle Now” by Jenny Brown. The book presents the history of the fight for abortion rights in the United States, discussing how abortion activists hosted “speak-outs” where people gathered to share their personal experiences with abortion.

“Even though there were a lot of women that were facing the issue, they didn’t talk about it,” Gonmiah said. “So speak-outs really served as a mode to turn the personal into the social. And then when it’s social, it can be political, and when it’s political, that means you can do something about it.”

Angel Daniel-Morales PO ’23, who emceed the event, enjoyed the format of the rally.

“It felt good hearing people speak.

It was nice encouraging people who are a little more shy to talk,” DanielMorales said. “We’re all organizers, even those who think they’re not. It’s important to get everyone’s voices.”

At the rally, people shared personal experiences with climate change, as well as hopes for the future.

Jocelyn Ruelas CM ’23 spoke after some encouragement by DanielMorales.

“Environmental racism is real, guys! I’ve lived by the plants, by the sewage, and it affects us!” Ruelas said. “I just want to be, before I leave this Earth, someone who uses my voice to make a change.”

Ca meron Q uijada SC ’25 described the effect of wildfires in her hometown of Temecula, California.

“I’ve grown up around forest fires, but they usually only happen

around once every four [or five] years,” Quijada said. “And then three weeks ago my mom sent me a picture, and it was a fire about three miles away from our house, and they were packing up our house getting ready to evacuate.”

Daniel-Morales spoke about seeing overgrowth and trash in the woods during his walks in rural Pennsylvania.

“I think about the Indigenous people who used to inhabit that land, who knew how to take care of that land, and how we’re living in an apocalypse where those people were killed,” Daniel-Morales said.

“I think sometimes in climate crisis discussions, we forget to mention the people who know how to care for the land.”

Matiaslan Ceccarelli PZ ’23 shared the song “All That We Perceive” by Thievery Corporation and encouraged attendees to close their eyes and sway to the music.

“We see in color. We see in magic,” Ceccarelli said. “So why are we here?

… We’re here because we care about each other [and] our mountains [and] our rivers.”

After opening the floor for people to speak to the crowd, organizers passed the microphone to each student to introduce themselves and their hometown and discuss the impact of climate change there.

“We’re here right now in Claremont, but we’re connected to so many other places, right?” Gonmiah said.

Gon mia h wrapped up t he gathering by promoting future Speak Out Now events, including a Q&A on Sunday with Jenny Brown, the author of “Without Apology.”

Tsion Mamo SC ’23 enjoyed hearing about the different yet connected issues affecting each person’s hometown.

“We’re all from different places, so something that’s relevant to you I won’t know about, not because I don’t care — but you can tell me, you can let me know about it,” Mamo said. “You don’t have to learn from the school. You can educate each other.”

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JBOARD: Students aim to balance code with restorative justice

tALIA beRNSteIN • tHe StUDeNt LIFe

Jboard’s restorative justice training aims to represent its a commitment to fair judicial practices.

Continued from page 1 olations and sanctioning dilemmas.

A panelist since fall 2020, Jon Bukhart PO ’24 said JBoard’s framework often puts panelists in a position where they need to balance following the student code with pursuing restorative justice.

“How I see it, our function is not to separate people from the community or ostracize them from the community or punish them, it’s more just to strengthen their relationship with

the community,” Bukhart said.

“That’s where the sanctions come in. We try and focus our sanctions, making sure that they have gained respect for the community.”

The Student Handbook included punishments like fines until 2021, when the Judicial Council removed them from the Handbook.

“We often talk about restorative justice as restoring the respondent, the person who has violated the code, but we can also think about restorative justice in the sense of

restoring the community,” Fatuzzo said.

For example, a sanction could include working with Pomona’s maintenance crew for a day so “they have an idea of all the people here that make the college what it really is,” Bukhart said.

In discussing goals for this coming semester, Fatuzzo will be leading a weekly working group that discusses the role restorative justice will play in JBoard.

“Particular goals will be: Can

Harvey Mudd among 500 leaders advocating for accessibility in Computer Science MARCELLA TODD As technology continues to become a more predominant aspect of everyday life, Harvey Mudd College has joined over 500 CEOs, university presidents and nonprofit leaders in asking U.S. governors and education leaders to provide computer science (CS) learning opportunities for all students.

On July 12, HMC President Maria Klawe signed an open letter organized by national nonprofit Code.org, which calls for states to update their K-12 curriculum to include computer science courses.

Citing studies that show how students with a computer science background outperform in school, university and their careers, the letter urged school officials to make CS courses “a basic part of the new normal” as schools in the United States rethink their education models following the COVID-19 pandemic.

“The United States leads the world in technology, yet only 5 percent of our high school students study computer science,” the letter said. “How is this acceptable? We invented the personal computer, the internet and the smartphone. It is our responsibility to prepare the next generation for the new American Dream.”

In response to the letter, the National Governors Association created the Governor’s Compact To

Expand K-12 Computer Science Education. In it, 50 governors pledged to increase the number of schools offering computer science classes, provide more funding for the discipline and create career opportunities for those entering the field from historically underrepresented communities.

By signing the letter, Klawe joins hundreds of education advocacy leaders who are asking for computer science to be part of all schools’ curricula, including university presidents and CEOs of nonprofits and tech companies such as Meta and Apple.

Klawe told TSL one of the most significant impacts the letter could have is increasing diversity in STEM fields like computer science.

“I really believe that it is important to provide access to this for everybody … It’s an advantage for everyone,” Klawe said.

As president of Harvey Mudd, Klawe has been part of various efforts to increase diversity in the college, including transforming HMC’s student population from 30 percent of the student body identifying as female in 2006 to around 50 percent in 2022. Last year also proved to be the most diverse HMC class, with 70 percent of domestic admittees being students of color.

To Klawe, the diversity at Harvey Mudd is the school’s strength.

“That’s what’s different from many other places is the diversity of the graduates in computer science reflect the diversity of the student population overall [at Harvey Mudd],” Klawe said.

“We’re half female, but we also have a significant number of Hispanic, Latinx and Black students graduating from computer science.”

CS major Hayley Walters HM ’25 told TSL that advocacy for more K-12 opportunities — such as the efforts of the letter signed

by Harvey Mudd — is important to increase diversity.

“People will say, ‘Oh, well, women have the free choice to be a CS major if they want to.

They just don’t because they’re not naturally inclined that way,’” Walters said. “But that’s not the truth. It’s because men have more pre-college experience than women.”

While acknowledging efforts made in gender diversity at Harvey Mudd, Walters said there’s plenty of room to grow in terms of representation as an area for improvement.

“I hear it’s better than other places in terms of racial diversity, but it’s still not good,” Walters said. “There’s very few people that are Black or [Latinx]. Those are probably the two most underrepresented groups in CS classes at Claremont.”

we come up with an institutional definition for restorative justice?”

Fatuzzo said. “How can we write that down in a way that, from panel to panel, will still be applied evenly? And then another question is, how do we codify that?”

JBoard is also launching a peer mediation program in November after three years of development.

This will serve as a pathway for alternative resolution from complainants and respondents.

Incorporating restorative justice

into JBoard’s disciplinary policies comes with the mission of changing the institution’s image to one of “trust and respect,” Fatuzzo said.

“We want to be an institution where if a student violates a policy, they come to us and feel as though we’ll take what they say seriously,” Fatuzzo said. “We will work on a sanction if necessary that keeps their education in mind so that they would come away from that hearing and say, ‘OK, I understand. I understand why I shouldn’t have done that.’”

STARR: Academy gains three Sagehens Continued from page 1 as a former dean at New York University’s College of Arts and Science, Starr was elected into the Academy in 2020 for her work in leadership, policy and communications with a specialty in educational and academic leadership.

“Several people said that one of the things they found notable was work that I’ve done on prison education,” Starr said, referencing the cross-university prison education program she created that offers degrees in liberal arts to students in a medium-security prison.

In addition to this work, Starr facilitated a partnership while at NYU with New York City’s largest community colleges to create an educational pipeline to future STEM careers.

“In general, in everything that I try and do — whether it’s raising money, whether it’s helping to produce new programs — it’s about trying to forge collaborations in different kinds of places, so that we have better access to education for talented people from all around the world,” Starr told TSL. The Academy also credited Starr’s research accomplishments in studying the brain using fMRI to see how people respond to different forms of art, which Starr wrote about in her 2013 book “Feeling Beauty: The Neuroscience of Aesthetic Experience.”

Becoming an Academy member wasn’t an explicit goal for Starr, who said that her appointment still feels “unreal,” even after the delayed ceremony.

“It seemed ludicrous as an idea that I would ever become a member,” Starr said. “It’s a group of people like Kimberlé Crenshaw that I deeply admire, and the work that I do seems nowhere near

comparable.”

Crenshaw, a leading scholar in race and law, spoke about the importance of Critical Race Theory in one of the keynote speeches at the induction ceremony. Starr said this address, along with one given

by CNN’s Sanjay Gupta, was an especially memorable part of the experience.

Both speakers were inducted in the ceremony, along with Starr and two Pomona alumni, Thomas McDade ’91 and Adela Yarbro Collins ’67.

For Starr, the highlight of the ceremony was meeting famed lawyer, professor and equality advocate Anita Hill, to whom she introduced her children.

“She’s probably one of the reasons I got into the academy,” Starr said.

“Watching [the confirmation hearings of Clarence Thomas] and trying to understand it was totally formative for me as a young feminist, and to get to meet her was amazing.”

