Vol. CXXXV No. 19

VOL. CXXXV NO. 19

FRIDAY, April 5, 2024

Pitzer College announces University of Haifa as one of eleven study abroad programs removed as a pre-approved option

CLAREMONT, CA

7C I-WEEK International Author Talk:

Tom Lin PO ‘18, The Thousand Crimes of Ming Tsu 11:00 a.m. - 1:30 p.m. | Benson Auditorium, Pitzer College

International Film Festival

My Neighbor Totoro (1988) 5 p.m. | Clock Tower Lawn, Pitzer College Chungking Express (1994) 5 p.m. | Benson Auditorium, Pitzer College Battle on Buka Street (2022) 7 p.m. | Clock Tower Lawn, Pitzer College

International Gala CANCELED

Talent and Cultural Attire Showcase 7:00 - 9:00 p.m.

McKenna Auditorium, Claremont McKenna College

KHYLAH PUGH • THE STUDENT LIFE Pitzer College’s Faculty Executive Committee voted to remove the University of Haifa program, along with 11 other programs, on April 1, 2024.

JUNE HSU On April 1, Pitzer College’s Faculty Executive Committee (FEC) voted to remove 11 study-abroad programs from its pre-approved list, including one at Israel’s University of Haifa. In addition, eight programs were placed under review.

This information was released by Pitzer’s Dean of Faculty Allen Omoto in both a message posted on the college’s website and in an email to students sent on April 2, 2024.

This motion followed the Pitzer Study Abroad and International Programs (SAIP) Committee’s review of two proposals to consider ending 19 programs. In an email to the Pitzer Curriculum Committee and Academic Planning Committee (APC), SAIP explained that these proposals suggested that the Haifa program did not meet criteria aligning with Pitzer’s values.

“Additional criteria regarding alignment with Pitzer values and adequate local resources are cited in the Haifa-specific proposal,” the email stated. “SAIP Committee notes that this latter proposal comes with considerable community support.”

Despite this note, Omoto clarified in his April 2 statement that the choices behind the program closings were due solely to their failure to meet the college’s guidelines and not in response to student calls for an academic boycott. “[The programs] do not meet our criteria, due, specifically, to lack of enrollments for at least five years, exchange imbalance, or curricular overlap,” the email read. “I want to clarify that these programs are not closed, nor do any of these

I-Festival

International Cuisine, Games, Performances & 7C Mixer 11:00 a.m. - 2:00 p.m.

Flamson Plaza & Gann Quad, Claremont McKenna College

SUPPORTED BY:

7C International Student Community Programs Council (7CISCPC) & the Pitzer College Teaching, Learning, and Campus Life Committee (TLCLC)

See HAIFA on page 2

Pomona Divest From Apartheid commences “Final Show of Force” of Palestinian Liberation Week BEN LAUREN, CLAIRE WELCH & JUNE HSU

Thursday, March 28 marked the commencement of the final show of force for Palestine Liberation Week and an ongoing sleep-in by students on the lawn in front of Pomona College’s Smith Campus Center (SCC). Throughout the day, various community members led educational events on Palestinian liberation and divestment strategies on the lawn as well as a discussion on resistance-focused art and a poetry reading.

Beginning on March 17 and concluding on March 30, Palestinian Liberation Week is an annual event series hosted this year by Pomona Divest from Apartheid and organized with Claremont Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP), Claremont Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP), the Arab Students Association (ASA), Pitzer Southwest Asian North African Alliance (SWANAA) and the Claremont Colleges Muslim Student Association (MSA) designed to teach and organize students on the

ARTS & CULTURE

Following the success if Denis Villenueve’s Dune 2 (2024), film columnist Gerrit Punt PO ‘24 revisits David Lynch’s Dune adaptation (1984).

OPINIONS

The student newspaper of the Claremont Colleges since 1889

See LIBERATION on page 2

NIKKI SMITH • THE STUDENT LIFE On March 28, Pomona Divest From Apartheid hosted Day 1 of its multi-day show of force for Palestine Liberation Week.

SPORTS The claws of the Leopards were no match for the Athenas’ armor, as the Claremont-Mudd-Scripps (CMS) women’s water polo showcased their impenetrable defense against La Verne in a decisive 17-5 victory on Wednesday, April 3 at Axelrood Pool.

Parishi Kanuga CM ’26 came to the 5Cs excited to spend time on the numerous green spaces provided, but has only been disappointed.

On Mar. 29, Pomona College symposium “The History and Future of Care Robots” brought together scholars and students from various fields to debate the integration challenges and ethical considerations of care robots.

liberation of Palestine from Israeli Occupation.

Palestinians observe Land Day, or Yom al-Ard, on March 30. The day commemorates March 30, 1976, when six unarmed Palestinians were killed and more than 100 were injured by Israeli forces during protests against Israel’s occupation of Palestinian

Tired of seeing band-aid climate action solutions? Harrison Chapin PZ ’24 is advocating for proposed legislation that will change everything.

Caroline Bullock CM ‘24, member of the Division I Claremont Foxes rugby team, traveled to the Chula Vista Olympic Training Center on March 24 to compete against the Canadian developmental sevens team in a five game series.

INDEX: News 1 | Arts & Culture 5 | Opinions 7 | Sports 9

News

PAGE 2

April 5, 2024

HAIFA: Pitzer College announces end of pre-approved Israel study abroad program Continued from page 1 actions reflect an academic boycott.”

Anna Babboni SC ’24, a member of Claremont Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP), suggested that Omoto’s clarification exemplified Pitzer’s hesitancy to associate itself with the Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) movement.

“I think that the college would never, ever want to call a BDS win what it is,” Babboni said. “They don’t want to take a public stance on BDS, despite the fact that Pitzer claims to have radical roots and is an institution that was born out of the civil rights movement with a heavy emphasis on social justice.”

Despite this, the vote has been noted as an academic boycott win across social media, with organizations such

as Middle East Eye posting about the decision.

Babboni argued that the removal of the Haifa program from the pre-approved list was a result of long-standing student and faculty organizing and emphasized the importance of the college’s administration acknowledging this.

“Our role as organizers is to show that these types of wins come from sustained campaigns,” she said.

“This is over six years of organizing work and pressure on the administration, escalating pressure from various points. Because of that, we pressured them into closing this program, both due to what they call this lack of enrollment and our proposal.”

Following Pitzer’s April 2 announcement, SJP released a state-

ment on Instagram with a similar sentiment to Babboni’s.

“What admin refuse to admit is that SJP & [Claremont Jewish Voice for Peace], faculty, and alumni successfully closed the program at the University of Haifa due to its misalignment with Pitzer core values,” the post read.

The post specifically points to an April 2 email titled “Pitzer Faculty Statement Regarding Gaza” sent by Nigel Boyle, FEC and Faculty Meeting chair to the Pitzer community. In the email, Boyle shared a statement that had been approved at a March 28 faculty meeting.

“We stand firmly against any form of discrimination targeting Palestinian students and faculty, and the deliberate exclusion of Palestinian perspectives from the curriculum

LIBERATION: Campus organizations in support of Palestine conclude annual events Continued from page 1 land.

Claremont SJP, Claremont JVP, ASA, Pitzer SWANAA and MSA expanded on the importance of liberation week in a joint Instagram post.

“These weeks are a great opportunity to become more politically educated about Palestine, be in community with other organizers, and continue to struggle against our schools’s complicity in apartheid and genocide,” the post said.

The weeks included both talks and workshops, hosting activists from across the country including speakers such as 2024 U.S. presidential candidate Cornel West, Tufts University Edward Keller Professor of North Africa and the Middle East Khaled Fahmy and writer Nada Ella.

On March 25, Pomona Divest from Apartheid announced their “final show of force for Palestine Liberation Week” on Instagram, adding two full days of events to the Liberation Week that were scheduled to take place on March 28 and 29.

Although the first event on March 28 was scheduled for 11 a.m., organizers arrived early to set up a “mock apartheid wall” and to take advantage of the morning’s heavy foot traffic to raise awareness for the Boycott, Divest and Sanctions (BDS) movement.

Composed of eight large, upright wooden slabs placed next to each other, each panel of the wall was hand-painted by 5C students. The finished product was meant to allude to the 280-mile long wall in Occupied Palestine Territory on the West Bank.

Constructed in 2002, the wall in the West Bank has been condemned as illegal by the UN’s International Court of Justice for ”facilitat[ing] … the theft of Palestinian property.“ Painted in the Palestinian flag’s signature shades of red, green and black, the mock apartheid wall features artwork, poems, graphical statistics and phrases such as “We Are ALL Complicit” and “Theft of Palestinian land.”

Alongside the construction of the wall, students set up tents on the lawn commencing a sleep-in where they sit guard to protect the mock apartheid wall from being removed.

The action, which is still ongoing as of publication, harkens back to similar sleep-ins organized by students during the South African apartheid.

Events began at 11 a.m. with guest speaker Mx. Yaffa’s discussion “Art as Resistance.”

Yaffa wasted no time, convening a circle of approximately 20 organizers and attendees, all shouting at the top of their voices.

“I like doing a moment of screaming instead of one of silence, because moments of silence are really nice for the dead,” Yaffa explained. “But for the living, the living are demanding that we’re loud.”

Yaffa, a self-described disabled, autistic, trans, queer, Muslim and indigenous Palestinian individual, serves as the executive director of the Muslim Alliance for Sexual and Gender Diversity (MASGD).

As Yaffa spoke, student organizers handed out informative brochures and flyers to all attendees about the wall’s purpose and its background.

“Pomona won’t recognize that Israel is an apartheid state, so we will put up a mock apartheid wall and force them to look — we will disrupt the visuals of Pomona’s beautiful campus and make their complicity so glaringly obvious they can’t look away,” one brochure read.

Yaffa described disruption as a crucial element of organized resistance. They applauded the event organizers’ continuous efforts to disrupt passing tour groups and Pomona administrators, emphasizing the importance of warning prospective families about “Pomona’s institutional complicity in genocide.”

However, Pomona President Gabrielle Starr released an email Wednesday, April 3 condemning this behavior and threatening judi-

cial action against any students participating.

“This harassment targeting visitors to our campus is unacceptable under our longstanding Student Code, and it is subject to disciplinary action,” she wrote. “Protestors must refrain from disrupting campus tours, events, lectures and other gatherings, and they must refrain from persistently following or harassing participants in those activities.”

The organized disruptions were, however, successful. As they spoke, more people began gathering on the lawn to listen, including visiting students and their families.

“This is not what I expected coming to tour Pomona,” Thomas Whitticker, a visiting high school student, said. “It definitely threw me for a second, but at the same time, it’s interesting to see how political activism and these big-picture issues are handled by students and admin at this school.”

