Gabby Giffords returns to Scripps for documentary screening

around the film, gun violence and Giffords’ journey.

Palestinian American comedian Mo Amer’s recent appearance in Scripps Presents’ “Laughing Matters!” event prompted much outrage and debate, including a TSL opinion piece. On March 7 in Avery Hall at Pitzer College, Kouross Esmaeli, professor of media studies at Pitzer, hosted a public dialogue titled “Does Context Matter?” in light of these concerns.

In his show, Amer talked about the bigotry directed towards him as a Middle Eastern person in America. He asked his audience “is this a safe space?” and proceeded to remark that he has been called a “sand N–word,” a phrase used to demean individuals of Middle Eastern descent. Attendees of Amer’s show noted that this context was missing from Shavers’ op-ed.

Esmaeli organized the event with input from the students in his media studies course MS 124:

See DIALOGUE on page 5

See page 10

Scripps alum and former congresswoman Gabby Giffords SC ’93 had a plan for what her life was going to look like before Jan. 8, 2011. She was going to run to be the next senator of Arizona and have children with her husband, current Arizona Senator Mark Kelly. Instead, on that day 12 years ago, a gunman shot her in the head, causing her to develop a speech disorder called aphasia and other long-lasting physical challenges. Rather than giving up, Giffords used this opportunity to help put an end to gun violence. Giffords returned to Scripps on March 7 to showcase a documentary centered around her story, titled “Gabby Giffords Won’t Back Down.” After the 6 p.m. screening, Giffords, along with the film’s producer Lisa Erspamer and co-founder and executive director of the nonprofit Giffords Peter Ambler, answered questions centered

During the panel, Giffords explained that both her own experience with gun violence and her reaction to Sandy Hook inspired her to form the nonprofit Giffords, which fights to end gun violence through legislative and judicial means.

“I was shot in my head while meeting with my constituents,” Giffords said. “I couldn’t walk. I couldn’t talk. I watched gun violence score too many lives. After the shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School, I said, ‘Enough is enough.’ We’re on a mission to end gun violence now.”

The film emphasized the meaningful nature of the work that the Giffords nonprofit, which has over 3 million supporters, has done. Specifically, the film talked about the support the nonprofit has provided in the fight for background checks for all gun purchases to become a national law and its work in fighting for the Bipartisan Safer

See GIFFORDS on page 4

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+12 cases the 5Cs

** HMC told TSL Oct. 10 that the school will no longer post case counts on a dashboard and instead will alert students via email when there is a surge in cases.

Data from each of the 5Cs school’s testing dashboards at press time. Visit covid.tsl.news for historical data.

March 7,

In 1911, the Boston Red Sox took a trip to Claremont and faced the Pomona Baseball team at Alumni field. Though the Sox went back east after demolishing Pomona’s team, the legacy of this first meeting lives on today.

STATUE: Scripps letter condemns art installation, calls for action

our campus better.”

Although Kolbe’s sculpture at Scripps of a slender nude woman is named “Young Woman” and is said to have been created in 1925, SAS discovered an identical sculpture by Kolbe named “Lauschende.” This sculpture was included in the Third Reich’s 1942 Great German Art Exhibition, where art symbolizing Nazi culture was sold.

“I would like the college to be more aware and thoughtful in the art that is bought and displayed around campus,” Maxon said. “In an even bigger sense, I would like the college to take substantial steps towards making campus a safe and welcoming environment for Jewish students.”

Students like Lily Dunkin SC ’24 and Arianne Ohara PZ ’25 have called attention to Kolbe’s controversial history and demanded that the statue be taken down.

“So much harm has been caused by this sculpture and it’s so representative of anti-semitism throughout history,” Dunkin said. “It’s also I think really emblematic of the toxic white femininity that we have on Scripps campus.”