As a member of the Academy, Starr plans on contributing to projects that restore what she describes as “crises of public trust,” especially in institutions of higher learning.

“I really want to be part of work that helps to restore some of the faith in higher education as a public good,” Starr said.

For Pomona, Starr’s goals return to her passion for accessible education.

She hopes to offer the college’s efforts in closing achievement gaps as a model for other higher education institutions. such as the Pomona Academy of Youth Success (PAYS) which offers mentoring services to underrepresented high schoolers in the Los Angeles metropolitan area.

“I’d like us to be able to replicate some of the work that we’ve done through [PAYS] with community colleges in Southern California and serve as a hub for helping students who have completed two-year degrees to go on to get Bachelor’s degrees in Claremont and around the country,” Starr said.

Corrections In Issue 2, an article on this year’s student body presidents incorrectly stated that Vera Berger PO ‘23 uses she/her pronouns. It has been updated to reflect that Berger goes by she/ they pronouns.

In Issue 2, TSL incorrectly spelled Kyra Variyava CM ’25 as ‘Varivaya.’

TSL regrets the error.

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Harvey mudd’s advancements towards diversity includes its recent signature on the open letter from Code.org.

Arts & Culture

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SEPtEmbEr 30, 2022

SCENE It

Let’s get metaphysical with ‘Undone’ RORYE JONES A show that makes you laugh and have a small existential crisis at the same time. Aesthetically pleasing rotoscoping. Family drama. This is successful entertainment and also the premise of “Undone,” an outstandingly executed, animated limited series on Amazon Prime.

Ever since Alma, a 28-yearold woman, almost dies in a car crash, she keeps having weird visions, particularly of her longdead father. Soon, Alma realizes these are not just visions: She can navigate through different timelines of reality. But her family thinks she needs help. Season two tracks the exploration of Alma’s genealogical roots in Mexico and Poland, all while underscoring the strength of the familial bond.

The creators of “Undone” handle the topic of time travel with incredible deftness: The metaphysical element is given just the right level of exposition, and the show knows how to make fun of itself.

While helpful in short bursts to ease a viewer’s questions, too much explanation strips a sometimes entertaining element of mystery that both allows for loopholes — in case the explanation doesn’t, in fact, make sense — and allows for the audience to fill in the blanks with their imaginations (much like the “Don’t Show the Monster” rule in horror films).

Too little explanation can also prove irritating: see my previ-

ous column discussing “Nope,” though I have been approached in dining halls by people (respectfully) disagreeing with my opinions.

“Undone” falls into the Goldilocks zone of exposition.

When I accidentally stumbled across the show via autoplay, I was hooked. As the plot is full of family drama that could stand on its own, the introduction of multiversal travel is entirely unexpected yet somehow so natural.

At the same time, “Undone” doesn’t take itself too seriously.

While a serious tone is not necessarily a bad thing, I appreciate the addition of another show that is endearing for the sake of its emotional content as well as thought-provoking.

On the broad spectrum of science fiction, there are the polar opposites of uptight Sci-Fi and slapstick sci-fi. On the spectrum of uptight sci-fi (think “Inception” and “Star Trek”) to slapstick (“Guardians of the Galaxy” and “Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy”), “Undone” falls somewhere in the middle.

“Undone” is neither serious nor exaggeratedly comedic; it falls in the middle of the spectrum in a pleasing way. The heavy topics of mental illness, multiple universes, cancer, suicide, cultural identity and ethical research (to name a few) are offset by the creators’ delightful senses of humor. The protagonist, Alma, is relatable in her bold, blunt sarcasm. She takes

DrEA ALONZO • tHE StUDENt LIFE

life head-on, whether this comes in the form of bringing her dead father to life in a different reality or helping her sister navigate marital problems, and all with a biting quip.

Though I more readily associate my favorite kinds of sci-fi

with a dramatic tone, “Undone” provides an excellent example of balancing the playful with the pensive.

Rorye Jones PO ’22 gaslit herself into thinking she was part of the Roy family after she was spiritu-

ally wrecked from watching “Succession” in two weeks while in New York, and spent the rest of her time there aggressively staring down every suited pedestrian (there were a lot) in search of Matthew Macfadyen. She writes for TSL’s TV and film columns.

LItErArY WANDErINGS

The inimitable style of Joan Didion RYAN LILLESTRAND My introduction to Joan Didion came early in college, reading her essays in “Slouching Towards Bethlehem” over morning coffee during an ill-fated camping trip on Catalina Island. From that point on I was captivated — or rather, freshly curious.

Didion: the master of the cool and the sharply observed. Her arresting aura is probably best captured in that classic photo of her standing in her living room, one arm resting across her body, the other balancing a cigarette between her fingers. Love her or hate her — and her style is divisive — all journalists writing in today’s world (with “journalists” being a joyfully broad term) are in her debt.

Comparisons are often drawn between her and Hemingway, a writer whom she deeply admired and initially sought to emulate, copying down sentences from his books to understand their style and flow. And while her style echoes his straightforward structure and deadpan but perceptive observation, she made it startling, new and chic.

The most recently published book of her essays, “Let Me Tell You What I Mean,” captures just that. The collection, like most, ebbs and flows. It gathers together a collection of pieces from Didion’s decades-long career as a paragon of the “new journalism” style emerging from the 1960s. The book is certainly a hodgepodge: A somewhat melodramatic essay about her rejection from Stanford University stands alongside a piece about Nancy Reagan’s home life. As Nathan Heller writes in The New Yorker, the book “is less a selected essays than a rejected essays, a director’s un-cut of her older work.”

The most recent piece in this “new” book was written by Didion over twenty years ago. In this way, “Let Me Tell You What I Mean” seemed probably best reserved for the Didion diehards: those already confident in their love for her particular style. I figured I would

get around to reading it once I’d worked my way through the rest of her canon.

The book, however, published in January of 2021, was cast in a new light when its author tragically passed away in December of the same year. For me, the book took on a new weight: the final period at the end of a sentence, the last writing of Joan Didion — and so I picked it up recently.

Two weeks ago, while I was devouring essay after essay of “Let Me Tell You What I Mean,” I was also starting a class on literary journalism: A class that is, in many ways, a direct result of Didion’s life work. Before her time, the idea of a creative nonfiction writing class would have been scarce indeed.

Sitting down to write my first piece for the class, with my head full of Didion sentence structures and imagery and phrasing, I was frozen. I sullenly avoided the blank document open on my screen for the rest of the day, not sure where to begin. While writer’s block plagues us all, this felt like something of a different sort — more a confounding tangle of sentences and phrasing than an uncertainty of what to say.

It’s an oft-dispensed kernel of writing wisdom: the inevitable process of emulating the styles of dozens of writers, picking up sentence structures and pacing and little turns of phrase until some fragments stick to the ceiling and become some discernible style you can begin to cultivate and call your own.

It’s an encouraging thought — unfortunately completely unconfirmable until one has ostensibly reached your intended destination — but nonetheless, I have clung to it.

Joan Didion’s writing, though I do love it, has periodically confounded me, however. Her style is perhaps the first writer’s style that I have ever loved but never aspired to emulate. I have begun to consider it sacred — not in the sense that it is holy or above critique, but rather that it exists in

a world of its own, untouchable and not meant to be meddled with.

As many writers have pointed out over the years, when you try to emulate Didion, it becomes obvious — her style is that distinctive. It can be wandering and recursive, filling sentences with musings bordered by a staccato of commas, but then it can snap into startling clarity, suddenly biting and clear-eyed and shocking.

In the weeks since finishing the book, I still feel as if my thoughts have not yet fully settled. As the book sits finished on my shelf, her particular way with words has begun to fade, but the question of her style and what to do with it is still poking around in the corners of my mind.

This is what I can say.

“Let Me Tell You What I Mean,” despite being a miscellany of lesser-known works, is still trademark Didion, bursting with her classically cool style — matter-of-fact, wryly funny and always devastatingly observative.

Didion herself is without a doubt one the most influential, culture-shaping writers of our time. From sheer will and practice, she wrought a singular style that will stand apart for decades to come. Aspiring writers of today would do best to emulate her by following her footsteps, not her sentence structures — blazing a new trail, pushing the boundaries of the essay and what it can do, and how it can be crafted.

With her death, we have lost one of the great, inimitable voices of American letters. But through her legacy, we see the path by which true literary innovation can be crafted.

Ryan Lillestrand PZ ’23 is a book columnist for TSL. He is currently contemplating spending too much on a 1971 hardcover edition of Frank O’Hara’s “Collected Poems.”

SASHA mAttHEWS • tHE StUDENt LIFE

5C students attend red carpet premiere of ‘The Race Epidemic’

COUrtESY: rEbECCA YAO

Five 5C students had the opportunity to leave campus for the premiere of a new documentary, “the race Epidemic,” at LA’s tCL Chinese theater.

JADA SHAVERS Red carpet premieres are a highlight of Los Angeles life, as famous celebrities show off their glamorous outfits. On the carpet this week, students from the Claremont Colleges got the chance to see what the buzz was all about — this time at the TCL Chinese Theater.

At an exclusive screening on Sept. 26, five 5C students had the opportunity to leave campus for the premiere of a new documentary: “The Race Epidemic.” Although the trip was not a 5C-sponsored event, students in Pitzer College’s Social Documentations class had the opportunity to walk the red carpet at the Los Angeles theater.