Following their discussion of disruption, Yaffa read selections from their newly released poetry collection “Blood Orange” and broke down the importance of literature as a form of resistance.

“To me, literature is actually what builds the word, instead of the world being what builds literature,” Yaffa said. “Every system of oppression, every form of violence, was in literature before it became a reality.”

In 2014, Yaffa established Irrelevant Press, their own publishing house, in reaction to what they termed as the global publishing industry’s “exclusionary” and “marginalizing” practices.

“Who else is going to publish trans-Muslim writing in public?”

Yaffa said. “I wanted the stories of our people. I wanted the stories that [the mainstream publishing industry] didn’t want to be telling people.”

As the event drew to a close, Yaffa concluded by urging attendees to continue organizing, disrupting and resisting. They extended an open invitation of collaboration to the crowd, urging attendees to find ways to “stand up and to scream out” against dominant narratives.

The crowd went quiet as Yaffa read their last poem. After the final line, applause erupted amongst attendees.

“We know it ends in flames because those with power were never taught to relinquish,” they read.

The next event, a moderated talk entitled “Long-term Strategy & Revolutionary Optimism” began at 2 p.m. At the talk, Dylan Rodriguez, professor of Media and Cultural Studies and Black Studies at UC Riverside, discussed organizing efforts in support of Palestine.

Rodriguez emphasized the discussion-based nature of his talk, consistently opening up the floor for group comments and taking notes on people’s statements.

Many students who opted to engage in his discussion talked about the need for sustained organizing including on days off such as Cesar Chavez Day on Friday, March 29.

“Admin gets to go home tomorrow for a three-day weekend, but there is no break or home in this genocide,” one student said.

Similarly, Rodriguez emphasized the need for sustained organized efforts. He pointed to the importance of what he called “political theatre,” noting the sleep-in outside of the SCC, directly across from Pomona’s administrative building.

“Admin doesn’t like it when the political theatre happens in their front yard,” Rodriguez said.

While Rodriguez advocated for challenging and interrupting administrations, he also displayed a sense of pessimism for its effectiveness, citing his own encounters with university systems that resisted transformation.

“The notion of holding an administration accountable is magical thinking,” he said.

At 4 p.m., National Students for Justice in Palestine led an event titled “Overview of California Divestment Wins & Tactics.”

This was followed by the last event of the day at 5:30 p.m., a poetry reading hosted by Claremont Faculty for Justice in Palestine.

Approximately three dozen students and community members gathered to listen to the poetry reading.

Nine faculty members took turns reading poems into the microphone. One selected “I See As If I Am: Ten Maqams” by award-winning Gaza-born poet and physician Fady Joudah.

“I’m an old war / that your world isn’t in love with anymore,” Joudah’s words rang out across SCC and the surrounding lawn.

“The players are well known. No one agrees / on what constitutes them: / justice, ineffable suffering, the right to defend / the right to eradicate. I refuse / what the war wants: that the path I seek in peace be sought through war.”

Another faculty member read Palestinian-American poet Hala Alyan’s poem “When They Say Pledge Allegiance, I Say,” which grapples with dual identity.

“It is every year and my country is taken,” Alyan wrote. “I mean my country is stolen land / I mean all my countries are stolen land / I mean sometimes I am on the wrong side of the stealing / … my country is a teacher / I mean do you want to see my passport / I mean do you like my accent / I mean I stole them / I mean I stole them / I mean where do you think I learned that from?”

Between poems, the readers paused for a vigil to honor the Palestinian writers killed in Gaza since October 2023. Referencing an article on Literary Hub, one faculty organizer spoke specifically about the 13 poets who have been killed by the Israeli military, as well as at least 95 journalists.

“Those numbers can’t account for the poetry that goes unwritten or the novels that are never set down in words because the children who would have grown up to create them are murdered or displaced or traumatized or unable to go study literature because their schools and universities have been destroyed and their teachers murdered,” the faculty organizer said. “For each Palestinian writer we know for sure we’ve lost, there are likely many more who we will never get the chance to learn about.”

One such Palestinian writer was Hiba Abu Nada. An organizer read her poem “Refuge,” written 10 days before she died in an Israeli airstrike.

“I grant you refuge / from hurt and suffering,” one stanza reads.

“With words of sacred scripture / I shield the oranges from the sting of phosphorus / and the shades of cloud from the smog. / I grant you refuge in knowing that the dust will clear, / and they who fell in love and died together / will one day laugh.”

As the sun disappeared behind the clouds and a cold breeze picked up, the student protestors huddled together under blankets and sleeping bags. A faculty organizer addressed the shivering attendees.

“Because of the nature of this event, you may have missed a corner of Palestinian poetry,” they said. “There are many, many poems out there … that are full of humor and laughter and joy and are not about rubble or bombs or bodies. Poems can keep you warm. Every reading of Palestinian and SWANA (Southwest Asian and North African) writing I’ve ever been at has been warm and I know you are all spending a lot of time out here and it’s chilly.

My suggestion to you is to find the poems that keep you warm.”

within Israeli universities,” the email read. “As a result, we will actively discourage any partnerships with institutions that perpetuate such practices.”

Students and faculty members have been calling for the closure of the Haifa program since 2018, when both Pitzer’s faculty and College Council voted to suspend the college’s ties with the University of Haifa abroad program, seemingly signifying a victory for the BDS movement; however, soon after the bill was vetoed by then-Pitzer President Melvin Oliver.

In the years since, community members have continued trying to close the program. On April 11, the Pitzer College Council is scheduled to vote on Resolution 60-R-5, which urges the college to officially par-

take in an academic boycott and to completely close the Haifa program.

This follows a 34:1 vote by the Pitzer Student Senate on Feb. 11 calling for the removal of the program.

Despite Haifa being removed from the pre-approved list, Babboni emphasized the importance of proceeding with movements in support of Palestine, including the upcoming vote.

“We think a principled stance in solidarity with Palestine is also a public stance and that part of our role as organizers is to set a path for other schools to be able to do the same and invite all other universities to also end their complicity and apartheid, genocide and ethnic cleansing,” Babboni said. “BDS is the floor, not the ceiling.

There are so many ways that we have to continue to stand in solidarity with Palestine.”

Pomona Divest From Apartheid concludes annual Palestinian Liberation Week

JIAYING CAO • THE STUDENT LIFE On March 29, Pomona Divest From Apartheid concluded its show of force for Palestine Liberation Week.

ANANYA VINAY & AMEYA TELI Palestinian Liberation Week concluded on the second day of its “final show of force” on Friday, March 29 on the Smith Campus Center (SCC) lawn. The day’s events, including organizing workshops and speakers, were held on the lawn among tents set up by students as part of their ongoing sleep-in to protect a mock apartheid wall they had set up the day prior.

The day’s programming commenced at 11 a.m with a workshop led by two representatives from the Palestinian Youth Movement (PYM) delving into the history of student-led land back movements.

The speakers discussed the formation of grassroots movements such as the Palestinian Youth Party and the Youth Congress Party in 1932 and the Arab Nation National Fund in 1976.

According to the representatives, the emergence of Palestinian nationalism was a reaction to policies implemented by Zionists during the British Mandate of Palestine. “[The movements] have various ideologies but their focus is liberation and the focus is going back to their homeland and the right of return to all refugees,” a representative said. “They were calling for the creation of the Palestinian national identity … nationalism really started up after the British mandate.”

At 2 p.m., policy and research coordinator at the Arab American Civic Council Amin Nash spoke about the United States’ historical erasure of Southwest Asian and North African (SWANA) people in its national census.

“Within the system itself, the denial of people when they want their own category, when they want their own representation or when they want their own agency,” Nash said. “They still get stifled by essentially the system of whiteness.”

Nash emphasized how without an option that represents their identity, many SWANA people are often forced to label themselves as white on the census.

“If you’re coming from West Asia, you’re coming into America and you know that the only way you can be defined and the only way you can be accepted into the American census was through a proximity to whiteness,” Nash said. “[SWANA people] had to fit in back then … or else they wouldn’t be relegated into marginalization and otherness.”

Nash then introduced the Office of Management and Budget’s revisions to Statistical Policy Directive 15 (SPD 15), which updated standards for federal data collection on race and ethnicity, published just the day before on March 28. Among the changes is the addition of Middle Eastern or North African as a new minimum race and/or ethnicity category.

Nash highlighted the importance of actively working to reduce the discrimination against the

SWANA population.

“We need to remove this conflation, the social construct that goes around the population as being somehow antithetical to America,” Nash said. “If you really think about it, this population, by fighting for their identity, fighting for sovereignty and pushing for their rights is beyond antithetical to American … it is American to kind of prove that we exist and to prove that we’re here.”

Nash said he particularly appreciated the fierce advocacy of college students — such as those attending Palestinian Liberation Week — in helping to make SWANA voices heard, noting his belief that student action has the potential to affect meaningful change.

“You guys are standing up for people that didn’t have a voice for [the] longest time,” Nash said. “This process of erasure stripping away who we are as Americans and kind of changing our identities and having the American process reduce us into essentially nothingness. I hear you guys trying to say ‘we don’t want to see that.’”

The programming continued with a 4 p.m. event entitled, “Know Your Rights” during which Scripps alumnae Elizabeth Howell-Egan SC ’22 discussed protest safety and how to interact with police presences.

Howell-Egan is a legal observer — a volunteer who attends public demonstrations to serve as an independent third party notating the actions of law enforcement — for the national nonprofit National Lawyers Guild. Howell-Egan spoke as a representative of the organization.

More than anything, Howell-Egan emphasized the importance of asserting one’s constitutional rights.

“Even though we have these rights, it doesn’t mean that the police or courts are going to respect them,” Howell-Egan said.

Howell-Egan cited several amendments from the Bill of Rights. First, she drew attendees’ attention particularly to the First Amendment — freedom of expression, assembly and speech — the Fourth Amendment — no unreasonable searches — and the Fifth Amendment — protection against self-incrimination.

She then expanded on the Fifth Amendment and talked about how it relates to direct interactions with law enforcement.

“Never, ever ever answer questions or volunteer information,” Howell-Egan said. “It’s about minimizing and avoiding interaction with the police as much as possible.”

For Howell-Egan, understanding the differences between being stopped, detained and arrested by the police is especially important.

“If the police stop and question you … the key phrase is ‘Am I free to leave?’ and if they say yes … walk away,” Howell-Egan said. “If they say no, that means you’re being detained.”

Howell-Egan outlined citizens’ rights in the event of detainment.

READ THE REST ONLINE

News

April 5, 2024

PAGE 3

A warm welcome to the 5C class of 2028 KAHANI MALHOTRA During the month of March, the 5Cs released admission decisions to tens of thousands of hopeful applicants looking to continue their academic journeys at the Claremont Colleges.

