Vol. CXXXV No. 18

Pomona raises tuition for tenth year in a row

AMEYA TELI

On Monday, March 11, Pomona College President Gabrielle Starr and Vice President Jeff Roth sent an email to students announcing that the college would be increasing its tuition for the 2024-25 school year. This increase marks the 10th consecutive year of rising costs at the college.

For the upcoming school year, tuition will be $65,000, housing and food will be $21,394 and the Associated Students of Pomona College (ASPC) student fee will be $420. Including an estimated $1,100 for books and supplies, as well as $1500 for personal expenses, the comprehensive fee will be $89,414, reflecting a 4.82 percent increase from last year’s $85,300. This increase is lower than the 5.05 percent

increase seen the previous year. Monday’s email began by outlining some of the factors that can shape a student’s educational time at Pomona, including research opportunities, social and cultural experiences and extracurricular activities. It also emphasized that, although the college ensures that every student receives some form of financial support, the recent rise in tuition was inevitable.

“Philanthropic support and thoughtful stewardship of our endowment mean that every Pomona student receives a subsidized education — no one pays the full price,” the email read. “At the same time, cost pressures continue

See TUITION on page 3

Sagehens can fly, but they swim faster: P-P women’s swim and dive wins two first place trophies at NCAA national championship

Scripps’ party culture: SAS’s road to Scripps Block Party

As co-5C event chairs of Scripps’ Associated Students (SAS), Alex Hamilton SC ’25 and Sarah Paper SC ’25 are on a mission to throw the event of the spring: Scripps Block Party. In her second year as a cochair, Hamilton has envisioned and executed Scripps College’s recent parties with the goal of subverting expectations of what a Scripps party looks like.

Last year Hamilton orchestrated “Road to Apocalypse,” a Mad Max-themed party she described as “off-brand” from what people expect from a Scripps event. Most recently, she hosted both “Tomorrowland,” Scripps’ first darty (daytime party) in years and “Enchanted Forest,” a dreamy and eclectic formal dance held in Balch Auditorium.

we think and plan and design an event, I’m … trying to think about how that will contribute to the overall Scripps nightlife reputation,” Hamilton said. Paper commented on Scripps’

reputation in comparison to the other colleges. “Especially among students, a lot of people say it’s pretty boring compared to the other 5Cs,” Paper said.

When Hamilton left to study abroad last semester, Paper stepped up as co-event chair. The junior duo envision their party planning process as a way to bring 5C students

together and bolster Scripps’ overall social scene. SAS has faced much scrutiny for lack of safety measures in the aftermath of Scripps’ infamous 2022 Halloween Party stampede. Colloquially known to some students as “January Scripps,” a play on the Jan. 6 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol, the SAS Halloween party devolved into chaos as a horde of students trampled the metal fencing and began taking fire extinguishers off the walls. The wristbands distributed for the party were easily replicable and distributed several days before the event, which many students took advantage of.

“People were printing fake wristbands out, mass production style, distributing them in batches at the Hub,” Hamilton described.

When these fake wristbands began popping up on Halloween night, Campus Safety quickly caught on and began carefully examining each guest’s wristband as they entered. Tensions rose when

guests became frustrated at the ensuing lengthy check-in process, leading to the storming of the fence.

Shortly after the eve of January Scripps, the then-SAS event chair, Trinity Walker SC ’24, stepped down from her position.

Hamilton underwent an unconventional hiring process to take on the vacant position. Instead of the traditional voting process, she interviewed with SAS directly and began her role mid-semester.

“That event is very, very much something I always go back to,” Hamilton said.

To plan fresh, lively events hosted by Scripps for all 5C campuses, Hamilton and Paper have to be creative and resourceful to plan an event that is exciting for students while still complying with administrative regulations and budget limitations.

“With the given regulations for anyone on campus, it’s really hard here for students to host

See SCRIPPS on page 2

UNITY TAMBELLINI-SMITh & JAZELLE SALIGUMBA • ThE STUDENT LIFE

Scripps Associated Students co-chairs work towards organizing a Scripps Block Party that they hope will change the college’s party culture.

Say ‘hei’ to Oldenborg Dining Hall’s new Finnish language table

On Wednesday, March 20, Oldenborg debuted its Finnish language table, growing its mission to foster community through

KAHANI MALHOTRA

Laughter and conversation emanated from Oldenborg dining hall on Wednesday, March 20 as it debuted its new Finnish language table, with attendees teaching each other phrases, passing around language books and conversing in Finnish.

The Oldenborg Language Tables at Pomona College occur every weekday from 12 to 1 p.m., offering languages including Spanish, Amharic, ASL and now Finnish. The tables provide an immersive environment for students, faculty and staff of the Claremont Colleges as well as local community members to converse in different languages and meet new people.

Xuehuai He PO ’25 and Rowan Norenberg PO ’27 led the initiative for the new Finnish language table.

Carolina De la Rosa Bustamante, staff director of the Oldenborg Center, described her excitement of welcoming Finnish to Oldenborg in an email to TSL.

“We were thrilled when [He] and [Norenberg] reached out with

an interest in starting a Finnish table,” Bustamante said. “Finnish is [now] one of 27 languages available this semester at Oldenborg tables.”

He has spent the past three years working to bring the idea to fruition after an interesting run-in with the language.

“In the pandemic, I was stuck in Finland [due to a failed connecting flight],” He said. “I was dropped in Helsinki for a long time for no reason. When I actually got back and was quarantined for three weeks, I had nothing to do, I just learned Finnish. For 21 days I learned Finnish all-day. By the time I got out of [quarantine], my Finnish was pretty good. It was really funny.”

After learning the fundamentals of the language, He continued to study Finnish and upon arriving to Pomona, they wanted to find fellow Finnish speakers and put their language skills into practice. They found a now-graduated heritage speaker — someone who learned a minority language from their family — at

sCRIPP s: sA s plans Block Party

continued from page 1 events themselves,” Hamilton said. “They’re not allowed to throw a party with their friends in dorm rooms or courtyards if there are alcoholic beverages involved … We’re trying, in hosting our events, to provide that space, that amenity, on Scripps campus for the whole of the 5C community.”

The process of turning their vision for the block party into reality hasn’t been easy.

Contrary to popular assumption, Scripps is not a dry campus — a campus where alcohol consumption is prohibited. Scripps’ alcohol policy, however, is more stringent than that of Claremont McKenna and Harvey Mudd Colleges, which are both wet campuses and Pomona College, which is a partially wet campus.

Scripps’ policy restricts the use of SAS funding to procure alcohol for any events and prohibits students from serving alcohol in all scenarios, except for legal adults in small, private group settings.

To provide alcohol at their upcoming event, Hamilton and Paper planned two fundraisers in the preceding weeks: A Valentine’s Day event selling treats with little notes and a post-Wedding Party late-night snack where they sold Raising Cane’s to hungry partygoers.

When considering vendor options, Hamilton and Paper considered not only the price of alcohol but also the fixed costs of hiring a bartender and purchasing drinking cups and other paraphernalia. As a result, the pair prioritized affordable local restaurants in their search. Initially, Hamilton and Paper’s goal was to find a local vendor to offer bartending ser -

vice at a discounted rate in exchange for publicity from 5C students. After many rejected offers, they decided to collaborate with a Claremont Village staple: Walter’s Restaurant.

Walter’s is a storied Claremont eatery with many student-friendly amenities: bottomless brunch on the weekends, Thursday to Sunday happy hour with drinks and $3-5 appetizers and a nightlife scene that regularly runs until 2 a.m.

SAS’ partnership with Walter’s is mutually beneficial and is an opportunity for students to interact with local businesses. “[Walter’s] took a bit of a decline in the amount of students and customers from 5C campuses because of [the pandemic],” Hamilton said. “After that, they’ve been doing everything they can to boost their reputation with students.”

In addition to alcoholic beverages catered by Walter’s, the Scripps Block Party has a host of fun amenities lined up. Savage Tacos, a Blackowned Gourmet Food Truck service, will provide tacos free of charge to the first 75 attendees.

As for ambiance, popular campus DJs Chelsea Luo CM ’25 and Icey Cheng CM ’26, who DJed for events such as Club Claremont and the Desi Rave, will be running the show.

Co-event chairs Hamilton and Paper are excited to welcome the 5C community to the SAS Block Party on April 19 from 10 p.m. to 1 a.m.

Claremont McKenna College to practice their Finnish with and after meeting up a few times, they decided to start a Finnish language table at Oldenborg. The pandemic, however, hindered their plans.

“[My] first year was [affected by] COVID, so [Oldenborg] was like, ‘sorry, there are no language tables,’” He said. “[My] second year, I emailed Oldenborg. They never got back to me. I think it’s because it was only me pursuing it and there was not a second person, so that’s why it got dismissed.”

Last semester, He met Norenberg who knew some Finnish pronunciation and, eager to learn more, volunteered to support He’s language table efforts.

“I speak a little bit of Finnish,” Norenberg said. “I’ve been working on it for a while, but didn’t have anyone to talk to, so that made it hard. When I found out that [He] was trying to set this [language table] up, I was like, I want to team up with you on this.”

While languages taught at the 5Cs have tables in Oldenborg led

by Language Residents or those involved in teaching them, the rest that are not taught at the colleges — including Finnish — are overseen by students, faculty, or community members who hold lunch sessions once a week.

“Their efforts help bring together linguistic communities who enjoy having a dedicated space to speak in a given language and welcome others with that shared interest to join in,” Bustamante said.

The pair has hosted two language table sessions so far, but with a limited number of attendees who have an actual grasp of the language, there have been learning curves in holding conversation; however, He seemed hopeful.

“Maybe over time everybody’s level will increase and we’ll be talking about more interesting topics,” He said. “But yeah, it’s fun. I think it’s great that I actually get to speak Finnish in real life.”

Valerie Gustaveson, a former Swedish instructor at Pomona with a keen love for languages, was among the attendees of the

Finnish table’s first meeting.

“The languages are neighbors, but the languages are totally different,”Gustaveson said. “You know Norwegian, Swedish, Danish, even Icelandic, I mean they’re all in the same family. But Finnish missed some sort of European development. It’s more like Hungarian and Estonian.”

Gustaveson highlighted the importance of language acquisition, particularly for students.

“I think it’s good for your brain to learn languages,” Gustaveson said. “You use a different part of your brain. It’s a different way of socializing, too.”

Gustaveson commented on He’s skilled self-taught Finnish, saying it reminded her of the Finns she was surrounded by as a professor at UCLA. The language, however, was truly a surprise skill for He.

“Finnish was pure coincidence for me,” He said. “I did not intend to learn Finnish at all, it just happened. [But] what else can I do if I don’t learn languages?”

Pia Snellman SC ’26, a student who attended the table’s second showing Tuesday, was drawn to it due to her Finnish upbringing. Growing up with a Finnish father and having lived in Finland for a little while, she said she came to the table to try to regain some of her language skills.

“I will hear some words I remember from Finnish Camp, growing up with my dad,” she said. “It’s like, oh yeah, it’s coming back, I hear it. So it’s a little bit, like, both nerve-wrecking and exciting to hear things that I remember somewhere deep in my brain.”

Snellman reflected on how there is not a robust Scandinavian or Nordic community at the Claremont Colleges and how she tries to stay in touch with that part of her identity on campus.

“[There’s] not a ton of a Finnish or Scandinavian community here,” she said. “But I like sharing some of my Finnish and Swedish tradition. I hope more people come to the Finnish language table. We can build a community and be confused together.”

Gustaveson reflected on the importance of the language table program in providing students an opportunity in their busy schedules to practice their skills.

“I can’t say enough about Oldenborg,” Gustaveson said. “Here, you learn to understand one another and make yourself understood without being worried about making mistakes. Here, you’ve got freedom.”

On March 18, Pomona College’s Campus Advocacy, Resources, Education and Support (CARES) Office announced via email its new assistant director, Cynthia Flores. As an alumna of Scripps College, Flores is returning to the Claremont Colleges with over ten years of experience working with young people in the education, social services and non-profit sectors.

The email was sent by Associate Dean and Title IX Coordinator Destiny Marrufo, who served as assistant director until this past January when she stepped into her current role. At the time, Marrufo reflected on her previous experiences with CARES and explained how she would use them moving forward.