Hyejin Yun PZ ’26 helped make the experience possible through an opportunity with the K.W. Lee Center for Leadership, where she worked in the past. After realizing that the film connected to the course material in her Asian American Studies class, Yun offered a few spots to her classmates hoping to share the unique opportunity to see the film premiere.

After a long drive to Los Angeles, the initial impression of the TCL Chinese Theater was a bit jarring to some.

“All night, I was trying to figure out if it was racist or cool,” Rachel Ma PO ’26 said. “Is this appropriation or appreciation?”

These lines can often become blurred. Asian American history is embedded in the building — stone, temple bells and Heaven Dogs in the building were imported from China and many interior decorations were hand-created by Chinese artisans — but some students felt like the theater’s status as the world’s largest IMAX auditorium distracted from this meaning.

The film focused on exposing the hatred that erupted towards Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders during the COVID-19 pandemic. Through interviews with Asian American politicians, “The Race Epidemic” presents the hate crimes that swept through the country during the pandemic and which still persist today.

“It was very empowering in a tragic way,” Ma said. “Everyone had gone through the experiences of the people in the movie, so [there was a] strong sense of solidarity with everyone in the theater.”

The students got to take an even deeper look into the film through a Q&A session with the film’s director, Tony Shyu.

“It was hard for the director because [he] made it before COVID started, and then he basically made a different version during COVID,” Rebecca Yao SC ’26 said. “There were a lot of processes to it.”

Although changing the direction of the film to respond to the pandemic was difficult for Shyu, it added a new purpose to the film’s message.

“It inspired me to do even more for my community,” Yun said. “It was an emotional response.”

As students in a course about documentation, they understood the impact films can have. Yao described how films make information more accessible. By using visual and auditory aspects, more people are able to take in the narrative. “[Film] is an uninterrupted way for communities to speak up about their experiences,” Yun said.

Ma shared something their professor, Johnson Chang, had said about how the specificity of a film impacts its audience: the more specific, the more relatable. And “The Race Epidemic” accomplished exactly that for Ma. “The experiences of an Asian politician are very similar to the experiences of an Asian college student,” Ma said.

Films such as “The Race Epidemic” can also function as a foundation for people to come together.

“It was really cool to hang out with people and talk about that stuff,” Ma said. “It was really fun just us being able to experience that together.”

Not only were the students able to watch this film together, but they were able to walk the red carpet — or at least a portion of it.

All the students found some humor in their experience.

When asked about their exciting experience on the red carpet, each response began with a light laugh.

Yao explained that the glorious carpet “was like three feet,” with Ma adding, “it was more like a red shower mat.”

Although it was a short-lived walk, they were able to fully experience the TCL Chinese Theater.

The film allowed them to learn about the experiences of politicians during the pandemic while feeling connected to a broader community.

Yun said, “[film] is the best way for other communities other than AAPI to empathize with the community they are listening to and seeing.”

Arts & Culture

SEPtEmbEr 30, 2022

Alison Bjorkedal: A story of harp, Hollywood and the heart Pomona College music lecturer Alison Bjorkedal fell in love with the harp as a freshman in high school, although she couldn’t even dream then that she could make a life out of it.

Decades later, though, Bjorkedal has won a Grammy, worked with major recording artists like Madonna, Sia and Kid Cudi and recorded for Hollywood blockbusters, something that her childhood self didn’t think was possible.

Called a “force field unto her own, yet joined by something bigger” in a Los Angeles Times article, Bjorkedal is now an accomplished harpist and musician, a passion that takes up half of her career. The other half is focused on her second love: teaching.

Bjorkedal first decided to pursue the harp seriously when her brother guided her through the college admissions process.

“As I was applying to colleges, my brother, who’s older and had just been to college, sat me down and said, ‘What can’t you imagine being absent from your life?’ and I was like, ‘Well, it’s easy: it’s music,’” Bjorkedal said. “He was like, ‘Well, maybe you should consider being a musician,’ and I was like, ‘I don’t think you can do that.’ He, kind of gently, was like, ‘You’re at a time in your life where you should try,’ so I decided to study music.”

After that, Bjorkedal relied on the connections she made with other harpists as an undergraduate student at the University of Oregon and later during graduate school at the USC Thornton School of Music, which provided her with the opportunity to play the harp on several recordings.

As a result of her performance in these jobs, she said news of her work would travel by word of mouth and she would get offers for more recording opportunities.

Eventually, Bjorkedal’s success led her to play on tracks for major recording artists and for various television shows and movies.

Bjorkedal is “honored” to have been able to play on these tracks because of her passion for movies and listening to records.

She particularly loved getting to work with recording artist Sia, whose album “This is Acting,” came out a few years prior to Sia’s mainstream success in the United States.

“I remember sitting down recording solo harp for this album, and hearing this voice in my headset and being like, ‘Who is this person?’ and they’re like, ‘Her name’s Sia. She’s kind of new to the States,’ and I was like, ‘Oh my gosh. She’s amazing,’” Bjorkedal said. “And then, four or five years later, she was all over the radio and I was like, ‘I can’t believe she made it! It’s amazing.’

I just think she has one of the best voices.”

Bjorkedal’s other favorite experience recording for a pop album was when she had the opportunity to record for Madonna’s record “Rebel Heart” and see Madonna in person.

“I was like, ‘Wow! That’s a bucket list thing,’ and she was super gracious and really cool,”

Beyond just coffee: The Motley celebrates student artists LILA GAMBLE & FIONA LARSEN-TESKEY

EMMA NEWMAN

COUrtESY: AArON JAY YOUNG StUDIOS

Grammy award-winning harpist Alison Bjorkedal first decided to pursue music seriously when she was an undergraduate at the University of Oregon.

Bjorkedal said.

For movies and TV shows, Bjorkedal especially enjoyed recording in the horror genre because of how it differs from what is normally expected of harp players.

“Although I don’t like to watch horror films –– I’m a little bit of a wimp –– the music is really fun to play because you can imagine everybody being scared and you’re playing these ominous things and the harp, as a general reputation, isn’t thought of as scary, so it’s really fun to get to inhabit that emotion for the scary movies,” Bjorkedal said.

Bjorkedal’s experience as a musician isn’t just confined to mainstream music, though. Her work also extends to contemporary classical music for which she has received a Grammy.

She won her 2014 Grammy for Best Classical Compendium for her song “Plectra and Percussion Dances,” which she recorded with the musical ensemble Partch, a contemporary music group in which she is a member. According to Bjorkedal, Partch plays “niche music” composed by Harry Partch.

The group members did not expect to receive a Grammy despite their nomination, so they were caught off-guard when their win was announced.

“They called our name, and none of our group got up because we were just stunned, and then it was just pure surprise and joy to work really hard on something and feel like people responded to it in a nice way,” Bjorkedal said.

Outside of recording,

Bjorkedal currently teaches at the college level as faculty at Pomona, Occidental College, Pasadena City College and California Institute of the Arts. Getting to teach provides Bjorkedal with “a lot of joy.”

“I just find it a fascinating process to get to know each person, help them highlight their strengths, take the things that are more challenging for them and find a way to access them and get them better,” Bjorkedal said.

As a faculty member at Pomona, Bjorkedal has found that teaching has changed her “as a person” and has made her “strive to be a better musician.” While part of this growth has been facilitated by her relationships with faculty members, she also cites her relationships with her students as contributing to her growth, as their work ethic and academic ambition continue to stun her. “[My students] were into so many different interesting things and then beyond that, they brought this curiosity to the harp that is just so refreshing,” Bjorkedal said. “I was blown away. When you’ve been playing an instrument for 25 years, you can start to feel like maybe you’ve done everything but then, all the students here brought interesting questions and then were practicing so hard on their own. The fact that [I get] to teach [at] an amazing set of institutions [is] definitely a pinch-me type of situation.”

And that’s coming from someone who has won a Grammy.

PAGE 5

Tucked inside Seal Court lies a hub of student caffeination and community: the Motley Coffeehouse. Known for its MatchaCha-Chas and calming communal atmosphere, the Motley is a center for student camaraderie at Scripps College.

The Sept. 15 Motley opening was a way for student artisans to be placed front and center in this space. This is the first time the Motley will be open for the entire academic year since the outbreak of COVID-19 in early 2020. The aptly titled “Mot Gala” celebration featured a live band playing outside while the stage inside was filled with items for sale. Students flocked toward the opportunity to purchase handmade jewelry, crochet items, mugs, sweatshirts and more.

The night was wildly successful for many, especially the artists. Ceramicist Kasey Bumgardner SC ’23 said she sold nearly half of her pieces during the opening alone.

The Motley acts as a gallery space for various artists of different media. Playing into the theme of being a student-run business, the Motley allows student artists to use the space as a pedestal for selling and showcasing. Without charging commission, it encourages small student businesses while also contributing to the warm atmosphere.

Not all of the art in the Motley is for sale, however. Artists have the option to either sell their work or simply display it.

Whether for sale or not, art filling the tables and walls contributes to a sense of communal identity.

“I like that The Motley is not just like a coffee place or a café,” Bumgardner said. “It’s a space to meet with friends and look at and appreciate student artwork.”

As a crochet artist, Sylvie Kromer SC ’25 also appreciates the Motley’s unique setup.

“It seems like a cool way to have students experience each other’s art,” she said.

When Bumgardner decided to sell her work at the Motley, she was pleased not to lose any money on commission fees like she did from third party websites. Previously having sold on

Etsy, she prefers selling at the Motley because it eliminates shipping costs and other fees.

