Dear
JOELLE RUDOLF
With the start of the new semester, Pomona College’s Latine-Identity Empowerment, Advice, and Friendship (LEAF) Program has begun recruiting new volunteers. The program aims to provide local youth with mentorship focused on personal growth, cultural pride and mental health awareness while connecting them with role models who share their Latine heritage and experiences.
Launched in Spring 2022, LEAF is a collaborative effort between Pomona College’s Draper Center for Community Partnerships and the Claremont-based nonprofit organization Uncommon Good. Mentors meet with their mentees once a week, engaging in bonding activities funded by the Draper Center such as grabbing boba or visiting a toy store in the Claremont Village.
“[Being a mentor] is more like older sibling vibes,” Alexa Tapia-Plazola PO ’26, one of LEAF’s coordinators, said. “It’s helping your mentee learn to explore their identity and navigate their school and social life. We also have conversations surrounding what it means to be Latinx and ways to celebrate that.”
Tapia-Plazola, who is originally
from San Bernardino, said that she would have benefited from a program like LEAF growing up.
“Most [low-income Latine] families don’t know a lot about college, and I think it’s really important for students at this age to have a role model that’s someone older [who] comes from the same background and respects them,” Tapia-Plazola said.
Each month, LEAF hosts events where mentors, mentees and their families can gather to connect, celebrate Latine culture and participate in creative activities. Recent events have included a Brazilian cooking workshop, a game night and movie screenings.
As LEAF continues to grow, one of the program’s ongoing challenges is recruiting enough mentors to meet demand. LEAF, like many organizations on campus, has to navigate the struggle of appealing to college students with busy schedules.
As a mentor, Tapia-Plazola explained that the time commitment is fairly low and flexible.
“Unlike other programs where there’s a set time where you meet with your mentee, you coordinate with your mentee and their parents for whatever time is most conve-
cOUrTESY: POMONA cOLLEGE
Pomona college’s Latine-Identity Empowerment, Advice, and Friendship (LEAF) program, established in the spring of 2022, pairs Latinx 5c students with elementary-to-high-school aged students of similar backgrounds in a mentorship program focused on personal growth, cultural pride, and mental health awareness.
nient for all of you,” Tapia-Plazola said. Assistant Director of Educational Outreach at the Draper Center and direct supervisor of LEAF Andres “Fluffy” Aguilar, highlighted the importance of Latine 5C student role models in the greater Latine
‘Mudders
Harvey Mudd College student organization Mudders Against Murder held a demonstration at the Linde Activities Center (LAC) courtyard on Wednesday, Sept. 25, to protest HMC’s hosting of weapons manufacturing and defense companies at its career fair.
Responding to threats of disruption to the career fair on social media, HMC President Harriet B. Nembhard, along with several other HMC administrators, released a statement Sept. 26 regarding changes to security protocols upon first learning about the protest on Sept. 23.
“The College made logistical arrangements to better secure the Linde Activities Center and requested additional fencing and safety officers to provide support on site as a precautionary measure,” the statement read.
On the day of the protest, Vice President for Student Affairs and Dean of Students Cynthia A. Martinez denied TSL staff access to the career fair prior to the protest’s beginning despite staff having registered for the event, citing that she had promised employers there would be no photo or video inside the career fair.
An estimated 40 students participated in the protests for approximately an hour and a half, beginning at 11 a.m.. All student protesters covered their faces and hair with masks, sunglasses and headwraps.
“There are 39 employers [at the career fair] and 11 of them are contracted with the U.S. Department of Defense,” an anonymous protest leader said. “There are 26 companies, 10 of which are defense contractors.” Companies at the career fair that contributed to Mudders Against Murder’s grievances included Northrop Grumman, Honeybee Robotics and Mach Industries, among others.
“Our goal is fundamentally for the college to cut defense ties,” a Mudders Against Murder representative, who requested anonymity for
individual privacy reasons, said in an interview with TSL.“The student body at large has really been very vocal about wanting more diverse work. People have consistently been speaking out about how we’re tired of the two options being big tech and defense.”
During the protest, students slowly moved from the courtyard inwards toward the entrance of the career fair. By 11:30 a.m., students were standing directly in front of the entrance tables.
“[Admin and security] are laughing and they’re looking at us but they don’t understand the consequences of their actions,” another unidentified protest leader said. “Harvey Mudd, you must cut ties, children die each time you lie.” At 11:33 a.m., students forced themselves through Campus Security, past the entrance tables and through the LAC gates.
In the Sept. 26 statement, Nembhard claimed that the protesters’ occupation of the inner courtyard of LAC resulted in physical injury to four HMC staff members.
“At about 11:45 a.m., a group of protesters approached and pushed the registration table, pushing the table into the abdomens of the Division of Student Affairs staff members who were helping students check in to the event,” the statement said. “Another DSA staff member was briefly pinned by one of the tables due to the actions of the protesters and sustained bruises.”
However, according to footage obtained by TSL, the tables that were allegedly pushed did not make contact with the abdomens of any administration members. When questioned about the proceeding of events recounted in the president’s update, Laura Muna-Landa, the Claremont Colleges Services assistant vice president, declined to comment.
In response to the protesters, Campus Security used a speaker to sound an alarm and warning message.
“Your conduct is infringing upon the rights of others and is
in violation of college policy,” they said. “You must stop the disruptive behavior immediately. You are trespassing and failure to leave now will subject you to arrest.”
In her statment, Nembhard revealed that the speaker being used during the protest was a Long-Range Acoustic Device (LRAD). LRAD speakers have an extremely high decibel capacity known to control crowds and cause hearing damage.
As the LRAD alarm sounded, students continued to approach the LAC building and began banging on the doors and windows. Some students exited the area inside the gates and went around to the western side of the building, banging on those windows as the message repeated.
Simultaneously inside the gates of the LAC, some students vandalized school property, according to photo evidence provided in the president’s statement. This included HMCowned computers, the LAC building and the patio.
The representative of Mudders Against Murder who interviewed with TSL commented on the college’s emphasis on property destruction.
“It is important for people to realize that Harvey Mudd can and will militarize its campus in response to student protests,” they said. “The prioritization of property and profit over people has to stop.”
The representative from Mudders Against Murder said that the organization has not been contacted by administration, but that they are ultimately calling for HMC to set a new precedent.
“It’s about saying that a college can be a prestigious tech college and at the same time not just be selling our label to the highest bidder,” the representative said. “We can have morals and standards and push the workforce to have a different direction, to work for the betterment of humanity, to work to help people instead of harm them.”
community of the Claremont and Pomona areas.
“LEAF allows mentees to see something different, especially if they’re [a first-generation student] going into college or thinking about college,” Aguilar said. “They get to see someone who’s already done
it, someone that can possibly guide them through that process.”
Carlos Carrillo, Educational Program Director at Uncommon Good, echoed this sentiment.
“Having someone who has gone through what these mentees have faced, and [who is] now at these prestigious universities like Pomona College, opens their eyes to great possibilities,” Carrillo said.
To Aguilar, the LEAF Program is one of the most meaningful programs at the 5Cs because of the impactful relationship it allows college students to build with students from similar backgrounds.
“I can guarantee you that this kid will go home at the end of the day and will take something from your experience together,” Aguilar said. “And they will realize much later how much you impacted their life and the trajectory of their life.”
According to Carrillo, the concept of mentorship transcends generations and the LEAF program takes a necessary step in contributing to an essential chain of community service.
“I always tell students never to forget why and how they got where they are, because there was always someone who was a mentor that helped them get to that place,” Carrillo said.
Collective aims to offer the 5Cs a safe space for sobriety
campus.
Beginning this year, students curious about sobriety or reducing substance use will be able to attend anonymous weekly meetings with the Claremont Recovery Collective. Each Sunday, the collective gathers from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. at the Heggblade Annex at Claremont McKenna College. The Claremont Recovery Collective is not the first organization on campus for students seeking a substance-free lifestyle. Club Soda, for instance, has been hosting substance-free activities on the weekends for several years. Still, the collective is unique in that it operates as a recovery-specific support space.
According to Jess Neilson, CMC’s senior assistant dean of students for mental health and health promotion, the last-known recovery group on campus was a 5C 12-step student group that she last heard about in 2021.
Jess Neilson, CMC’s senior assistant dean of students for mental health and health promotion, said the last she heard about a student recovery group on campus was in 2021. The Claremont Recovery Collective has since stepped up to support students struggling with substance use. The organization aspires to offer a long-term safe space for all students, including those who are sober, those still using and anyone seeking harm-reduction strategies.
There is no facilitator or expert in the room, in hopes of creating an environment in which students feel free to discuss their own experiences without risk of judgment or retribution.
One of the collective’s founders, who requested to remain anonymous for privacy reasons, said that the club has helped them in their own journey to stay substance-free..
“One reason I’ve continued to stay sober is service to other people,” they said. “I see [that] starting groups like this, going to meetings [and] being a resource for other people who are struggling on campus as a way to continue that service.”
Part of the group’s mission is to decrease the stigma surrounding sobriety on campus while supporting people who feel isolated by substance-use culture at the 5Cs.
Neilson believes that the prevalence of substance use on campus may be related to a decline in student mental health over the past couple of years.
“It’s not surprising to me that as we see more young people struggling with their mental health, we also see instances of substance use rise, too,” Neilson said. The co-founder of the collective expressed similar sentiments.
“I can speak from my experience at CMC, the way that party life is organized is incredibly centered on substance culture,” they said. “I think it’s a bit of a shocker when you tell people you don’t drink.” Nevertheless, the co-founder emphasized that the group isn’t trying to stop all alcohol use on
“We understand that it’s going to happen, and so we want to be there for people who feel alienated by the culture, who feel like they’re drinking too much or who just want to learn more about what sobriety is like,” they said.
Outside of the collective, Neilson said that there are other actions that the campus community can take to create a more supportive culture in regard to sobriety and safe substance use habits. One of them, she said, is to respect the choices and lifestyles of those who choose not to drink.
“If someone tells you they don’t want to partake, please just say ‘cool’ and move on,” she said.
Gabriela Portillo PZ ’28 echoed Neilson’s advice to respect others’ choices.
“It’s no one’s business to meddle in another person’s personal life choices,” Portillo said. “It doesn’t harm anyone to not drink.”
The collective’s co-founder also emphasized the importance of being mindful of the language used to discuss sobriety.
“Something as simple as, ‘if you don’t want to drink, we don’t have to drink this weekend,’ is enough to make a difference,” they said.
On a personal level, according to Neilson, reflecting on one’s own behaviors may be the first step in creating more healthy habits.
“I would encourage folks to take a minute and think about the ‘why’ behind their actions,” Neilson said. “Drinking while watching the game or to celebrate a friend’s birthday is a lot different from drinking multiple nights a week … in order to forget about your day or numb the negative feelings you might be having.”