Pomona College was the first of the 5Cs to release its decisions, which were marked with 28 bell chimes from Sumner Hall on Friday, March 15. They also released academic information, countries of origin and general data about the class of 2028.

Adam Sapp, assistant vice president and director of Admissions at Pomona, expressed his excitement about the 2028 admissions cycle.

“This was an admissions year like no other,” Sapp said in an email to TSL. “I’m so proud of the entire admissions team, they brought the energy, creativity and compassion required to ensure the Class of 2028 will be among the most academically talented classes we’ve ever admitted.”

Yvonne Berumen PZ ’97, Pitzer College’s vice president for Admission and Financial Aid, echoed similar sentiments about the caliber of Pitzer’s class of 2028.

“I am constantly impressed by every new cohort of Pitzer students,” Berumen said. “The Class of 2028 represents the best of Pitzer in their desire to change the world and see new possibilities and opportunities. We’re really looking forward to seeing them on campus.”

The selection of the incoming first-year classes at the Claremont Colleges, as well as those at other institutions across the nation, differed from previous years in that students’ race was not considered.

This change resulted from the Supreme Court’s decision to end affirmative action in 2023.

Thyra L. Briggs, vice president for Admission and Financial Aid at Harvey Mudd College, commented on how this change impacted the admissions process.

“This was obviously a different year in admission given the SCOTUS decision that removed the option of considering race as part of our holistic admission review,” Briggs said. “I’m proud of the work our staff did to adapt and to ensure that we followed all best practices in reviewing applications. I’m not sure anyone knows the amount of care and attention that goes into application review, but changes this year took this to a new high.”

Despite the challenges posed by the SCOTUS decision for admissions across the 5Cs, Sapp shared promising trends he observed in Pomona’s latest group of undergraduates.

EVELYN HAO & JAZELLE SALIGUMBA • THE STUDENT LIFE

“I was pleased to see a slight increase in first-generation students in this class, as well as high interest in students choosing two majors from different academic divisions,” Sapp said. “Pomona is a place that can serve intellectually curious students with many different interests particularly well, [so] it was nice to see this data point show up so clearly at the end of our process.”

James Rietz PO ’28, a prospective classics and art history double major, said he is eager to take classes across disciplines while exploring his passions.

Rietz said he is looking forward to working at the Pomona Farm, getting involved with music across the 5Cs and participating in workshops at the Hive.

“Every day I’m like, oh, there’s a new thing that you can do on campus or do at one of the other 5Cs and it’s just insane,” Rietz said. “I’m just generally excited to figure out what to do because there’s a thousand things [to do].

I’m not used to [it]. I’m really excited.”

Rietz said he was particularly excited about the personal connection Pomona made with each committed student via a gifted book personalized to their interest. “[Mine was a book of] short stories that are all mythological retellings because I’m majoring in classics [and] one of my essays

was about a lot of myths that I really connected to as a kid,” Rietz said. “I’m just so excited.

I’m overjoyed.”

Alyna Prucnal HM ’28 said she was drawn to Mudd because of its emphasis on interdisciplinary studies, which will allow her to study math and physics while also benefiting from the taking non-stem courses.

“I really like that [Mudd] is mostly a STEM school but still has a touch of the humanities,” Prucnal said. “I like that I don’t have to give one up just to pursue the other. I [also] really like that I [can be] in a small school and have small class sizes, but also have the ability to meet lots of people and be in that environment as well. And the weather’s nice: I’m from Illinois, so it gets really cold in the winter.”

Sitara Putrevu SC ’28 said she was initially drawn to Scripps because of its welcoming environment, noting both its status as a historically women’s college and its aesthetics.

“I really like that [Scripps College] is a women’s college because it creates a sense of community,” Putrevu said. “I think I’ll be able to make really good connections … Also, I know a couple of people who went there and they just absolutely adored it. [And] obviously, the campus is so pretty.”

For Deborah Aguirre CM

’28, the sheer number of opportunities available to explore, especially in a close-knit liberal arts setting, is what drew her to Claremont McKenna College (CMC).

“I applied to CMC because I liked the size,” she said. “I liked the focus on government and economics.”

For Rietz, the final outcome was a cathartic experience.

“Pomona was my goal: I toured more than once, I went to the President’s Day Preview thing [and] I emailed with my admissions officer,” Rietz said.

“I opened [the decision letter] and I screamed and started crying, my mom started crying, everyone was freaking out.”

Aguirre also had her mom with her when opening her decision, which she received through QuestBridge, a nonprofit program which connects low-income and first-generation students with colleges across the country.

“I opened [the decision] with my mom,” Aguirre said. “I remember she was out of the house, so I had to wait like an extra hour and a half to open the letter. I screamed when I saw [the decision] … It was definitely really exciting. CMC was my top school. I [was] like, oh my gosh, I did it.”

The class of 2028 features many students eager to leave high school and jump into their next four years.

“I’m done with high school,” Aguirre said. “Right now, it’s from school to home, I don’t really get much in between … [so] I’m excited for the college experience. I definitely look forward to taking advantage of the opportunities.

CMC has internships, connections.

That’s probably what I’m most excited for, all these new experiences that I’m finally gonna get my hands on.”

Admitted students have already been connecting with one another on social media, whether through official college panels or Instagram accounts dedicated to spotlighting the class of 2028.

“I’ve met some people through Instagram already and everyone is so nice,” Rietz said. “I’m in this massive group chat with all the Pomona incoming people and it’s always active, everyone’s always talking.”

Incoming students will continue making their final commitments to universities until the May 1 deadline.

QUINN NACHTRIEB • THE STUDENT LIFE

Mudders Against Murder: Student group stands against Harvey Mudd’s ties with defense and weapons companies NITYA GUPTA On Saturday, March 23, Mudders Against Murder — an organization of Harvey Mudd College students advocating for the school to break off relations with “weapon manufacturers and defense contractors”— released a petition titled Mudders Against Murder: No Labor for Genocide that demanded Mudd sever all current and future ties with defense and weapon related companies, which the organization claims “profit from genocide.”

A member of Mudders Against Murder, who requested anonymity for safety reasons, explained that the intent of the group is to get Mudd to discontinue any affiliation with such companies.

“We want [Mudd] to cut its institutional ties to defense companies and companies that are involved in

the military-industrial complex,” the member said. “We want them to get rid of the culture of apathy and complacency that they have for the companies that they’re promoting.”

The group is a relatively new organization and was formed in early March after February’s Muddbucks campaign, a student-led movement that called for Mudd to end its relationship with the Starbucks corporation. Mudders Against Murder have since released this petition and conducted a teach-in to recruit members.

“We’re a pretty grassroots group at the moment,” the member said.

“We formed because there was this consensus among a lot of students that they weren’t okay with the presence of defense companies at Mudd and they wanted some actionable steps that could be taken towards it.”

The group aims to target Mudd’s clinic program — a program that provides juniors and seniors with real-world work experience in solving technical problems for companies in engineering, physics and other STEM-related fields to prepare them for the workforce.

The petition alleges that since 2018, the clinic program has formed 61 contracts with weapon and defense affiliated companies like the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, MIT Lincoln Laboratory and Amazon Labs, describing the issues created in connecting students to such companies. “[Mudd] forges a path for students to provide unpaid labor for defense companies and encourages students to go into the field of defense post-college, all the while maintaining a culture of apathy and complacency for the impact

EMMA JENSEN • THE STUDENT LIFE A newly formed organization called Mudders Against Murder released a petition titled Mudders Against Murder: No Labor for Genocide on Mar. 23.

of their actions,” the petition states.

The petition also claims that by maintaining relationships with these companies through clinics and career fairs Mudd administration, students and faculty are complicit “in the death and destruction of people around the world.” “[Mudd] is made complicit in injustices committed by the United States because of their role in either building weapons for these companies or in helping them generate profits, further enabling weapons production,” the petition states.

Mudd’s mission statement takes a different stance on involvement with these companies.

“Harvey Mudd College seeks to educate engineers, scientists, and mathematicians well versed in all of these areas and in the humanities, social sciences and the arts so that they may assume leadership in their fields with a clear understanding of the impact of their work on society,” it reads.

The petition urges students to reflect on the college’s mission and recognize that their labor may inadvertently lead to “the murder of countless civilians and a direct participation in genocide.”

Harvey Mudd’s Director of Public Relations Judy Augsburger emphasized the mission of the college and the autonomy students and faculty have when deciding how to utilize their abilities.

“We encourage students and faculty to think deeply about their work, explore the options available to them, and to make their own individual choices about how to best use their talents and skills to contribute to society,”Augsburger wrote in an email to TSL. The student from Mudders Against Murder appeared to disagree with these sentiments and

emphasized the crucial role administration plays in influencing people’s decisions when deciding to work with a company. The member explained that through this campaign, they want students and alumni to be able to voice their grievances against Mudd and take action.

“We want students to refuse to offer free labor to war profiteers in the form of clinics and internships and through other ways they are being pushed into the defense industry,” the member said. “We don’t want alumni to give money to the school, or offer to be a liaison at clinic or career fairs until these demands are met.”

The member also added that until their demands are met, they will be continuing to escalate action on campus.

“Until they outrightly stop sponsoring these clinic groups, or until they outrightly stop bringing these companies to campus, we will continue to make our demands heard,” the member said. “Ultimately, [Mudd] has the choice to cut these ties, but they are still involved with reaching out to these companies, maintaining relationships with them and bringing them onto our campus.”

Augsburger’s statement implied that while the administration will not be taking any steps right now to end its relationship with these companies, it is looking forward to further discussion on this topic.

“We value an educational environment that encourages dialogue and that cherishes different perspectives and lived experiences,” Augsburger wrote. “We look forward to hearing our students’ suggestions about ways we can further improve their educational experiences, and we welcome further community discussion on these important issues.”

News

PAGE 4

April 5, 2024

Black Queer Spirituality as a Sacred Epistemology: Pomona Alumnus, Don Abram gives this year’s Lorn S. Foster Lecture SAGE HARPER On Wednesday, March 27, the Pomona College politics department hosted Reverend Don Abram PO ’16, a public theologian and LGBTQ+ community advocate, to talk about Black queer spirituality and his experience coming of age as a queer person in the Black church.

The Politics Department Foster Lecture — held annually to honor Lorn S. Foster, an emeritus professor at Pomona, whose career focused on race, religion and politics — took place in Pomona’s Rose Hills Theater.

“This talk is kind of a tribute to his legacy, where speakers, mostly from minority backgrounds, come and talk about how their involvement in the world has changed them and how they have changed the world,” senior politics liaison Jake Ballantine PO ’24 said.

The significance of the speech’s dedication was heightened by the fact that Foster had been Abram’s mentor while he was a student.