“Now that this is how I sell my art, all the profits go towards Nobody Fails at Scripps and the Claremont Student Worker Alliance,” Bumgardner said.

There was a push at the opening of the Motley last semester to include more student art, according to the Facilities Manager Liz Messinger SC ’23.

“It’s a great way to support our peers,” Messinger said. “I also think that since more people picked up crafting skills over COVID, there was a new wave of artists.”

Her favorite thing about the Motley is the air of collaboration that has echoed throughout the space since she’s been a student. It has always been a central meeting place where open mic nights would happen.

“I’ve always been a friend of the Motley, even though I only started working here this year,” she said.

Kromer also attested to the simplicity of selling at the Motley. Wanting to make some extra money while in college, she found the process of selling at the Motley to be very easy.

“I just brought all my products on opening day,” Kromer said.

“They even had little cards with my Venmo and Instagram handles on them too.”

This accessibility is a testament to the overall culture of the Motley Coffeehouse. Its staff are all dedicated to fostering a sense of community within the Scripps campus, including how they involve student artists.

Messinger spoke to her time working at the Motley as a deeply rewarding experience.

“I love my co-workers, but my favorite part about working here is being able to lay out tangible work and then see it happen,” she said.

“It’s so satisfying to see the Motley go from the state it was in before we opened everything up to being filled with people.”

For Messinger, the Motley is a space that attests to how much everyone in the Scripps community cares about each other. From the little doodles on to-go cups to the handwritten whiteboard displays, it feels like a place where everything is a labor of love.

For more information about selling or displaying art at the Motley, check out their Instagram @motleycoffee.

ANNA CHOI • tHE StUDENt LIFE

the motley allows student artists to use the space as a pedestal for selling and showcasing.

rEGULArLY SCHEDULED PrOGrAmmING

‘High School Musical: The Musical: The Series’ finds its

stride in third season

CLAIRE DUMONT This column contains minor spoilers for season three of “High School Musical: The Musical: The Series.”

In the general cultural consciousness, Disney+’s “High School Musical: The Musical: The Series” likely brings to mind one of two things. Either its absurdly long title or the role it played to skyrocket Olivia Rodrigo’s career. Its three-season run has had quite a moment in cultural significance, but the most recent season proves that it’s worth more than just its behind-the-scenes drama — even if that’s what initially drew an audience.

“HSMTMTS,” created by Tim Federle, premiered in 2019 during the early days of Disney+. It follows the drama students of Salt Lake High School East — or “East High” as it is colloquially known — which fans may recognize as the school where the original “High School Musical” franchise was filmed. The first season revolves around the students putting on the first production of “High School Musical” ever to be done at the school, hence the meta-nature of the show’s title. The first season’s plot revolved around the production of “High School Musical” and the love triangle between Nini, played by Olivia Rodrigo; Ricky, played by Joshua Bassett; and EJ, played by Matt Cornett.

In January 2021, “HSMTMTS” gained a whole new role in the cultural zeitgeist beyond just being a wholesome show about theater kids. Olivia Rodrigo’s breakout

first single “driver’s license” was released, and with its instant popularity came an outpouring of rumors about the song. There was great speculation that Rodrigo wrote it about her relationship with co-star Joshua Bassett. Based on the lyrics of the song, it also was rumored that it was about the end of their relationship and the start of Bassett’s alleged relationship with actress Sabrina Carpenter.

For months after the song came out, it dominated the cultural conversation. Bassett and Carpenter were subject to seemingly endless online harassment, even receiving death threats. Its impact is still felt even today, with album releases from Carpenter and new music from Bassett that continually lead to even more speculation — and it can all be traced all the way back to a show about a group of theater kids who go to the Salt Lake High School East.

The behind-the-scenes drama and conversation around the song led into the premiere of the second season in early summer 2021, after the release of Rodrigo’s incredible, instant-favorite debut album “Sour” — a season I ultimately found didn’t live up to the genre perfection of the first season.

However, the third season, which premiered on July 27 and just ended on Sept. 14, is far and away my favorite season of the show so far, and it definitely restored the magic that was captured in the first season.

The East High students head

ASYA LYUbAVINA • tHE StUDENt LIFE

to Camp Shallow Lake, a sleepaway summer camp in California that has promised a celebrity guest. The guest turns out to be Corbin Bleu, the original Chad Danforth from “High School Musical.” The kids learn that they are going to be the first group outside of Broadway to perform the musical version of “Frozen.” On top of that, they will be filming the entire production for a documentary to be released on Disney+. This continuation of the meta aspect of the show never felt heavy-handed, and its integration into the plot as the main source of conflict was well done.

I was excited to tune in each week to “HSMTMTS,” I have become very attached to the central

group of teenagers, and I am not too big to admit that their unwavering support and empathy for one another has made me tear up more than a few times. As I wrote the first time I wrote about the show in 2019, the scripting of the show seems to take great care to portray the teenage characters and their problems in a way that never feels patronizing toward them.

“HSMTMS” also shines in its characterization of all of the students. I hesitate to call anyone a side character, as they are all given their own storylines and attention in the plot. Ashlyn, played

by Julia Lester, had a particularly heartwarming and emotional plot line this season, coming to terms with her sexuality while at

camp. Additionally, Kourtney, via Dara Reneé, struggled with anxiety while playing Elsa in “Frozen” and was buoyed by the support of her fellow East High students, as well as some new characters.

In the history of Hollywood, behind-the-scenes drama is a tale as old as time. So long as there are people involved in the creation of a piece of art, there will inevitably be interpersonal conflicts. We can see it in one of the greatest albums of all time, Fleetwood Mac’s “Rumors,” and even as recently as last weekend with the release of “Don’t Worry Darling,” which has been a source of endless conversation over the past few weeks due to alleged conflict between actors.

The third season of “High School Musical the Musical: The Series” is one of my favorite seasons of TV ever. Everything came together to create a wholesome group of characters and a compelling plot line with great chemistry.

Although “HSMTMTS” might be on your radar because of things that happened behind the scenes, it’s worth a watch for the greatness of the show alone. Plus, catching up now will ensure your ability to watch the meta-reunion madness of season four.

Claire DuMont SC ’23 is one of TSL’s TV columnists. She is currently rewatching “Derry Girls” ahead of season three being added to Netflix soon, and is loving the new episodes of “Abbott Elementary.” One of her favorite memories from childhood is going to see “High School Musical 3” in theaters with her mom.

PAGE 6

Arts & Culture

SEPtEmbEr 30, 2022

CLArEmONt CrAVINGS

the quest for the best taco at the Claremont Colleges ISAAC WARSHAW Taco night at the Claremont Colleges is a night of long lines, hunger and even longer lines. I’ve had incredibly delicious meals — and some not-so-memorable ones. Some of those less memorable experiences made me want to give up on 5C tacos altogether, but then I decided that I couldn’t give up on the meal that my friends and I wanted most.

And so, I tried the tacos at all five Claremont Colleges to review and better advise you all so that you don’t have to feel disappointed. For the sake of this article, the ratings out of five will be relative to other tacos on campus, and not all of the tacos in the world.

Pomona College — Frank and Frary Dining Halls In my experience, the tacos at both of Pomona’s dining halls, Frank and Frary, are basically the same; for convenience, I will give these dining halls one rating. Even though the lines for tacos can be intimidatingly long, they move pretty quickly. I think this is due to the fact that the lines are self-serve, which is a big plus as I can put the amount of meat and salsa that I want on my tacos.

The salsas are not very spicy, but Frank sometimes has a spicier salsa available by request. Another oddity is that instead of limes they usually have lemons, which my friend from Mexico finds very unusual. They usually have barbacoa and chicken for meat options, and I think that the chicken is probably the best-seasoned chicken taco meat on campus.

Overall, I give Pomona’s tacos three-and-a-half out of five stars (four out of five stars when they have the special salsa).

Scripps College — Malott Dining Commons Moving up to Scripps, Malott, was the first non-Pomona dining hall where I tried tacos. Almost every time I have gone, the line has been ridiculously long. I will say that the staff at the dining hall at Scripps are very nice when they are serving the tacos and take great care to give out well-portioned tacos. I especially like the carne asada and carnitas tacos at Malott. The cilantro and onion that they have is consistently very fresh and well chopped.

GrAPHIC bY DrEA ALONZO | StArS bY ELLA LEHAVI • tHE StUDENt LIFE

Overall, I give Malott’s tacos four-and-a-half out of five stars.

They are consistently tasty, even if they require a long wait in line.

Pitzer College — McConnell Dining Hall The first taco I tried at Pitzer’s McConnell Dining Hall was the Korean taco. I had heard many positive reviews, so even though the line was extremely long and slow-moving, I decided to wait it out. I have not returned for the Korean taco since, though, as I thought that it lacked seasoning and that the meat was dry. In fact, I did not return to Pitzer for a long time until I decided to try their Mexican tacos. The line for those was much shorter than that of the Korean tacos, and it moved much faster. I will say that I really liked

the carnitas and thought that although they were not spicy, the salsas were more flavorful than those at other dining halls. I also liked the tortillas.

Overall, I give the tacos at McConnell four out of five stars.

Harvey Mudd College — Hoch-Shanahan Dining Commons Even though The Hoch at Harvey Mudd is one of the dining halls that I frequent the least — none of my friends want to walk there — is one of my favorites.

The taco line was surprisingly short compared to other lines I’ve experienced there. I tried the carnitas and chicken tacos. I thought that the quality of the meat was good. My favorite part of the tacos at the Hoch is the spice bar: a table

Let’s BeReal: How 5C students are capturing campuses this year JADA SHAVERS Once a day, every day, like clockwork, phones across the 5C campuses buzz to the same two-minute notification: “Time to BeReal.”