For students feeling concerned about their own substance use habits or those of a friend, Neilson urges students to utilize campus resources.
“Therapists at Monsour are confidential and can help you identify next steps, as can mental health and health education folks on your own campus,” she said.
Apart from professional help, the collective strives to foster an open and inclusive environment, according to the co-founder.
“I think we’re just very much here for everyone,” the co-founder said. “There’s no requirement for … being part of the group.”
Like tens of millions of people on
Oct. 1, 5C students tuned in to watch Ohio Sen. JD Vance and Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz face off in the 2024 vice presidential debate. But many students in Claremont weren’t watching alone; instead, in both formal and informal gatherings, they came together to participate in watch parties, dinners and discussions with their peers.
Pomona’s watch party was co-hosted by the college’s Politics Department and the Claremont College League of Women Voters Club at Rose Hills Theatre. At CMC, the Kravis Lab for Civic Leadership hosted a CMC-exclusive watch party, providing dinner and a post-debate discussion at the McKenna Auditorium.
CBS News hosted the debate, which will be the sole vice presidential debate of the 2024 U.S. presidential election cycle. Vance and Walz faced off for over 90 minutes and answered an array of questions centering around issues such as foreign policy, abortion, gun violence, immigration and the 2020 presidential election results.
Mariana Ela CM ’28, who attended the CMC watch party, said that she thought JD Vance won the debate. She argued that some people viewed Vance as a “super hard-right Republican” prior to Tuesday night, but that their perceptions may have shifted.
“Even though he probably still is, he was kind of leaning towards the more moderate and more understanding side,” Ela said. “So I feel like [after the debate] some people are going to think Trump and JD Vance are more understanding.”
Ryan Kim CM ’28, who also attended the CMC event, said he found the debate to be influential.
“Walz did bring up a lot of good points, I was actually leaning more towards Kamala’s side,” Kim said. “I don’t have much of a political background, so it’s pretty new for me and I learned a lot from [the watch party].”
CMC event attendee Joel Alexander CM ’28 said that, while the debate didn’t shift his perspective too much, he thinks there is a chance that it will impact undecided voters in the election.
“I think it was a good experience and it really encouraged conversation,” Alexander said.
As CMC students watched the debate unfold in McKenna Auditorium, approximately 130 students gathered
in Rose Hills Theatre for Pomona’s rendition.
Claremont League of Women
Voters President Lexi Duffy PO ’26 said that the League had prepared for extra attendees after the presidential debate watch party hosted on Sept. 10 — also hosted at Rose Hills Theatre — exceeded capacity.
“We had so many more than we were expecting,“ Duffy said. “So now we’ve adapted our plans for the vice presidential watch party.”
Duffy said that the League’s goals for the vice presidential watch party remain the same as they did in the presidential debate.
“I think we wanted to create a community around such a monumental debate,” Duffy said. “It’s something that we were excited to see but also nervous about and [we] figured people might share that same sentiment.”
She added that the event was also a good opportunity to remind students to vote. On the night of the debate, the League placed a table devoted to voting information and registration near the entrance of the theater.
According to department chair and professor Tom Le, hosting nonpartisan debate watch parties is a responsibility rather than a goal of Pomona’s Politics Department,
“We should be hosting the presidential and vice presidential debate parties because of the core of some of the subjects that we teach, especially in the American politics subfield,” Le said. “Obviously in the United States presidential elections get more attention and more interest amongst the student body, so we want to meet that interest.”
The League opened its doors at 5:30 p.m., with the actual debate lasting from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m.. Students
were provided with bingo scorecards with comedic actions, topics and phrases that the candidates were expected to do during the debate — like defending or attacking Donald Trump and blaming the other political party for current issues.
Later in the night, Pomona Politics professors Sean Diament and Amanda Hollis-Brusky facilitated a post-debate discussion.
“We can say that Tim Walz did not meet expectations and JD Vance ‘won’ the debate; it came down to optics,” Diament said. “And Vance looked the part: he looked composed, and he seemed to be speaking to the voters a bit better. Walz was struggling over his own words.”
Diament said that the debate likely wouldn’t impact undecided voters, instead serving only to diminish fears about Vance’s capability.
In regards to student reactions during the watch party, Diament said that they did a good job of remaining unbiased.
“I think it speaks really well to [the students’] conscientiousness and reflectiveness and the social science analytical skills that the students have,” Diament said.
Diego Tamayo PZ ’25 attended the Pomona watch party and said that the popularity of the event showed how invested people at the 5Cs are.
“The fact that dozens upon dozens of people come to these watch parties is a major indicator that shows that people do wish to be involved,” Tamayo said. “They could be going to dinner, studying, doing other events or sleeping. Instead, they are here, and I think that speaks a lot.”
On Tuesday, Oct. 1, student employees temporarily shut down Scripps College’s Motley Coffeehouse as part of the global strike for Lebanon, where the death toll has surpassed 1,300 and 1.2 million people have been displaced following Israeli military attacks in Beirut. The strike lasted one day, with the coffeehouse’s regular operations resuming on Wednesday.
Tuesday’s strike was announced via a handwritten sign pasted on the Motley’s door. The group later posted a photo of the sign on their Instagram story, adding text that read “the Motley Coffeehouse is a college-owned and STUDENT-RUN coffee shop.”
The following story post addressed the situation more indepth.
“The actions of the Motley employees who choose to strike today is representative of the perspectives of some Motley baristas and managers,” the post read. “It DOES NOT reflect the perspectives of all present Motley employees nor does it intend to speak on behalf of everyone previously employed at the Motley.”
The post also said that the coffeehouse’s strike did not legally represent the Motley as a student-run and college-owned business.
The strike comes nearly a month after administration requested the removal of a Palestinian flag on one of the coffeehouse’s walls, citing a lack of authorization
by the college to endorse a political position that could be “erroneously attributed to Scripps College.” The flag remains hanging.
Sofia Arzola SC ’28, who goes to the Motley regularly, said that she was in complete support of the strike.
“Seeing that they went on strike was really empowering,” Arzola said. “I agree with what they support, and when I read their Instagram post, I really empathized with it.”
Arzola said that she thought it was great to see employees stand up for what they believe in.
“For them to say ‘Hey, we don’t agree with this, we’re going to go on strike because of our views and how we feel about the situation’ is really cool,” Arzola said. “It puts an emphasis on the fact that the Motley is a student-run business and that they are able to stand up for their political beliefs.”
Beyond employees at the Motley, other community members participated in Tuesday’s strike as well, with Pomona Divest from Apartheid (PDfA) hosting a teach-in at the Smith Campus Center in solidarity with Lebanon.
“[O]ver the last week, the zionist entity expanded its genocidal campaign to lebanon, repeatedly striking the capital city of beirut and other population centers with u.s.-made missiles,” their Oct. 1 Instagram post reads. “[Y]et pomona still refuses to divest.”
The Motley did not respond to TSL and several Motley student employees declined to comment. Scripps administration failed to respond for comment.
‘Afterparties’: Bringing the discussion of queer Asian American life post-genocide to the Claremont Colleges
CHLOE ESHAGH
On Wednesday, Sept. 25, Pomona College’s Academic Affairs and English Department hosted an event titled “The Afterlife of Genocide.” The event looked to Anthony Veasna So’s 2021 book, “Afterparties,” to examine the experiences of second-generation Cambodian Americans and what it means to be a queer Asian person in America.
“Afterparties” is a collection of fictional short stories centered around a family of second-generation Cambodian Americans. Set in Stockton, California, in the aftermath of the Khmer Rouge genocide, “Afterparties” follows the characters as they grapple with the intersections of race, identity, sexuality, family and trauma.
Gary Champi, an assistant professor of dance at Pomona, moderated the event. Alongside Champi were three panelists: Samantha Lamb, sister of Anthony Veasna So, Jolie Chea, assistant professor of Asian American studies at the UC Los Angeles, and Nora Fujita-Yuhas, lead organizer of API Equality - Los Angeles. M. Bilal Nasir, assistant professor
of Asian American studies at Pomona, opened the event by talking about what he referred to the current genocide in Palestine.
“[Palestine is] not alone because of the swell of solidarity that we’ve seen, but it’s also not alone as an exceptional site of genocide, past and present,” Nasir said. “Today, we’re gathered to learn about and think through survival in the context of another genocide, namely a Cambodian genocide.”
When Champi introduced the panelists, Chea spoke on how they originally didn’t want to speak at the panel, but that Israel’s continued attacks on Palestine prompted a change of heart.
“Amidst the current and ongoing genocide of Palestinians by the State of Israel, it became clear that I should take a seat on this platform,” Chea said.
They then spoke on their family’s immigration, noting that they are a part of a second generation of Cambodian Americans. They said that the way that Veasna So wrote about that experience in “Afterparties” resonated with them so deeply that it made the author “feel like family.” The book, Chea said, pre-
sented a new perspective on how Asians are portrayed in American media.
“What we get in “Afterparties” is a powerful and forceful, unrelenting contrast to the narratives and the kinds of passive and pathetic characters presented to us,” Chea said.
The panelists began discussing one of the chapters of the book titled “Human Development.” It follows Anthony, a private high school teacher navigating dating as a gay Cambodian American man.
Lam interpreted the chapter as commenting on Anthony’s desire to have a real connection, explaining that he lacked connections with his family and the other Cambodian people around him.
“I think that’s why a lot of people connect with the story, because I think we’re all trying to find that connection,” Lam said.
Panelists also discussed the themes of cultural obligation and American individualism in the book touching on how they grappled with those themes in their personal lives.
As the discussion continued and was opened to audience questions,
the panelists were asked about how the Cambodian genocide was overshadowed by the Vietnam War and about the continued lack of education surrounding the former.
“That’s the problem with our system right now,” Lam said. “We are failing kids, we’re not teaching them what they need to know when they get into college.”
Chea built upon that and added that Southeast Asian history is inaccurately taught without proper distinction between different countries and their specific histories.
Additionally, Aimee Bahng, associate professor of gender and women studies at Pomona, asked about the concept of post-war resilience in the Asian American experience. In response, Fujita-Yuhas explained how the concept can apply to the generational cycle of war trauma.
“I don’t like the word resilience, I feel like it’s not the compliment people think it is,” Fujita Yuhas said. “That’s not actually how it feels or what we want for our communities.”
The panelists all shared the sentiment that they don’t want to be
seen as victims of their family experiences and that they’re more than the trauma they experienced. Champi wrapped up the event by praising the book and the visibility it has brought to Cambodian Americans.
“Selecting a Cambodian American author provided visibility for myself,” Champi said. “For a marginalized community, that was important for us to feel seen and seen in a way that’s beyond the pity of genocide.”
