VOL. CXXXV NO. 1
FRIDAY, September 15, 2023
Community activism triumphs
CLAREMONT, CA
Meet your 20232024 student body presidents
Pitzer workers rehired, more protections won in new union contract
ELLIE URFRIG & AMBIKA GUPTA With fall semester in full swing, this year’s student body presidents are committed to building inclusive, safe communities on campus where students can thrive both academically and socially. Zane Yamamoto CM ’24
COURTESY: BRENDA GALVEZ
Pitzer workers organized a celebration at McConnell’s Apron to celebrate their new contract going into effect the next day.
MAYA ZHAN Early last week, workers at Pitzer College entered their first union contract with the school, following months of arbitration and over two years of wins and setbacks while organizing. With their three-year contract in effect Sept. 4, Pitzer staff now have annual salary increases, respected seniority and union safeguards against terminations and other disciplinary actions. The absence of these protections had been a source of tension between the college, union and members of the 7C community. Throughout 2023, Claremont College students and workers organized campaigns to advocate for workers they claimed had been unfairly terminated. Most recently, union leaders and student members of the Claremont Student Worker Alliance (CSWA) organized a campaign to rehire longtime custodial workers Jose “Pepe” Vázquez and Gregorio Reyes, who were fired on Jun. 2 for taking a weathered couch donated to ReRoom, a program in which students donate unwanted items for students to buy at the following academic year. The community-wide outrage following this decision led Pitzer to reinstate Vázquez and Reyes to their former positions with seniority on Jul. 13. They returned to work on Jul. 17. “I’m really happy and glad that Pitzer gave me and my coworkers another chance, and thanks to all the professors and students for fighting for us,” Vázquez, who has worked for Pitzer for 17 years, told TSL following his reinstatement. In a joint statement with UNITE HERE Local 11, the labor union that now represents Pitzer workers, Pitzer’s administration said the initial decision was made after “care-
ful consideration” and “in the best interests of the Pitzer community at the time.” “Pitzer maintains that the decision was fair, appropriate and consistent with Pitzer College’s policies and practices,” Pitzer’s Vice President and Chief Operating Officer Laura Troendle wrote in the statement. “However, after open and heartfelt conversations last week between Gregorio and Pepe, Pitzer College and Local 11, Pitzer College offered Gregorio [Reyes] and Pepe [Vázquez] another chance with reinstatement to their previous positions.” A couch, a firing and a surge of community activism The rain-damaged couch lay untouched for two to three weeks in a pile near a dumpster, according to Vázquez. After judging that it would be soon discarded, Vázquez said he and Reyes took the couch, intending to repurpose it and keep it for personal use. Pitzer stated that this action was theft because the couch was intended for ReRoom and therefore demarcated as Pitzer property. Students and workers supporting Vázquez and Reyes said they felt the termination was unjust, with Morales stressing that their wrongdoing was not driven by malicious intent, but rather by need. “These are two longtime workers and the way that they’re treated does not align with the respect and dignity that they’re warranted just as people and also as folks who have given so much to the school,” CSWA member Mo Gardner PZ ’25 said. Pitzer faculty members also voiced disagreement with the way the situation was handled.
“There could be retraining … but that firing is really just going too far,”said José Calderón, Pitzer professor of sociology. Vázquez and Reyes were suspended for a week starting May 26. They were then informed of their termination during a Jun. 2 meeting with five of their union-represented coworkers. “The people that we work alongside every day, our supervisors, were in there and wouldn’t even make eye contact with us,” Morales, who was present at the meeting, said. To advocate for Vázquez and Reyes, workers delegated multiple times to Pitzer’s Human Resources office, along with a small group of students and alumni. Members of CSWA established a mutual aid fund for the two terminated workers and a community art sale on their Instagram page, with proceeds going toward the fund. In an email sent to all Pitzer staff shortly after Vázquez and Reyes’s termination, Caballero indirectly addressed their policy violation and reiterated practices surrounding ReRoom. “For the past 5+ years it has been regularly discussed in meetings that items left behind are for ReRoom,“ Caballero wrote. “Each member of the facilities team has been notified of this practice for years.”