Released in 2020, BeReal, a social media platform gaining popularity this year, has given social media connections a new meaning. Advertised as a new and unique way to use social media, the app claims to be a real insight into the daily lives of BeReal users. The app operates by prompting users to take a quick snapshot within the app, sending out the prompt to all users at the same time once every day. Within a time limit of two minutes, the app takes a photo of both the user and their surroundings. If someone posts late, it notifies their friends of the late post as an incentive to post on time.

The app has become a new phenomenon, not just as a concept, but also as a mode of taking and sharing photos.

“Its double camera feature allows me to have fun with the pictures and get artistic,” Giacomo Marazza PO ’25 said. As a way to see both the photographer and photo, it has allowed for a different perspective in photography: including the photographer in the frame.

This two-frame photo concept is not the only reason for the app’s popularity, however. Many view BeReal as a great way of keeping up with the daily lives of their friends in different places.

“It’s interesting to see what people are doing in real time,” Euan Kang PO ’26 said.

As a form of communication, the app has constant, daily contact built into it –– something that other platforms are missing.

“It shows me what [my friends] are up to, and it feels good to have that kind of connection with others,” Matthew Parsons PO ’26 said.

For others, social media platforms like BeReal can cause pressure when posting.

“The impact of seeing cool [posts] is amplified, which creates a social pressure,” Sid Rastogi HM ’23 said. “I don’t think BeReal addresses the underlying issue with social media, which is that people feel a societally-induced pressure to constantly share their

LUCIA mArQUEZ-UPPmAN • tHE StUDENt LIFE

own lives, as well as keep up with all of their friends.”

This pressure translates to BeReal as users selectively show their daily lives so that it includes the moments that appear more interesting than they are “real.”

“I feel like it takes you away from the actual moment you are in, to make it seem just as cool, or maybe even more cool, for those who will see your BeReal,” Jessica Sloan-Cooper CM ’26 said.

The concept has raised questions from some users about the genuineness of the captured moment, and whether one can truly be present in an online environment. Reid Cohen PZ ’24 explained that some of his friends choose not to post on time.

This delay is common for many users; people either avoid the notification to stay in the moment or wait for a better one to come along.

Allowing people to wait can prevent the user from showing what is happening at the exact moment of notification, creating a delay between different users’ post of the day.

“People have taken advantage of this feature by delaying the BeReal until they are do-

ing something interesting or worth capturing,” Erin Rodriguez PO ’26 said. “This almost completely defeats BeReal’s purpose of the app name, to be real. To be in the moment.

To capture people at their raw and authentic instances.”

BeReal is meant to capture small, random, unedited moments. Users are divided as to how well it accomplishes this goal.

“It depends on how you use it,” Frances Walton SC ’26 said.

These differing usages mean that users take the stated aim of the app with varying degrees of seriousness.

“Some people will actually be real where others wait until they’re doing something ‘cool’ to post,” Lauren Eckstein PO ’26 said.

This question of authenticity is certainly put to the test when looking at BeReal’s use on the 5C campuses this year.

BeReal highlights the average life. Bringing something new to social media platforms is a massive task, but BeReal is taking it day by day.

“It’s spontaneous and randomized,” Rodriguez said, “for the purpose of capturing people just going through their normal lives.”

with an overwhelming number of spices to choose from.

Overall, I give the Hoch four out of five stars as I can use the spice bar to make my tacos just how I want them.

Claremont McKenna College — Collins Dining Hall Onto Collins, Claremont McKenna’s dining hall. Last week my friend reached out to me and said that she wanted to have Collins’ tacos. I was surprised because I had never heard anyone talk about the tacos at Collins, let alone rave about them. Upon entering, I was shocked at how short the line was. I only had to wait for a couple of minutes. At Collins they had limes and guacamole which was a nice touch. Also, if you ask,

they have a special salsa that they warn you about. While it was tasty, it was not as dangerously spicy as they had claimed. I was impressed by the quality of the carnitas, and the chicken had more seasoning than the other 5C dining halls. The taco that I tried there was the birria taco, and even though it had a slightly longer line, it was worth the wait.

Due to the quality of the tacos, the sides and the lack of line, I must give Collins five out of five stars — making them the winner.

Isaac Warshaw PO ’25 is a student with a passion for flavor and a hunger to satisfy. He writes about food and cooking in Claremont to help fellow students make more informed culinary decisions so that they can improve their dining experience in college.

OpiniOns

September 30, 2022

Stop the ‘diversity paparazzi’ in college recruitment ASHLEY PARK Sometimes, it can feel as though the most diverse place on campus lies within the stacks of brochures and flyers that sit in admissions buildings, ready to convince prospective students and parents of impressive academic diversity. And while it’s certainly great to see that students of color in academia are being recognized and represented rather than treated as though invisible, it’s easy to feel conflicted about the representation.

In 2020, the Claremont Colleges committed to various initiatives for fostering inclusivity amidst national outrage after the tragic murder of George Floyd.

Still, there remains work to be done when it comes to actually creating an inclusive environment on campus. Seeing your face plastered on marketing materials for an institution you might not necessarily feel supported by can be psychologically damaging to students and undermines the inclusivity the 5Cs strive for. To ensure that minority students feel the effects of the Claremont Colleges’ initiatives to increase inclusivity, the colleges must address and remedy the current trend of intentionally seeking out students of color or “diverse” groups of students for school photographs.

Minority students have been vocal about this uneven representation – often more so than their white peers. A related study found that minority group members tended to be significantly less favorable toward overrepresentation compared to other types of representation.

Meanwhile, the negative effect of minority overrepresentation was not detected among majority group members, suggesting that while exaggerated minority representation may comfort white audiences, they tend to have the opposite effect on the minority students whom diversity efforts should be serving.

The negative impact of this overrepresentation is not limited to students already on campus but also extends to prospective students viewing the brochures. For many minority students, diversity is a major criteria in deciding their future college. A higher education report found that the diversity of a college campus and its attitude toward inclusivity directly impact minority student retention rates.

In other words, when a prospective minority student is misled about the on-campus environment for students of color, they are effectively endangering their likelihood of graduating from said college. If the Claremont Colleges wish to create an environment where students of all backgrounds can be successful, they must ensure that the air of inclusion on campus matches the image of diversity on the pamphlet.

Increasing courses, grants and research regarding racial justice were all incredible initiatives undertaken by the 5Cs in 2020 to foster inclusivity at the institutional level; however, cultural and racial inclusivity is more difficult to foster at the social level, and the 5Cs still have a long way to go on that front.

That photographers seem to have to explicitly seek out students of color at school functions reveals that while the campus may be diverse, campus events are often not. Culture-fests and affinity group-hosted dances are nice, but there needs to be a more conscious effort to make every party and event inclusive, not just those allocated specifically for POC. Minority students on campus deserve to feel safe at any and all on-campus events.

A solution with long-term impacts that the Claremont Colleges can undertake to impact inclusivity would be to increase accurate representation at the admissions level. Understanding what’s at stake when colleges mislead prospective students, the 5Cs should ensure that all admissions and marketing teams are staffed with at least one Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) professional.

Having a DEI officer be a part of projects such as brochure graphics can ensure that not only the result, but also the process of making the brochure, is inclusive and respectful of students of color.

The answer to the call by students of color for better representation isn’t building a reputation of diversity – it’s building a deliberate culture of inclusivity.

And until minority students can confidently say that they feel their campus home is inclusive, then the “diversity paparazzi” need to wait their turn.

Ashley Park CM ‘25 is from Claremont, CA. She loves the outdoors, watching “Community” and finding the perfect late-night snack.

eLLA brADLeY • tHe StUDeNt LIFe

Admissions brochures are full of “diversity” photos, but until colleges can promise on-campus inclusivity, such representation is unethical, argues Ashley park Cm ‘25.

pAGe 7

Education shouldn’t be hindered by menstruation

DreA ALONZO • tHe StUDeNt LIFe

ZEEAN FIRMEZA I dragged my body to the restroom, eyes still glued shut.

I got on the toilet, did my thing and — oh — there it is. I’m on my period.

It feels like a milestone: my first time menstruating in college. It’s only memorable because I thought I had bought everything off my freshman college packing list — turns out it was everything but menstrual products. I searched through the restroom for a heavy-flow pad, but I only found panty liners and tampons — two products I don’t use. I sighed, frustrated at myself for not anticipating this.

Instead, I asked my roommate for a pad.

When I asked my friends about where to find menstrual products at Pomona College, they told me the Sustainability Office offers free ones.

The Coop Store and Huntley Bookstore sell them too, I also learned. While I appreciated the idea of free products, I absolutely had no idea where they were — nobody pointed me in the right direction.

I searched through the college’s website for any signs as to where exactly I could find them and didn’t find information. Was I supposed to play scavenger hunt to get a pad while I bled vicariously through Marston Quad?

My search isn’t an isolated experience. Why are condoms, dental dams and lube advertised freely in the halls without also adding pointers or directions to where menstrual products are? Don’t get me wrong, I wholeheartedly support the promotion of safe sex and sex positivity on campus; yet, the invisibility of normalizing menstruation irks me. In society, periods are seen as disgusting, shameful and embarrassing. There’s so much

THE STUDENT LIFE

misinformation about an individual menstruating — ranging from invalidating feelings to only periods defining womanhood.