On Friday, Sept. 27, students and community members gathered at Claremont McKenna College (CMC) to hear from veteran journalists about the importance of local news and the struggles currently plaguing the industry. The panel discussion, titled “Challenges to Local Journalism,” was co-sponsored by CMC’s Marian Miner Cook Athenaeum and the Dreier Roundtable (DRT).
The panelists included CalMatters Board Member Jeff Klein CM ’75, former U.S. Representative David Dreier CM ’75, LA Reported’s Founding Editor Scott Woolley CM ’92, and the Claremont Courier’s Editor-In-Chief Mick Rhodes. The panel was moderated by CMC Professor of International Journalism Terril Jones.
During the panel, Jones explained how local news serves as the foundation of American journalism because it amplifies the perspectives of communities and connects them to local institutions such as school boards
and city halls. However, according to Rhodes, the shift to social media as a source of information has led to a decrease in the popularity of local newspapers. He commented on how his newsroom has continually shrunk over time.
“As of today, there is one other reporter on staff besides myself as the editor,” Rhodes said. “We try to cover events in the community to the best of our ability but we simply don’t have the staff or resources at our disposal to do it all.”
Dreier then argued that the growing consumer demand for information and the increased usage of AI could create opportunities for the growth of local news. He explained that the dissemination of fake news, deepfakes and AI generated images, video or audio has brought the attention back to local newspapers to provide legitimate and community-oriented information.
“They are truly public servants,”
Dreier said, describing journalists.
DRT Student Fellow Julius Skestos PZ ’25 highlighted the significance of the panel’s topic, speaking on its importance, considering a recent decline in trust in the media.
“Journalism is a big part of the Dreier Roundtable’s culture,” Skestos said. “I think in light of the attacks on journalism, it’s very important to hear from different perspectives.”
The discussion then shifted to how local newspapers could help fill information gaps. Klein explained how CalMatters was founded in response to the lack of coverage of the California State Legislature.
He described how today, local publications often depend on the goodwill of donors to stay in operation. However, he noted that it’s easy to lose this support if a
newspaper publishes something that conflicts with the donors’ opinions or actions.
“If you don’t like it then you have the right to not donate,” Klein said. “But it doesn’t mean that you get to control what we say.”
Woolley proposed a switch to a model that relies on individual subscribers instead of philanthropy from sponsors, saying that this would allow a newspaper to no longer have to worry about jeopardizing funding sources.
“I think there’s an opportunity now to develop a new editorial model that is married with a new economic model that will actually succeed,” Woolley said. “It will reward in-depth journalism.”
After the panel concluded, attendees took time to reflect on the discussion and the importance of local journalism.
“The 5Cs community tends to live in a bubble,” Kendall White PO ’27 said. “So it’s important to hear from a variety of local voices and be critical.”
NORAH MANNLE
I came to Claremont McKenna College (CMC) having been an overachiever at my high school. With a perfect GPA and numerous leadership positions and accolades, I was hopeful that this same success would carry over into college. So when I came to college, I wasn’t expecting to have my ass kicked in the club application process for not one, but two years in a row.
I knew that academics would always be a challenge no matter how dedicated to studying I was, but where I really flourished in high school was my extracurriculars. My talents had always laid outside of school, expressed through various creative and social pursuits.
Freshman year, I tried out for two a cappella groups and was rejected from both of them. This year, as a sophomore, I tried out for four a cappella groups and was, once again, rejected from all of them. I managed to make it through the first round of cuts for Claremont Women in Business, but after putting a lot of faith in my creativity and marketing experience to push me through the interview stage, I was still rejected.
In high school, I led my school’s top a cappella group; I sang in multiple prestigious choirs; I did social media marketing for almost all of the clubs I was a part of; I flexed my leadership skills by organizing school-wide events.
My downfall in the club recruitment process wasn’t any skills that I lacked, it was the fact that all of the students I was competing against were also used to being “the best.”
Attending a career-oriented school like CMC comes with a lot of pressure. Oftentimes, I feel as though I have to join pre-professional groups like the Student Investment Fund or Claremont Consulting Group in order to build an impressive resume and attain desirable internships. However, most of these groups are highly selective, and their crushing rejections might shape how you view yourself.
At a school as competitive as CMC, it’s easy to view those around you as your competition. After all, I was raised to believe that the career world is just one big game, and that being “successful” means having a job that rewards you with high pay and a cushy lifestyle. Remaining genuinely happy for friends who land a position that you worked just as hard and are just as qualified for
can be mentally onerous.
To be honest, coming from a high school with 800+ students in each grade, I realistically wouldn’t be at CMC if I didn’t fight for every opportunity that came my way. Healthy competition can push you to be your best, but I know that I still struggle with not letting it overtake my thoughts.
Rejection during the recruitment process is incredibly common at CMC, and it’s inevitable that doubt will creep in: “Am I good enough to be here? If I can’t get into a single club how am I supposed to succeed outside of college?” These are all questions that I grappled with my freshman year.
Despite a first year full of rejection, last spring I put myself out there yet again and focused my efforts on finding a summer internship. I met with career services. I used many of my afternoons to flag internship positions on Handshake. I wrote, scrutinized and then re-wrote countless cover letters. After hours spent on applications, I finally secured a position as a grant-writing intern at a non-profit. Even with zero clubs on my resume, I still had the most transformative summer of my life. My losses in the club application season last year taught me resilience and led me to explore new avenues. Although I’ve experienced multiple rejections within the past month, my summer internship made me realize that both rejection and success will come and go in waves all throughout my life. No matter what, I have to keep swimming. I’ve already begun applying to new internships and jobs.
The more I open myself up to the possibility of rejection, the more likely I am to eventually succeed. Many more rejection emails will probably come my way this school year, but I have to trust that, in due course, I will again find the right opportunity. Thankfully, I can rely on the determination and optimism I’ve learned this past year to help get me there.
Norah Mannle CM ’27 hails from the suburbs of Washington DC. In her free time she enjoys long walks, trying exciting new coffee shops and skiing.
For $20, name a local TikTok trivia game show that offers 5C students the opportunity to win some extra cash. If you answered KnowledgedOfficial, you’d be correct.
KnowledgedOfficial, co-founded by Daniel Hernandez and Michelle Beltran, has recently gained widespread attention on TikTok and Instagram for their short-form trivia content. Their videos feature participants answering questions in edited clips categorized by topic. As of October 2024, their TikTok has amassed over 370,000 followers and over 40 million likes.
Hernandez, who hosts the show on camera, and Beltran, who runs things behind the scenes, founded the game show when they were both students at California State University at San Bernardino. The channel offers college students in Southern California the opportunity to win a little bit of cash by answering trivia questions based on their knowledge of their favorite movies, TV shows, musicians and other pop culture facts. Common topics include Breaking Bad, Gilmore Girls, Taylor Swift and Harry Potter.
KnowledgedOfficial launched their show near Pomona College’s Smith Campus Center (SCC) in 2022 and have since hosted it at the same location every Friday, attracting crowds of students who wanted to try their hand at the game. The large tripod and camera sparked passerbys’ attention and the questions kept students lingering.
Hernandez and Beltran gave the contestants the option to choose both the category and difficulty levels, with prizes corresponding to $5, $10 and $20 depending on difficulty. Observers and friends crowded around as the contestant anxiously awaited the question. If the contestant answered correctly, they could walk away with their prize and can play again the following week. Even if they weren’t as lucky, they could keep playing until they win. No matter the outcome of the game, students cheered and congratulated their peers for their efforts.
KnowledgedOfficial is a source of entertainment for participants and viewers alike. However, Hernandez noted that their primary intention for creating KnowledgedOfficial was to create an activity that was unusual for college campuses.
“[One day] we had 10 extra bucks and two hours, and we were like, ‘What if we do something on the side? Maybe people will enjoy it, and maybe it’ll turn into something,’” Hernandez said.
Though it took a few years for their game to gain traction, KnowledgedOfficial now often sees lines of students waiting for their chance to play.
Hernandez said when he and Beltran first started KnowledgedOfficial, the game used to be much more difficult to win. Contestants needed to answer three questions correctly about a
subject in order to cash out. In the early days, all of the prize money came out of their own pockets, and given the time spent formulating and crafting the questions and equipment costs, they had to ensure the winnings were justified.
However, thanks to their growing fanbase, KnowledgedOfficial funds their channel through brand deals and the TikTok Creator Fund, and they have since changed the rules to boost participants’ success rates.
“Pretty much all of the money that we’ve made has gone right back into [the game],” Hernandez said. “We’re just trying to put everything we have into it and see if it can turn into something sustainable.”
One student who has become a regular participant is Lexi Pelzer PO ’27. Pelzer recalled walking through Pomona’s campus last spring and seeing students excitedly gathered around a camera. She decided to check it out and ended up winning $20 her first time for her Harry Potter knowledge.
Since then, Pelzer has made an effort to return to KnowledgedOfficial each week. She estimates she has played 10-15 times and won over $140.
Hernandez emphasized his gratitude towards his regulars and attempts to remember their names and favorite categories. He explained that the game is meant to bring joy and fun to the hecticness of college life, so he structures it with the participants’ best interest in mind.
“We like to think that this is a channel by the people and for the people,” Hernandez said.
Some students have complained that the $5 questions are too hard, while others feel the $20 ones are too easy. Hernandez expressed a desire to gather feedback more systematically, envisioning a process similar to Family Feud.
“It would be great to ask a group of people, ‘How difficult
do you think this question is?’ and then, based on the responses, assign a difficulty level,” Hernandez said. “For example, if 80% say it’s worth $20, then it becomes a $20 question.”
Christina Pedersen SC ’28 saw Hernandez in his usual spot near the SCC while walking back from the Village during her first week on campus. Like Pelzer, she was intrigued by the crowds of students collectively cheering around a camera. She approached the crowd and was taken in by the fun, excited energy of the students. Their hands shot up in the air each time a round ended, asking for their turn to play. Pedersen decided she wanted to give it a try.
“It was such a fun environment to be in,” Pedersen said.
Though she failed in her first attempt, she said she plans to try again another time and study some pop culture in the meantime. Hernandez and Beltran receive requests from students around the world asking KnowledgedOfficial to visit their colleges. Hernandez hopes to be able to expand the channel to be able to meet some of these requests. Their goal for now, however, has been to offer a wider range of challenges with bigger cash prizes. Hernandez shared that they have slowly begun implementing these games into their channel and they may bring these new challenges to the Claremont Colleges as well. For Claremont students, professors, faculty and residents alike, KnowledgedOfficial offers entertainment and fun for the community, along with a generous compensation for your knowledge. Stop by the SCC to join other enthusiastic participants and test your knowledge for some cash.