“The work I have done with the CARES Office has allowed me to be in front of students in various ways, building trust and rapport with our students,” Marrufo told TSL previously. “I will bring those same efforts and relationships into my new role as Title IX coordinator.”

In the March 18 email, Marrufo offered the

sought to invite!” Greek highlighted Flores’ and Marrufo’s dedication to shaping the CARES office into a safe and approachable space for students to access.

from all over the Pomo

the email

via

explained that campus advocates were given the opportunity to attend a personal meet and greet with each candidate and that the student body was encouraged to host student presentations for the finalists, with attendees submitting feedback afterwards.

“The CARES Campus Advocates were of course particularly involved in the selection process,” Greek wrote. “I was quite pleased with the level of student engagement the selection committee

“One thing that we were really impressed with in Cynthia’s presentation was her commitment to making these very heavy and dense topics relatable, engaging and salient for students,” she wrote. “The previous CARES assistant director, Destiny Marrufo, who now serves as our Title IX coordinator, really initiated a campaign to make us and our office more approachable and accessible to students — because that’s who we’re really here for.” Greek also expressed her excitement for future CARES initiatives with Flores. “Cynthia has been very vocal about her commitment to building upon the rapport we built with the student body under Destiny,” Greek wrote. “She has so many great ideas and I’m really looking forward to students getting to know her (and us!) better.”

language. WENDY ZhANG • ThE STUDENT LIFE

COURTNEY CHEN MARIANA

Cynthia Flores was announced as the new Assistant Director at Pomona’s CARES Office on Mar. 18.

TSL takes home 13 awards from the California College Media Association

The California College Media Association’s (CCMA) announced their college student newspaper awards for the 2023 calendar year with TSL taking home 13.

Winning four first place awards, four second place awards and five third place awards, TSL established itself as a dominant force in its category of colleges under 15,000 students.

Some of its first-place awards included wins for “Best Breaking News Story” and “Best Overall Newspaper Design.”

TSL also stood out as not only a power in print, but also online, winning several multimedia awards such as “Best Vertical Short Video” and “Best Podcast.” Here’s the full list of TSL’s CCMA awards:

First place:

Best Overall Newspaper Design for Grace Sauers, Emma Constable, Hannah Weaver and Maxine Davey

Best Special Issue/Section for Averi Sullivan, Jenna McMurtry, Anuradha Krishnan, Saru Potturi, Rowan Gray and Daisy Alvarez’s Bringing Light to Black Resistance

Best Breaking News Story for Jenna McMurtry, Mariana Duran, Reia Li and Maxine Davey’s “Claremont Police Department arrests Pomona faculty member on campus”

Best Photo Illustration for Sasha Mat-

thews’ graphic in “Sappho as queer icon: At Pomona College, Ella Haselswerdt talks lesbian futurism and queer theory”

Second place:

Best News Series for Ben Lauren, Maya Zhan, Maxine Davey, Sara Cawley, Mariana Duran, Annabelle Ink’s coverage of community responses to violence in Israel and Gaza

Best Social Media Reporting for Mariana Duran, Maxine Davey and Ben Lauren’s “Instagram coverage of student protests”

Best Sports Story for Ansley Washburn’s “Under new leadership, Sagehens men’s cross country secures third NCAA championship title”

Best Vertical Short Video for Quinn Dwyer and Averi Sullivan’s “Where to Find TSL Newspapers (with Rafa and Gus)”

Third place:

Best Newspaper Inside Page/Spread Design for Grace Sauers, Bella Pettengil, Hannah Weaver, Gerrit Punt and Averi Sullivan’s “Claremont Issue Spread”

Best Feature Story for Ben Lauren’s “112 years ago, the Boston Red Sox faced off against Pomona College. Today they are working together to change the perception of DIII baseball”

Best Illustration for Nicole Cepeda’s graphic in “Moments to Savor: The comical contents of greenboxes”

Best Headline Portfolio for Ben Lauren

Best Podcast for Hannah Weaver, Gerrit Punt, Ananya Vinay, Audrey Matei, Lina Chang, Julia Parsa’s “TSL Podcast: News Splash”

TUITION: Cost of attendance at Pomona rises by 4.97%

continued from page 1

to build and we will need to raise tuition next year to meet them.”

The other Claremont Colleges have also announced tuition increases from last year, projecting 2024-2025 prices of $93,131 at Harvey Mudd, $91,510 at Claremont McKenna, $90,386 at Scripps and $89,792 at Pitzer Colleges. These reflect increases of 7.60 percent, 5.79 percent, 3.81 percent and 3.79 percent respectively. The email also explained that this increase would be accompanied by an increase in financial aid for students.

“When we need to increase tuition, we also increase aid, fulfilling our commitment to meeting students’ full demonstrated need through financial aid,” it read.

Roth, who also serves as Pomona’s chief operating officer and treasurer, later clarified in an email to TSL that the key factors in the tuition increase were inflationary trends. He explained that the decision to raise tuition was not made lightly.

“Each year, we carefully evaluate our fees in light of the cost of providing a Pomona education and then make a recommendation to the Board of Trustees,” he said. However, Roth also stated that financial aid would be adjusted accordingly.

“Financial aid is increased to cover the additional student fees,” he said. “Changes in a student’s financial situation may also affect aid provided.”

Paul Dieken, director of financial aid at Pomona College, emphasized this point, explaining that the college examines a student’s demonstrated need when determining their financial aid award. Their demonstrated need is determined in part by their Estimated Family Contribution, which is calculated based on reported income and assets.

“Assuming the family’s income and assets remain unchanged, their estimated family contribution should stay the same from year to year,” Dieken said in an email to TSL.

“When the cost of attendance goes up, and the family contribution stays the same, the need goes up and so does the amount of aid to cover that need.” Still, some students expressed concern with the new price of tuition. Elizabeth Newman PO ’27 suggested that this price might deter students from applying to Pomona in the future.

“I think that the price tag perpetuates an air of wealth around the school, regardless of whether or not it’s accurate,” Newman said. “And I think that that can be really dangerous, because schools do better with diversity and it’s really important that you have students of all income levels.”

Examining arranged marriage and casteism: Insights from Netflix’s ‘Indian Matchmaking’

NITYA GUPTA wedding. But, he explained, this process carries a stigma. “A lot of the times, we equate arranged marriage to forced marriage, [because] people think that it isn’t consensual,” Patel said. “But it isn’t that. Two people can consensually enter an arranged marriage, you do get the chance to say no, and people need to realize that.”

On March 21, Claremont McKenna College’s (CMC) Civility, Access, Resources, and Expression (CARE) Center held an event centered around the Netflix Original reality TV show, “Indian Matchmaking.” Hosted by CARE Fellow Pranav Patel CM ’26, the event analyzed different scenes from the show and sparked a discussion on casteism and discrimination in both India and the United States.

“Indian Matchmaking,” which was initially released in 2020, follows Sima Taparia, a professional matchmaker who helps Indian singles find suitable partners for marriage. The series is based on traditional matchmaking practices in Indian culture, exploring how cultural and gender norms can influence arranged marriages.

As a CARE Fellow, Patel’s role involves holding events to educate 5C community members about important social issues in order to open dialogue. Patel said he chose this topic so that people could understand how casteism can impact people’s lives.

“I hope people understand that caste is something that has shaped not only South Asian history, but also our history as products of the South Asian diaspora,” Patel said. “A part of the reason I’m in this country has to do with the caste system.”

At the event, Patel began by explaining that arranged marriages are common among families practicing Hinduism. He said it involves setting up couples based on their background and compatibility, along with other factors, and said that if all goes well, it ends in a

Throughout the talk, Patel intertwined explanations with scenes from the show, citing examples of how this modern matchmaking process and its issues are reflected in it.

He then delved into explaining the caste system in India, demonstrating how it can influence marriage. The Indian caste system is a social hierarchy dividing people into ranked groups — Brahmins, Kshatriyas, Vaishyas, Shudras and Dalits — with prescribed roles and privileges. This system essentially determines one’s occupation, social status and interactions with society.

“It’s a hereditary social hierarchy, as you can get it from your parents, but if you’re a woman, you can get it from your marriage,” Patel said. “Especially for women, it determines who you can marry and the jobs you can do and your caste essentially becomes your occupation.” Patel then went on to further explain how the lower castes, specifically Dalits, face unique issues and are often oppressed in Indian society, subject to violence and discrimination.

“The higher up you are in this caste hierarchy, especially if you’re a Brahmin or a Kshatriya, then you tend to be more ‘pure’ and you are given access to the

best resources,” Patel said. “But Dalits are termed ‘Untouchable’ in India, they tend to be relegated to degrading work and are even denied access to basic resources like water.”

Furthermore, Patel explained that, after the passing of the 1965 Immigration and Nationality Act in the United States, many Indians immigrated there for better employment. However, this option was only available to upper-caste members, increasing caste-based discrimination in India and the United States.

“Statistically, 87 percent of Indians in the United States are upper-caste, with only one out of 100 immigrants being Dalits,” Patel said. “This leads to homophily in caste, as people will tend to only associate with others from the same caste, as their parents only associate with people from the same caste.”

Patel then cited examples of how people are fighting against caste discrimination, with lawsuits filed against Cisco and Google in 2020 by Dalit engineers who alleged that they faced caste-bias and harassment in the workplace.

Patel also noted that, in 2022, Scripps College added caste as a protected category of its discrimination and harassment policies. The initiative was due to the advocacy of the 5C South Asian Mentorship Program.

Patel ended the talk by explaining why it is important to understand cultural practices and to challenge instances of discrimination.

“Marriage is ultimately just a reflection of our culture,” Patel said. “Casteism and colourism

are still important issues not only here, but in India as well. It’s our responsibility to engage with our background, be critical of our traditions and break generational patterns when we can.”

Audience member Anusha Kabra CM ’27 said the event was interesting and praised the diversity of the topic and opinions presented.

“I liked how there was a lot of usage of instances from the show where we picked up on specific dialogues and lines which created interesting discussions,” Kabra said. “It was nice to hear everyone else’s opinions, there was a lot of diversity there and it was a good experience.” Ragini Mohan CM ’27, another audience member, echoed similar sentiments but added that she

wished that there was more discussion around arranged marriage.

“The talk focused more on casteism and discrimination, but I think the primary focus of the show is still arranged marriage,” Mohan said. “It would have been helpful if [Patel] spoke about how arranged marriage isn’t bad, the good that’s come out of it and the way that it’s evolved.”

Patel also added how students can play a role in fighting against casteism.

“The best thing to do is educate yourself on caste,” he said. “I didn’t even know what caste was until I took a class at CMC on caste, race and equality by Professor Panda, but it is something that we need to be actively aware of and [we need to be] critical of the structures that perpetuate it.”

CMC’s CARE Center hosted an event on casteism on Mar. 21, using the show ‘Indian Matchmaking’ as a starting point for the discussion.

What is college for?: Inclusion in an exclusive institution

Amid the hustle and bustle of college life, students can lose sight of the reason they’re in college in the first place.

On March 21, the panel “What is College For” delved into the systemic inequities embedded in the Claremont Colleges’ status as elite small liberal arts institutions, as well as the broader purpose of higher education. The panel, which took place in Pomona College’s Edmunds Ballroom, featured Pomona’s Susan McWilliams Barndt, professor of politics, Guillermo Douglass-Jaimes, assistant professor of environmental analysis and Stef Torralba, visiting assistant professor of English.

Organizer Maggie Zhang PO ’26 moderated the panel, which was followed by a Q&A.

“Why is there so much talk of inclusivity at this institution if we all chose it precisely because of how exceptionally exclusive it is?” Zhang said. “In elite spaces, and certainly at Pomona College, there is an unspoken and unspeakable mess of norms, social and academic, private and public, that we are all victims and perpetrators of … It’s never just as simple as getting a degree and getting out.”

Barndt emphasized the inherent contradictions in the purpose of college as a place which promotes self-discovery and is radical in its conception despite operating within an elitist system that subsidizes the wealthy.