Abram acknowledged this, saying his understanding of the intersection between race, spirituality and queerness changed during his time at Pomona and noting Foster as having a crucial role in this process.

“In large part through Professor Lorn Foster and the classes that I took with him, I was able to explore the ways that the Black church has always carried the banner of freedom and liberation for people and in so doing, know that my desire to do the same was deeply in line with that tradition,”Abram said.

Abram began his talk with a statement that invited the audience to merge their understandings of the personal, spiritual and political, moving forward.

“As my remarks unfold, I humbly invite you to promenade through my own lived experience and testimony in the hopes that you might find some unsuspecting gems pointing to healing and liberation,” he said.

He prefaced with a personal testimony about how his identity impacts both his work and understanding of the world.

“You see, queerness haunted me for years,” Abram said. “It lurked in the shadows of my life with little regard for my comfort or convenience. I rejected its alluring embrace with every fiber of my being, but the more I resisted, the larger it loomed. Desperate for relief, I found refuge in a place called the Black church. It gave me deliverance, but not in the way that you may think.”

In 2021, Abram founded Pride in the Pews, an organization which aims to help people understand religion as a social

determinant of health for the Black LGBTQ+ community and to equip faith leaders with the necessary knowledge and skills to be allies and advocates.

He shared how Pride in the Pews was inspired by his experiences searching for freedom within the church and emphasized his desire to help others in similar situations.

“Against the odds, I waded through the shame and the guilt and the internalized homophobia to reach the parts of myself I was told to deem ungodly,” Abram said.

He explained how the spaces in his church — from the sanctuary to the bathroom — became a home for understanding himself and his queerness. His spiritual calling to preach the gospel, he recalled, came to him in a dream set in the sanctuary of this very church.

“I awake from that dream seeking to resist it,” he said.

“Recognising that if I embraced it, it would cause me not only pain, but the loss of community.”

Abram’s work involves embracing both the side of him that felt called to be a spiritual leader in his community and the part of him that he discov-

ered amidst, but felt he had to hide from this same community.

“I recognise that people see these two things as mutually exclusive — my queerness and my Black religiosity — maybe even inherently contradictory,” he said. “I beg to differ. I see them as mutually dependent and inextricably connected.

This is where I find my being the very fiber of the work that I do today.”

He explained how his path has been grounded in the knowledge that, despite antagonism from the church, queer people have always found a way to find their own space within it.

“Tapping into my queerness only steps away from the main sanctuary was really an attempt to create a new sacred space,” he said. “A space that affirmed the totality of my humanity.”

Abram also noted that he founded Pride in the Pews in the wake of the George Floyd protests, realizing that even in the most liberal cities, Black queer populations are still seen as disposable.

“It would be woefully irresponsible for me to suggest in some way that my queer and trans kindred are not still bat-

the closet.

“Being back at Pomona College is so surreal in large part because when I was here, I was not out,” Abram said in an interview with TSL. “I was deeply closeted but the thing I loved about this space was that, even as I wasn’t ready to embrace my queerness, it was incredibly queer affirming.”

Abram also shared what it meant to him to give this talk to his old mentor and to interested students.

“I was in [these students’] position and it doesn’t feel that far from me, even though I’m eight years removed,” he said. “Being able to … share that these were my struggles and these were the questions that I had and the things that remained unsettled for me, but now I am at a place where I am able to live into all parts of who I am without shame.”

He also shared his hopes for what certain students might take away from the talk.

“In some ways what I am trying to say with this talk is that it gets better,” Abrams said. ”Even as you are trying to find your way through all sorts of systems and institutions and normative ways of being, there is light on the other side.”

ASHA JAIN • THE STUDENT LIFE Reverend Don Abram PO ’16, a public theologian and LGBTQ+ community advocate, visited Pomona College to talk about Black queer spirituality and his experience coming of age as a queer person in the Black church.

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tling what it means to be berated by biblical bullets and doused with transphobic utterances in places that we call sanctuaries,” Abram said.

Abram emphasized that his work relies on one essential premise.

“Black LGBTQ+ communities are indispensable parts of the black church and of this country,” Abram said.

After the talk, some students in attendance stayed behind to speak with the reverend.

“I think it’s really powerful and important to have someone representing these intersecting identities in this way,” attendee Matt Parsons PO ’26 said.

Ballantine said he felt that Abram was a unique speaker because of his extensive real-world experience working within social movements.

“I think it’s really important to shine a spotlight on people related to the field who don’t work in academia and have some kind of other role,” Ballantine said. “A lot of students will ultimately go into roles that are just as important in terms of making an impact and changing the world outside of academia.”

Abram described how he felt returning to campus now out of

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April 5, 2024

Arts & Culture

PAGE 5

FASHION BIBLE

Spring/summer 2024: What’s hot, what’s not?

LISA GORELIK Although you may not be convinced based on the current Claremont weather, we have officially entered the spring/summer season and it is time to switch out those puffer jackets for opentoed shoes and flowy, summery dresses.

Are you in need of a little guidance on what new additions you should make to your summer closet and what you should leave behind in the old, frosty season?

You’ve come to the right place.

Let’s talk about what is in and out of fashion this spring/summer season, exclusively in my own, unqualified opinion.

Wearing shoes is back in style!

I’m looking at you Pitzer College students … Now, I’m not going to argue with you on the health pros and cons of wearing shoes; my colleagues have already covered this here. All that I’m going to say is this: If you want to walk into a dining hall barefoot and enjoy your dinner whilst touching toes with all of your friends, stick to McConnell Dining Hall and respect Collins Dining Hall’s “no shirt, no shoes, no service” policy.

Using headphones in public is so in right now. Please do not subjugate your fellow busy bees at the Hub to a 45-minute chemistry lecture that you are clearly disinterested in — don’t make us suffer along with you!

Matching pajama sets, slippers and bathrobes is the hottest fashion combo today. Who said that your sleepwear can’t be runway-ready? The only time that it is justifiable to wear your pajamas outside of your dorm is when they are paired with a fluffy robe and slippers. Make sure to catch me at Collins late-night snack in my Victoria’s Secret satin pajama set, hot pink robe and leopard print slippers for some loungewear inspiration.

Pedicures have always been in style, but especially so during the spring/summer season. Remember that there is a totally acceptable middle ground between sneakers and no shoes: Open-toed shoes. This means flip-flops, sandals and slides (please no Crocs, though). If you are planning on stepping out in this type of footwear, you have to make sure that your toenails and heels are looking fresh — nobody wants to see flakes of skin sprinkling across the floor you just graced.

Electrical scooters are out and hopefully forever. Did you know that the Claremont Colleges are all situated within one square mile of each other?! Fascinating, isn’t it? This means that unless

MOMENTS TO SAVOR

EMILY KIM Every semester without fail, one of the most memorable events on my calendar is the First Love retreat.

First Love is a Christian club here at the Claremont Colleges that I’ve been a part of since my first year (or, technically, even before then — I joined some Zoom meetings during my gap year!) and our retreats are always weekends to remember.

One retreat, I was inadvertently baptized with toilet water falling through a faulty ceiling. During another retreat, late-night ravenousness led us to gorge on chocolate chip cookies and sliced Sara Lee “communion” bread. My memories from my

QUINN NACHTRIEB • THE STUDENT LIFE

you live far in the wilderness of off-campus housing, there is absolutely no reason why you would need an electric scooter to get around the campuses.

Going to Joshua Tree is so last season. It’s been done too many times before, it’s overplayed and we’re bored. Or at least if you decide to hit up the desert energy vortex, refrain from dedicating a whole Instagram post to your trip — they’re just rocks.

“Hey Dude Wally” shoes were never in style, so this shouldn’t come as a surprise.

The least fashionable shoe ever made has successfully reached its target audience of the least fashionable men on campus.

I have seen this type of shoe paired with anything from swimming trunks, sweatpants, jeans and workout clothes. I say no to all of the above. Please, just get sneakers. You can wear boat shoes when you become a dad.

Posting photos from spring break is no longer acceptable. It’s

been over two weeks since the end of the break and by social media rules, you have missed the deadline to post your wild, crazy, off-the-rails snaps from Cabo. Don’t worry, though, you can always try again next year when you will undoubtedly visit the same open-bar resort with thousands of other Southern California college students.

It is time to retire the Patagonia vest in the office. I know, I know, I’m sorry Claremont McKenna College econ bros! You were probably so excited to wear this piece of finance uniform this summer at your Goldman Sachs internship, but trust me, you can still get into the exclusive “boys club” at your investment banking firm without having to conform to the corporate fashion trends.

“Birkenstock Boston” clogs have unfortunately reached their expiration date. Listen, this one is painful for me too because I never got the chance to jump

on the hype train, but alas, it is too far, too late for us now. The clogs are still an awesome shoe and if you are an OG clogger, don’t change what you’re doing.

But for the rest of us, let’s find something new and exciting — maybe the Dr. Martens Mules?

Buying makeup specifically branded for men is not cute this season. Do you really need your concealer to be called “War Paint” for you to feel comfortable using it? I have never tested these products myself, so I cannot speak for their quality, but I can almost guarantee that you can find a cheaper alternative at your local drugstore or Sephora.

Yes, you will have to go in a store where most of the other customers will be women and that can be scary, but I can assure you that we don’t bite. And the store assistants will be more than happy to help you choose a suitable product that will not deprive you of your masculinity.

The carabiner and plastic ID

card holder combo is officially basic. My dear Scripps College friends, I understand the practicality of this alternative to a wallet, but the market is simply oversaturated with this trend.

Consider donating your carabiner to your climber friends; I’m sure that they will greatly appreciate it.

Thank you for bearing with me through my two cents on what is in and out of style this season and I am sorry if you feel a little targeted. I have never received any sort of style or fashion training, so you really have no reason to listen to me. But I hope that whatever fashion you may decide to dabble in this summer will make you feel confident, comfortable and enchanting. Just as long as shoes are a part of your outfit.

Elizaveta (Lisa) Gorelik CM ’25 is from Moscow, Russia. She must provide a disclaimer that she is guilty of many of the “out of style” items on this list, but experience is the teacher of all things.

A retreat as sweet as honey first year are fuzzy, but I’m pretty sure that one semester, we drove up the mountain intending to cook pasta for dinner on Saturday night, only to realize when we had gotten there that we had brought all the ingredients — but the pasta.

Admittedly, there is always something comically unforgettable about these retreats — something that changes every semester but always makes me chuckle and shake my head. A couple of weeks ago, my friends and I ventured to Perris, California for the spring 2024 First Love retreat and, as expected, experienced a humorously noteworthy moment.

This time, it was a humble bottle

of honey that stole the show.