Hernandez appreciated the contestants who took time out of their day to participate.
“Even if you felt like you just spent two minutes, it means a lot,” Hernandez said. “So I remember you. Odds are, I remember your name, and that’s what I enjoy most.”
Scripps archival exhibit explores history of Mizrahi Jews in the Middle East
A compelling narrative tucked inside the Scripps College Clark Humanities Museum reveals the intricate and often-overlooked histories of the Mizrahi Jewish people in the Middle East.
The new exhibition, “The Mizrahi Jews: 3,000+ Years of Jewish Culture in The Middle East” features a series of photographs and other archival pieces that depict the often-overlooked history of the little-known community. The exhibition, which runs from Sept. 23 through Oct. 18, was organized and fact-checked by Scripps philosophy professor Yuval Avnur, co-researched by Noah Rinsler PO ’26 and curated by Marina Shishkina SC ’25.
“Mizrahi Jews have often been marginalized, both in the diaspora and in Israeli society,” Avnur said.
“This is an opportunity to be seen and heard, and to tell their story, and people appreciate that.”
The exhibition includes photographs of celebrations and landscapes, supplemented with text that elaborates on historical moments. On display were events such as the 1947 riots in Aden, a city in Yemen, and the personal stories of the featured individuals, many of whom fled persecution.
The images depict communities in Yemen, Morocco, Tunisia, Ethiopia and Afghanistan, with some dating back to 3000 BC. The exhibition also maps out the migration of these communities out of the Middle East, noting that only one Jewish
individual, Levi Salem Musa Marhabi, is currently known to reside in Yemen. The exhibition seeks to dispel the common misconception that some Jewish communities are not indigenous to parts of the Middle East simply because fewer remain there today. “I noticed campus conversations focus only on European Jews, who claim to have a historical and
spiritual connection to the Middle East but whom some consider to be outsiders,” Avnur said. “But this misses the fact that over half of Israeli Jews are from Mizrahi families, which have been in the Middle East and surrounding regions for thousands of years, as clearly indigenous as anyone else there.”
In the late 19th century, large numbers of Ashkenazi Jews from
Russia, Poland, and Germany immigrated to the newly-formed state of Israel. Mizrahi Jewish immigrants were systematically marginalized by the government that favored Ashkenazi Jews.
“I had been thinking about what I can do to make conversations more productive, and I realized that I am here as an educator, and so my role should simply be to educate people on the relevant facts and history,” Avnur said.
The term “Mizrahi,” which means “Easterner” in Hebrew, refers to Jewish communities from the Middle East. Though Mizrahi sometimes include Sephardic Jewish communities who historically lived in modern-day Spain and Portugal, Avnur clarified that Mizrahi Jews have distinct histories and have lived in the Middle East and North Africa for millennia. In 2018, 45 percent of Jewish Israelis identified as either Mizrahi or Sephardic.
“It is difficult to describe misconceptions about Mizrahi Jews because most people don’t have a detailed idea of who the Mizrahi Jews are,” Avnur said.
A standout feature of this exhibition is its series of portraits depicting young people, community celebrations and gatherings. These pieces added life and intimacy to the texts and timelines.
A self-portrait titled “Kutab Girl” depicts the artist Daniella Meller as a young girl in her classroom in Tunisia. The accompanying text describes her expe-
riences of fleeing the Middle East after World War II. The girl holds an award she received in a class where she learned Hebrew in order to immigrate to Israel with her family. The dress and background are painted from memory.
“The [self-portrait] to me represents something compelling about the power of the people, the language, and the tradition that has been passed on for thousands of years and which is still very much alive,” Avnur said.
Another personal story comes from photographer Zion Ozeri, whose work documenting the migration of Jewish immigrants from Yemen is featured in the exhibit. His photography practice is an important component of the exhibit’s conversation: Jewish communities in Yemen are some of the oldest in the world. Shishkina noted that many viewers took time to absorb the text, learning from all the data that their team presented.
“The exhibition is trying to add Judaism to the conversation and not subtract anything else. It’s just an additional conversation,” Shishkina said.
The vibrant stories and historical events offer a holistic, non-hegemonic worldview. Through portrait, landscape and candid photographs, the exhibit uplifts the often-suppressed but rich culture of the Mizrahi people.
“If nothing else, it shows that the history is not as simple as the dominant narrative makes it seem,” Avnur said.
I was 15 years old when Greta Gerwig released her 2017 film “Lady Bird.” I watched it once when it first came out, and then again. And again. And again. The film follows a Sacramento teenager, Lady Bird, in her last year of high school. Growing up in the suburbs of Arizona, “Lady Bird” felt electric and real. The movie emulated my own coming-of-age as a young woman navigating the tricky transition out of girlhood. I particularly connected to the mother-daughter relationship it portrayed.
My mom has worked as a nurse for nearly 16 years. She is deeply opinionated, resilient and, admittedly, a bit stubborn. During my senior year of high school, we used to butt heads over everything from college applications to spending too much time away from home. Like Lady Bird, my relationship with my mom was far more complex than I generally saw depicted in movies.
Now, in my senior year of college, “Lady Bird” doesn’t resonate the same way. Maybe it’s the result of growing up or not being as rebellious anymore, or maybe it’s simply because I miss my mom and call her every week. But, for some viewers, this movie never resonated in the first place.
While “Lady Bird” tackles issues around friendship, love and middle-class struggle, it seems to fall short of reality for many women. To put it plainly, the movie is overwhelmingly white.
On its own, this isn’t necessarily an issue. “Lady Bird” was inspired by Gerwig’s upbringing as a cisgender, white American woman. Perhaps telling Lady Bird’s story through the lens of her own personal experiences was inherently going to overlook minorities’ experiences.
However, the lack of diversity feels strange given that Sacramento was recognized as one of America’s most diverse cities in 2002, the same year that “Lady Bird” takes place. It also seems somewhat problematic for critics to characterize this film as a “universal” experience of girlhood while the movie excludes a majority of voices from its story.
So, what exactly would an intersectional “Lady Bird” look like?
Fifteen years prior to “Lady Bird,” Patricia Cardoso directed the comedy-drama “Real Women Have Curves,” about Ana García (America Ferrera), an 18-year-old Chicana girl living in East Los Angeles. The summer before she goes to college, Ana struggles with the expectations of her immigrant mother versus her own desire for independence. The lead characters of both mov-
ies attend private high schools in California, aspire for colleges in New York and manage complicated relationships with their mothers. However, “Real Women Have Curves” delves deeper into the specific experience of being Latina and the constraints faced by daughters of immigrant parents. Ana’s mother, Carmen, constantly pressures her to stay home and prioritize getting married over pursuing higher education. In addition, Ana feels a sense of obligation to contribute to her family’s financial situation by working in their sewing factory. Her determination to leave Los
Angeles for college clashes with the family’s reliance on her labor, adding another layer of socioeconomic conflict that “Lady Bird” does not address.
Unlike “Lady Bird,” “Real Women Have Curves” also addresses the complex relationships that women have with their bodies, exploring themes of acceptance and radical positivity.
Near the film’s conclusion, Ana and the other women openly discuss body image and selfworth in the sewing factory.
While her mother shames her for her weight, Ana confidently embraces her curves, challenging normative standards of beauty
and the expectation that women must conform to a specific beauty standard.
While “Real Women Have Curves” explores similar themes to “Lady Bird” — sexuality, class and autonomy — it failed to garner the same level of mainstream recognition and critical acclaim as its successor. “Lady Bird” earned five Academy Award nominations, whereas “Real Women have Curves” received none, despite being equally deserving. This isn’t a criticism of “Lady Bird” or Greta Gerwig. Rather, the disparity between the two films’ receptions highlights the systemic barriers within the entertainment
industry that often overlook or dismiss stories that don’t feature predominantly white casts.
As we engage with media, we should always ask what perspectives are under-recognized, what we might be missing and how narratives cater to a white upper-class audience. We should challenge ourselves to seek out and show love to those lesser-known stories that have influenced cult classics like “Lady Bird.”
Anna Peterson SC ‘25 is from Scottsdale, AZ. She studies politics, but spends her free time making Spotify playlists, writing Letterboxd reviews and drinking too much coffee.
Gorman Bentley, an artist who specializes in abstract color fields, says his best works are those he created in an unconscious state — a conviction that belies the intimacy of his creative process. The sparse curves and colors of his minimalist paintings stand out against the dim glow of the Hotel Casa 425 lobby in the Claremont Village. His artist residency at the hotel, originally planned to last two-months, has been extended to a full year.
Bentley has lived in Claremont with his husband for 65 years, and his work has been displayed at the Getty Center, the Sasse Museum of Art and currently at the Ahmad Shariff Art Gallery in Claremont. His works tap into the realm of the unseen, which he accesses through a continuous practice of self-attunement. He says each person must determine the meaning of art for themself.
Bentley described his process by referring to a concept articulated by artist Philip Guston, where the artist first enters the studio “with the world.” Over time, “the world leaves the room,” leaving the artist alone. Finally, the “artist leaves the room.”
Bentley always starts by painting a color he consciously chooses, but his process often gradually “becomes unconscious.” A vision of a new color field, a physical form or vivid image in his mind’s eye begins to manifest — a Shiva leg, the descent of Icarus or his journey to queer self-acceptance.
“When I ‘left the room,’ something else took over,” Bentley said of his untitled painting of a Shiva leg. “I’m not saying another dimension painted it, but whatever energy was left when I ‘left the room’ seemed to guide the process.”
While his work may include representable objects, he encourages viewers to approach those objects metaphorically and ask themselves what feelings or thoughts the imagery stirs in them. Bentley strives for the viewer to access the unseen: concepts and energies that transcend the sensory world.
“Since meaning overrides decoration in Gorman’s work, he prioritizes the narrative and emotional resonance over the use of brighter colors,” Ahmad Shariff, his agent and fellow artist, said. As an art educator at the Norton Simon Museum, Bentley doesn’t like to give pretentious explanations about his works. Instead, he guides the viewer to draw their own meaning from his work. At a Sep. 10 talk held by the Scripps Fine Art Foundation (FAF), he presented to attendees three abstract pieces, all without titles and descriptions. [what did
he do] “We learned that there is no one way to respond to a painting or to any art,” attendee Marty Hartford SC ’68, FAF board member, said. “By actually going through this process three different times with Gorman, we were learning to trust our instincts. Gorman challenged us, and we responded.”
For Bentley, overwrought descriptions of abstract art written by museum curators come at the expense of the viewer committing to interpreting the work for themselves.