‘’[College is] largely a mechanism of finishing and credentialing for the cosmopolitan professional class,” Barndt said. “We take seriously in our organization a very ancient idea that education of people is something that is done best on a small scale, relationally and face to face, and in an increasingly technological, bureaucratic, impersonal world of ever increasing scale, that is actually a very radical proposition. It’s very countercultural.”

Torralba observed that many subjects in higher education are

steeped in a history of cultural hegemony and imperialism. Torralba emphasized that curriculum choices can frequently signal eliteness. “The English curriculum privileges very specific literary texts that are seen as really difficult to really rigorous as a way of signifying that Western literature is a part of a uniquely rich, intellectual … tradition,” Torralba said. “The liberal humanist subject is … also the same intellectual tradition that produced modes of racial and colonial difference that we’re still grappling with today.”

Douglass-Jaimes pointed out the manifold layers of elitism at the Claremont Colleges, from financial challenges to inequities that mirror broader disparities

in access to resources within the elite sphere. “[Someone] who can afford to be here was able to access resources that can prepare you to get here,” Douglass-Jaimes said. “I grew up in Riverside. And I did not know that this college existed until I applied to work here. [It] specifically was not in my universe.” Attendee Estrella Salas-Mendoza PO ’27 appreciated the candor of the panelists.

“I liked how open and honest the professors were with their answers,” Salas-Mendoza said. “I really liked the questions that people were asking. They’re really thinking about how diversity is seen in the college and how there’s not that real diversity here.”

A significant topic of discussion was the difference in how adjunct and visiting faculty are treated, including the substantial pay gap. According to Barndt, the highest-paid professors at Pomona have a salary of $200,000 a year, whereas visiting professors are paid $7,000 per class. In addition, visiting professors teach two more classes a year than their tenured counterparts. Barndt also raised concerns about the increase in visiting and contingent faculty at Pomona. “Forty percent of our classes … are taught by people who don’t have basic tenure protections and will not get tenure here,” Barndt said. “We can afford to do better.”

Barndt was explicit about her expectations for tenured professors.

“A tenured professor [has] more time to do research to make professional connections … to keep up with the scholarship in my discipline,” Barndt said. The panelists emphasized the value of creating spaces where students can be open and honest in a way that helps the 5C community take steps toward true accountability. They asked the audience to reflect on their relative privilege as part of a prestigious institution.

“Rather than trying to pretend that this institution is something other than what it is, I love us to have [these] conversations,” Barndt said. “Like, if we’re in positions of power … what can you do with that in a way that allows you to sleep at night?”

Students split on CMC modern art installations: Misunderstood masterpieces or hot messes?

PARISHI KANUGA

As one looks outside the massive floor-to-ceiling windows of Collins Dining Hall at Claremont McKenna College (CMC), what meets their eyes is a pile of scrap metal, petrified wood attached to rusted metal rods and four enormous white loops.

Some viewers find these public art pieces scattered around CMC’s campus striking and provocative. Others deem them eyesores.

CMC prides itself on its public art collection, which is overseen by the school’s Board of Trustees through its public art program. The program aims to “integrate art into all aspects of campus life and provide an opportunity to engage with the arts and others constructively.”

Most notably, the new glass sculpture “Qwalala” by Pae White has garnered widespread animosity from the CMC community, although it has a few vocal supporters. Benjamin Smith CM ’24 de -

scribed the CMC community’s opinion on the sculpture as initially monolithic, noting that attitudes toward “Qwalala” have shifted throughout its first two semesters on campus.

“Everyone hated [“Qwalala”] at first,” Smith said. “But slowly, I’ve started to notice that everyone started to change their tune a little bit — it’s growing on people over the school year.”

Smith has begun to enjoy the way the colorful sculpture illuminates his Mid Quad dorm room at night, but he misses the loss of greenspace due to the sculpture’s placement.

Students frequently use the sculpture itself as a lounge space, with many opting to sit within the curves of its glass brick walls.

Non-CMC students were not as affected by the removal of the greenspace, allowing them to have an unencumbered appreciation for the sculpture. Serena Li PO ’26 remarked that she enjoys CMC’s art, especially the “Qwala-

la” sculpture. “I personally like [“Qwalala”] as a non-CMC student,” Li said. “I enjoy walking past it when I’m walking to CMC, either to eat at the dining hall or to go through the campus.”

Li explained that for Pomona students like herself, CMC’s architecture and art reflect the school’s pre-professional ethos. Li said that the glass elements and modern architectural style of “The Massoud,” commonly referred to as “The Cube,” and the surrounding five-story Kravis Center contribute to a clean, corporate feel.

Rohaan Bhojwani CM ’26 shared Li’s sentiment, saying that the campus’ art is a nod to the college’s emphasis on practical knowledge. Pieces such as “The Massoud” and The “Modified Social Benches” serve functional purposes in addition to their aesthetic value.

“Maybe not as much floweriness as we see in other colleges’

art, but more grounded in reality,” Bhojwani said.

Director of Public Art at CMC Kimberly Shiring described in a press release the goal of artwork displayed around CMC’s campus.

“[CMC’s Public Art Program] seeks to integrate arts into all aspects of campus life and augment and enhance our core institutional values as a residential liberal arts college,” Shiring said.

“The Massoud” is Bhojwani’s favorite piece on campus, largely because it is named after Robert A. Day Distinguished Professor of Accounting Marc Massoud. “He was my favorite professor,” Bhojwani said. “So, every time I walk by it, I think of him.”

“The Massoud,” a glass cubeshaped structure that sits in a Mesabi black granite reflection pool, is the centerpiece of CMC’s campus. Walking into the building, one can expect to find a quiet atmosphere conducive to studying or relaxing.

“The Enigma of Pleasure” is a scrap metal sculpture directly in front of Collins. One of the four pieces by Carol Bove visible from Collins’ large windows, the piece was installed in 2019.

While Kate Schwab CM ’26 finds the sculpture’s name humorous, she doesn’t hold a high opinion of the art itself.

“I just think [the name is] funny and definitely not what I would call a pile of trash,” Schwab said. “It kind of looks like the remnants of a really bad car accident in the 1960s.”

Schwab’s favorite public art piece, “The Modified Social Benches” by Jeppe Hein, is a popular pick among students.

Located immediately next to the Hub Grill, CMC’s cafe, the benches are a striking red color and feature whimsical loops and bends, making for a unique sitting experience.

Some students even feel that the benches are underutilized.

“I like the red benches,” Li said. “I think they’re visually very attractive. I just don’t ever see people sitting on them.”

Outside Roberts Pavilion sits

“Meet in the Middle” by Christopher Burden, a circular formation of benches and street lamps that illuminates the surrounding plaza. The piece is reminiscent of his iconic Los Angeles fixture “Urban Light.”

Its location on CMC’s southern side, away from the central and residential areas of campus, makes the installation less prominent compared to other works such as the Cube and “Qwalala.”

Similar to “The Modified Social Benches,” the piece is not widely used by students as seating space.

Bhojwani pointed out that students who venture into the halls of CMC faculty office buildings have the opportunity to see some more “underrated” campus art, should they be interested.

“If you actually go to the third floor of Bauer North, where the faculty sits, there is a lot of cool art hanging there,” Bhojwani said. “One of the original maps from Hawaii is actually there.”

At the end of the day, students have yet to reach a general consensus regarding the art’s appeal — but not for lack of interest. Eric Workman CM ’24 underlined an indisputable feature of the installations.

“To be honest, I’d generally consider them an eyesore,” Workman said. “But I do agree that they are often conversation starters

at least make the campus

more unique”.

WENDY ZhANG • ThE STUDENT LIFE

ANANYA VINAY

Panelists Susan McWilliams Barndt, Guillermo Doulass-Jaimes and Stef Torralba convened on March 21 to discuss higher education and unpack layers of elitism at the claremont colleges.

Reading pop culture: Book recommendations from iconic moments

CAROLINE KELLY

We are only three months into 2024 and yet reality TV scandals have abounded, insufferable artsy films dominated the Oscars and the petrifying arrival of the fall election is imminent. In this world of chaos, what better place to turn to than a library? Here are some of my favorite pop culture moments of the year and corresponding book recommendations. After all, literature is the perfect stage for some good drama.

I am a huge fan of “Love is Blind,” a Netflix reality dating show where couples get engaged without ever seeing one another. The most iconic moment from the last season was when a cast member claimed her celebrity look-alike to be Megan Fox. Of course, when her fiancé saw her for the first time, he was shocked at the lack of similarities between the two women. Now, of course, in the era of TikTok, this scene received an abundance of criticism.

From USA Today to Glamour magazine and numerous splicings of their faces next to one another, the debate ravaged social media. Now, I think there are similarities between the two women but confirming or denying celebrity look-alikes is not my expertise. However, I can recommend a book that parallels this drama over false impersonation.

“My Husband,” written by Maud Ventura, was translated from French to English by Emma Ramadan. The book follows a sophisticated housewife in her 40s with two children. She is utterly infatuated with her husband but questions whether he feels the same. As a result, she begins plotting

disastrous schemes to test how much he truly loves her. Filled with subversive humor and dark comedy, this thriller is a page-turner that will have you cackling. Similar to the “Love is Blind” scandal, this novel abounds with sadistic behavior that derives from unrequited love. When I think back on the movies I watched this past year, the most memorable is “Saltburn.” The film depicts how an abundance of wealth alters human behavior in a revolting yet fascinating manner. This may be a controversial suggestion, but I highly recommend this movie.

If you love “Saltburn,” I have the perfect book recommendation for you.

Think of all the worst things a human could do — really, every single one. Because they’re all in this book.

“Earthlings” by Sayaka Murata was translated from Japanese to English by Ginny Tapley Takemori. The novel follows Natsuki, a woman in her 30s who cannot seem to fit into the societal “factory.” As a result, she begins to believe that she is an alien and forms a small cohort who rebel against the conforming nature of the world. The protagonist in “Saltburn” exhibits a similarly isolating mentality. In both stories, the self-proclaimed outsider identity is taken to the extreme, resulting in catastrophe for all. The absurdity of the novel, though, is grounded in the desire to belong that all humans experience. I adored this story — frankly, it’s even better than “Saltburn.”

Scrolling through Instagram reels or TikTok, you have probably heard Kamala Harris’ voice utter the words “We did it, Joe!” At once cel-

ebratory and full of shock, Harris delivered the message of political victory in an exasperated yet joyful tone. The mundanity in the video for such a pinnacle moment makes the clip hilarious. Many people have recreated the moment or added their backdrops and characters to the sound. This is a wonderful 2020 moment to hold on to as the 2024 election approaches.

Searching for a book that explores how seemingly simple moments like these shape societies?

Look no further than “Time Shelter” by Georgi Gospodinov, translated from Bulgarian to English by Angela Rodel. The basis of the book is that there is a new treatment for Alzheimer’s called the “clinic of the past” where patients are able to transport themselves to past memories to help them remember in the present. When the magical treatment becomes known to all, timelines begin to merge in dangerous ways; the risk of the future repeating itself increases. In an age like today ripe with political anxiety, the novel’s message of utilizing the past to inform the future is of utmost importance. As Harris said “We did it, Joe” — and let us hope to do it again.

In a society constantly engulfed in mayhem, books offer the opportunity to simultaneously escape and embrace the present. I hope these reads offer you the chance to laugh and learn more about our ever-changing world.

Caroline Kelly (PO ’27) is from Boston, Massachusetts. Her ideal afternoon involves reading and cold brew.

Come groove with KSPC

SAShA MATThEWS

You’ve seen them around campus: stickers depicting aliens with headphones, squirrels with 88.7 FM plastered on top and the perfectly to-the-point “I <3 KSPC.” But what is KSPC and why does everyone seem to love it so much?

Although relatively — and literally, as we are housed in the basement of Pomona College’s Thatcher Hall — underground, KSPC 88.7 FM Claremont is the independent, non-commercial, student run radio station of the Claremont Colleges. Originally standing for K Students of Pomona College, KSPC is now the K SPaCe, as we represent the entirety of the 5C community. First broadcast on the FM in 1956, KSPC is an essential hub for the underground and underrepresented music scene at the Claremont Colleges and wider Inland Empire area. “KSPC Claremont strives to be a diverse, collaborative, and educational space in which community members of the Claremont Colleges and beyond can participate in their love of media, music and radio,” our mission statement reads. “Through creative programming, live events, and community engagement, KSPC promotes innovation and discovery by providing a platform for new, local, and underrepresented voices, perspectives, and sounds.”