Apparently, honey is good for the vocal cords. I didn’t know that until my friend Ellie Chang SC ’24 vowed to bring a bottle of farmer’s market honey (gifted to her by alum Alan Guo PO ’23) to the retreat.

A group of us — myself, Ellie, as well as Ethan Fong PO ’25 and Eliana Yi PO ’24 — were tasked with organizing all of the music for the retreat and as we prepared well over 20 songs to sing throughout the weekend, we realized that we would be singing quite a lot. We had already been exerting our voices in the rehearsals leading up to the retreat and so, as we drove to Perris, we knew that it would be crucial

for us to stay hydrated — and now, thanks to Ellie (and Alan), regularly gulp down some honey to protect our voices.

So, that’s exactly what we did.

It was a comical sight because whenever the four of us play music for First Love, we often switch around on instruments. For one song, it may be me on keys, Eliana on acoustic guitar, Ellie on bass and Ethan on cajon; for another, I might be on cajon, Ellie or Ethan on keys, Eliana on bass and so on. It’s like musical chairs with instruments.

This time, we passed around the honey bottle like it was another instrument, too.

Whenever we felt that our voices

NICOLE CEPEDA • THE STUDENT LIFE

were getting tired, we would grab the honey bottle and slowly tilt it towards our mouths, letting the sweet, sticky liquid fall down our throats. This was a struggle for me. I’m a self-proclaimed “I like sweets that aren’t too sweet” kind of girl, so gulping down straight honey was difficult. I was so overwhelmed by the sweetness that I struggled to notice the “orange notes” that Alan raved about.

Despite the struggle, though, I was grateful for the honey. The stupidly saccharine substance both soothed my throat when I felt my voice getting tired and gave me the necessary boost of sugar to keep up my energy.

At the end of the weekend, my friends and I looked over at the honey bottle and laughed. It was almost gone — the honey only filled a portion of the bear’s body. We had sung hours upon hours of songs over a span of two days, but the honey provided our vocal cords with some much-needed sweet relief.

Our voices were still tired, that’s for sure (we had to lower the key of our final set of songs on Sunday morning), but the memories made from everyone singing together made it all worth it.

This was my last retreat with Eliana and Ellie, as they are graduating in approximately one month. I know that I’ll be sad saying goodbye to them in May (and I know that they don’t want me to think about that yet), but I will particularly cherish this honey memory with them.

This last month or so of the semester is always difficult. Academically, there is too much to do and emotionally, there is this looming feeling of sadness for the farewells you will be bidding to your senior friends in only a matter of time.

To all those with senior friends graduating soon, I encourage you to simply savor the remaining moments you have with them on these quaint Claremont campuses. Rest in each moment and be sure to take each of them in slowly — every stupidly sweet last bit.

Emily Kim PO ’25 is from Irvine, California. Sometimes she just sits on the floor of her room with her guitar (tuned to open D) and some Trader Joe’s canned wine — and that, in her opinion, is a recipe for a lovely night.

PAGE 6

Arts & Culture

April 5, 2024

Robot doctors: Panel discusses role of Cinema and Connection: care robots in modern healthcare delivery The Laemmle Theater LET’S GO LOCAL

ANANYA VINAY With the United States population rapidly aging, it’s high time to critically assess approaches to elderly care — but in the age of artificial intelligence, what exactly does that reconceptualization entail?

On March 29 and 30, the Pomona College History Department hosted a symposium titled “The History and Future of Care Robots.”

The 16 invitees — including scholars and students from various fields such as information sciences, anthropology and engineering — discussed the ethics and design of robots in healthcare and compared the use of assistive technology in Japan, Denmark and the United States.

Dr. Suma Ikeuchi, associate professor of Transnational Japanese Studies at UC Santa Barbara, Maria Meyer and Jeanne Jensen from the Knowledge Center for Assistive Technology in Eastern Denmark and Chau Vu PO ’26 were among the featured panelists.

Ikeuchi presented her findings from fieldwork at a care home in Japan called Zenkokai, which also functions as a test site for care robots for the elderly. She highlighted that care robots have a long way to go from becoming the humanoid machines that people conceive them to be; according to Ikeuchi, while over 130 care robots were tested at Zenkokai, only 20 survived the selection process.

“The reality of care robots in Japan is that most do not match the popular image of robots as we know it,” Ikeuchi said. “The official definition of robots according to the government is the following: Robots are mechanical systems that detect information, evaluate information and operate a response.”

The most common care robots

are devices used to monitor sleep and other vital functions, reducing the burden on human caregivers.

Ikeuchi pointed out the ethical minefields of this surveillance. “[This] is a large-scale collection of personal information, data application and the unilateral claiming of the private human experience as free raw material for translation into behavioral data,” Ikeuchi said. “This is an open question that we all have to consider because what can be more personal and more raw than our breathing than our heartbeats, than our sleep?”

The production of care robotics in the United States, however, is much less developed. Vu’s presentation focused on the history of care robotics in the United States and the lack of investment in the field. She observed that, up until the 2000s, robotics funding was primarily allocated for national defense purposes.

“The funding for what they called Programmable Automation in 1984 was $60 million allocated to military-like defense and military projects,” Vu said. “And [until] the 2000s, it seems like the focus on researching care robots for commercial and civilian use, [was] relatively new.”

Meanwhile in Denmark, the Knowledge Center, which employs Meyer and Jensen, provides training to healthcare professionals and caregivers for working with assistive technology in order to meet the evolving needs of elderly citizens.

Meyer focused on the necessity of innovation to provide sustainable care.

“The increasing number of elderly citizens combined with a shortfall in elderly workforces compels us to seek innovative

solutions,” Meyer said. “Technology advancements are changing healthcare and elderly care for the better, making it easier for people to live independently and improving the quality of care.”

Jensen focused on planned healthcare reforms in Denmark, specifically in regard to the expansion of telemedicine and remote care accessibility. He emphasized the importance of building a digital infrastructure in healthcare, which creates more sustainable systems of elderly care.

“The commission also emphasizes the importance of preventive care, advocating for strategies that identify and manage health issues early on, thereby reducing the demand for more resource-intensive health services,” Jensen said.

“Integration of health services across all care is another critical recommendation by ensuring a seamless flow of information and coordination between primary and secondary and tertiary care providers.”

Callan Sait, an associate professor of cultural anthropology at International Christian University, spoke about the “sociotechnical imaginaries of assistive technology” in Japanese long-term elder care. Sait commented on the interplay between self-sufficiency and support in elderly care. “[Meyer and Jensen] talked about the ways that the care system in Denmark has set up greater autonomy and independence of the elderly,” Sait said. “It got me thinking … How important is the idea of autonomy more generally in care? For me, care is, by definition, a dependent relationship.”

ANDREW YUAN • THE STUDENT LIFE The most common care robots are used to monitor sleep and other vital functions, reducing the burden on human caregivers.

MICHELLE ZHANG “What just happened in there?”

As we emerged from the dark confines of the theater and out into the bright sunlight, my friend and I laughed together.

We’d just watched “Poor Things” and were trying to wrap our heads around the last two hours spent following its crazy narrative.

Founded in 2007, the Laemmle Claremont 5 theater is a classic place to visit in the heart of the Village. Whether you’ve been eagerly awaiting the release of a movie or you just want to browse what’s showing, the Laemmle is the perfect spot to spend a Friday evening or free afternoon.

I remember first visiting the theater in October, when my friends and I decided to watch “Bottoms.” As we filed into the theater, we noted how small and unassuming it seemed. The Laemmle certainly isn’t comparable in scale to large, sweeping AMCs or Regals. It’s small with only 5 auditoriums.

However, what the Laemmle lacks in grandiosity, it certainly makes up for in spunk. A table near the entrance lists the theater chain’s expansive history. There are various Pedro Almodóvar film posters scattered around the walls in the bathrooms. A bulletin board advertises upcoming local events about cinema.

The Laemmle Theatre group was first established in 1938 by Max and Kurt Laemmle, the nephews of Universal Pictures founder Carl Laemmle. There are seven locations in total around Southern California and in Washington State, including Santa Monica, West Los Angeles and North Hollywood.

The Laemmle’s historical focus as an arthouse means that its theaters often host anniversary screenings of acclaimed movies.

Whenever I pass by the theater, they’re usually showing a classic film or two. “Spirited Away” and “Amelie” are a couple of recent films that have been showcased.

Not only is the Laemmle a staple local business serving the surrounding community, it’s also a durable reminder of the power of cinema-going.

College streaming culture is all-encompassing: We’re hardwired to immediately go to Netflix or Hulu to watch a movie.

We’re so used to simply streaming content on our phones and computers, which is understandable due to its ease and accessibility.

At the risk of sounding like an insufferable film bro, however, there’s nothing quite like the feeling of watching a movie on the big screen. The only thing you can focus on is what’s directly in front of you and you’re not as tempted to check your phone, mindlessly open a social media

LUCIA MARQUEZ-UPPMAN • THE STUDENT LIFE

app or fruitlessly try to multitask on a reading for class.

Watching a movie in a theater with friends serves as a space for connection. Everyone’s schedules are immensely busy and it can be difficult to find time to spend together outside of classes or clubs.

Taking the time to disconnect from everything around us and simply spend a couple hours in a dark room watching a movie can be meaningful.

It’s also important to recognize the impact of streaming services on the cinema space. Our very own Laemmle theater has undergone the threat of closure in the past few years: A buyer wanted to tear down the property and convert the theater into a hotel, restaurants and a lounge.

Even though chain president Greg Laemmle called off the sale of the theater in January 2023, stating that it would stay off the market, the larger challenge of theater closures continues to loom large. Just last month, SoCal’s historic Highland Theater in Highland Park closed for good despite it being a staple in the community for over 100 years; following the pandemic, it just couldn’t compete with other entertainment outlets.

The next time you plan on watching a movie, rather than immediately heading to streaming platforms, see if it’s showing in the cinema.

Indeed, the cost of going to the movies itself isn’t always sustainable or feasible for everyone.

However, 5C students can purchase discounted tickets for the Laemmle and all Regal theaters for $7 at the Associated Students of Pomona College office.

Whether it be at the Laemmle Theater or another local cinema, it’s critical to be intentional about where and how you consume media.

So, go watch a movie on the big screen! You just might find, like my friends and I, that you enjoy the experience more.

Michelle Zhang PO ’27 is from the Bay Area. She’s a proud lefty and considers people-watching a hobby.

FRAME RATING

A really, really half-hearted defense of David Lynch’s “Dune” GERRIT PUNT For the second time this decade, Dune fever has swept the nation and seeing as I’ve finally gotten around to watching “Twin Peaks,” it seemed like as good a time as any to revisit the “Dune” that started it all (if you don’t read books) — David Lynch’s, from 1984.