“The real risk is that people might dismiss it all, thinking that because we can’t fully sense or know it, it’s not real,” Bentley said. The viewer’s access to the unseen, then, is conditional upon their recognition. Just because a feeling can’t be expressed via appearance, or is immaterial, doesn’t mean it isn’t real. Minimalism’s sparse elements — what Bentley calls “sensory deprivation” — helps the viewer access the unseen. The word “sublime” might describe this intuitive grasp of the unseen.
“If you can [access] that …
you’re both blessed and cursed,” Bentley said. “But if you can’t feel it, I’m not rejecting or judging you. We’re just on different planes regarding [a] painting, and we can’t discuss it the same way.”
The power of the mind can strip even the most physically dazzling landscape of its beauty, leaving it devoid of meaning. Bentley, as a child, harnessed that same power as he stared for hours at the barren Dakota cornfields.
“[This feeling from childhood] gave me an opening to my mind, to who I am, and that is essential in everything I’ve ever done,” Bentley said.
He described James Turrell’s Skyspace, displayed at Pomona College, as based on the sublime. One shouldn’t perceive the changes in color of the lights surrounding the square in the center; rather, one’s experience changes with the colors. This is his ultimate goal: for the viewer to notice a change in their own being, which can only happen when they stop perceiving the painting in its material reality. In achieving this, the viewer “controls [their] mind” — which, he notes, is what meditation achieves.
“When [Bentley] speaks about [art], it is like he is singing,” Hartford said.
Bentley mentioned a gray field painting by his mantel. What began as a detailed piece with a bottle of alcohol, figures and a lone man evolved into a nearly all-gray canvas.
“Underneath that painting is the abuse I suffered as a child, the shame and alienation I felt as a queer boy in redneck farm country in the Dakotas and the rejection I faced from my parents,” Bentley said. “All of that is [still] in that color field.”
For Bentley, experiences transcend their contexts.
“Sitting there alone on [a] beach in Puerto Vallarta, feeling the salt mist—it was like a cornfield, a sublime beauty and feeling that hurts,” Bentley said. “And when you look at my gray paintings, that’s what’s there for me—maybe for someone else too.”
Reading is integral to the life of a college student. Regardless of your major or discipline, I’m willing to bet that by virtue of studying at a liberal arts college, you’ve spent hours skimming, underlining, circling and taking notes.
More often than you’d think, the texts we read weren’t written for English-speaking audiences. In a philosophy class, you might be reading Socrates or Lao Tzu; in literature, maybe Tolstoy or Flaubert. Flipping through page after page, we rarely stop to consider what it really means to read a text that has been lifted from the page and made to fit the contours of a different language.
When I enrolled in “The Craft of Translation” last semester, I simply saw it as a chance to brush up on my Chinese reading skills. Although the course was housed within Pomona College’s Asian Languages and Literatures Department, my classmates worked on everything from Hindi epics to Japanese children’s books to Spanish poetry.
The only caveat? We had to choose texts that had never been translated into English.
For my semester-long translation project, I was drawn to a lesser-known novel by contemporary Chinese author Chen Xiwos. As one of China’s most prominent advocates for writers’ freedom of expression, Chen is a controversial figure and I was curious to see how this would figure in his writing. Reading through the first chapter, I naively assumed translation would come easily. Before I even made it to the first sentence, I got stuck on what to do about the title: “移移” (Yímín). In Chinese, these characters encompass both the verb “to migrate,” and the noun “migrant.” There was no distinction between verb and noun, immigration and emigration; no space allotted for the complex sociopolitical connotations that these concepts hold in the English-speaking world.
What does it matter? A single
phrase couldn’t possibly alter the meaning of the text. As I continued, however, I found that at every couple of words, I was presented with one choice after another.
Translation is a series of choices: One choice might not alter the course of a text but all together, they define it. Last week, I was assigned one of the most famous texts in translation: the Bible. Skimming through Genesis, I came across the story of the Tower of Babel. Originally written in Biblical Hebrew, the tale describes how humans harness their common language to build a powerful tower; God, however,
has other plans.
“Come, let us go down,” He says, “Confuse their language, scatter them across the face of the earth, so that they will not understand one another’s speech.” There are two main ways to read the fragmentation of language in this fable: as a curse or as a gift. When you’re struggling to communicate in a new language or agonizing over the correct translation of a phrase, our lack of a common tongue feels like a curse.
Like many curses, however, it serves as a catalyst. Communicating ideas in a new language requires that as the words change,
the text undergoes a metamorphosis. Despite what Google Translate might have you believe, it’s impossible to take anything – a phrase, a sentence, an idea – from one language and perfectly replicate it in another.
Giving up on the ruse of perfection, “Yi Min” becomes “immigrant,” or perhaps “migration,” and those subtle choices, stacked upon one another, constitute a meaningful departure from the original text. In other words, the creation of something new.
When you first begin learning a language, you are in a constant state of translation. I hear a phrase
in Italian, unconsciously translate it into English, compose a response and then search for the right words to express my thoughts. As much as I’d love to follow my professors’ advice and “think” in Italian, I’m caught up in the idea of correctness which I’m convinced can only be achieved through a perfect translation.
The phrase “Translation is an act of betrayal” stems from the Italian “traduttore, traditore,” a saying that rose to popularity at a time when Italians were angry that French translations of Dante’s work failed to capture the original’s beauty and accuracy.
Because a perfect translation is impossible, it always betrays the original text and meaning. However, many exophonic writers are excited by the tension of betrayal.
Not many people win a Pulitzer Prize then decide to abandon English and begin learning and writing exclusively in a new language. Reading Jhumpa Lahiri’s book about her journey, I was struck by the pride with which she stated that “my Italian will never be that of native speakers.”
Rather than let the gap between her Italian and a native speaker intimidate her, Lahiri decides that this space serves as an impetus for change. Sacrificing the ideal of perfect translation, she dives headfirst into Italian without English holding her back, harnessing this new form to re-discover herself as a writer.
My Chinese will never be identical to that of a native speaker, just as Chen Xiwo’s “移移” (Yímín) will never be identical to its English translation. Rather than be intimidated by the impossibility of perfection and “correctness” in translating between languages, I choose to see this in-between space as a gift — instead of betraying or losing meaning, we’re creating it.
Claire Welch SC ’27 wants you to know that she has a pug, is addicted to Malott cold brew, and has a deep attachment to the Italian Department at Scripps College.
“The Daily’s” Michael Barbaro and Nate Cohn talk politics and the election
“From the New York Times, I’m Michael Barbaro, and this is ‘The Daily.’”
If you’ve ever listened to the NYT’s acclaimed news podcast, you might recognize the mantra of one of its co-hosts, Michael Barbaro. On Oct. 1, Scripps Presents hosted Barbaro and Nate Cohn — fellow NYT journalist and chief political analyst — to discuss their thoughts on the upcoming presidential election.
Hundreds of students, faculty and local community members attended the panel in Garrison Theater. With moments of both humor and gravity, the talk lasted for over an hour and ended with an audience Q&A.
Moderated by fellow journalist Alex Cohen, Barbaro and Cohn began by describing their careers as reporters. Cohn had no intention of being a journalist — he became one after spending time in D.C., reflecting on the state of American politics.
In 2016, the two began working together on a NYT podcast called “The Run-Up,” which covered the election politics of that year’s presidential election. In 2017, Barbaro began working on “The Daily,” which has become the most widely-listened to news podcast around the world. The show airs five days a week and covers global news in digestible language.
While Barbaro has been presenting narratives and engaging in conversations with speakers around the world, Cohn has been the “numbers man,” working with American election data such as demographics and poll numbers.
“[Cohn] is the smartest person I’ve ever met when it comes to understanding demography, polls and the relationship between code and a computer to outcomes in elections,” Barbaro said.
In the talk, they reflected on the significant decrease in viewership of presidential debates by the electorate. Laughter filled the room as Cohn joked about missing the Trump versus Biden debate due to the birth of his first child and, on the same night, telling his wife that nothing would be more painful than turning on the TV.
Barbaro recalled Biden’s particularly worrying gaffes and lapses in memory during the debate.
“[It] was … an interesting confluence of kind of being a journalist and a human being,” Barbaro said. “[I] was asking myself, ‘Is this as bad as I think?’ and needing and wanting as I think all journalists do, affirmation or protestation of some kind from some other corner, you know?” Cohn addressed concerns about voter participation.
“I think that there’s a real chance that, if Trump wins Michigan by a
narrow margin … that defections from Arab communities could appear to represent Trump’s margin [of] victory,” Cohn said. “The Arab Muslim vote in Michigan is not especially large. It’s only 2 percent of the electorate. But if 2 percent of the electorate flips from red to blue, that can be pivotal in close rates.”
Cohn said that such a close race means that young people, who make up 15 percent of the electorate, will play a decisive role.
“[It] definitely can make a difference if young voters don’t back Harris in numbers that our campaign might presume, or alternatively, if [their turn out] is better than expected,” Cohn said.
Barbaro described plans for “The Daily” to investigate the political biases of certain demographics, such as young male and Black voters.
Discourse arose in response to a question about Harris’ political campaign and her personal narrative. Cohn said it is weak, and said that he felt disappointed by Harris’ backstory, calling it one
of a “generic Democrat” with a middle-class origin story.
“I don’t think she has embedded in her narrative and explanation about what’s wrong that connects what she might do with what’s wrong with America today,” Cohn said.
Barbaro argued that it takes a substantial amount of time to develop a biography as a presidential candidate, an asset Harris lacked.
“The narrative that I think surrounded her when Joe Biden left the race had elements that felt kind of extraordinary, which were: ‘Oh my God, she’s saving … [the Democratic] party. She’s energetic, she’s prosecutorial,” Barbaro said.
However, they agreed that Harris’ narrative has plateaued. When asked about Trump’s personal biography, they stated that there was an unmistakable strength in his persona.
“There was something extremely coherent about Donald Trump’s diagnosis of what’s wrong with America, why he can fix it, and in particular, what’s unique about it is that no other
candidate discusses trade, immigration, China,” Cohn said.
The conversation turned to the two assassination attempts against Trump. They navigated complications of their role as journalists in the climate that led to recent waves of political violence.
“When you put something into a system, when you pour something in, does it start to splash and like in all directions and maybe even come hurt you, and is that even a fair question?” Barbaro said.
Usually, mental illness enters conversations surrounding assassination attempts. Yet, he said, there is a new “anger” in today’s politics.
“We have changed the dimensions of political conflict in this country. Politics is about something different than it used to be, and voters are also acting differently than they used to,” Barbaro said.
“And who knows how much it’s going to last once Trump goes away … It’s a question I’m still wrestling with. What is it about this era of American politics
that feels so hot, so white hot, so constantly on edge?”