For ASCMC President Zane Yamamoto CM ’24, serving in student government is not a new endeavor. He has previously served as senator, class cabinet member, sophomore class president and executive vice president. Yamamoto is passionate about uniting communities in the face of controversy, alluding to the passing of a controversial resolution to return social life at CMC to its pre-pandemic form. “There were many points throughout my journey where I considered retiring from student government,” Yamamoto said. “It was in the aftermath of some of the most contentious debates on our campus surrounding the social life and campus culture when I remembered what called me to the job in the first place.” Moving forward, Yamamoto hopes to facilitate a campus community where all students have spaces where they can feel at home. “As a fourth-generation Japanese-American who was born and raised in Honolulu, Hawaii, I understand that coming to college is enough of a culture shock already, even before you mix in issues of identity, inclusion and belonging,” Yamamoto said. Other goals include using student fees to enhance student programming and engagement, and repairing the loss of institutional knowledge and experience caused by COVID-19. “I believe in the unique role that student government has in solving the problems our community faces, the unique role it plays in representing our constituents and fellow classmates to external stakeholders and each other and the unique role it plays in leading
the student body through initiatives and by example,” he said. Lily Dunkin SC ’24 Though this year’s Scripps Associated Students (SAS) President Lily Dunkin SC ’24 started her journey in student government just last year, she has been a prominent community member since she first came to campus. Dunkin was a strong advocate for the removal of the controversial Nazi-oriented “Young Woman” statue from Scripps’ health and wellness center, circulating a petition that highlighted the statue’s reflection of the “toxic white femininity” present on campus. One of Dunkin’s main priorities as president is connecting Scripps College’s administration to its students. She hopes to facilitate conversations in which students, faculty and staff can effectively work together. “We are already beginning to have some really important conversations — starting with our Student Leadership Institute — where we are able to talk to a lot of different administrators about things we’re seeing on campus,” she said. Dunkin cited the topic of student educational initiatives on drugs and alcohol as an example. According to Dunkin, the current punitive measures ultimately do more harm than good. Instead, she strives to create a culture of care. “When college students behave as college students, the most important thing is keeping them safe and not punishing them for behaviors,” Dunkin said. “The reality is that when you make rules that punish students, people continue [their] dangerous behaviors in private.” Sanya Dhama PZ ’24 Pitzer Senate President Sanya Dhama PZ ’24 has been involved with student government since she served as her sixth-grade class president. A strong advocate for sexual assault prevention and education, Dhama testified for Assembly Bill 2683 at the state level last year. As president, Dhama plans to continue
See PRESIDENTS on page 3
A looming contract and more promises for improved working conditions Since Pitzer and the union were still negotiating the collective bargaining agreement (CBA) at the time of Reyes’ and Vázquez’ termination, safe-
See UNION on page 2
WENDY ZHANG • THE STUDENT LIFE
Congresswoman Judy Chu details the fight to re-codify reproductive rights SARA CAWLEY
COURTESY: SCRIPPS LAPSA CENTER
U.S. Congressional Representative Judy Chu D-Ca. visited Scripps College on Monday
This Monday, Scripps College Public Events and the Laspa Center for Leadership hosted U.S. Rep. Judy Chu D-Ca., who serves California’s 28th district in Congress, for a presentation and Q&A about reproductive healthcare and justice. Around 40 students and faculty members gathered to hear Representative Chu’s talk, with some students citing political awareness in Claremont as their reason for attending. “I am very passionate about fighting for reproductive rights and I wanted to become more familiar with the local politics in Claremont regarding this issue,” Abbie Bobeck SC ’26 told TSL via email. Chu started her presentation by giving a brief history of abortion rights in the United States, stating that anti-abortion extremists have
worked to “systematically chip away” reproductive justice since the landmark Roe v. Wade ruling in 1973. Chu highlighted her work spearheading the Women’s Health Protection Act (WHPA), which would establish a federal right for healthcare workers to provide abortion services and for patients to receive abortion care, regardless of state-level bans. “We need to ensure that in addition to protecting patients themselves, we make sure states are not criminalizing abortion providers simply for providing needed healthcare,” Chu said. The WHPA is the House Democrats’ second priority for all legislation this year. The bill has passed through the House twice but has not made it through the Senate. If WHPA is approved by both the
ARTS & CULTURE
First-year columnist Andrew Barber reflects on the hype around Hurricane Hillary — and learns a bit about himself along the way.
The student newspaper of the Claremont Colleges since 1889
House and Senate, Chu said President Biden has promised to sign it into law. During the talk, a representative from Chu’s team passed around index cards for audience members to write questions on for a subsequent Q&A session along with Chief Medical Officer at Planned Parenthood Pasadena and the San Gabriel Valley, Dr. Noah Nattel. Nattel answered Chu’s questions about the risks of abortion restrictions, citing medical, personal and familial complications. He said that in states where performing abortion is criminalized for healthcare workers, there is an ongoing “mass exodus” of abortion providers. “This is their calling in life, and there is a lot of reward to providing abortion care,” Nattel said. “There is so little in medicine that can be done so simply, so safely, that can
really change the trajectory of somebody’s life. I would be devastated if I lost that ability.” Both Chu and Nattel noted gender, race and class as critical elements in abortion access. “It’s a simple fact of our country that if you are rich, white and well-connected, abortion will always be an option for you,” Chu said. “But there will be severe consequences for those who are not.” After participating in the Q&A, Ella Alpert SC ’26 emphasized the importance of privileged students engaging in difficult reproductive justice discourse. “It is a privilege to be able to talk about this and not have experienced any of that firsthand,” Alpert said. “I think for those of us in that position having those kinds of conversations can be saddening, can be uncomfortable, but we have to use that as fuel.”
OPINIONS
SPORTS
Lizette Gonzalez PO ‘27 is a firstgen, Latine first-year. Safe spaces have been crucial during her transition to the 5Cs, but she has noticed a major issue with actually addressing the major culture shock experienced by students like her.
All nested in, the Sagehens men’s soccer team kicked off the last game of their preseason with a bang, defeating the Linfield Wildcats 3-2 in an eventful back-and-forth showdown on Sunday, Sept. 10.
INDEX: News 1 | Arts & Culture 4 | Opinions 7 | Sports 9