As a KSPC volunteer, students can host live on-the-air music shows and podcasts, help the station review newly released music for radio play, learn live sound mixing skills, gain exposure to audio production and further personal music discovery (as our physical and digital music libraries boast thousands of records to dig through and enjoy). KSPC frequently hosts events for the community and on the air. Currently, we are looking forward to our March Variety Show on Saturday March 30 from 7:00 - 9:00 p.m. Once a month during the school year, KSPC hosts live, in-studio artists for streaming on the air in the format of our Variety Shows. These shows feature a variety of audio-format acts, such as bands, solo musicians, poets, comedians and more.

As March is International Women’s Month, this variety show will be highlighting female voices and perspectives of 5C musicians. Tune in to 88.7 FM or stream online at www.kspc.org to hear it. Aside from variety shows, individual DJs from the station also host live in-studio sessions — a recent favorite of ours was experimental electronic musician 92Jelani live on DJ A/Ds show SynthdactylProgram — so there’s always new, live music to discover on our air waves. KSPC is also back with our annual record expo, rebranded as the Music and Art Mart. From 12 to 4 p.m. on Sunday, April 7 in Edmunds Ballroom at Pomona, come and enjoy live music and buy art and records from student and community vendors. The featured music acts are Fischli’s Animals, a favorite campus band and the Claremont Colleges Irish Music Ensemble! The event is free with a 5C student ID and $2 for the general public.

College radio allows students to uplift musical narratives important to them and their communities and all of us at KSPC aim to represent these values through our programming and events schedule. Stay tuned (here and on 88.7 FM of course) for more KSPC news and follow our socials @ kspcradio.

[of a] good as committed friendship and parenting. The best things in life can be difficult, but it’s [the] very place where joy is most often found.”

Attendee Ethan Fong PO ’25 was inspired by Warren’s talk to approach joy from a new perspective. The talk was a reminder that genuine joy is a deliberate choice that is worth fighting for.

“As college students, we’re trying to figure out what our identity rests on and it was very clear for [Warren] that she is connected to a deep source of joy that is powerful and very real for her,” Fong said. “I hope I can find that, but it requires a level of introspection that a lot of people aren’t ready for and it requires sacrifice.”

Pomona Professor of Mathematics

Ami Radunskaya was particularly fascinated by the connection between joy and gratitude.

“I have this idea that gratitude makes you feel good and you say to someone else, ‘I’m so grateful’ and that makes them feel good,” Radunskaya said. “Before, I had this idea of a treadmill and now, I’m thinking it’s a feedback loop.”

Allison Murphy talks friendship, virtue and Aristotle

DYLAN ZULUETA

In “Nicomachean Ethics,” Aristotle delivers one of the defining descriptions of friendship.

“A friend is a second self, so that our consciousness of a friend’s existence … makes us more fully conscious of our own existence,” he said.

But why do we cultivate certain friendships over others? How can we be good friends? On March 21 at Pomona College’s Pearsons Hall, Carleton College assistant professor of philosophy Allison Murphy turned to Aristotle in an attempt to answer these questions.

Murphy’s talk primarily explored Aristotle’s quintessential “Nicomachean Ethics,” in which Aristotle lays out eudaimonia, a Greek term that describes human flourishing. To achieve eudaimonia, he says, people must live by particular virtues.

For Aristotle, virtues are skills or traits developed through practice, which serve as moderation between the extremes of excess and deficiency. These virtues align with a rational and ethical life — a good life. Aristotelian virtues include courage, patience and temperance. Murphy said a trait like temperance is virtuous both on an intrapersonal and interpersonal level.

Of the ten books in the “Nicomachean Ethics,” two discuss friendship — but Aristotle never explicitly calls friendship as a virtue. Friendship is not a trait or skill that forms a particular part of an ethical life, Murphy said, but rather a mode of living ethically. Since virtues are both private and public, the good life entails both individual good and good with respect to others. “We can think about a sort of parallel between what’s going on in the friendship books and what’s going on in the rest of the Ethics,” Murphy said. “When the individual is living well, she has eudaimonia … so living well together

for friends is going to be shared eudaimonia.”

Aristotle’s conception of friendship differs from two conventional models: the intimacy model, which centers on enjoying time together and the loyalty model, which centers on supporting one another.

“Aristotle’s partnership model, by contrast with [conventional models], is going to subordinate the relational aspect of friendship to the shared objective,” Murphy said. “[Friends are] joined together due to their shared pursuit of some end.” There are different ends that friendships can pursue. Pleasure friendships are based upon similar interests, while utility friendships are friendships founded upon business partnerships.

For Aristotle, the most valuable kind is virtue friendship, in which friends spend time together philosophizing or discussing justice within the political community, activities that Aristotle considers as improving the character of each friend.

Murphy argued that, like eudaimonia, virtue friendship is an “ultimate” good. Although there are two common interpretations of Aristotelian “ultimacy,” Murphy used the simpler interpretation for the purposes of keeping the talk concise: The ultimate good contains all other goods. Virtue friendship is ultimate because it contains the benefits of other kinds of friendship, such as pleasure and utility.

“There’s going to be an associated pleasure because virtue is pleasant, but virtue friends also turn out to be useful and pleasant in ways that are totally unconnected with virtue,” Murphy said. “A virtue friend might introduce another virtue friend [to create a] business network.”

During the Q&A portion, Julie Tannenbaum, associate professor of philosophy at Pomona, asked

cOUrTESY: LAUrIE JOhNSON

“The presence of others allows for a sort of richer mode of [eudaimonia],” Murphy said. “The friend makes one more into the likeness of the good or the bad end, depending on whether it’s a virtuous friend.”

Sylvie Cromer SC ’26 appreciated seeing the philosophy community in action.

“To see an example of a philosopher in action was pretty cool,” Cromer said. “To see someone presenting [Aristotle’s] ideas and explaining them … [and] to see a professor I’ve had … It’s really nice to see professors be so engaged. It’s cool, we’re all part of this learning process.”

Ava Lattimore PO ’27 inquired about what the end is in friendships between neutral individuals who are neither good nor evil.

“[Aristotle’s] conception of friendship is that you have to already be good to have good friends,” Lattimore said. “I think that [excludes] a lot of people … one of his virtues is magnanimity … you can only have that virtue if you’re already so rich that you can frequently make large donations. So virtue is not for everyone and it made me wonder if, for him, maybe friendship wasn’t for everyone.” Murphy said that friendship has the potential to move people toward evil ends and shallow goods like pleasure or toward virtue.

carleton

why Murphy thought Aristotle included friendship in the Nicomachean Ethics. If eudaimonia contains all goods, Tannenbaum asked, why do we need friends?

Murphy stated that a friend is not an addition to an already complete life, but rather a collaborator and companion in life’s endeavor of striving towards virtue. A friend is instead identified with their friend, united through their shared pursuit. “Why does the person need

spoke to the Pomona community on March 21 about friendship, virtue and Aristotle. a friend?” Murphy said. “For the same reason he needs himself. He just is — that is his life, [the friend] is himself, on a certain understanding. The friend is another self not because the friends provide you something that you can’t get on your own, but because the friend is another subject with you in a shared life.” For Aristotle, living together through challenges necessitates mutual support, strengthening each friend’s character.

“For Aristotle, developing better friendships is not going to be primarily a matter of the right set of relational skills,” Murphy said. “Rather, he’s going to advise that if you want better friendships, work first for better ends.”

The talk expanded Lattimore’s notions of friendship. “It’s really more like, how do our values align?” Lattimore said. “And why are we good people for each other? And I think that that is … more kind than just thinking about how mechanically you can ‘act’ as a better friend and not truly ‘be’ a better friend.”

SYDNEY PEARSON

QUINN NAchTrIEB • ThE STUDENT LIFE

college professor Allison Murphy

A future Franzia to remember

CHARLOTTE RENNER

It was the cloudy afternoon of March 24 — or so they thought. In a haze of pot, a common sight around Pitzer’s campus, the riders of the revered Tour de Franzia traveled back in time to recount the events of the race… before they had even happened.

The goal: simple, yet monumentous. Go to Pomona field. Eight people per team. Each of them essentially has to drink a bottle of wine or, you need a squadron of high functioning alcoholics that can put it away. One or two anchors, responsible for drinking 2-3 bottles each. It’s just a regular Sunday for the greasy gremlins of Pitzer College. “I ate shit and I loved it,” Farold Huson SC ’26 said through tears. “Unlike women.”

Huson wiped out on the course’s hardest stretch — the saunter to the pool. EMS was called, but she said no thanks!

“I never take anything lying down,” Huson said. “That’s why I still jumped off the roof of the GSC.” Huson may never walk again. A tradition of Franzia, the “athletes” send themselves into the pool after competing in the race. What is a celebration for some is a way to drown sorrows for others (literally).

“It was the peak of my athletic career,” Len Bauren PZ ’25 said. “I was electric. I felt the power of the warm wine coursing through my veins.” Bauren finished 52nd of 52 com-

i ate shit and i loved it. Unlike women.

Farold Huson

“Sweat was pouring down my face, but I knew that I had to finish the race,” Wansley Ashburn

OPINION: The soup is too hot

“Oof!

These are the thoughts that flashed through my head as I burnt the roof of my mouth on a spoonful of Broccoli Cheddar at Frary last week. Overcome by the searing pain, I spat out the offending soup, drawing the attention of the entire dining hall and ruining my meal, my day, and arguably my entire life. I ran out of Frary, scalding soup dribbling down my chin, hot tears streaming down my face, warm piss running down my leg.

PHILIP BELIN so fortunate. For years, America’s youth have suffered from soup burns while our politicians, indubitably in the pockets of Big Soup, remain silent. In fact, 1 in 5 of all childhood burns arise from soup-related incidents. And the scourge of soup that is too hot is not unique to Frary. While researching this article, I walked around every dining hall on campus with a thermometer to test their soup temperature, and what I found shocked me to my very core. With the exception of Collins (whose clam chowder was frankly a little cold for my taste) every dining hall had soups reaching temperatures of almost 150 degrees fahrenheit! Can you imagine if a hot tub was that hot?

This story might sound extreme, but I’m not being dramatic. I tell this story to demonstrate the ruinous consequences of dining hall soup tyranny. Naysayers claim that I can just “wait for it to cool down” or “blow on it” or “shut up and take it.” What if I’m in a hurry? And my lungs are frail and sickly? And I’m a little bitch boy?

Sure, no one likes a lukewarm soup. But boiling borscht, flaming french onion, and really hot hot and sour soup are a genuine threat to our students’ safety. While I was lucky to escape without any major or minor injuries, thousands weren’t

Schools can think critically about providing soup options at a variety of temperature points, perhaps incorporating cold soups such as gazpacho and vichysoisse into their rotations while leaving the aforementioned blazing broccoli cheddar for the hot soup masochists to enjoy. Fellow students, soup at your own risk. Administrators of the various colleges, I’m warning you: make the soup less hot or you’ll be hearing from my lawyers. Also, while you’re listening, the Frank wings are a bit too spicy for me.

SC ’26 said. “The stakes were just too high.” Ashburn’s team had a 25 percent mortality rate. Like climbing Everest, many underestimate what it takes to compete in Franzia. Adam Akins PZ ’27 knew he had to do whatever it took to win. Despite leading his team to first place, it was later discovered that Akins not only tested positive for PEDs but also spiked the wine of his fellow competitors with LSD and rode a motorcycle across half of the race’s distance. Akins, however, accredited his win to the alcohol provided by his college. “It’s shitty bag wine,” Akins said. “It greases the wheels.”

Corrections

TSL wants to apologize for giving too many students who were told in third grade that they had above average reading levels the opportunity to be pretentious college newspaper pricks. TSL wants to assure any annoyed with their staff’s levels of entitlement that it will not actually help them much in life and that they stay in the office for 10 hours each Thusday night for the sole reason of saying that they do that to get admiration from their peers.