After the event, the audience lingered, talking excitedly about the ideas discussed in conjunction with the vice presidential debate that aired an hour before the talk. Many students were fascinated by the reporters’ ability to remain objective when answering polarizing questions.
“I have increased admiration for their journalistic integrity, especially since a lot of the questions were intended to have a polarized response or create a reaction,” attendee Ayden Duchovnay SC ’28 said. “Even as they made a few jokes about certain candidates, they showed such a deep respect and admiration for their work.” Students also expressed gratitude to the opportunities provided by Scripps Presents.
“I think people are passionate, showing up here and seeking out a political education,” Eliot Tabor SC ’28 said. “It’s just very cool to have access to that, and also hear the voices I’ve been listening to in the car on my campus.”
Here’s what needs to change.
On Sept. 8 at about 4 A.M., smoke from the nearby Line Fire in the San Bernandino mountains crept onto Pomona College’s campus. As is typical of wildfire smoke, 90 percent of the smoke was made up of particulate matter less than 2.5 micrometers (PM2.5), an agent known to have disastrous health consequences.
When inhaled, PM2.5 batters structures deep in your lungs, damages your mucous membranes –– the tissues inside your body that protect you from pathogens –– and enters your bloodstream, increasing your risk of catching a respiratory infection and inducing cough, labored breathing, chest pain, irregular heartbeat and a host of other serious health issues. Even hours-long exposure to high concentrations of PM2.5 increases the risk of developing cardiovascular disease, respiratory disease and several types of cancer; for people with pre-existing heart or lung conditions, it can prompt hospitalization or death.
Pomona College has an obligation to protect their students from health hazards like wildfire smoke and the PM2.5 it contains. Since more than 70 percent of their students hail from outside California, where the threat of wildfire smoke is significantly less common, they ought to caution these students about the dangers of inhaling it. When wildfire smoke impacts campus, they should issue alerts quickly and release comprehensive behavioral recommendations so that students know how to protect their health.
But, when it mattered, Pomona failed to take these steps.
Every building on Pomona College’s campus is outfitted with filters meant to improve indoor air quality. Each filter has an associated MERV rating, a number from 1-20 that increases with more
effective PM2.5 filtration; most buildings have MERV 11 filters, which capture about 65 percent of PM2.5. MERV 11 filters help, but they are fallible: If outdoor PM2.5 surges, unhealthy concentrations of PM2.5 can percolate through them and circulate indoors.
This is what happened on Sept. 8. In the early morning, as the smoke settled and the Air Quality Index (AQI) spiked, concentrations of PM2.5 well above the EPA’s 24-hour “safe” standard of 35 micrograms per cubic meter (μg/m3) began trickling into students’ dorms while they slept. By midday, Mudd-Blaisdell residence hall –– where I live –– smelled like smoke, and residence halls without AC were even worse: Some students had opened their windows for relief from the 108 degree heat, unknowingly allowing the toxic outside air to enter into their rooms.
Campus Safety did not issue an alert acknowledging the air was harmful to the general public until about 35 hours later, on Sept. 9 at 2:56 P.M. And while this alert recommended students “stay indoors whenever possible, stay hydrated, avoid strenuous exercise, keep windows closed” and “use air conditioning if available,” it did not urge students to wear an N95/KN95 mask when outside, stop running the evaporative swamp coolers Pomona suggests students run in dorms without AC (which pull unfiltered outdoor air inside) or stay inside buildings with filters rated MERV 13 or higher –– all measures that the EPA recommends.
Pomona College seems to have overlooked that many of their buildings do not have filters that can effectively stave off wildfire smoke, since they did not encourage students to wear N95/KN95 masks inside or stay in better-filtered buildings. And they did not make an effort to distribute N95/
KN95 masks –– which cannot be accessed quickly since they must be purchased online –– even though the Office of Facilities and Campus Services informed me they have thousands of these masks in storage. Assistant Vice President of Communications and Community Relations for the Claremont Colleges Services Laura Muna-Landa said that Student Health Services “did not experience an increase in students experiencing respiratory issues or ailments related to air quality issues” on the week of Sept. 8. This is fortuitous –– since it means no medical emergencies occurred –– but it does not reflect the many students who had less acute, but still concerning, health responses. At the “unhealthy” and “very unhealthy” AQI levels present during the week of Sept. 8, the EPA estimates 30-50 percent of healthy adults experience “moderate or greater” lung function impairment and 5-15 percent of healthy adults experience “moderate to severe” respiratory symptoms within 24 hours.
US Southwest since the 1980s” has made nearby vegetation vulnerable to combustion, said Char Miller, W.M. Keck Professor of Environmental Analysis and History at Pomona College. The “excessive heat, low humidity, and high winds” that allow fires to balloon quickly have become common “every summer and fall,” he added. Even if no fires are active nearby, they can still affect the air quality.
“Smoke always gets in our eyes and lungs. Fires far to our east and west have clouded our skies over the years,” Miller said.
“When wildfire smoke impacts campus, they should issue alerts quickly and release comprehensive behavioral recommendations so that students know how to protect their health. But, when it mattered, Pomona failed to take these steps.”
This incident was not a oneoff. Heat waves, wildfires and the smoke that comes with them are all comorbidities of climate change, which is not letting up. This incident was not a one-off. Heat waves, wildfires and the smoke that comes with them are all comorbidities of climate change, which is not letting up.
A “long-term drought [in the]
“We don’t need the fire to be in our foothills; smoke can be traced over very long distances.”
Since it poses a dire, immediate and recurrent threat, Campus Safety and Pomona College must start preparing to respond more constructively to smoke-induced poor air quality.
Campus Safety should make alerts based on AQI automatic to improve their response time, since their Sept. 9 alert was issued far too slowly. When it crosses the “unhealthy for sensitive groups” threshold, they should caution students with heart and lung issues; when it crosses the “unhealthy” threshold, they should caution everyone. They should also overhaul their behavioral recommendations and make them more comprehensive to ensure students know how to respond safely.
Pomona College should implement a system to distribute N95/
KN95 masks when the air quality is poor so they can be accessed more easily. They should install AC in every residence hall: Wildfires typically coincide with periods of intense heat, and students should not have to choose between overheating with their windows shut and breathing in smoke with their windows open. In buildings whose HVAC systems can support them, they should install MERV 13 filters –– the only commercial model capable of effectively filtering smoke and PM2.5 –– and deploy air purifiers and air scrubbers in buildings whose HVAC systems cannot.
On Sept. 25 and Sept. 26, I collected preliminary data inside several buildings on Pomona’s campus using a handheld air quality monitor I obtained from Pomona environmental analysis professor Marc Los Huertos. The PM2.5based Air Quality Index (PM2.5 AQI) on these days was classified as “unhealthy for sensitive groups” and “moderate” respectively, something common in the area: From 2020-2023, LA County averaged 15 days of “unhealthy for sensitive groups,” or worse, PM2.5 AQI and 270 days of “moderate” PM2.5 AQI per year.
On both days, I found concentrations of PM2.5 1.5-3 times the EPA’s “safe” yearly standard of 9 μg/m3 in several buildings on Pomona’s campus: the hallways of Mudd-Blaisdell, Harwood, Lyon, Wig, Dialyanas, Sontag, Mason, Crookshank, Carnegie, Pearsons, the top floor of Hahn, Seaver Commons and the lounge in Seaver North. On Sept. 25, Walker, Smiley, and the ground floor of Hahn had concentrations of PM2.5 that exceeded the EPA’s “safe” 24-hour average of 35 μg/m3. These data are not exhaustive, but they are worrying.
If Campus Safety and Pomona College are serious about prioritizing the health of their students, they had better act fast.
As my first year at Pitzer College came to a close, I packed my car to the gills. A wall of too many things made looking out the back window impossible, and I began a transformative journey to my home in northern California — saying goodbye to the year, a partner and friends that would not be there when I returned. At that moment, I saw the cloud looming on the horizon: the sophomore slump.
The excitement of my first year dissipated and a funk of existentialism appeared as I prepared myself for the ride. Feeling melodramatic, I questioned if where I wanted to go was realistic, if I had wasted the year and if my scattered approach was stranding me.
I knew that my second year would look nothing like my first.
The landscape of my friendships would change. The way I would be able and want to spend my time would undergo a metamorphosis into something new and inconceivable, yet familiar to me. To help me through this journey, I returned to a Claremont institution that had grounded me throughout my first year, Petiscos, a taco counter peeking out of an alley by the Metrolink station. With their behemoth chorizo and egg burrito in one hand and the wheel in the other, I felt rooted in the community that I had built here, knowing that I would look forward to coming back despite knowing how my experience would change. Petiscos was there for me again and again during my freshman year. Reminding me of the reasons that I was here, showing me what I wanted, Pesticos was
a refuge for me at the 5Cs. Every time I wander into the village, my mind pulls me towards Petiscos and the memories that live there.
I discovered this beloved taco joint during orientation. After a mission to a climbing gym, a group of my peers and I decided to grab burritos and walked back to campus. I remember a clear feeling of familiarity settling with me as I walked, behemoth nopales burrito in hand, with people that I would soon call my close friends.
We went through the Walker Free Room after learning about its existence from a stranger who had just scored skis, and for the first time, I felt the campuses begin to become places of comfort. As I finished the burrito on the walk back, I felt a sense of belonging and pride.
As the year continued, I inte-
grated myself into the community. Navigating the confusion of living within eye and ear-shot of most of my class; shaving my roommate after he came home with lice from a frisbee trip; figuring out the quasi-independence of college life. I returned to Petiscos with my parents. The soft din of music drifted out of the tiny kitchen into the backyard dining space, creating an environment where I could focus and review the things that I loved at Pitzer: nightly bouts of wiffle ball, Pitzer Green Bike Program’s nude bike ride, Post-Apartheid Literature, acapella and sports photography. It was a live dissection of my new life here, a serene autopsy that precluded shame or shyness. The backyard ambience opened me up, allowing me to access a vulnerability with my parents
while building a portrait of my life in Claremont. Pestiscos worked it out of me, and I know that I will find myself wandering back to First Street to be grounded, to find introspection or just a way to introduce a friend to the Claremont community. Finding a place like Petiscos, where you can go when you need solace in your space, is essential. Venture out and explore. Find your own Petiscos. My experience in Claremont and love for these schools would suffer if this place, its graffiti and oversize burritos weren’t there for me when I needed them. With this in mind, I put my overstuffed car into gear, and said goodbye to a year that welcomed me warmly and knew that, despite the imminent reinvention of my college life, I could rely on the security and home I have in Petiscos.
Sitting atop a silver Corvette convertible, flying a miniature Team USA flag and donning the red and white colors of her alma mater, Claremont High School (CHS), Olympic bronze medalist Brittany Brown waved to a cheering crowd of families and aspiring Olympians at Claremont City Hall on Wednesday, Oct. 2.