Menstruating in college shouldn’t be this hard, period.

So, let’s talk about period poverty and accessibility — not just at the Claremont Colleges.

Period poverty is the inability to afford or access period products.

This heavily affects low-income individuals who menstruate in the United States. Choosing between buying tampons or food is an issue many face. According to a study, period poverty affects 1 out of 10 women in college, and is found to be strongly linked to mental health issues such as depression.

It’s an underrepresented issue: There is little research done on period poverty and its effects. And unfortunately, most of the very few studies are gendered. We know that students already grapple with food insecurity and housing as well.

Coupled with period poverty, it is understandable how these issues prevent individuals from performing well academically.

When I hear someone say to stock up on period products, I think about students in the Claremont Colleges and other private institutions who can’t afford to do so. I think about individuals who menstruate that miss class, experience the pain alone and use substitutes like rags. I think about how I can’t even control my menstruation and how people constantly frown upon discussions of periods as if they are unnatural and unclean.

At Pomona and all the Claremont Colleges, all period products should be free and accessible. The colleges shouldn’t be ashamed to advertise where to find them. At the bare minimum, having dispensers in the bathrooms or even halls would help students tremendously,

preventing them from having to walk to an office to pick up free products with nothing to use for the trek there. Hell, even put some in academic halls. While free DivaCups are greatly appreciated, some individuals are more comfortable with one type of product over the other.

The good news is that Governor Gavin Newsom signed the Menstrual Equity for All Act of 2021. The bill requires California middle and high schools to provide menstrual products, especially in schools with 40 percent or more of the student population under the poverty line. The act also mandates public universities and colleges to do so. However, the key word here is “public.”

The 5Cs are private institutions and therefore are not included in this funding and initiative. Don’t make me mention endowment and tuition funds again.

Regardless of our exemption from receiving most of our support from public funds, the Claremont Colleges and private institutions have other ways they could address period poverty.

Student leaders could demand funding from administration and put the issue at the forefront of their agendas. Partnerships with organizations fighting period poverty and companies would also be beneficial to students. The student body could even pitch in to put period products in their residences.

We must first end the stigma around menstruation to tackle period poverty. To individuals who menstruate, your body is fine the way it is. You are not disgusting when you’re on your period, and your wellness matters. Student leaders, I know you are reading this, and I’ve seen your campaign initiatives on menstrual products.

Let us see change.

Zeean Firmeza PO ’26 is from Miami, Florida. She enjoys drinking boba, playing video games and reading.

OFF THE RECORD

Editorial Board JENNA MCMURTRY, Editor-in-Chief LARKIN BARNARD-BAHN, Managing Editor MENA BOVA, Managing Editor

Pride Party We crave attention

In the party cage Free us

Claremont is full of hot people Just check mudd’s faculty page

Claremont is full of hot people Someone give the Wigment kids an ice cube

Challah is back Challah!

...if you can get it We didn’t leave egypt to miss out at the SCC

Happy birthday, Hiram enjoy your 30s

My girlfriend smells like Hiram chapstick ...

Senior Staff GRACE SAUERS, Production Editor EMMA CONSTABLE, News Designer MAX PODELL, Arts and Culture Designer JACK STEIN, Opinions Designer ASYA LYUBAVINA, Sports Designer JULIA VICTOR, Copy Chief SYDNEY WATSON, Copy Chief EMMA JENSEN, Photo Editor FLORENCE PUN, Photo Editor BELLA PETTENGILL, Graphics Editor JAKE CHANG, News Editor

MARIANA DURAN, News Editor RYA JETHA, News Associate UNITY TAMBELLINI-SMITH, Data Associate INDIA CLAUDY, Arts & Culture Editor GERRIT PUNT, Arts & Culture Editor HANNAH WEAVER, Arts & Culture Associate ZOEY LOFGREN, Opinions Editor ELENA TOWNSEND-LERDO, Opinions Editor

BEN LAUREN, Sports Editor ANSLEY WASHBURN, Sports Editor CAELAN REEVES, Special Projects Editor ANURADHA KRISHNAN, DEI Editor MANAN MENDIRATTA, DEI Editor LEO BIRAGNET, Business Manager CLARE A’HEARN, Social Media Manager BITHIAH NEGUSU, Social Media Manager

TSL’s Editorial Board consists of the editor-in-chief and two managing editors. Aside from the editorial, the views expressed in the opinions section do not necessarily reflect the views of The Student Life.

Singles copies of TSL are free and may be obtained at news stands around campus. Multiple copies may be purchased for $0.47 per copy with prior approval by contacting editor@tsl.news. Newspaper theft is a crime; perpetrators may be subject to disciplinary action as well as civil and/or criminal prosecution.

OpiniOns

pAGe 8

September 30, 2022

The student Disability Resource Center is failing us ANNIKA WHITE The Student Disability Resource Center (SDRC) at the Claremont Colleges claims to foster an inclusive and supportive learning environment — but reality has disproved this assertion. The SDRC is an on-campus resource meant to assist students during their academic journeys at the Claremont Colleges by providing academic accommodations, mediating between students and professors while training faculty to work effectively with students with learning disabilities. However, they aren’t living up to these goals — and students with disabilities are taking on the burden of the SDRC’s shortcomings.

Brae Hubbard is one such student who felt affected by this.

Hubbard, who entered with the class of 2025, was hopeful that she would succeed at Pitzer College, especially after the college personalized her acceptance letter with the following note: “Your passion for equity and equality in the education system screams Pitzer, and we’re beyond excited to have you joining our community!” However, Hubbard’s experience here was far from equitable.

Hubbard experienced many academic injustices throughout her year at the 5Cs. She once asked her professors if she could use a computer program that records lectures to compensate for the absence of a notetaker. None of her professors consented to being recorded. Other examples of academic injustice include receiving advice from a professor to drop out of a course because he could not accommodate her learning style and running out of time while taking STEM exams because student workers at the SDRC fumbled through reading unfamiliar terminology aloud to her.

In Hubbard’s words, she felt

KAtHerINe tAN • tHe StUDeNt LIFe

“unsupported and unwanted by an institution that [she] wanted to be at so bad.” Following the 2021-2022 academic year, she returned to Pitzer in fall 2022 with hopes of overcoming her challenges with the SDRC. After a week of classes, she was not provided with accommodations or her computer reading program and decided to leave the Claremont Colleges.

Hubbard’s story is not an isolated one at the Claremont Colleges. For a collection of schools that preach inclusivity, the Claremont Colleges are neglecting an

entire group of past, present and future students by not adequately funding the SDRC. Educational equity means that all students are supplied the resources and support they individually need to succeed. In an educationally-equitable space, that means resources for success across race, gender, ethnicity, language, disability, family background and/ or income brackets.

First and foremost, students with learning disabilities deserve and are entitled to work with trained professionals rather than the students who currently

school senior-aged Hubbard, deserve to know how the 5Cs actually accommodate students before they commit to attend. Brae Hubbard should be the last student to leave because of issues receiving accommodations — but unless the Claremont Colleges commit to properly funding, properly resourcing and properly valuing the work of the SDRC, there’s no guarantee she will.

Annika White PZ ’25 is from Southport, Connecticut. She enjoys hiking, journaling and making playlists on Spotify.

Jasper’s Crossword: Level up

THE

CLARGUMENT In our new feature, we ask TSL’s Instagram followers a question every Monday and share their responses here.

make up most of SDRC staff.

The space is also in need of more technology to assist processes such as scanning textbook pages into reading programs. Additionally, the cooperation between the SDRC and professors needs institutional enforcement: 504 plans must be honored and students should not have to wait until the end of the two-week “shopping period” to receive accommodations.

Also, a comprehensive outline of the SDRC’s resources must be available online because prospective students, like high

What’s the best meme page at the 5Cs? duh @claremont.cumstain

tipsyscrippsie my queen @erindvdsn

Claremont Cumstain, Tipsy Scrippsie. That’s it @johnnchoi

makeupa5cman (on Twitter)

JASper DAVIDOFF • tHe StUDeNt LIFe

@allyhyj

To weigh in on next week’s question, follow us on Instagram @TSLnews and keep an eye on our story on Monday!

If you have a suggestion for a future question, send us an email: opinions@tsl.news.

eLLA LeHAVI • tHe StUDeNt LIFe

ACROSS 1. ___ twigs (singer) 4. What some wire contraptions massage 9. “Crying In ___” (Michelle Zauner memoir) 14. “Ruh roh!”

15. Plastic Coke bottle size 16. A little zest, so to speak 17. Approaching (in a car) 19. Goop at the Kids’ Choice Awards 20. *Honor for a recently deceased royal 22. Frequent car dealership event 23. Ferrigno who played the Hulk 24. Charlie Chaplin nickname 28. *Easy targets 33. Suffix for capital or chem 36. One end of a lemon?

37. Island near the Statue of Liberty 38. Amy on Parks and Recreation 40. Suddenly shows up 42. Engage in a debate 43. Foot or pound 44. Baldy and St. Helens, briefly 45. *Annoying coworker’s office setup 49. Shared a tune 50. Khan of Khan Academy 51. “Let It Go” singer 55. *Seed pods with a larva inside 60. Egyptian god with a namesake Eye 63. Uniform for an X-ray 64. Oscar or Tony 65. Class assignment 66. Vid. game in San Andreas 67. “Bye for now!”