TSL regrets these errors.

Claremont walking club is fostering a non-competitive and exclusive environment

BEN LAUREN & ANSLEY WASHBURN

Do you find a thrill in athletic competition? Do you like meeting new people? Do you like moving at more than a very average pace? Well, walking club is probably not for you. Claremont Walking Club is a club made of one student who loves walking as slowly as possible and does

not encourage anyone at the 5Cs to join. Bensley Laurshburn PZSC ‘25.5 said not only is previous experience required but there is no diversity in level of skills.

“It’s only me,” Laurshburn said. “I find no joy in finding community here.” There’s no community events, but Laurshburn often uses club funding to go on extravagant outings. Somehow, the club has more money than TSL?

“I just felt it was a more valuable use of academic resources,” an anonymous faculty member in charge of student media said. “I just love that kid.” There are no competitions and the club is not building towards any future events. “I find no motivation to push this club forward in the future,” Laurshburn said. “I have no aspirations. I actually hate walking. I’m more of a jogging person.”

‘Pomona Opens Legs, We Don’t Close Them’: Case study shows that squirrels have more sex than 5C students

On Mar. 10, the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) released a case study in collaboration with the Claremont Colleges Student Health Services (SHS) comparing the sexual activity of squirrels with that of 5C students. The results of the study unveiled a disturbing reality — on average, Claremont squirrels have far more game. The results showed that an overwhelming 71% of squirrels lost their virginity within their first semester on campus, as compared to a mere 4.7% of Pomona first-years.

“I thought that the hardest part about college would be getting in,” Ken Lauren PO ’27 said, referencing Pomona’s 7% acceptance rate. “It was actually getting laid.” Not only did first-year students pale in comparison to the squirrels in terms of their virginity-losing tendencies, but 69% of the sexually active students on campus reported feeling unsatisfied in their sexual endeavors. This percentage was contrasted with just 12% of campus squirrels.

On Tuesday, this information was shared with the Pomona College community in an email titled ‘Pomona Opens Legs, We Don’t

G. Celestial Body. In the email, she expressed her dismay with the newly released statistics. “Pomona College prides

on being a high-achieving institution,” Celestial Body said. “As Niche’s Number One Best Liberal Arts College Rhyming With ‘Momona’ in the Claremont Area, the student body should be rising much higher to the occasion. It should not be that hard ;).”

Embedded within the email was a link to “How do I put on a condom? I’m 18 and I had 3 condoms that ended up on the garbage because I don’t know how to put them. I can’t get them past the head of my penis,” a step-by-step guide on inviting women over to ‘watch a movie’ and a breakdown of the new study’s statistics.

The morning after this email was released, TSL spoke to several students about their thoughts. Braddison Bones PO ’24 (originally PO ’19) argued that the study was flawed, specifically criticizing the statistics on first-years losing their virginities. “There’s no way that’s true,” he said. “I have sex with first-years all the time. It’s awesome.”

Furthermore, Bones argued that his sexual experiences have almost always been positive. He cited his most recent sexual encounter as an example. “This chick was, like, all over me. She was practically begging to have sex with me,” he said. “We started hooking up, right? And I was all, ‘You like that, huh?’, and trust — she did. So yeah, I’d say it went pretty well.”

The ‘chick’ in question — a

Scripps first-year who requested anonymity after her friends convinced her that Braddison did, in fact, not look better in person — felt differently. “Worst sex of my life,” she wrote in an email to TSL.

Meanwhile, the squirrels are going nuts. “Scrat is the best in the business,” one squirrel said, referencing another squirrel he hooked up with last semester. “He’s in high demand.” Scrat declined to comment. Some squirrels speculated that it was because of his back-to-back booty calls. This was later confirmed when he was spotted frolicking in the bushes along Sixth St. Scrat isn’t the only squirrel experiencing such a high degree of success — squirrels can be found getting lucky at all hours of the day. A common resident of Marston Quad offered tips to struggling students at the 5Cs.

“To be able to get down and dirty, you gotta keep it clean,” he said. “I groom my tail about twice a week. The sows love it.”

On behalf of 5C students desperate for tips on how to improve their game, the Associated Students of Pomona College’s Vice President of Student Affairs asked squirrels around campus for their go-to song to get it on.

“Definitely ‘S.I.M.P. (Squirrels In My Pants).’ That one’s a fan favorite,” one squirrel said.

Looking forward, 5C students hope that they can apply this advice to their lives so that they, too, can have sex — not more sex, not better sex, just sex.

petitors. A grueling affair, Franzia is both physically and mentally taxing for all riders involved.

ANONYMOUS TSLER

Save 25% on Tuition!

Six-Week Session: May 20–June 28, 2024

Make

Open to All Students Enrolled in An y Accredited Institution

Open to All Students Enrolled in An y Accredited Institution

Taught by Pitzer College & Claremont Colleges Faculty • Full-Credit Courses

Taught by Pitzer College & Claremont Colleges Faculty • Full-Credit Courses

Housing Available • Financial Aid Available for Those Who Are Eligible

Housing Available • Financial Aid Available for Those Who Are Eligible

AMST 012: Intro to Race, Ethnicity, and American Cultural Studies

AMST 012: Intro to Race, Ethnicity, and American Cultural Studies

ANTH 002: Introduction to Sociocultural Anthropology

ANTH 002: Introduction to Sociocultural Anthropology

ANTH 055: Reproductive Justice

ANTH 055: Reproductive Justice

CGS 010: Introduction to Critical Global Studies

CGS 010: Introduction to Critical Global Studies

CGS 050: Power and Social Change

CGS 050: Power and Social Change

CHLT 013: Intro to Caribbean Studies

CHLT 013: Intro to Caribbean Studies

CSCI 004: Introduction to Computer Science for Non-Majors

CSCI 004: Introduction to Computer Science for Non-Majors

EA 089: California Beaches

EA 089: California Beaches

ECON 052: Principles of Microeconomics

ECON 052: Principles of Microeconomics

ENGL 047: The Human Condition: A Longform Journalism Practicum

ENGL 047: The Human Condition: A Longform Journalism Practicum

PHIL 036: Gender, Crime & Punishment

PHIL 036: Gender, Crime & Punishment

PHIL 039: Philosophies of Place

PHIL 039: Philosophies of Place

POST 030: Introduction to Comparative Politics

POST 030: Introduction to Comparative Politics

POST 040: Introduction to International Politics

POST 040: Introduction to International Politics

POST 091: Statistics and Data Analysis for Politics

POST 091: Statistics and Data Analysis for Politics

POST 135: Political Economy of Food

POST 135: Political Economy of Food

PSYC 010: Introduction to Psychology

PSYC 010: Introduction to Psychology

PSYC 101: Brain and Behavior

PSYC 101: Brain and Behavior

PSYC 103: Social Psychology

PSYC 103: Social Psychology

PSYC 194: Seminar in Social Psychology

PSYC 194: Seminar in Social Psychology

HIST 098: Palestine and Israel: A History of the Conflict

HIST 098: Palestine and Israel: A History of the Conflict

LGCS 007: Writing Systems

LGCS 007: Writing Systems

MATH 052: Introduction to Statistics

MATH 052: Introduction to Statistics

MS 056: Digital Mythologies

MS 056: Digital Mythologies

ORST 151: Participatory Action Research

ORST 151: Participatory Action Research

SECU075: History of Atheism/Freethought

SECU075: History of Atheism/Freethought

SOC 030: Deviant Sex Cults

SOC 030: Deviant Sex Cults

SOC 183: Consumer Society and Culture

SOC 183: Consumer Society and Culture

SPAN 002: Continuing Introductory Spanish

SPAN 002: Continuing Introductory Spanish

SPAN 033: Intermediate Spanish

SPAN 033: Intermediate Spanish Register

Register Now!

For more information, visit www.pitzer.edu/summer or contact: dofcore@pitzer.edu

For more information, visit www.pitzer.edu/summer or contact: dofcore@pitzer.edu

The Comme des Garçons Universe (TBD)

GUS GINGRICH

Since its founding in 1969, the Japanese brand Comme des Garçons (CDG) has etched its name into fashion history, revolutionizing modern design by recontextualizing the relationship between a garment and its wearer.

The brand’s unique approach to shape, layering and accessorizing has led to hundreds of eccentrically brilliant runway looks across for men’s and women’s clothing alike and the success of the initial brand has led to the formation of over 20 diffusion lines and a retail universe unlike any other.

Unfortunately, CDG as a whole is plagued by a rather unique curse: popularity.

One of the diffusion lines, CDG PLAY, was founded in 2002 as “an antithesis of design,” covering basic styles of clothing typically not seen on a runway, most of them featuring the infamous heart logo with two eyes placed towards the top. The affordable and accessible designs that contrasted with most of the brand’s previous work resulted in a sharp increase in popularity for the PLAY line. This led to the now-ubiquitous collaboration with Converse that expands each year. PLAY, despite being around the 10th CDG diffusion line created, possesses the brand’s most easily recognizable line and logo.

In terms of sales, this is a blessing for the brand; the clothing produced for PLAY is very easy to mass-produce and long-term collaborations with Converse will never go out of style. However, for fashion enthusiasts, it hurts to see a brand with such a rich and innovative design history be overshadowed by PLAY, a line born from an ironic desire to contrast with the original brand.

What better reason, then, for a little profile of the brand to show everyone what they’ve missed out on? There’s certainly no shortage of history.

Founded by the legendary Rei Kawakubo in 1969, CDG didn’t officially display its first womenswear and menswear collections until 1973 and 1978, respectively. This was right

around the emergence of what one could call the “Big Three” of Japanese designers: CDG, Issey Miyake and Yohji Yamamoto.

The emergence of the three brands and their Japanese influences contrasted heavily with the traditional Western design philosophy that dominated the runways at the time, earning Kawakubo racially-tinged criticism for collections like 1982’s “Destroy” — which featured ripped sweaters that critics called “Hiroshima chic” despite it being more akin to Vivienne Westwood than any other Japanese designer.

Kawakubo has experimented heavily with color (or lack thereof) and silhouette from her earliest days, elevating the roles of many other Japanese designers in her wake. Figures like Keiichi Tanaka, Kei Ninomiya, Tao Kurihara and Junya Watanabe have all risen to prominence at the brand. The latter three even have CDG diffusion lines under their own names, which only add to their notoriety. Kawakubo’s influence doesn’t stop there, though; she briefly

dated Yohji Yamamoto during the early 1980s and they showed their first collections in Paris together. Her current husband Adrian Joffe directs CDG PLAY and Dover Street Market, the ever-popular high-fashion department store with locations in Japan, Europe and the United States.

Aside from official CDG stores, which are often hole-in-the-wall locations with incredible layouts, Dover Street Market presents the largest selection of CDG of any store with 17 lines available including wallets and perfume. It’s truly a spectacle to witness so many different types of clothing represented in one space, especially since they each cater to different target audiences and design interests.

Among the diffusion lines, there’s CDG Homme, the original no-nonsense menswear line, CDG SHIRT, which delights in reformatting classic menswear via collaborations and patchwork themes and CDG BLACK, which features (you guessed it) mostly black clothing containing minor alterations to traditional themes.

Notably, not many women’s runway garments are sold in stores; that’s because Kawakubo’s mainline designs have remained just as out-of-the-box as they were when she started her career. They could probably just as easily be described as art pieces. As a result, Kawakubo’s designs take significantly more time to make than traditional Western forms of clothing and are not easily replicable. CDG still makes plenty of clothes for women, including the CDG Girl line, but these runway pieces are produced over such a great length of time and in such little quantity that they’re not as readily available for consumption.

Interestingly, Kawakubo has stated that for the last 10 years, she has been focused not on designing clothes but on designing “objects for the body.” This explains why her recent work has been even more abstract than usual, stretching the notion of runway pieces from pieces not meant to be worn normally to pieces perhaps not meant to be worn at all.

Nevertheless, Kawakubo con-

tinues to innovate in her choice of materials and strange, fantastical twists on everyday items; in particular, CDG Homme’s SS24 collection features two pairs of derby footwear in collaboration with Kids Love Gaite that are quite literally two pairs of shoes molded together; one pair is stacked on top of each other and the other features one shoe protruding from the side of each of the others.