Lynch’s “Dune” was a critical and commercial flop when it came out and in the 40 years since it’s mostly talked about as the black sheep of its director’s filmography — a strange blemish on a strange career.

With each new adaptation of the source material, the 1984 original gets exhumed from its grave for cultural reappraisal and every time the takeaway seems to be about the same: David Lynch’s “Dune” is not great.

It’s nice we’re getting a new one.

I have a confession to make, though. For as much as I’ve staunchly and off-handedly defended this movie (at least twice), I’d never actually sat down and watched it.

If there’s anything that anyone should know about me, it is that I always root for the underdog. I wasn’t a big fan of Denis Villeneuve’s 2021 entry and I’ve got a big soft spot for oft-maligned movies (probably due to my naturally gracious heart and unflinching good-naturedness), so I was ready to enter the world of Lynch “Dune” with wide eyes and open arms.

It’s got beautiful ’80s set design and charmingly unconvincing giant worms. It’s the weird guild navigator guys that live in big fish tanks. It’s got Sting! Sting! From the Police! He’s got the mannerisms of a lunatic and an ornate metal codpiece. I would have bet my life savings, possibly my firstborn, that this movie was an unappreciated classic.

But man, it’s a lot harder being a Lynch “Dune” apologist once you’ve actually watched it.

MAX RANNEY • THE STUDENT LIFE

“Dune” (1984) isn’t very good.

It feels pointless to say that about a 40-year-old movie with a 37 percent Rotten Tomatoes score, but I have to get it out of the way before I can get to the point. “Dune” isn’t very good and it’s not good for reasons that are disappointing and uninteresting.

It’s enormously ambitious in its scale but frustratingly, overwhelmingly weightless. For something that wants to be a biblical epic (essentially a sci-fied Moses and the Israelites), the film is a dry recitation, devoid of drama on a macro and

micro level. The characters are dull.

Their interactions are uninteresting and their world feels scopeless. It overexplains itself at every turn and is somehow still difficult to follow.

It is, bluntly, a mess.

Having said all of that, I don’t know, I still kind of like it.

Perhaps it’s my naturally gracious heart or my unflinching good-naturedness, or maybe I’m just a contrarian, but I can’t say that I don’t kind of admire what “Dune” shoots for.

It’s got a lot of good pieces. They

don’t converge into a great whole, but they’re good pieces. The sets and costumes are stunning. There’s an abundance of great space-desert psychedelia and a real willingness to be weird and colorful and outthere that a lot of modern science fiction is decidedly allergic to.

For all its glaring flaws, the original “Dune” succeeds in a few ways that I wish we were still interested in recreating. I can’t help but wonder if, in 40 years of dragging this weird, bad movie through the dirt, we’ve thrown the third stage guild

navigator out with the bathwater.

Why must a genre brimming with unimaginable creative potential be so limited to charmless hyperrealism and strict believability? Where are the drugged-out psychic mutants floating in giant tanks? Where’s Sting in his weird metal codpiece? Where’s the curiosity?

Time is kind to movies like “Dune.” I’m sure sitting through it in 1984 was close to torture — nostalgic appeal takes a lot of time to cultivate — but in 2024, just the act of seeing giant worm puppets and expansive painted backdrops and psychedelic dream sequences is its own kind of treat. Saying Lynch’s “Dune” sucks is like saying that the first bicycle ever invented sucked — it’s true, but the vision is unignorable and don’t you kind of wish those great big wheels stuck around?

I want to make it known that I haven’t seen the recent “Dune: Part Two.” That may in and of itself make the points I’ve made moot and if you feel that way, I think that’s fair. My criticisms are levied with its older sibling and the rest of its generation and though I’ve seen little to dissuade my fears about the sequel being another cold, tan spectacle, I’ve since learned not to judge a “Dune” by its cover.

If “Dune: Part Two” ushers in an era of strange, stylish, challenging space epics, then let this article serve as a time capsule. I hope that in 40 years, my fellow movie reactionaries and I will be able to dig up all the under-loved sci-fi flicks of this decade for reappraisal and finally appreciate their finely aged archaeological charm.

Or maybe they’ll all suck forever.

Who can really say?

Gerrit Punt PO ’24 is a film writer from a planet that only has very small worms.

After watching two “Dune” movies, he’s decided he’s going to give reading books a try. It seems like a better use of his time.

Opinions

April 5, 2024

PAGE 7

Carbon dioxide removal: The single most impactful climate action

QUINN NACHTRIEB • THE STUDENT LIFE

HARRISON CHAPIN One of my earliest, most vivid childhood memories is bathtime — suspended in water under my mother’s protective supervision.

To conclude the ritual, Mom wrapped me in a towel and pulled the plug on the bathtub drain.

The dirty soap water gushed away, gurgling as the last dredges subsided down the pipe. It left behind a squeaky clean, clear tub.

That was back then — when the global atmospheric average of carbon dioxide was 371 ppm (parts per million). Today, we live at a dire 421 ppm.

What does carbon dioxide have to do with bathtime rituals? Just as my mom would drain dirty water from the tub, we can remedy climate damage by sucking pollution out from our atmospheric bathtub using carbon dioxide removal (CDR).

The Carbon Dioxide Removal

Market Development Act is a crucial climate solution 5C students are coming together to support. Here’s why.

CDR refers to a suite of technologies that draws down and permanently stores carbon from a nonpoint source (such as ambient air) by using a range of natural and mechanical processes. Examples of CDR technologies include reforestation, direct air capture and biochar.

The IPCC, the preeminent global scientific body on climate change, has come to the sobering conclusion that “all pathways that limit global warming to 1.5°C with limited or no overshoot project the use of CDR [at scale].” This illustrates the synchronous need for both decarbonization and CDR. CDR is often confused with carbon capture (CCS). It couldn’t be more different.

CDR is an emissions-negative

process, whereas CCS is (at its best) emissions-neutral, since it curbs emissions from escaping from energy refineries as they are produced. CCS threatens to extend the fossil fuel industry’s moral and technological license to continue polluting — such as through enhanced oil recovery, whereby captured carbon is pumped into semi-depleted oil wells to extract more fossil fuels.

CCS is an industry dating back to the 1970s and has an overwhelming track record of failure. Despite billions of dollars in wasted investments, the majority of CCS projects have been terminated. In contrast, CDR is a budding solution that can mature with our support — just as was done for solar power with tremendous success.

Conflating CDR with CCS is dangerous because it allows fossil fuel interests to hijack CDR to greenwash the public image of

CCS. They have used this kind of hoodwink PR scheme before, deceitfully linking renewables with natural gas in Tweets.

If you’ve mistaken CDR for CCS, it’s not your fault. Some of the most reputable journalism outlets have made the gaffe.

When I asked former U.S. Presidential candidate and climate activist Tom Steyer about CDR at a Pomona College lecture this spring, he too slipped up, mistaking direct air capture as a CCS approach.

The silver lining of CDR is that, in the long term, we don’t have to settle for a “best case scenario” of 1.5°C warming, which would take a grave toll on human health. By deploying CDR at scale, we can eliminate legacy emissions that would otherwise remain in the atmosphere for hundreds to thousands of years.

CDR is not a band-aid solu-

tion; CDR will allow our climate to recover and heal.

Right now, proposed legislation in California seeks to require the fossil fuel industry to purchase carbon removal credits.

It’s called the Carbon Dioxide Removal Market Development Act, and a growing coalition of 5C students is taking the single most impactful climate action they can — supporting it.

Climate complacency is for losers. We are 5C students and we are climate champions.

5C students can sign up online to lobby Claremont representative Chris Holden and call other representatives using a foolproof calling script.

Harrison Chapin PZ ’24 is a climate champion and carbon removal evangelist. He hopes you will be too. For questions about CDR or the CDRMDA campaign, please email him at hchapin@students.pitzer.edu.

The 5Cs need a grass culture PARISHI KANUGA Being from Southern California, it wasn’t until recently — following the unexpected past couple weeks of on-and-off rainfall — that I started to truly appreciate sunny days.

It was on one of these newly-cherished sunny days that I made my way by Marston Quad, expecting to see crowds of students lounging on the grass — eating lunch, doing work and relaxing. After all, the sun was finally out!

I saw just five — maybe six — people.

At my own school, Claremont McKenna College (CMC), I don’t see enough students taking advantage of the vast green space they have access to.

Yes, there are the infamous Green Beach beer die players, who typically set up their tables on Thursday evenings and play games throughout the weekend, and the few students on any given sunny day spending time on Parents Field.

But on an everyday basis, most studying and socializing happens on the hard couches and tables of the Hub Cafe.

If it was up to me, all of the 5Cs grass spaces, from Pitzer College’s Mounds to Marston Quad, would be full of students.

Why Claremont students don’t take advantage of outdoor spaces remains a mystery — because, at large public schools in California, outdoor lounging abounds.

At UC Berkeley, the most popular greenspace amongst students is known as the Glade. Anya Shyani, a sophomore at Cal, explained the Glade’s popularity on sunny days.

“Anytime the sun is even out for an hour people will be on the grass,” Shyani said. “It’s always so fun because you can walk past the Glade and see 10 people you know.”

Shyani described the informality of the space, with students setting up tarps and inviting their friends and even acquaintances to lounge on the grass. The casual green space allows students to spontaneously socialize with a wide range of people. Having a shared space like this where students can mingle is essential for creating a fluid social environment.

While student cafes on campus

NICOLE CEPEDA • THE STUDENT LIFE

foster community to a certain degree, grass provides an unparalleled openness. In campus cafes, we are confined to tables and chairs in which space is limited. How can you join a conversation with friends if all the seats are taken at the table?

In grassy areas, the entire lawn is fair game.

Students can sit anywhere and engage in a wider range of activities than they can indoors. Spikeball, frisbee, outdoor naps and picnics are all activities that grass uniquely facilitates.

These activities are a large part of what I envisioned when I imagined going to college in California — and I have been disappointed at the reality since.

One way we can promote grass culture at the 5Cs is by having more events and club booths adjacent to and on greenspace. Cal Poly San Luis Obispo (SLO) sophomore Madison Mairs emphasized how greenspace use at SLO facilitates an open and engaging social culture on campus.

“Every time you walk by there’s

always music, club booths out, thrifting that you can participate in and a lot of people playing spikeball and frisbee,” Mairs said.

The Walker Flea Market at Pomona is a great example of an event that promotes greenspace use, but we can do more.

Furthermore, being close to grass itself has a positive impact on mental and emotional health.

A 2014 study found that people who live in greener areas have significantly better mental health outcomes than those who don’t.

With so many lawns at the 5Cs — and so many stressed and anxious students — we could collectively benefit from using these spaces more often.

Let me be clear: It’s not that our grass doesn’t exist. It’s simply underused.