68. Doesn’t move 69. Sixth sense DOWN 1. “I have all the ___” (“This is overwhelming”) 2. Black-ish creator Barris 3. Fools’ time of year 4. UC Santa Cruz mascot, for one 5. Field for the Mets 6. “I couldn’t touch her with ___ foot pole” (Toby Keith lyric) 7. Accidentally revealed 8. It’s in the nucleus 9. Where a parasite chills

10. H2O, but not H or O 11. A buddy in Bordeaux 12. Car engine stat.

13. ___ Ohio State University 18. Singles 21. Leo’s mo.

25. Happy as ___ 26. Avoid (the rules) 27. [I am a snake!]

29. Sat, in a car 30. Certain number of formaggi 31. The Blue Jays, on a scoreboard 32. Academic subj. groups 33. “Skip me” 34. In a way 35. ___ and Sara (indie pop duo) 39. Reason for a mistrial 40. Smoke ___ mirrors 41. Fall pumpkin pastry 43. “___ Beatle” (Google search that will bring up Ringo) 46. Suffix for social or symbol 47. Italian city near Vesuvius 48. You can do it with a goal or a gate 52. Like Clifford, compared to a normal dog 53. Bratty kids 54. Very easy, say 56. Organic-certifying org.

57. Org. that just flew a ship into an asteroid... for funsies ig???

58. Aussie’s greeting 59. San Francisco and Monterey, for two 60. Possesses 61. Be in debt 62. Issa on Insecure

LAST WEEK’S ANSWERS

SportS

September 30, 2022

pAGe 9

No. 1 ranked CMS women’s volleyball continue undefeated streak with win over Occidental AMALIA KOCH The NCAA DIII No. 1 ranked CMS women’s volleyball team extended its undefeated streak with a dominating win over Occidental College last Friday, defeating the Tigers 3-0 at Claremont McKenna College’s Roberts Pavilion.

The match marked the Athenas’ 12th win of the season and second win in league play. With the result, they maintain their position at the top of both SCIAC standings and national rankings.

Brenna Bell CM ’25 and Jenna Holmes CM ’24 led the team with 12 kills each.

“It’s our first conference home game, and we’re very happy we showed our dominance on our home court,” Bell said. “We set a standard for the Roberts Arena.”

The Athenas did indeed dominate, winning each of the three total sets by a margin of at least seven points.

The first set started off backand-forth, with the Tigers catching up to CMS every other rally.

The Athenas did not have a clear lead until a strong spike from Holmes put them ahead, 8-5.

After a few quick rallies, a series of errors from Oxy put the Athenas ahead 16-9. A strong block from Bell was returned

by Oxy, only for Bell to spike it back, making the score 19-11. At one point, CMS had a nine-point lead 21-12 before conceding two points on errors. The Tigers were not ready for Captain Spencer Hagenbuch’s CM ’23 sneaky spike that gave the Athenas a 23-15 lead before the first set finished 25-15.

The second set began similarly, with both teams fighting equally.

The Athenas were then able to establish a clear lead, but after a

Attempting to block the Occidental offense, brenna bell Cm ’25 and Lauren parker Hm ’25 jump up at the net.

series of good plays, the Tigers reached within three points of the Athenas, who were ahead 13-10.

CMS maintained a high lead throughout the rest of the set, however, and after a series of good spikes from Bell, took a 19-13 lead. They finished the set 25-18.

Ahead two sets to none, the Athenas only had to win one more to win the match.

The Tigers and the Athenas seemed the most even-

ly-matched at the start of the third set, with both teams staying within one point of each other early on in the set. The Tigers tied it up at 8-8, even taking their first lead of the game at 9-8.

Excellent defensive work from Dede Carranza CM ’25, who had 12 digs throughout the night, as well as a series of strong spikes from Brooke McKee CM ’26, put the Athenas ahead again at 13-11. The Tigers tied it up 13-13 and stayed within a point of the Athenas, until

the score was 16-15 in favor of CMS. But the Athenas retained a high lead with the help of good blocks from Holmes, and the set ended 25-18, cementing yet another victory for CMS. “It means so much to start off the conference on such a strong note with two wins under our belt,” Hagenbuch said. “We really wanted to set the tone for [the] season with this match, since it was the first one at home.”

The Athenas continued their winning streak the next day,

JONAtHAN Ke • tHe StUDeNt LIFe

defeating University of La Verne 3-0 on the road in a much closer match. Set scores were 25-23, 2520 and 25-19. The match marked the Athenas’ 30th league win in a row.

“We just want to continue to play our game, have fun and enjoy these moments with each other,” Hagenbuch said. “This team steps on the court every day for the girls next to them, and it’s really something special. We’re going to take it one day at a time and see where that takes us.”

Jog into your new friend group with Athenas golf hits the the 5C Running Club green on the course to pre-season victory JOHNNY RUSSELL

COUrteSY: 5C rUNNING CLUb

members of the 5C running Club pose for a photo at Scripps College. the club is open to all, regardless of skill or past experience, and meets weekly to go for runs and socialize.

TESS MCHUGH Have you ever seen a pack of 5C students running through Scripps College’s rose garden or playing spikeball outside Malott Dining Hall? Those sweaty college kids might just be part of the Claremont Running Club, which meets weekly to work out and hang out. To learn more, TSL sat down with Camille Cherney PO ’25, who is enjoying her second year as a club member.

This conversation has been slightly condensed and lightly edited for clarity.

TSL: Tell us a little bit about the Claremont Running Club. What do you guys do?

Camille Cherney PO ’25: The Claremont Running Club is a place for people of all skill levels to come together, run together and meet other runners.

TSL: Where do you all run?

CC: We tend to run all around Claremont. We usually do a loop around the colleges and we’re usually split up into two groups.

One group does a bit of a quicker pace and a longer run of about four to five miles. And the other group does about a two to three mile round.

TSL: How much experience is required to join?

CC: People of all skill levels are encouraged to join the club.

I would still consider myself a beginner. I only really started running this past May on a consistent basis, so I’m still working toward achieving a 5K. Most people involved do have a lot more running experience, but there are

definitely other beginners and people all in between, and they really make you feel welcome no matter what.

I do recommend that if someone wants to join the running club that they first start running on their own for a little while — for maybe two to three weeks at least, just to get their fitness up a little bit, so they can keep up on the runs. The slower group still tends to do about a 10-minute pace or 11-minute at the most, although they will wait for you if you go a little bit slower, and you can always stop and walk or not do the full route.

TSL: When does the Running Club meet?

CC: We meet every Friday at 6 p.m. and run for about 30 to 40 minutes, and then we all get dinner together, which is a great opportunity to build community.

I think there’s usually one or two meetings in the morning at 7 a.m., which I’m never really awake for, but some people enjoy that.

TSL: How do you think running can work to create a community?

CC: Running is a really great way to build community because it’s shared fun, but it’s also a shared struggle. Any time you’re doing something super challenging in the presence of others, I think you’re able to bond with people on a deeper level.

Usually, I go pretty slow.

I’m running at a conversational pace, so I can have a lot of fun conversations with people I

never would have met from all across the 5Cs. TSL: What do you think is the best part about running?

CC: Seeing myself make progress. I started off in May of this year barely being able to run a mile, and now I can run up to three miles fairly easily, although I’m still kind of slow.

I love just seeing how far I’ve come. I don’t focus on comparing myself to other people who’ve been running for years because that would be a quick way for me to want to quit. I just love seeing myself make slow, incremental progress and seeing my fitness improve.

Running is also the best stress relief ever. If I’m ever super upset about something, I can just get out there and run and forget about all my problems for a little while.

TSL: What other events does the club put on?

CC: This year, they’re doing adventure runs about every other week — trips to different parts of Southern California to do runs in beautiful locations.

I think there is one in Palm Springs in the mountains, and there’s going to be some on the beach. It seems really exciting.

I believe they’re also planning a camping trip in Malibu for fall break, with camping by the beach and running a bit during the day. There’s definitely a lot of social opportunities besides just running. Also, we do have dinners at least once a week, where you can just talk to other people.

Golf is back for the Athenas, and for Claremont-Mudd-Scripps player Jeissy Lee CM ’25 this season feels “like a redemption year.”

Last spring, the CMS women’s golf team entered the SCIAC tournament as the team to beat, but was the first eliminated team when multiple players tested positive for COVID-19, shattering their hopes that they would make it to nationals.

Thinking their season was over, the Athenas returned to campus for spring exams. But just as they had begun studying, the team received word they earned a bid to nationals through a lottery pick. With little preparation and in the midst of exam-cramming, the Athenas struggled to live up to their lofty expectations, managing to finish middle of the pack, placing ninth of 15 teams.

Although the season starts in the spring, the Athenas are using this pre-season period in the fall to build momentum. Ella Chiu CM ’26 and Esther Lee CM ’26 have made their way into the top six — the group of players selected to play in future tournaments — after the team’s first two events. At the Cal Lutheran Invitational, where the Athenas placed third, Lee had the team’s best score at two over par along with Irene Jun CM ’24.

Initially, the transition from high school to college golf was difficult for Chiu. Balancing long afternoons on the course with late nights in the classroom quickly became the new norm, but she credits her new team for helping her adjust

and feel at home.

“The team dynamic is so inclusive and tight-knit,” Chiu said.

“No matter what happens, matches and practices always end on a positive note.”

A collective team spirit is central to success for the Athenas.

Senior captains Lucy Bloomstran SC ’23 and Elena Anderson HM ’23 have worked hard to establish an inclusive environment so that the newcomers such as Chiu felt welcome and eager to compete.