CDG has long embodied the countercultural ethos behind many high-fashion and streetwear brands alike and it doesn’t seem like the brand is going anywhere any time soon. Though — at 81 years young — Kawakubo is undoubtedly nearing the end of her career, she has clearly ensured that her legacy will be in good hands. The goal of this article, then, is to ensure that that legacy goes down as more than just Converse with hearts on them.

Gus Gingrich PO ’24 is from Walnut Creek, California. In his free time, he enjoys stressing over being outbid on Japanese auction websites and mocking up re-designs for his dorm room closet.

Students checked out reusable bowls and utensils, though they were encouraged to bring their own. Many students brought colorful and creative bowls, many of which reflected traditional Asian heritage. They also collected a commemorative sticker, a staple for every night market, designed by Wang. “[The night market] is a really good way for Asian cultures to be represented in a way that’s accessible for all 5C students,” Emma Wei SC ’27 said.

Attendees were given a bingo-style three-by-three grid with each clubs’ booths which were stamped off as they sampled each type of cuisine.

Edible highlights included TASA’s popcorn chicken and boba, SASA’s bhel puri and cocktail samosas, SWANAA’s manakeesh, Tea Circle’s cold brew green and white tea, JSOCC’s cold soba noodles, THSA’s pandan and thai tea custard and SHCC’s shaomai. Many items, such as the red bean mochi in the JSOCC booth, sold out within 40 minutes.

“I’ve been hyping up the red bean mochi to everyone,” Wei said.

third

market TASA has hosted since

co-presidents Dahlia Wang SC ’24 and Jennifer Hu SC ’24 and vice president Niketa Kou PO ’25 took office. “We have worked with Frid-Aid for the past three night markets, but with increased collaboration in the past semester,” Wang, Hu and Kou said. “This was the first night market where we had a suggested participation fee that would go to Frid-Aid, while in the past, we had QR codes at each table and a raffle.”

Frid-Aid shares art like prints and stickers and collects funds for redistribution. Attendees paid a suggested $2 for entry and collectively raised $1,024. Frid-Aid is working to redistribute these funds to individuals and families fleeing Gaza.

“Seeing how well our fall 2023 Night Market fared showed us the platform that we have with the event and this semester we decided to increase mutual aid efforts in recognition of current global events,” Wang, Hu and Ou said.

Many students expressed their appreciation for the night market itself, emphasizing the importance of diversity and representation.

“Other than cultural exposure and appreciation, the night market also brings awareness to these Asian clubs that some students might not have known existed,” Sharma said.

CSSA, SHCC, SWANAA and the 5C circus club were new additions for this year’s night market.

Students noted that Asian representation is often limited to that of East Asians. The night market gave South, Southeast, West and Southwest Asian cultures wider exposure.

“It’s a really nice place … to encourage diversity in all Asian groups because there’s often a stigma that [results in] only East Asians [being] paid attention to, which is true,” Emma Tom PO ’26 said. “And I think this [event] allows for their representation and it’s a great way to learn about other cultures.” The event provided crucial visibil-

ity to the sizable APIDA community at the 5Cs.

“This is my first exposure to the night market,” Iram Abrar PO ’26 said. “I feel like the 5Cs specifically have a very large Asian population compared to other colleges. So I think it kind of lets you see the big Asian population here.

SANA club member Ayna Sharma PZ ’25 expressed her excitement about showcasing Desi culture.

“I’m most excited about sharing non-stereotypical Desi dishes with the 5C community,” Sharma said. “Yes, we did serve samosas, but we also served bhel puri and pakkora which a lot of people haven’t tried before.”

In preparation for both this year’s and last year’s night market, SANA purchased from local store India Quick Mart. The other eight clubs also supported local Asian businesses, offering attendees an authentic cultural experience.

In addition to food and community building, students were entertained by a performance from the 5C circus club. Club member Rina Nagashima SC ’24 described her experience performing for such a bustling crowd.

“It was a lot of fun; we did a lot of aerials, which is probably what many people know us for,” Nagashima said. “We [also] do some other things such as unicycling, juggling and tumbling.”

On a beautiful sunny day, amidst friends and delightful Asian cuisine, APIDA students found representation and community through the universal joy that is food — and circus.

Amy Yao PO ’26 emphasized the importance of engaging with the diverse student population.

“Pomona [College] is very lucky in the fact that we are generally a little more ethnically diverse and we have a lot more students from different backgrounds,” said Yao. “I think as a whole, the 5Cs really benefit from really appreciating and learning about different cultures. And this is an amazing way we can do this.”

Bartolomeo Torre’s “Muscles and Bones of the Leg” peels back the skin. The muscles and tendons exposed are smooth and in paper’s beige color instead of a sinewy red. They wrap around each other like alien organisms, coming together to make a leg. Torre’s drawing is part of the Benton Museum’s exhibition “500 Years of Italian Drawings from the Princeton University Art Museum.” It is currently on view as one of several other drawings under the section “Studying the Body.”

The leg form in this drawing looks like a bundle of lamb chops or some other inhuman thing; recognizing it as a leg didn’t come intuitively to me. Seeing it all laid out, all the muscles and bones and nerves, was unsettling. Towards the front Torre has included pieces of skin and toenails, which reminded me that the foot washuman.

Although many Renaissance artists became anatomists, Torre was particularly obsessed. According to Giorgio Vasari, Torre’s contemporary, the artist was so single-mindedly occupied with anatomy that he kept “so many limbs and pieces of men under his bed, and all over his rooms, that they poisoned the whole house.” His account might be exaggerated, but it is true that Torre conducted independent anatomical research and held private dissections of human corpses.

I can’t help seeing “Muscles and Bones of the Leg” as an unintentional self-portrait. This is what a human leg looks like, so this is what your leg looked like, Torre. I imagined him standing over the dissection table, scalpel in hand, looking down through the layers of muscle and nerves; he must also have seen it as his own leg that he was dissecting. He must also have seen through his own skin.

All drawings try to understand

how something exists in physical space. Specifically, anatomical drawings aim to understand how the body exists. Torre, in drawing the leg, was trying to understand the limb. Drawing something also means choosing how to best communicate that thing, deciding what to include and not include in the image in order to qualify the bit of pencil on paper as a leg. So, drawing a leg also means choosing what makes a leg a leg.

Drawing a leg to understand it necessarily means drawing a leg to understand your own body. Anatomical drawing becomes a mode of self-investigation. What does it mean to have a leg, to have a body? I think that’s why this drawing makes me uneasy — not because of the more obvious gore, but because it annihilates every individual person into the same prescribed body.

A few years ago, I went through a phase of drawing my own face repeatedly, sitting on the ground in front of my full-length mirror at night. It was a self-investigation kind of thing; the self-portrait sessions increased in frequency around my birthday, prime time for existential dread and self-awareness.

In “Muscles and Bones of the Leg,” there is no face. Nothing individualizes the person to whom this leg belongs — there is no facial expression to attach a soul or mind or anything else to. I am uneasy thinking that under the skin, my leg is the same leg as this anonymous corpse. The visibility of muscle and bones beneath skin — and the skeletal leg next to the living leg — feel like strange reminders of how the body begins and ends. Although presumably unintentional, Torre’s work has a to-dust-you-shall-return kind of effect. Torre is largely unknown today, having died at age 25 and with few surviving works, all of which relate to anatomical study. So really, in the end, his body was like the bodies he studied. His leg was like every other leg. Art columnist Nadia Hsu PO ’27 is from Austin, Texas. She is chalant.

QUINN NAchTrIEB • ThE STUDENT LIFE

Approximately 400 students attended the APIDA Night Market on March 22.

The illusion of choice feminism

ANJALI SUVA

For years I’d convinced myself that insecurities around my facial features, weight and outfits were juvenile. Worrying about my appearance was surely a superficial pastime.

The approaching conclusion of Women’s History Month, however, has me reflecting on my internal battle with my appearance — and on the insidious ways I’ve allowed my appearance to control me.

Up until recently, I couldn’t leave the house without wearing eyeliner. I couldn’t wear skirts unless I’d shaved my legs. I couldn’t go out if my outfit was unflattering. Even if I couldn’t pinpoint the exact part of my face or body that was producing my insecurity, there was always an underlying feeling that something was wrong if I didn’t go the extra mile to fix my appearance.

So, what did I do? I made myself more comfortable with feeling “ugly.”

Slowly, I started to intentionally avoid anything that altered my appearance significantly — this meant no makeup, no elaborate outfits and no shaving. It wasn’t a complete lifestyle change but rather a way to wean myself off my previous mindset.

For some reason, critiquing my previous behavior of wearing makeup, wearing certain outfits and shaving my body hair seemed like I was acting out the “I’m not like the other girls!” cliche. The cliche occurs when a girl attempts to separate herself from other girls, often in an attempt to feel superior. “Other girls” are portrayed as watered-down feminine stereotypes that contrast with the girl who is messy, unfeminine, authentic, less obnoxious and, more importantly, wears no makeup.

Despite my own justifications, abstaining from these practices allowed me to feel more confident in the long run. I spent less money and I felt less pressured by others watching me. But I also felt as if I was automatically putting down other women who did engage in such practices.

How can all of these be true?

There’s a clear sentiment among girls my age that women must support women and reject internalized misogyny. This is evident in the critique of the aforementioned “not like other girls” cliche — there’s even a subreddit ridiculing it.

The idea behind women supporting women is obviously well-intentioned, but the backlash against “not like the other girls”

girls has inadvertently created a culture that supports women’s choices unanimously. No matter what that choice is. This is choice feminism — a depoliticized, easily digestible form of feminism that states that if a woman is making a choice of her own free will, then that choice is automatically valid. This view of feminism avoids critically examining certain choices and how they develop. Not all choices are truly equal nor do they exist in a vacuum.

Many women (myself included) were raised in an environment where beauty products are constantly advertised, where a certain (white) beauty standard is the ideal and where meeting this beauty standard is the key to success.

With these ideas ingraining themselves into our heads since early childhood, choosing to live up to the beauty standard, then, may not actually be a choice.

Wearing certain types of makeup, using skin-lightening creams, getting plastic surgery — these are “choices” that women are conditioned to make. They are also choices done out of self-preservation, as a means of avoiding the social consequences of not fitting the model of an ideal woman.

It’s important to remember that not everyone has the luxury of living up to a feminist ideal, a life without gendered expectations. Some women, especially those from marginalized identities, don’t always have the luxury to break free from the pressures placed upon their appearance.

Women of color and trans women are constantly pushing back against historic narratives that deny them their womanhood. To affirm their identity, some of these women choose to embrace femininity.

With these ideas ingrained in our heads since early childhood, choosing to live up to the beauty standard, then, may not actually be a choice.

Certain choices align with gendered expectations imposed upon women, while other choices break away from them. As a brown woman with a lot of body hair, it is a much harder choice to let it grow than it is to

It’s important to recognize that the idea of women supporting women should not be used to uncritically accept all choices a woman makes. Not every choice is necessarily feminist and not every choice is beneficial just because it’s made by a woman exercising her free will.

Conversations around choice feminism must be nuanced and critical. There is no set guideline for what choices are “truly feminist.” Women shouldn’t be vilified or glorified for their choices. I don’t believe that one must live a life of abstinence from all gendered consumer products — I certainly don’t.

My advice, rather: Ask yourself why you make the choices you make regarding your appearance and behaviors. Question your emotions.

For example, why does doing x make you feel better as opposed to y?

Most importantly, envision yourself as less perfect and more free.

Anjali Suva PO ’27 is from Orange County, California. She loves watching horror films, reading fantasy books and abusing em dashes in her articles.

Roots and routes: Closing the distance between identity and home

KIM

Despite Scripps College being just two hours away from where I grew up, lately I’ve found myself wishing to close my eyes, click my heels and vanish by declaring the phrase: “There’s no place like home.” Whether it’s a house, a town or a group of people, home is something you find yourself missing as soon as it’s gone. For me, home where I was born and lived my entire life: the sunny, coastal city of San Diego. I didn’t know it was possible to long for a place that was so close yet so far. But after spending the school year in a new and unfamiliar place, I began to think of my old routines like passing by the infamous post-football game. InN-Out on my drive to school and watching the sunset on the train tracks at Del Mar beach. The more I missed home, however, the more I sought out ways of making college more meaningful to me. It wasn’t so much the places I was remembering, but the memories I had created.