As the mini motorcade of Claremont police took her up Foothill Boulevard and escorted her to CHS, Brown was welcomed by the howl of the Wolfpack into the open arms of the city where it all began.
Brown, the 29-year-old sprinter who finished third in the 200-meter dash at the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris, graduated from CHS in 2013. Growing up throughout the Inland Empire (IE), Brown’s roots have helped her persevere through the rocky roads that lie beyond Claremont’s Indian Hill Boulevard.
Despite never having lived in Claremont, she has provided inspiration for many in the community. CHS’s cheerleading team, who won the 2024 national championship, expressed their admiration for Brown’s visit in a post on Instagram.
“We were so excited and honored to be celebrating your amazing achievement tonight!,” the post read.
“We thank you for sharing your wisdom and heart to the athletes and making us proud to be [a part] of the pack.”
The Claremont Unified School District (CUSD) also highlighted Brown’s “remarkable journey” in a statement advertising the event.
“Let’s come together as a community to celebrate Brittany Brown’s
incredible achievements and the inspiration she brings to our city!”
CUSD wrote. Brown embodies the IE through and through. Born in Fontana and having lived in a number of cities throughout the area, she takes great pride in the communities she’s been a part of.
“I get the question a lot like, ‘Where are you from?’” Brown said. “I claim everywhere … I went to school in Claremont, but I was heavily involved in Pomona, whether it was church or after-school programs like the YMCA and Boys and Girls Club … I lived in Chino, where I smelled the cows all the time … Everywhere I lived, I feel like I took a little piece of that city with me.”
For Brown, these communities were often led by their elders, including at Macedonia Baptist Church in Pomona. She specifically cited the role of “Mothers,” a title used in Black Baptist churches as a sign of respect and reverence for older women, referencing a woman named Mother Davis who played a significant role in her childhood.
“She always told me, ‘Brittany, don’t take no wooden nickel,’” Brown said. “As I got older, I really was able to understand it … It means for me, be true to yourself and also don’t just take anything that everyone gives you … Be honest with yourself. Be real with yourself.”
According to Brown, this ethos was critical for navigating her nontraditional path to Olympic stardom. She often comments on how she never won a state championship at CHS, attended the University of Iowa — which is not
Pomona-Pitzer (P-P) and Claremont-Mudd-Scripps (CMS) took up their rackets on Friday, Sept. 27 at the Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) Division III West Regionals Championships, the inaugural tournament for both teams this season.
Hosted at the Biszantz Family Tennis Center, Pauley Tennis Complex and Rogers Tennis Complex, the tournament featured athletes from teams around California and the Mountain West ready to take on the Sixth Street competitors.
The tournament spanned from Sept. 27 to Sept. 29 and featured 32 participants in the singles bracket and 32 doubles teams on both the men’s and women’s sides.
The Sagehens’ men’s senior tennis captain, Ethan Lee PO ’25, explained why this tournament was important for the team.
“It’s the culmination of all of our hard work over the fall and it has a great reward,” Lee said. “It’s really good for team bonding.”
According to Lee, the tournament was also a chance to practice maintaining a positive mindset during tough matches.
“You can always rely on your mentality: just a strong desire to win, getting every single ball back,” he said. “[I] find whatever I have and put it out there on the court.”
Lee won his first two matches against competitors from UC Santa Cruz and Chapman University without dropping a set. However, he lost in the quarterfinals in a match tiebreak to University of Redlands competitor Gustavo Marcanth after splitting the first two sets 9-11. Sagehen Leo Rocca PO ’28 explained the significance of the tournament for both himself and the team.
“This is just a great time to get a groove within the team,” Rocca said.
“I’m just having fun out there.” Rocca made it to the doubles quarterfinals with Drew Goldman PO ’28 before losing to Warren Pham HM ’26 and Mathew Robison CM ’25 of CMS.
Also playing for CMS, Anirudh Gupta HM ’27 made it to the semifinals before falling 2-6 and 1-6 to fellow Stag and eventual men’s singles champion Advik Mareedu HM ’26. Despite the individual loss, Gupta emphasized the collective team effort, mentioning last season’s fall to the University of Chicago in the NCAA Division III Men’s Tennis National Championships.
“For me, the team is the most important,” Gupta said. “Winning a national championship is the goal. We got within one game last year so we can definitely do it.”
On the P-P women’s side, Angie Zhou PO ’25 and Marissa Markey PZ ’25 — both members of the 2023 SCIAC Women’s Tennis Championships winning team — paired up to win the doubles championship in the tournament while also placing first and second respectively in the singles bracket.
Heading into the women’s singles tournament finals, Zhou was ranked No. 1 in the singles tournament while Markey was ranked No. 7.
Markey dropped the first set in the quarterfinals but rallied back to win the second set and also the match tiebreak, scoring 11-9. Spurred on by the victory, she went on to win in straight sets in the semifinals before ultimately falling to Zhou in the finals.
With both P-P and CMS finding victories at the tournament, the men’s and women’s teams will continue off-season play prior to the spring SCIAC season.
known for its track program — and was not signed to an endorsement deal out of college. As a result, after graduating, she had to work full-time to support herself while training to keep her professional track dream alive.
Since landing on the podium in Paris, Brown has been outspoken about her longtime experience with endometriosis. She elaborated on her difficulties navigating medical treatment as a woman of color, specifically for a condition affecting her reproductive system.
“I think a lot of times, women are dismissed and they belittle [our] emotions,” Brown said. “It’s hard when you have doctors telling you that you’re crazy.”
Having to maintain her running career while also dealing with endometriosis, Brown explained that she often questioned why her path was so much more strenuous than that of her peers. Nevertheless, she discovered that by rejecting these comparisons and being honest and real with herself, she could begin to forge a path forward.
“I think some people think that there’s one way to success, and that is not true at all,” Brown said. “You can still create something good out of some really bad situations. I think tough times … truly bring out a fighter in you that you never thought you’d have.”
Brown described how her new perspective on endometriosis has allowed her to grow as an athlete on a deeper level.
“I always try to say, anytime someone asks me about endo, that your body is talking to you, please take time to listen,” Brown said. “[As athletes] you’re taught to
push through … What [that] has brought me [is] a lot of success is [understanding] my body.” Brown has continued to push her way up the international ladder, taking silver in the 200-meter at the 2019 World Championships and finishing seventh in the 100-meter in 2023. After qualifying for the Olympic games this year, it was only a matter of time before she would claim some hardware.
Although she lost out on gold to fellow American Gabby Thomas in the Olympic games, she got revenge in a 200-meter rematch in New York City earlier this week. The race was part of Athlos NYC, which claims it gave out “the biggest prize offering in the history of women’s track-only events.” Brown walked away with $85,000 for two races, which she
said on X was more than some pro track & field athletes’ base sponsorship contracts.
Brown described the experience as “incredible,” including the fan support and the goodie bags given out to the track stars, and she recognized the importance of creating community through competition with her fellow athletes. She spoke on the importance of building upon small steps towards gender equality in sports, uplifting all of the contributions women are making toward athletics.
“I feel like sometimes athletes [think they] have to make this big impact. I think small impacts are as important, and [lots of] little ripples in the water make really big ripples,” Brown said. “It is an awesome feeling to be a female athlete at this time.”
For endurance athletes at the 5Cs, Strava feels almost inescapable. In conversations with devoted runners, hide your Hokas or they’ll ask for your Strava handle — then it’ll be over for you. They’ll see your pitiful 9:45 mile pace, your pathetic weekly average distance and how few “Kudos” you receive.
Strava, launched in 2009, is a GPS-based app used to track workout performance, particularly in endurance sports like running and cycling. It allows users to log their fastest times on road segments, compare their performance with friends and connect with fellow athletes.
“Since I’ve started doing [ultra marathons], I found these strange people who are going out on a Saturday and running like 100 miles,” Oscar Ponteri CM ’27, a runner who logged over 400 miles last month, said. “People are so creative on Strava, they really are.”
Ponteri is well known by Strava users at the 5Cs for his creative and strange routes around Claremont McKenna (CMC), especially on Parents Field, where a mystery admirer even named a segment after him.
“It’s the only really authentic social media,” Ponteri said.
However, for many, the competitive nature of the app can cross into toxic territory.
Social media has given us constant exposure to the hyper-curated world of the rich, famous and fit. According to Surgeon General Vivek Murthy, our happiness and self-esteem have taken a hit. Today, nearly half of young people say social media makes them feel worse about their bodies. But does Strava belong among the social media platforms increasingly seen as scourges of our mental health?
Misha Logan PZ ’27, who can often be seen running north of Pitzer’s campus, said it does not.
“[Strava] does feel different. My Instagram, I’m not proud of. I wish I wasn’t on there. I’m more proud of my Strava. It’s not curated like Instagram, because stats don’t lie... Nobody really posts their off days on other social media, but on Strava... there’s a lot of off days,” Logan said. For some, like Logan, Strava’s lack of algorithms, strangers and ads feels like a breath of fresh air compared to other social media apps. Yet, though users can’t Facetune their mile time, Strava’s built-in competition still has drawbacks. According to Ponteri, Strava wasn’t always idyllic. As a competitive high school athlete, he often dreaded using the app.
“I tended not to be a great
racer... I just remember after bad races being like, ‘Oh gosh. I don’t want to post this,’” Ponteri said. “Here, kind of doing my own thing, I’ve been able to recapture the joy and just take it lightly.”
Many runners, like Ponteri, use Strava for fun and personal accountability, but competitive instincts are common at the 5Cs. Some students find themselves caught in the app’s more competitive side.
“In an ideal world, I wouldn’t have Strava,” Logan said. “This is not an ideal world. I am competitive, and I want to see my statistics, and sometimes it’s not good enough to run. I need to run fast and struggle.” Other users’ workouts, habits and pace operate as training tools. However, this competitive atmosphere tips into obsession.
“I think people, including myself, get obsessed about the numbers and sometimes I’ll even find myself being like, ‘Oh well, I’m feeling kind of hurt, but I want to hit this number or keep my graph looking nice, so I better go,’” Ponteri said. For Logan and Ponteri, Strava’s value lies more in the connections it maintains and fosters.
“I get to [stay connected with] my old cross-country team,” Logan said. “One of my friends just took first place in a race yesterday, and he fucking rocked it. It was awesome. I was looking at the results [and commented], ‘Holy
shit, this guy’s so fast’ and everything. And, you know, ‘Kudos,’ fire emoji.”
The 5C Running Club uses Strava as their central platform to host group runs, post workouts and notify members about upcoming events. Pedro Arellano CM ’25, a captain of the club, expressed his love for the app, though he didn’t think of it as a necessity.