But can this culture established by the captains carry onto the course? Currently, there are no seniors in the top six. According to Lee, lack of veteran leadership in competition hasn’t been a problem. The young team has been unfazed in the face of adversity, which can be attributed to new Assistant Coach Keilee Besho. “[Besho] is the captainly figure on the team for sure,” Lee said.

“She is also very active in the practices and encourages us to play our best.”

Last Saturday, the Athenas headed to San Dimas Canyon Golf Course to host the Claremont Invitational. Despite facing a historically tough conference opponent in the University of Redlands, no team came close to competing with the Athenas. Posting a total score of 579 (3 over par), the team won the two-day tournament by 12 shots. Still, Lee believes that there is more work to be done before the spring season starts.

“As a team, we have a great short game,” Lee said. “We just need to be more consistent.”

The Athenas are ready to reclaim what is theirs. The SCIAC tournament may seem like a long way away, but a successful spring can only be built from a strong fall, starting with the victory at the Claremont Invitational. Let the “redemption year” begin.

COUrteSY: CmS AtHLetICS

Stella Cheng Cm ’25 tees off at the Claremont Challenge, en route to a CmS victory at the tournament.

SportS

pAGe 10

September 30, 2022

Sagehen soccer topples Redlands Bulldogs 4-1 to remain undefeated in conference play ANSLEY WASHBURN & BEN LAUREN “Henergy” filled the air when the Pomona-Pitzer women’s soccer team defeated the Redlands Bulldogs with a decisive 4-1 victory on Wednesday.

The Sagehens had been preparing for this game the week prior knowing the stakes were bigger than many of their previous games. Lottie Dierks PZ ’26 said that because it was a SCIAC home game against a fierce opponent, the team had high expectations for themselves.

“We’re all really excited and motivated going into the game,” Dierks said. “Although we won on Saturday, we still haven’t seen our best potential yet because we haven’t been pushed there. We’re really looking forward to playing a bigger competitor and we want to prove we’re up for the challenge.”

They proved so by scoring two goals in the first 35 minutes of the game.

The first goal began with a run from Hannah Mandell PO ’23 who dribbled the ball to the end line just right of the Bulldogs’ goal. Mandell then cut back and served a cross into the box. Kendrick Dahlin PO ’26 was in just the right spot and volleyed the ball to finish.

Only five minutes after the Sagehens got on the scoreboard, they did it again. This time, Eliana Prosnitz PO ’25 was the catalyst.

She ripped a shot outside of the box and an attempted deflection from a Redlands defender guided the ball into the back of the net, lifting the Sagehens lead to 2-0.

During their Tuesday practice before the game, the Sagehens discussed their goals for the next day. Anjuli Turner PZ ’25 said that the team would focus on energy and defense.

“We had a talk about getting the ‘henergy’ up,” Turner said.

“We also talked about getting more pumped for games in general, and we discussed focusing on the smaller stuff because that’s what counts. As for specifics, we have a goal to not get scored on at home.”

Overall, the Sagehens lived up to their expectations. They dominated the Bulldogs throughout the first half and held possession for most of it. A palpable energy fueled their play, and they had multiple chances that missed just wide. However, the Sagehens fell short of their hope for a shutout.

In the 44th minute, just before the end of the first half, the Bulldogs scored, slipping a shot into the corner of the Sagehens’ net.

The first half ended 2-1, with the

eLLA brADLeY • tHe StUDeNt LIFe

Amanda Khu pO ’25 crosses up a defender on way to a 4-1 victory over redlands.

Sagehens in the lead.

This season, the Sagehens have consistently implemented a “half-and-half” goalkeeper strategy, splitting each game between two players. Wednesday’s game continued that trend, as coming out of halftime, Taylor Kane PZ ’25, subbed in for Naomi Meurice PO ’25.

This move did not come into play for some time, however, as the second half began with the two teams battling it out at midfield. Although the Bulldogs hoped to use the momentum of their first goal by moving the ball downfield, they only managed two scoring attempts, both of which ended with the ball sailing wide of the goal.

This strong defense allowed for P-P to push into Redlands territory, earning a corner kick.

Unfortunately for the Sagehens, this opportunity to extend their lead turned up empty, as they returned the ball to the Bulldogs, giving them a chance to tie the game.

Taking the ball past midfield and nearing the P-P goal, a Redlands player entered a one-onone situation with Kane. In a

heads-up move, she ran straight at the ball, diving on it and preventing even an attempt at a shot.

“For all three goalies on this team, we have this mentality,” said Kane. “It’s our box, it’s our [18-yard line]. We’re gonna go for everything. Come in strong, do our job and take care of our space.”

This stop seemed to swell up momentum among the Sagehens, as not long after, the ball returned to the feet of Prosnitz.

Just past midfield, Prosnitz saw an opening and took it, knocking herself over with a booming kick arcing just over the head of the Bulldogs’ keeper.

“As I was falling, I was like, ‘Please, God,’ honestly,” Prosnitz said. “It was a bit lucky I think, but just having the confidence to take those shots is something I’ve been working on.”

Following the score, P-P dominated possession time. In the second half, the Sagehens outshot the Bulldogs 13-1, many of which were near misses in the wake of Prosnitz’s goal.

Even though the Bulldogs

Athletes of the Week Pomona-Pitzer Genevieve DiBari PO ’24 Bethesda, MD Women’s Crosscountry Genevieve DiBari PO ’24 earned the SCIAC Athlete of the Week title after a stunning performance in last week’s meet. DiBari finished in ninth place individually at the Cougar Challenge in San Marcos, and she helped lead Pomona-Pitzer (P-P) to place fourth overall. This was an especially impressive rank for the Sagehens, as their competition consisted primarily of Division II schools. Their performance at this meet, and DiBari’s contribution, helped bump the Sagehens’ women’s cross country and track team up two spots in the NCAA national rankings to earn a spot in the top 10.

looked all but put to rest, they managed a last-gasp attempt at a comeback. Putting some serious pressure on the Sagehens, Redlands looked poised to at least cut the lead to one, but this was ultimately futile. As the Bulldogs sent a pass that would’ve set up a point-blank shot from in front of the goal, Kane dove and smacked the ball out of harm’s way, solidifying her 45-minute shutout.

“Going into the second half, the whole team came in with a strong mentality of keeping our game together and playing our game,” Kane said. “[I was] playing hard on defense and everyone was there with me, keeping it all together until the last whistle.”

To add insult to injury, Melanie Ng PO ’25 iced the game in the 88th minute with her first goal of the season to finish off the game 4-1.

Just like the game’s defensive star, Kane, its offensive standout, Prosnitz, came off the bench. The midfielder emphasized the importance of the Sagehens’ second team in their game plan.

Sports Calendar CMS

Friday, Sept. 30

Women’s golf

men and Women’s tennis

@ Whittier

ItA Fall regionals

men and Women’s

men’s Water polo

Cross-Country

@ La Verne

@ paul Short run

Vs pepperdine

men and Women’s tennis

Women’s Volleyball

ItA Fall regionals

@ Occidental

men’s Water polo Vs pepperdine and Fresno Pacific Women’s Volleyball @ Cal Lutheran

San Juan Capistrano, CA Men’s Soccer Eric Sanchez CM ’24 was a hero for the Stags on Wednesday, Sept. 21, when he scored two of the four total goals in CMS’s definite win over Chapman. Sanchez’s goals were scored within 61 seconds of each other in the second half and started with assists from Jake Allmon CMC ’23, who also scored a goal of his own. The first goal was scored in the 62nd minute of the game, with a give-and-go set up to allow for Sanchez to shoot from the center of the penalty area. The second came soon after, in the 63rd minute. Sanchez spun past a defender in the box to get a clear shot that flew to the back of the net to secure his second goal of the game. Sanchez’s brace was a key factor in securing victory for the Stags.

men and Women’s tennis ItA Fall regionals Women’s Soccer Vs Cal Lutheran men’s Water polo

men and Women’s tennis

Vs Redlands and Pacific

@ Caltech Women’s Soccer Vs. Caltech

CMC ’24

Saturday, Oct. 1

Saturday, Oct. 1

men’s Soccer

Eric Sanchez

P-P

Friday, Sept. 30

ItA Fall regionals

Claremont-Mudd-Scripps

“This game was really important because we’re playing the top of the table, Redlands,” Prosnitz said. “Being a substitute and coming in and changing the game is really something important on our team and one of our team values. To be able to execute that for my teammates was really special.

Two goals was just amazing, and it’s been a while since I’ve scored in a game, so it was really fun.

[It] feels good to be working hard in practice every week and then making it happen on the field.”

Wednesday’s victory was the Sagehens’ third in conference play (3-0-1) and sixth overall (61-1). P-P will host Cal Lutheran on Saturday in hopes of keeping their streak alive and taking outright first place in the SCIAC. Assistant Coach Isa Berardo believes they have the strategy to do so going forward.

“We’re gonna keep playing our game of soccer,” Berardo said.

“Try and play possession, attack when we can attack, play smart, play quick and hopefully outrun teams for the full 90 minutes — not give up a single second where we give any teams a chance at a goal.”

Football

Women’s Volleyball @ La Verne men’s Soccer @ Cal Lutheran Football @ Chapman

@ La Verne men’s Water polo Vs Air Force and Johns Hopkins Sunday, Oct. 2 men and Women’s tennis ItA Fall regionals Women’s Soccer @ UC Santa Cruz

Sunday, Oct. 2 men and Women’s tennis ItA Fall regionals