Through clubs and affinity spaces, college has provided an unexpected opportunity to combat homesickness by connecting me to my Asian heritage and culture in a way I didn’t experience on the sunny coast.

Although I love my hometown of San Diego, I often felt the disconnect that many people of color face while growing up in a predominantly white community.

I expected going to school at the 5Cs would be a similar experience, but surprisingly I have found the opposite.

Engaging with the Asian com -

munity has been a natural avenue for me to create meaningful relationships and experiences.

Joining affinity groups in my first semester was my first big step in realizing that any place — even a college campus — can transform into a home away from home.

When I first joined these groups, I entered the space with uncertainty. From being in numerous clubs throughout high school that were (not so

secretly) created to impress on college applications, how else was I expected to feel?

I was proven wrong as early on as fall semester, when Scripps’ Asian American Sponsor Program took a retreat to Big Bear. As we carpooled and karaoked, explored the local village and conversed over authentic home-cooked meals, I learned that it only takes the right group of people to make an outsider feel included.

Conversations with others didn’t feel stilted or forced. In fact, expressing my interests and relating to others who I had only just met felt easier than ever. It was on this very trip that I cried for the first time in college — and while watching Joy Ride, no less. Even though Joy Ride is superficially about a group of friends on a wild, comedic adventure, it is at its heart a story about friendship and self-discovery — a reflection

of the exact struggles I was facing as a college first-year. It might seem obvious to most, but I had never really considered that joining groups centered around Asianness and my cultural identity could be the missing puzzle.

Growing up, I often felt ashamed of my lack of fluency in front of extended family and embarrassed of my cultural knowledge around friends. I didn’t think it was possible to feel so part of a community that I never engaged with before moving away from home.

Finding cultural affinity in college has not just illuminated a shortcoming in my upbringing — it’s also led me to discover that growth comes when removing yourself from what you’ve become used to.

Back home, I participated in cultural opportunities when presented because they were just there. In college, however, the decision to engage with my cultural identity turned into one motivated by genuine interest, resulting in a place where I gained belonging and acceptance.

I don’t want to learn about my culture because of shame or outside pressure, but because it interests me and because I want to. And, when I go back home for breaks, I don’t have to leave behind my cultural connection and pride: I can come home committed to being more authentic to myself and grateful for the bonds I have with the people around me.

Grace Kim SC ’27 is from San Diego, California. She loves listening to movie soundtracks, eating sour candy and reading Letterboxd reviews.

GRACE

Body hair and bare ass: I want to see it all

JADA SHAVERS

Every morning you get up and face the day. You prepare your bag, or your car, or your bike or whatever it is you need to get through the day. Usually, it’s a rushed morning. You are running around the house looking for your keys — which are hiding in the same place they always are — but your eyes are groggy and it takes you a couple tries to find them. With a cup of hot coffee in hand and whatever you can find for a quick breakfast — most likely the cold pizza you left out last night — you dash to your car.

Hearing the familiar click of your car unlocking, you take a sip of your coffee, breathe for the first time all morning and slide your bare ass into the hot seat.

Yes, your bare ass. You live in a world in which clothing is not required, meaning comfort and safety are prioritized for each individual and for society as a whole. No one looks in the mirror, nor do they spend precious mornings finding little critiques of themselves and the clothes they’re wearing. No one else wears clothes, so why would you? Stay with me here.

At first, this sounds terrifying. Your open, bare body on display for the whole world to see. I understand that. The possibility of walking to Trader Joe’s with nothing blocking your body from the glaring eyes of an old man driving past is enough to make me want to lock my door and hide inside. Forever. But, you have to remember that riding past you on their way to work is a biker putting their whole selves on display with you. Additionally, the old man in the car is also sitting in his naked sweat. Suddenly, the fear of nudity becomes demystified; suddenly, you can walk into the store, get your cheese, wine and Joe’s O’s without a second thought to your nudity. Clothing is a problem. It is rooted in societal pressures that

prevent (primarily) women from accepting their beautiful selves. Consider the Garden of Eden after Eve ate the “forbidden fruit” which led to a shameful side eye from Adam while hiding their natural, naked bodies. A world that normalizes nudity would promote body neutrality — the act of accepting the state of your body and respecting its features — and help us accept every aspect of our body. Of all scrutinized features, female body hair is at the forefront. Nudity can reframe the pressures that women face and allow for a neutral acceptance of one’s body hair. A study conducted by Lígia Azevedo at Brandeis University found that around 80 percent of women remove their leg and/or underarm hair

on a regular basis. The primary reason for hair removal, Azevedo found, is feminine appeal societal pressure. “Women start feeling abnormal for having body hair and decide to remove it in order to be seen as attractive,” Acevedo reported.

Existing within a nude society that accepts — rather than rejects — the features of women’s bodies, women will see fundamental changes in their daily lives. Clothing prevents society — specifically female identifying persons in society — from existing comfortably in the world. As a way to sexualize bodies, clothing creates a sense of mystification that prevents body neutrality from actively participating.

The big question: Why do we need nudity to fulfill these aspirations of wanting to feel safe, comfortable and secure in our daily lives? Why do we need to imagine a complete upheaval of societal life to accept one’s own body?

The answer: because Eve is still blamed for original sin; because women are viewed as unprofessional for having leg hair; and because we still put on makeup to hide each wrinkle and dark spot. It seems impossible to imagine a world where women are not judged daily, so the possibility of nudity placing every person, regardless of gender, on an equal playing field is the best — and only — viable option.

Tomorrow, you will wake up to the same alarm, with the same

exhausted eyes and the same cold pizza. You will dash around your room looking for your keys which are, as per usual, hidden under your mail. Only this time, between boxes of Joe’s O’s and empty bottles of wine, you will get lost in the stolen minutes of the morning and ignore your closet. You will stand in front of your mirror and respect each feature of your naked body; accept every hair and curve and wrinkle. Then, you will grab the front door handle, walk to your car with coffee in hand and slide your bare ass into the hot seat. And maybe everyone else will too.

Jada

Sagehens soar, surmounting challenge from Occidental

On the afternoon of Friday, March 22, Pomona-Pitzer (P-P) baseball bats turned hot, securing a 12-run, seven inning mercy in the first game of a SCIAC series against Occidental, putting a stamp on a successful week for the Sagehens, who are currently ranked 13th nationally by D3baseball.com.

Looking to cap off a week during which the Hens took a series win from Tufts University, as well as routing Division I program Dartmouth College, Jake Hilton PO ’25 delivered yet another dominating start to tame the Tigers.

Coming off of a non-conference outing against Tufts University that saw him pick up his first loss of the season, Hilton returned in emphatic fashion, shutting down Oxy in a seven inning, four hit, complete game win, the second of his collegiate career.

While Hilton and the Sagehens offensive coasted to a 12-1 win, it was the Tigers who looked to strike first. Although they currently find themselves at the bottom of the SCIAC, Oxy’s offense is still formidable, featuring the SCIAC’s home run leader Alex Henderson. Despite getting Henderson to pop-up in the second, Hilton found himself in deep trouble, with two runners on

base and only one out. However, Hilton was able to compose himself and with the help of a fantastic double play effort from Jack Gold PO ’27, ended the inning with no runs conceded.

Hilton expressed his gratitude for the team’s defensive ability.

“Yeah, I definitely got a bit lucky there,” Hilton said. “I mean it’s a big thing for us and it’s great to be able to put a lot of trust in them. They had my back today and bailed me out of some trouble and that really fired me up.”

After leaving runners on base in both the first and second innings, the Sagehens finally opened the scoring in the bottom of the third, with Greg Pierantoni’s PO ’27 single driving in JC Ng PO ’25, who was previously hit by a pitch.

Though the Hens brought a run across in the third, their offensive effort was halted by an stellar double play by the Tigers, who escaped the inning, leaving Pierantoni stranded on second base.

After Hilton set the Tigers down in a two strikeout, 1-2-3 inning in the fourth, the Sagehens struck again, with singles from George Nahabedian PO ’26 and Gold quickly establishing an offensive rhythm. Reflecting on both his offensive

and defensive successes, Gold emphasized staying grounded and being selfless.

“We never falter in our jobs or our work ethic,” Gold said. “Our team is great. Personally, it makes it easy on me just knowing there’s guys in front of me and behind me that are going to get into scoring position and get the job done. I’m always confident that if I don’t get the job done, someone behind me will make my life a lot easier.”

After a sacrifice fly from Matthew Nishimura PZ ’24 scored Gold, William Kinney PZ ’26 hit a sharp single, bringing Nahabedian home. Kinney advanced to second after Ng was hit by another pitch and a subsequent two run, RBI double from Issac Kim PO ’24 saw the Sagehens take an early 4-0 lead.

Following another quick 1-2-3 inning from Hilton, P-P returned to offensive action with Nahabedian singling to score Nate Jakobs PZ ’24. After Kinney walked to load the bases, another single from Ng scored two more runs. The Hens weren’t finished however and Kim added one more with an RBI single of his own, extending the lead to 9-0.

bottom of the sixth inning. A series of walks and wild pitches scored Jakobs and put both Nahabedian and Nishimura in scoring position.

Capping off a fantastic night which saw him increase his batting average to .432 –– third among all qualified hitters in the SCIAC ––Kinney added two more runs with another RBI single, increasing the lead to 12-0.

After their small scare in the second inning, Hilton and the Sagehen defense coasted, churning through multiple quick innings. However, the Tigers put together one last effort and after an error, two doubles and a walk, Hilton found himself in another jam.

As was in the second inning, Hilton once again composed himself, inducing a massive strikeout and combining with first baseman Kim for a clutch, game ending play.

Although disappointed to not finish with a shut-out, Hilton was upbeat when asked about the final inning. “It was definitely a stressful situation out there,” Hilton said. “It felt good though, working through it with the guys. I used to be a two-way player, so it was nice to be making some defensive plays.”

With this win, the P-P improved to 20-6 record and currently hold a 8-2 record in the SCIAC. Lowering his ERA to 2.11 — which has since been lowered to 1.85 after six shutout innings versus Caltech, Hilton grabbed his league leading sixth win of the season.

According to head coach Frank Pericolosi, consistency and mentality have been key to the Sagehens successes this year.

“We try to just take it one game at a time,” Pericolosi said. “This is a really good baseball league and all these teams are very good. So we just tried to focus on the next one and not get too far ahead of ourselves and just go try to win the next game.”

As evidenced by Pericolosi, consistent hitting and pitching have been the main story of P-P’s season, with Kim, Ng and Kinney all finding themselves at the top of the SCIAC batting statistics. Kim leads all qualified hitters in average and is second in OPS; Ng leads the conference in on base percentage.

Speaking about their success, Kinney attributed much of it to a positive environment and team chemistry.

“Chemistry has been really great this year,” Kinney said. “We all want to play and win with one another and that helps us to keep moving forward.”

Facing inclement weather for the entirety of the weekend, the Saghens and Tigers were only able to complete the second game of their three game series this weekend. On Sunday, March 24, P-P prevailed 9-3, backed by a solid pitching outing from Hannoh Seo PO ’25 and another fantastic Kinney performance, during which he went 4-5 with 3 RBI’s.

Looking forward, after dropping the series finale on Monday 8-3, the Sagehens returned to form on Thursday, thomping Caltech 15-0. They will look to continue their success as they look to take the series in a doubleheader at home on Friday, March 29. The following weekend, the Sagehens will take on No. 11 ranked La Verne in a massive three-game series with significant implications for the SCIAC playoffs.

Jake Hilton PO ’25 delivered yet another dominating start, leading the Pomona-Pitzer to tame the Occidental Tigers in a seven inning, four hit, complete game win, the second of his collegiate career thanks to strong offensive presence and solid defense.

“Yeah, I definitely got a bit lucky there,” Hilton said. “I mean it’s a big thing for us and it’s great to be able to put a lot of trust in them. They had my back today and bailed me out of some trouble and that really fired me up.”