According to a survey conducted this semester by Scripps College’s Sustainability Committee, only 31.4 percent of 121 respondents (composed of mostly Scripps students and some faculty and staff) reported using greenspace on a weekly basis.

Vice Chair of the Sustainability

Committee Marin Plut SC ’25, who leads the water subcommittee, pointed out that underused greenspaces are a waste of college resources and harm the environment.

“If there are grass spaces on campus that are not being used [by students], then it is really not worth using water and resources to maintain them as grasspaces,” Plut said.

“We could potentially save water and sequester carbon.”

By this logic, unused greenspaces are environmentally harmful — even more reason for students to change their habits and utilize them more frequently. What’s stopping us?

The onus doesn’t fall squarely on students. Our colleges’ administrations can do more to incorporate greenspace use into student life.

Hosting social events for first year students on grassy areas on campus can give students a foundation of greenspace use for the rest of their college experience.

A recent controversy amongst CMC students stemmed from the installation of Qwalala, a sculpture built on a CMC Mid-Quad lawn

that many students used to enjoy as a lounging space.

“A lot of the friends and connections I made were from spontaneously hanging out and meeting people out on the Quad,” Melanie Kallah CM ’25 said.

Once the structure was built, Kallah described social life in Mid-Quad as far more confined.

“Nobody’s able to interact there or hang out, we are limited to the lounges,” Kallah said.

Jasper Datta CM ’26 thinks that the lack of greenspace use at the 5Cs stems from a cultural disposition.

“I think we’re a culture that believes that socializing happens in dining halls and studying happens in libraries and computer labs,” Datta said.

The next time you need to write an essay, want to toss around a frisbee or have a few extra minutes in your schedule, find your nearest greenspace. Ultimately, greenspace use is up to us — and it’s time to commit to harvesting a grass culture.

Parishi Kanuga CM ’26 is proud to share that she wrote this article sitting on grass.

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Opinions

PAGE 8

Why Ariana Grande’s “Eternal Sunshine” perfectly captures the 5C dating experience TESS MCHUGH On my red-eye flight to New York City for spring break, I discovered the wisdom of Ariana Grande’s new euphoric album.

Grande had some pretty high expectations following the release of her album “Positions” nearly four years ago, where she sings about the extreme ups and downs of labeled relationships. But in her 2024 album “Eternal Sunshine,” Grande does something different: She sheds light on their awkward in-between dynamics. Her tumultuous divorce and controversial new relationship gave me the perspective I yearned to hear.

Looking out the airplane window, I felt deeply connected to lyrics that, to me, encapsulate the complex dating experience at the 5Cs. Navigating romance at the 5Cs feels impossible, but “Eternal Sunshine” provides some wisdom.

In the album’s first track, “Intro (end of the world),” Grande immediately poses the question: “How can I tell if I’m in the right relationship?” Grande begins her work by outlining the same anxiety that has a chokehold on the 5C dating scene — and then provides the consensus answer for how to go about it: “I don’t know.”

Gen Z dating is undeniably messy. Stemming from an overarching fear of commitment, many Gen Z daters list apprehension about rejection and being perceived as cringeworthy as their primary worries.

Sharing in our struggle, Grande shamelessly sings, “Wonder if he’s judging me like I am right now.” Any sort of romantic situation requires a certain level of vulnerability that can feel terrifying, leading many to spiral into self-consciousness. It comforts me immensely to know Grande shares the same overthinking tendencies as I do.

Sure, there are quite a few “successful” relationships at the 5Cs, but many students find comfort

ol ent get D's acle er

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LUCIA MARQUEZ-UPPMAN • THE STUDENT LIFE

instead in the liminal space of a situationship or a hookup.

With 5C students’ daily grind, these gray areas may seem more manageable in comparison to a full-time relationship.

But are they really?

Although gray areas can fulfill sexual needs, they are not sustainable. Inevitably, one party will develop stronger feelings than their counterpart and try to conceal them — and without the comfort of open communication, this repression of genuine feelings creates a buildup of emotional turmoil.

Without clear-cut boundaries or labels, situationships often

lead people to compromise their self-respect. Situationships can cause a person to blindly lower their standards.

Grande is clued into this and encourages her listeners to prioritize themselves: “Won’t abandon me again for you and I.” She establishes a catchy affirmation through this lyric that 5C students can use to get themselves out of toxic gray spaces.

Claremont is a small place, so it is impossible to avoid past romances. Many can relate to the unpleasant shock of seeing a past fling unexpectedly in a dining hall. Do you say “hi” or act as if you have never met?

Grande answers: “We can’t be friends / but I’d like to just pretend.”

Navigating the aftermath of a relationship or situationship can be awkward, especially in the constricting microcosm of Claremont. Grande states what many people think is right after a romantic situation ends, but emphasizes the human desire to hold on.

In the narrow confines of Claremont, it’s nice to pretend that past situationships and relationships can be friendly — but displeasure cannot be avoided at our small liberal arts colleges.

Things get especially hard

when (maybe) you were the one in the wrong. If all of our previous romantic connections at the 5Cs wronged us horribly, it would be easier to ignore them in the common spaces where everyone overlaps.

Grande gets us. “Wish there was worse to you / I wish you were worse to me / Yeah / I wish I hated you.”

Not all of Grande’s songs address the less desirable components of a relationship or situationship. In fact, the other half triumphantly celebrate the joy and exhilaration of connecting with someone new.

In “Eternal Sunshine,” Grande also evokes the strong grip that a new romantic prospect can have on us.

She describes the pleasantly all-consuming nature of a new relationship: “It’s like supernatural / this love’s possessing me / but I don’t mind at all.”

Grande connects with me here, too. Whether it is a labeled relationship or something of the in-between variety, romance at the 5Cs can be just as infatuating as she describes.

By the time my flight landed and I’d reached the end of the album, I felt rejuvenated.

The awkwardness of a non-committal-exclusive relationship (but don’t worry, we are not labeling it) is generally ignored. What “Eternal Sunshine” does more than anything is invite 5C students to confront the weirdness of Gen Z’s commitment phobia.

If you choose to listen, let the lyrics sink in. Think about your everyday experiences — the awkward, fun and supernatural parts of all relationships. You might find that queen of pop Ariana Grande resembles a student looking for romance at the 5Cs more closely than you’d expect.

Tess McHugh PO ’25 is from Denver, CO. She loves Barcelona, Spain, Sangria de Cava and Pedro Almódovar films.

OFF THE RECORD IN

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AKSHAY SEETHARAM • THE STUDENT LIFE

12 States of anger 20. Self starter?

40 Californian 36. “Son of Frankenstein” 21. Fast times?

13 Dynamic romantic, per role 22. “Thus...”

37. Skin in the game lead-in?

52 and 56A 38. “It may come ___ 23. “Let’s get going!”

24. Solution strength surprise” 18 ____ Fudd 41FlaySwiss 26. Bobby or Guy currency 39. Not to be trusted on a Fieri space station, maybe 23 Sonny's ex 44of oral Like the music 29. Rabbit tradition 40. Ecological community Cool ___ cucumber 41. What a dog shakes off 25 "Able was ____ I 30. of Schoenberg 33. More unwonted 42. Mes, ___, ses, nos, vos, 34. Greek marketplace leurs saw Elba" and Berg 35. Proverb ending?

43. Fr: Feminine suffix 26 Nehru spoke of 46 New Haven

ACROSS 1. “Great Caesar ___” 5. Use profanity 9. Coppola or Vergara 14. 546 acres, for the 7Cs 15. Nazi defenders in Skokie 16. Learn to cope 17. 9D’s prospective destination 19. NATO Phonetic IX

Issue 18 Leaderboard 1ST PLACE

Akshay Seetharam HM ‘27

2ND PLACE

Jake Chang PO ‘26

Submit a photo of your completed puzzle here!

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April 5, 2024

44. Noah’s resting place?

45. Inventor of 28D 47. It reverses opp./adj.

48. M.I.T.’s School of Management 50. Exorcism target 52. With 56A, 40D’s heart receptacle 55. Country rocker Steve 56. See 52A 58. Call the whole thing off 59. Sp: Other 60. Tuscan river 61. Start all over again 62. Video on Instagram 63. Disposition DOWN 1. Caesar’s was assassination 2. Cupid’s counterpart 3. Bounces on the net 4. ___-di-dah 5. Resulted from 6. Women’s basketball powerhouse 7. Opening 8. Summer woe 9. Lunar flier, per 17A 10. Cat-___-tails 11. They can be big-ticket 12. States of anger 13. Dynamic lead-in?

18. ___ Fudd 23. Sonny’s ex 25. “Able was ___ I saw Elba” 26. Nehru spoke of India’s “with Destiny” 27. Unclear

28. Quarrels’ contents 29. Substandard performance 31. Houthi stronghold 32. “It’s ___ cause” 34. Practiced Yom Kippur, maybe 37. ___ Fein 38. Coder Turing 40. Californian romantic, per 52 and 56A 41. Swiss currency 44. Like the music of Schoenberg and Berg 46. New Haven student 47. To love, in Lazio 48. One warned of the Ides of March 49. Penny ___ 51. Art Deco designer 52. Antidepressant medication 53. Adolescent annoyance 54. Midday 57. Sam ___

LAST WEEK’S ANSWERS

Sports

April 5, 2024

PAGE 9

‘Rugby is a hot girl sport’ — Caroline Bullock and her journey with the Claremont Foxes OWEN KOBETT & ADAM AKINS The Claremont Foxes haven’t slowed down since conquering Division II women’s rugby, after posting back-to-back national championships, earning a promotion to Division I, and transitioning their B-side/rookie team to a competitive DII program.

The scrappy student-run community has been driven by the industrious engine of co-captain Caroline Bullock CM ’24, who was crowned Collegiate Rugby Association of America’s (CRAA) Most Valuable

Player after a 54-7 blow-out of Howard University in last year’s national championship.

On March 24, Bullock added another accolade to her belt when she was selected to the USA development sevens camp, where she trained at the Chula Vista Olympic Training Center. There, Bullock got the opportunity to compete against the Canadian developmental sevens team in a five game series. Team USA lost the series 4-1, but Bullock said the experience has done nothing but grow her love for the game, noting how it gave her an opportunity to play with people from all

around the country.

“It was so cool, because it was the most diverse team I’ve played on,” Bullock said. “It was like ages 19 to 24. One girl had a child, one girl was fresh out of high school, but we were all united in a shared goal of winning and developing.”

Bullcock also spoke of the collaborative team culture, and the opportunity to compete with such a strong and capable group of women at the top of their field.

“It was one of the most positive team experiences I’ve ever been on,” Bullock said. “I’m really grateful for my opportunity. It was just really

COURTESY: CAROLINE BULLOCK Caroline Bullock CM ’24, member of the Claremont Foxes rugby team, trained at the Chula Vista Olympic Training Center.

cool to put on a national team jersey and realize that I am one of 12 people representing the country.”