“We definitely don’t pressure anyone to upload their runs. We try to be as inclusive of a club as possible, and asking people to upload their runs on Strava sometimes clashes against that goal,” Arellano said.
Strava’s dual nature as both a motivational tool and a source of comparison forces users to weigh its benefits and challenges.
“Like any other social media app, Strava has its downsides, but I enjoy being able to share my runs with others and seeing other people giving their best in their activities,” Arellano said.
The next time you open Strava, ask yourself: does it help you improve both your health and your relationships, at the detriment of neither? If not, maybe it’s time to reconsider. Who regrets missing out on the latest social media app trend anyways?
Parker DeVore PZ ’27 is from Seattle, WA. He hopes that readers will delete Strava so he can have their spot on the Mudd Straightaway KOM leaderboard.
As time creeps towards the fabled Sixth Street Rivalry, CMS men’s soccer is remaining focused on consistency in performance.
The Stags have gotten off to a flying start this season, defeating the reigning national champions and compiling a 6-2-1 overall record so far. Despite losses to California Lutheran University and Whittier
College, the Stags have looked convincing with several strong wins, one of which includes a 6-0 thumping of Bethesda University of California. Yet, the biggest test of their season lies ahead. On Saturday, Oct. 5, the Stags will travel down the road to face the Pomona-Pitzer (P-P) Sagehens in the latest rendition of the Sixth Street Rivalry. On Sept. 30 of last year, CMS sank P-P
2-1, punctuated with a goal from Rafael Otero CM ’25.
However, it was P-P who got the last laugh. Coming into the second game of last year’s season as the clear underdogs, the Sagehens shocked CMS, defeating them 3-1.
Since Oct. 25, 2023, the Sagehens have held the Sixth Street trophy and the bragging rights that come with it. This season, the Stags are eager to reclaim their lost trophy.
Until then, however, the Stags must wait. A short season in a highly competitive SCIAC league means that every game matters, regardless of the occasion.
And the Stags proved that, in a tense, back-and-forth showdown under the lights of Pritzlaff Field on Wednesday, Sept. 25, where the Claremont-Mudd-Scripps (CMS) men’s soccer team clawed their way to a 2-0 victory over the University of Redlands.
The fiercely contested SCIAC matchup propelled the Stags to a 6-1-1 overall record and 2-1 conference play record going into the weekend, giving them early momentum in the season.
With a scoreless game deep into the second half, both teams
looked for opportunities to capitalize but struggled to find openings. CMS controlled possession for much of the game, but the Redlands defense was resolute.
According to Gray Mollenkamp CM ’26, the Bulldogs played a defensive game and made it hard for CMS to create clear chances, leading to a long scoreless stretch.
“Redlands was sitting back quite a bit, relying on set pieces. It was hard for us to break them down,” Mollenkamp said. “We were nervous and frustrated, but once the first goal went in, we played with more fluidity.”
The Stags found their breakthrough with 17 minutes left against Redlands when James Gomez CM ’27 hit a 25-yard strike off the post.
The breakthrough came after several close calls, including a shot off the crossbar from Shaan Malik CM ’26 in the 63rd minute. Gomez’s goal came after a quick pass from Rafael Otero CM ’25 just outside the box.
Four minutes later, CMS extended their lead when John Laidlaw CM ’26 headed in a cross from Jacoby Lockman HM ’25 to make it 2-0. This was Laidlaw’s third goal in three games after his
recent return from injury.
“Redlands always puts up a great fight,” Laidlaw said. “But this win was special. It was our first victory against them since I’ve been here. The team really put in the work to secure the clean sheet.”
The physicality of the game was clear from the beginning; CMS received 12 fouls while Redlands racked up eight, the referee having to issue multiple yellow cards as tensions escalated.
“Anytime you get two evenly matched teams like this, there’s going to be a lot of passion,” Tommy Brown CM ’25 said. “Emotions can spill over into aggression and frustration.”
Stags’ goalkeeper Miles Demarest CM ’27 recorded five critical saves, helping the CMS defense remain rock solid throughout the match. Redlands had a slight edge in corner kicks, leading 6-5, but was unable to convert any of their chances into goals.
According to Laidlaw, the CMS team is building on their momentum as they prepare for upcoming SCIAC matches.
“Every game is a big game,” he said. “Whether it’s Redlands or Whittier, we’re taking every match with the same intensity.”
On Friday, Sept. 27, the No. 10 ranked Claremont-Mudd-Scripps (CMS) women’s volleyball team squared off against Pomona-Pitzer (P-P) in their latest Sixth Street rivalry match. In front of a packed audience of 5C students, family and friends in Roberts Pavilion, the Athenas — who just last year advanced to the semifinals of the NCAA Division III tournament — swept P-P 3-0.
Though CMS went on to win all three sets, it was P-P who came out swinging. A spike from Chloe Gill PO ’25 set the tone for the rivalry match, and P-P jumped out to a two-point lead after winning the subsequent rally. However, CMS was ready to respond, clawing back to tie the game courtesy of three assists from 2023 First-Team AVCA All-American, Georgia McGovern CM ’24.
Both teams battled through a gritty first set, with neither team willing to back down. A six-point run put the Athenas on top 15-12, forcing a timeout from the Sagehens.
For most of the first set, the Athenas found themselves ahead on the scoreboard; however, a late Sagehen rally tied the game 24-24. With both
teams only two consecutive points away from a win, Roberts buzzed with cheering and stomping. Amidst the clamor, the Athenas prevailed with two major points — including a service ace from Brooke McKee CM ’26 — to secure the first set.
In the second set, the Athenas built off their momentum, jumping out to an early 10-3 lead. Refusing to back down, P-P responded, with a major spike from Paige Mountanos PO ’26 reducing the deficit to six points. Another service ace from McKee wrapped up the set at 25-14 in favor of the Athenas.
In the third and final set, P-P fought back only trailing by one point at 12-11, but CMS went on a run to establish their three-set sweep and the Sixth Street victory.
Kronschnabel stressed the importance of the game, noting the quality of their competitors across the net.
“With the start of SCIAC play, this game is super important for the confidence that it builds for the girls,” Kronschnabel said. “The crowd was super intense, so I think it is very confidence-building to be able to put away a good team in
three sets.”
Solvej Eversoll CM ’27 boasted five kills and two blocks on the night, applauding the strong support from the crowd during the game.
“I feel like it’s one of those big moments when you are happy to be a part of this community,” Eversoll said. “We know we still have a lot of work to do for the rest of the season but again, I think we were able to come out, work together and execute the plan with all-around good team effort.”
Though they did not ultimately emerge victorious, the Sagehens said they were appreciative of the support from fans.
“It’s so awesome to see everyone show up to the game,” Chloe Gill PO ’25 said. “Knowing that we have our Sagehens behind us cheering for us every point, no matter if we win or lose. It’s always great to look at the crowd, see our friends, and see familiar faces and unfamiliar faces.”
CMS Assistant Coach Megan Kronschnabel expressed a similar sentiment.
“I think that it just really shows how big the volleyball community is and how much love both teams have,” Kronschnabel said. “It’s just really awesome; the school spirit,
the sense of community, and the ability to bring everyone together for a good time.” After the Sixth Street Rivalry victory, as well as subsequent sweeps of Occidental College and Caltech this
week, the Athenas currently hold an overall record of 8-3. Looking ahead, CMS will face Whittier College Friday, Oct. 4 while P-P goes up against Caltech on the same day.
Keep your friends close but your enemies closer: Claremont heads into ‘rivalry Weekend’
PATRICK MCDOWELL
The “cross-town rivalry” is a classic trope, but for the Pomona-Pitzer (P-P) Sagehens and the Claremont-Mudd-Scripps (CMS) Stags and Athenas, the rivalry is a bit more intimate. Saturday, Oct. 5, kicks off the
fall 2024 Sixth Street Rivalry weekend, pinning multiple P-P and CMS teams against one another. It will begin with a clash between CMS and P-P women’s soccer at 11 a.m.. While P-P prevailed with a 16-1-3 record compared to CMS’s 7-7-3 record in the 2023 season,
P-P women’s soccer Head Coach
Jennifer Scanlon explained that play usually levels out in the battle for Sixth Street.
“Some years [CMS] were the better squad, some years we were,” Scanlon said. ”But that never mattered when the game started, it was the Sixth Street Rivalry and anything could happen.”
As the day progresses, the men’s soccer teams will face each other on Pritzlaff Field at 7 p.m.. At the same time, CMS football will take its famed “Stag Walk” along Sixth Street to Merritt Field to kick off against P-P.
CMS wide receiver James Ryan CM ’26 — whose older brother Michael Ryan PO ’25 plays for P-P football — said the rivalry’s intensity is visible in the Sixth Street games.
“Seeing pictures and watching film from games in the past definitely shows how big this rivalry is,” Ryan said. “I definitely think it adds an additional layer of pressure, but a good kind of pressure.”
P-P football Head Coach John Walsh is no stranger to infamous rivalries, having been
a collegiate athlete in the Amherst-Williams “Biggest Little Game in America,” which has been ongoing since 1884.
Walsh also experienced the Harvard-Yale rivalry — known famously as “The Game” — during his coaching tenure at Yale University. Yet even amidst these nationally known competitions, Walsh acknowledged there is something special about the one across Sixth Street.
“Everyone thinks their rivalry is the biggest,” Walsh said.
“But in every rivalry I’ve been a part of, you get to go home after you win or lose. You’re separated for a year. Here, you’re playing a game and you’re at the same dining halls the next day. You can’t run away from it, you can’t hide.”
However, CMS defensive back Kirby Baynes CM ’25 said the rivalry does not always bleed into life off the field.
“There can be tension at times, but overall, there are little issues off the field,” Baynes said.
“I’ve had classes with players from P-P and see them around constantly. I have no issue putting the rivalry aside to learn or study.”
While the rivalry heats up around game time, according to P-P linebacker Nicholas Kaufman PO ’25, things tend to cool down once play is over.
“I think when in season it’s not that easy to put the rivalry aside because everyone wants to win Sixth Street,” Kaufman said. “But once the season is over I feel like interactions between P-P and CMS players become a little more relaxed.”
David Nolan, currently the head coach of CMS’s women’s soccer team and previously the associate head coach for P-P, has witnessed the impact of the rivalry on both sidelines.
“The uniqueness of this rivalry is unmatched anywhere else in the nation,” Nolan said. “There is always an extra bite to the games.”
But for now, it’s all up for grabs this weekend on Saturday, Oct. 5 as P-P and CMS face off in women’s soccer, men’s soccer and football.
“There’s a lot of noise and a lot of bragging rights on the line,” CMS football defensive back Nick Wilde CM ’26 said. “It just means you have to focus even more.”