With this win, the P-P improved to 20-6 record and currently hold a 8-2 record in the SCIAC.

5C ski and board marks historic wins at UCSA Nationals, years of success on the horizon

ADAM AKINS

During the week of March 4, after a dominant performance at Far-West regionals, the 5C Ski and Board team left their beloved silky west coast powder for the foreboding ice and slush of the late season East Coast to compete in the U.S. Collegiate Ski and Snowboard Association (UCSA) national championship at Whiteface Mountain in Lake Placid, New York, home of the 1980 Olympics.

Thousands of miles away, 5C Ski and Board made sure Claremont was well represented, taking home bronze medals in women’s team freestyle snowboarding, fourth place in men’s team freeski, fourth place in women’s alpine snowboarding and a historic firstplace national championship in women’s freeski.

Will Sedo HM ’26 commented on the uniqueness of this opportunity for the team, noting that many of their opponents are more established programs. “It’s so cool to be out there and compete against really some incredible athletes there,” Sedo said. “A lot of the teams we were competing against are like Varsity teams that are recruited for by their schools and we’re just a little club team.”

The 5C club ski team started their quest to nationals by dominating on Feb. 9 at the Far-West regionals, which took place at China Peak in Fresno, California where they finished first in the women’s free ski category. Lanie Pidwell PZ ’27 took silver in her regionals debut and three other team members placed in the top ten.

Unfortunately, Pidwell crashed during a rail jam, breaking both of her wrists after slipping off of a bar. Nonetheless she persevered, donning two wrist braces like a knight preparing for battle and had a fantastic performance.

The men’s side also held up their end of the bargain at regions

and executed well ahead of the upcoming national championship. Men’s giant slalom had great success, going toe-to-toe with the Varsity Stanford team and earning a silver medal, falling by a margin of only 0.23 seconds.

The team’s strong showing in their home state allowed them to qualify a historic 23 athletes for New York’s storied Whiteface mountain.

However, during the week of the championship, on March 6 the mountain’s condition took a hit. Suffering the effects of warmer weather, Whiteface saw a rain day which created a slope constructed of slush. Fortunately, staff of the event improvised to pack the melted snow together with salt and construct a slope possible for skiing. “We had a rainy day, which was miserable.” Chen said. “For me, I think it was Wednesday, which was my cross race. It rained all day. I finished my races and we were all soaking wet, which was tough.”

Despite the suboptimal weather, 5C ski and board not only persisted, but excelled. The women of 5C Ski and Board took home first-place in freeski, an explosive discipline that combines rail jam, slope style and ski cross, requiring competitors to earn points across all three categories. The champion freeski team featured three first years — Pidwell, Mea Shelton CM ’27 and Caren Ensing CM ’27 — along with upperclassmen leadership from Mia Rechsteiner PO ’24 and Aimee Johnston PZ ’25.

Not only is it a first for the 5Cs, but this victory also marked the first time a team from the far-west region has won a national title in the women’s freeski competition.

Incoming president Cayman Chen CM ’25 commented on her excitement about the win, noting especially that it came from out-

side of the Alpine sphere. “They won everything and they won the national title which is crazy because this is our first time that we’ve had a decent amount of pre-skiers,” Chen said. “We’ve been a racing team or an Alpine team, so I think it’s super cool that we have people who are in the park, especially with our freeski women’s team.”

Chen, who competes in freestyle snowboarding, also found success on the national stage, placing third in the individual category and leading freestyle snowboarding to a team bronze.

“The highlight of my compe-

tition was my cross race,” Chen said. “I started it not in the best position just because of how I was seeded and then at the start of the race I think I was second and then by the middle I was in third and then I was able to overtake at the very end so I ended up first in my heat. We also didn’t get to do cross during our regular season this year just because of the weather so it was great to finally be able to have that event.” Rechsteiner, the senior presence grounding the national champion team and one of nine presidents graduating, said she is happy to leave the team in such capable hands. “I’m so excited for the future of the team,” Rechsteiner said. “We had so many freshmen compete in the regular season and we sent seven to Nationals. They’re all super talented. And so they’re so excited for next year.”

The national champion freeski team will only graduate Rechsteiner and the rest of the team will lose eight senior competitors. However, with a young core and efforts to expand recruitment, Sedo and other leadership are ready to lead the team to another national berth in the 2025 season.

OTTO FRITON

LESLIE ahUaTZI • ThE STUDENT LIFE

George Nahabedian PO ’26 steps up to bat during P-P’s decisive 12-1 victory over Occidental college on Friday, March 22.

continued from page 1

The national championship meet spanned four days, each with both a 10 a.m. and 6 p.m. session. The mornings were preliminary sessions for the finals in the same events later that same day. Despite the intensity of this structure, Valerie Mello PZ ’25 said the Hens had heavily prepared for this.

“We spent a lot of the year preparing for this sort of competition style and we have double days throughout the week coming in the morning and the afternoon leading up to nationals,” Mello said. “You have to get up at the crack of dawn and try to put out your best performance but I feel like our coaches really helped prepare us for that.”

The first day of competition started with a bang for the Hens as Alex Turvey PO ’24 won her prelim with a time of 22.70 in the 50-yard freestyle. Francesca Coppo PO ’27 and Mello also qualified for the final in the 50 with times of 23.42 and 23.50 respectively. In the evening, Turvey followed up her prelim result with a 22.58 finish that earned her a national second place title in the final.

In the 200-yard medley relay, P-P qualified with a time of 1:43.07 with legs swam by Abbey Liao PZ ’24, Coppo, Turvey and Mello. In the final later that day, they followed this with a 1:42.74 time that earned them an eighth place finish and All American honors.

Liao said that the camaraderie built during practice is the reason for the Hens success.

“There is a lot of friendly competition,” Liao said, commenting on the structure of their practices. “I think that is good because it makes our practices more fun and

Athletes of the Week

it brings everyone up around you because it’s easier to work hard together than to just be grinding on your own.”

On Thursday, day two of the competition, Sabrina Wang PO ’26, Turvey, Coppo and Mello swam a 1:32.08 in the 200 freestyle to give them a prelim win.

In the women’s 400-yard intermediate prelims, Kathryn Jones PO ’27 and Emmie Appl PO ’25 qualified for the finals with times of 4:25.47 and 4:26.34 respectively. The Hens also made a splash in the 100-yard butterfly prelim, as Turvey’s time of 53.57 won her heat and Abby Smith PO ’24 qualified with a 55.34 time. P-P qualified for the 400 medley relay finals with a time of 3:46.74, led by a team of Gabby Calvi PO ’25, Coppo, Mello and Smith. Mello commented on the race plan of pushing hard early on in the day. She said the team called

it “full send” and emphasized its importance in setting up the evening competitions. She noted an extra bonus that swimmers earn if they finish first in the prelims.

“It really helps when you throw down a good time in the morning especially for relays and when you get a top seed you get to pick a walkout song,” Mello said. “When you are down to the top eight you [warm up] in a little ready room and then you walk out to behind the blocks. When you are in that top spot and you hear your song playing it’s just the most insane confidence boost.” Thursday saw P-P make history, securing the win in the 200-yard freestyle relay with a time of 1:31.54. Turvey also came second in the 100 butterfly finals with a time of 53.62.

Smith started Friday’s competition with a bang for P-P, earning a 2:03.09 time and a

claremont-Mudd-Scripps

Antonia Hekster

HM ’25

The Hague, Netherlands Throws

Friday, March 29

Men’s Tennis @ Washington (Mo.)

Women’s Tennis vs. MIT

Baseball @ Whittier (Double header) Softball vs. Linfield (Double header)

Friday, March 29

Men’s Tennis vs. Gustavus adolphus college

Baseball vs. caltech (Double header)

Softball vs. Oberlin college (Double header)

qualification for finals in the women’s 200 yard butterfly. Later that day the Sagehen team featuring Maren Rusk PO ’27, Katie Gould PO ‘24, Turvey and Mello placed sixth in the final for the 800 yard freestyle relay with a time of 7:24.02. Gould commented on how the competition was much different this year compared to previous years when it came to the teams that were expected to win.

“I think this year was a super interesting year for all of DIII swimming especially on the women’s side because historically there are two or three teams that are dominant at nationals and this year was kind of the year of smaller teams — teams like us, NYU, MIT, Tufts [and] Williams,” Gould said. “The titans of DIII swimming weren’t quite at their best but it really opens the door for us to have a lot of success this year and in the future.”

The last day of competition started with a second place finish of 49.81 from Turvey in the women’s 100 freestyle prelims while Mello, Wang and Coppo also qualified for the finals with times of 50.58, 51.14 and 51.39, respectively. In the 200 breaststroke prelims Appl qualified for the finals with a time of 2:18.07 and P-P finished first in the 400 yard freestyle relay prelims, taken to victory with a time of 3:22.80 by Wang, Turvey, Gould and Mello.

In the finals, Turvey placed runner up in the 100 freestyle for her fourth all american performance of the meet. Mello also went All American in this event with a fourth place finish and a time of 50.35. In the women’s 400 freestyle relay the Hens won the championship with a time of 3:20.59.

According to Turvey, competing on the east coast is an added challenge for all West Coast

Antonia Hekster, HM ’25 earned first place in the hammer throw Cal State University, San Marcos Magnum Invitational. Her throw of 153 feet and two inches, mere inch short of the toss that landed her second at SCIAC championships last year and ranks her six inches and ranks 14th among Division III nationally. Hekster also sits comfortably in the top ten all time rankings for CMS hammer throw with a personal record of 158’0” (48.15).

Women’s Lacrosse vs. DePauw @ colorado

Men’s Tennis @ Occidental college

Saturday, March 30

Women’s Golf vs. UcSc (Spring Invitational)

Women’s Track and Field @ ScIac Multi-Dual #2

Men’s Track and Field @ ScIac Multi-Dual #2

Women’s Water Polo @ caltech

Sunday, March 31

Women’s Golf vs. UcSc (Spring Invitational)

teams due to the time change, so the team arrived a day early to be able to adjust. Additionally, the Hens have been waking up early to prepare, hitting the gym during the season and in off season.

“I think something that set us apart this year, honestly the last few years, is that we’ve got a lot more focused and dedicated to the weight room and how much weightlifting can build performance,” Mello said. “What we are doing in the weight room is similar to what we are doing in the pool — we are competing with each other and it’s just really fun to have a group of strong women, especially when the team historically hasn’t had that focus.”

Coming off a successful run at nationals, two of the Hens have big plans outside of P-P after their season ends.

“Franny [Coppo] won’t bring this up, but also there is one sort of unique and exciting thing she is competing in: the Dutch championships this summer,” Turvey said. “I’m [also] going to the Canadian Olympic trials in May.”

However, P-P swim and dive were not the only 5C women represented in Greensboro last week. Claremont-Mudd-Scripps women’s swim and dive also competed at nationals, placing 25th overall. The Athenas earned four All-American honors in relay events with Annika Sharma CM ’26, Mackenzie Mayfield CM ’26 and Madeleine Kan HM ’26 swimming in all four races. Sun Young Byun CM ’26 and Annette Chang HM ’27 swam in the two medley relays and two freestyle relays, respectively.

Ending their season on a high note, P-P swim and dive capped off a 7-1 season with their two historic national championship wins and three major SCIAC awards.

SCIAC named Turvey women’s swim Athlete of the Year, Bennett Jones PO ’27 Newcomer of the Year and coach JP Gowdy Coach of the Year.

Pomona-Pitzer

Nina Ye PO ’24

Tacoma, WA Tennis

Nina Ye, PO ’24 provided the clinching singles point against No. 4 Middlebury College in a back-and-forth three-set battle in the #5 singles slot, taking the sets 6-0, 5-7, 6-4. Ye also lodged two wins over top-10 ranked NESCAC doubled teams as she claimed a back-and-forth three-setter at #5 singles, 6-0, 5-7, 6-4. She also picked up doubles victories with Lauren Rha PO ’26 against both No. 7 Amherst College and No. 9 Williams College.

cOUrTESY: POMONa-PITZEr aThLETIcS P-P women’s swim and dive hoists their trophies after historic first place wins in the Ncaa championship.