Standing literal feet above some of the other Foxes, Bullock showcases her athletic prowess when demolishing scrum lines and plowing through opposing teams’ defense.

However, her reign over women’s rugby began just a few years ago when she first came to Claremont.

After a dominant three sport high school career in Montana, Bullock joined the Foxes in college after stumbling on the Foxes’ booth at the club fair.

“They were immediately, like, ‘Oh, you’re gonna be a rugby player.’And I was like, ‘Absolutely not,’” Bullock said. “Then I went to my first rugby practice and I fell in love at first tackle.”

According to teammate Hobie Wolff PZ ’27, Bullock’s energy and love for the sport is infectious, and she is a staple of the rugby experience for those on the team.

Wolff said Bullock commits every moment she can spare to the sport.

She attends every DII game, even though she doesn’t compete in them, and helps referee the sidelines and constantly screams words of encouragement, most famous of which is the tagline to her TikTok campaigns: “PSA: Rugby is a hot girl sport.”

Wolff also said that Bullock stands in as a surrogate coach and mentor to the team, taking herds of first years under her wing. She leads team lifts, huddles and meals and coordinates community nights.

Since joining mid-last fall, Wolff has climbed through the ranks to earn a spot on the DI squad. She credited Bullock with creating a space where she felt like she was supported to compete.

“Caroline is just like the most incredible person on the field and off the field,” Wolff said. “She emphasizes ‘I want to play good rugby here with the people I love.’ And then she’ll stay behind and watch

the DII scrimmage that is happening and she’ll give advice. She is like the lifeblood of the team at the moment.”

Wolff said that Bullock puts emphasis on the team to get enough nutrients to grow their strength and be able to compete at high levels.

“I remember one of my first practices she talked to all of us after practice,” Wolff said. “She’s like, ‘Alright, I better see you at team dinner. You’re all female athletes and you need to fuel yourself.’”

Wolff noted the importance of sentiments like this on women’s sports teams.

“I talked about her to some of my teammates early on, they’re like, ‘Yeah, that’s the first time I’ve ever been told I deserve to eat and I believed it,’” Wolff said.

In this way, Bullock consistently demands the best from her teammates, both on and off the field, creating a uniquely powerful and feminine space that encourages women athletes to push themselves responsibly and take care of themselves.

Head coach Evan Wollen, who coached women’s rugby at United States Military Academy West Point and has led the foxes for the past 13 years, echoes Wolff’s sentiments about Bullock’s impact on the team.

“Caroline, she’s a force of nature,” Wollen said.

Along with her on-field accolades, Bullock helms the social media, coordinates outreach and helps care for the freshman on the team. Her journey with rugby isn’t over, with the DI sevens national championship held in DC on April 27–28 and the rugby 15s season still in full force.

The team will feel the positive change, energy and culture that Bullock helped drive the Foxes for years to come.

“I’ve never met someone that doesn’t love Caroline immediately,” Wolff said. “And I’ve never met anyone that Caroline was not willing to love. She lives and breathes the sport while simultaneously being a goodass person.”

Athenas hot on Sagehens’ tailfeathers after 17-5 victory over La Verne CHARLOTTE RENNER & JOSH GEHRING The Athenas suited up for battle and took their artillery underwater in a dominant display of cross-pool chemistry, demolishing the La Verne Leopards 17-5 at Axelrood Pool on Wednesday, April 3. This win sustains a season of success for the Claremont-Mudd-Scripps (CMS) women’s water polo team, currently ranking No. 2 in the SCIAC, placing them narrowly behind the undefeated Sagehens.

The Athenas won the ball to start the first quarter and quickly made it past La Verne, allowing Cooper McKenna CM ’24 to score a stunner in the opening 20 seconds. This started a scoring frenzy for the Athenas and they had five more goals in the first. Thanks to two points from McKenna, two from Caitlin Muñoz SC ’26 and one from Valerie Wraith CM ’27, the Athenas took an early 6-0 lead.

Despite this, CMS showed no mercy moving into the second quarter, scoring five more goals and bringing the scoreboard to 11-0 going into the half.

Angelina Tsai HM ’26 described the intensity that her team tries to bring to every game, no matter the level of competition. “[Our coach has] been emphasizing coming in with a sharp intense focus to take care of everything quickly and therefore ensure the win,” Tsai said.

A big part of the Athenas’ offensive success in the first half came from quick transition play and counter attacks. McKenna had two goals from counters that she took herself, utilizing her speed in the water to rush past La Verne defenders to the net. Saves from Mason Spencer CM ’26 and a tight, aggressive CMS defense often led to balls going the other way on long passes that split the Leopards and created chances for the Athenas to finish off. Grace

Clark CM ’26 emphasized the importance of Spencer’s defense in the first half.

“She communicated and told us where to be and also made some amazing blocks for some outside shots,” Clark said. “She got a steal coming out of the cage when the ball was trying to be passed into the center, off the pass. And that was awesome awareness knowing where to come out, so she’s really protecting us.”

Their attack was strong, but it was the Athenas’ defense that allowed them to thrive. Not allowing goals in the first half and only five in the second, according to head coach Greg Lonzo, transition play has been a bigger focus for the team. He said the team’s positive atmosphere has allowed for more opportunities to score off of defensive plays.

“I think our chemistry and cohesiveness has really gotten so much better these last, probably three weeks,” Lonzo said.

“We’ve been spending a lot of time just kind of working on [not just] individual skills, but also collective skills. Working together on drive defense and talking through certain situations with each other has been huge.”

Clark echoed this sentiment, describing how improvements in team chemistry have led to a newfound confidence in both the team collectively and in the individual players.

“For the team as a whole we’ve had a mindset shift, a lot more confidence and working together, trusting each other more and I think that has come from more communication in the pool,” Clark said. “Not being scared to yell when you need help or to say good job after positive things happen has allowed for greater confidence overall.”

While the Athenas may have made it look easy, the Leopards still put up a fight throughout

the game, clawing their way to a goal with 15 seconds left in the third and four goals in the last quarter.

CMS continued to battle through the physical matchup.

In the opening minutes of the fourth, Muñoz had an opportunity on goal when she was stopped by a La Verne defender.

After an initial no-call, the refs blew their whistle for an ejection and Muñoz scored, turning to the ref after her goal to showcase her frustration. Many other CMS players were similarly frustrated with the refs, according to Tsai, who argued that some of the ejections were unjustified while some fouls on the other end were missed.

“I do know that some of our team members were pretty up-

set with that,” Tsai said. “But we still pulled it out in the end, always do.”

After this double-digit win, the Athenas are looking ahead to April 20, their last game of the regular season, which will be a rematch against No. 1 SCIAC ranked Pomona-Pitzer (P-P).

Their first faceoff of the year, which took place on March 6, was a close competition that ended in a 12-9 Sagehen victory in overtime.

“That’s a game where we’ve lost twice now consecutively in overtime, so it’s a turning point for us,” Muñoz said, referencing their March 6 loss to the Hens.

“We want to win that game. But up until then, every opponent we play, we expect the same results as we just got in this game. We

COURTESY: THOMAS WALKER Mason Spencer CM ’26 winds up from goal during the Athenas’ 17-5 victory over La Verne on Wednesday, April 3.

Claremont-Mudd-Scripps

Athletes of the Week Sena Selby

CM ’24 White Plains, NY Women’s Tennis

want to dominate on defense, control the game, keep them under five goals.”

CMS is hopeful that the regular season won’t be the last time they face P-P, according to Lonzo, who said the playoffs will likely see another contest between the two rivals.

“We’re gonna need to step up in those moments,” Lonzo said.

“The first game, we had glimpses of that but now we need to really kind of nail it down. And when we get into the last five minutes of a game, know who’s going to take over and who’s going to control the game. At the end of the day, I need every player in the pool to take over and score some goals.”

Looking forward, CMS will play Caltech next on Wednesday, April 10 at Caltech.

Sena Selby CM ’24 helped to lead the defending national champions to a victory against No. 17 ranked MIT in their 13th match of the 2024 season. On Friday, March 29, Claremont-Mudd-Scripps (CMS) women’s tennis defended their current national No. 1 national ranking by maintaining their perfect 13-0 record and defeating the Beavers, whose record now sits at 6-3. Selby, along with her doubles partner Audrey Yoon CM ’24, gave the Athenas a 2-1 lead going into singles with their 8-5 win. Selby continued this winning streak by executing a 6-2, 6-3 win at No. 3 for singles. The rest of the Athenas pulled their weight as well and CMS walked away with a 5-4 win. This victory marked their 36th consecutive victory on their home court, the Biszantz Family Tennis Center. CMS will face off against the Occidental Tigers on Saturday, April 6 on the road.

Pomona-Pitzer

Ethan Lee PO ’25 Tucson, AZ Men’s Tennis

Ethan Lee PO ’25 pulled the Sagehens out of their five-match losing streak with a win against the Occidental Tigers on Saturday, March 30. The No. 23 ranked Pomona-Pitzer men’s tennis team defeated the Tigers 6-3 on the road. This victory helped the Sagehens improve to a 6-11 overall record and started them out 1-0 in SCIAC play. Lee earned the Sagehens their sole singles point by crushing his opponent 8-3. Despite only winning one of three doubles matches, the Sagehens made up for it by taking five of the six doubles face-offs. The Sagehens are on the road again on Friday, April 5 where they will take on their second SCIAC opponent, the No. 23 ranked Chapman Panthers.

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Six-Week Six-Week Session: Session: May May 20–June 20–June 28, 28, 2024 2024 Save Save 25% 25% on on Tuition!

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Full Full Credit Credit Courses Courses

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Open to All Students Enrolled in Any Accredited Institution Open to All Students Enrolled in Any 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 AMST 012: Intro to Race, Ethnicity, and American Cultural Studies American Cultural Studies ANTH 002: Introduction to Sociocultural ANTH 002: Introduction to Sociocultural Anthropology Anthropology ANTH 055: Reproductive Justice ANTH 055: Reproductive Justice CGS 010: Introduction to Critical Global CGS 010: Introduction to Critical Global Studies 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 CSCI 004: Introduction to Computer Science for Non-Majors 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 ENGL 047: The Human Condition: A Longform Journalism Practicum Journalism Practicum HIST 098: Palestine and Israel: A History of HIST 098: Palestine and Israel: A History of the Conflict 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

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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 POST 030: Introduction to Comparative Politics Politics POST 040: Introduction to International POST 040: Introduction to International Politics Politics POST 091: Statistics and Data Analysis for POST 091: Statistics and Data Analysis for Politics 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 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

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