Vol. CXXXV No. 6

VOL. CXXXV NO. 6

FRIDAY, OCTOBER 27, 2023

CLAREMONT, CA

SASHA MATTHEWS • THE STUDENT LIFE

Hundreds of 5C students call for end to Gaza siege, demand Pomona financial disclosure and divestment from Israeli government READ ON PAGE 3

The student newspaper of the Claremont Colleges since 1889

INDEX: News 1 | Arts & Culture 5 | Opinions 8 | Special Projects 10 | Sports 11

News

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October 27, 2023

From Ivy of the West to native Californian: How Pomona College is rethinking campus landscaping CLARA CHAE & HANNAH GOTHELF In season three, episode eight of the comedy-drama television series “Gilmore Girls,” the cast is featured visiting Yale University.

In reality, actors strolled across Pomona College’s Marston Quad with Bridges Auditorium in the background.

It seems only fitting for Pomona’s campus to pass as an Ivy — after all, according to Pomona’s website, the school was founded to create “a college of the New England type” in California.

However, in a multi-year effort to balance aesthetics, sustainability and compliance with water regulations, Pomona has been making the shift from New England plant life to species better equipped to thrive in California’s harsh climate. Most recently, the College reinvigorated a previously unadorned space between the Walker Hall and Clark V dormitories.

This installation, executed during the weeks of Oct. 2 and 9, has already piqued interest for its attempts to address campus aesthetics and eco-responsibility.

Although not all the plant species are native, Assistant Vice President of Facilities & Campus Services Robert Robinson said that all new additions were chosen for their drought-tolerance.

The evolution of the plant life along the walkway between Walker and Clark V symbolizes Pomona’s landscaping design shifts over the years. While the area was originally bordered by grass, it was converted to mulch eight years ago.

This change was part of a campus-wide effort towards sustainability that entailed removing about 40,000 square feet of grass turf over the past 10 years. The decision to replant the mulched areas was initiated by 2022-2023 ASPC President Vera Berger PO ’23, who

SARAH ZIFF • THE STUDENT LIFE

As part of a multi-year plan to reduce campus water usage, Pomona College planted native and drought-tolerant plants in a bustling walkway.

sought to transform the patch into an “interactive, interesting area that provides opportunities for students to take advantage of the outdoor spaces,” Robinson said.

Pitzer College Professor of Environmental Analysis Monica Mahoney emphasized the complications that come with the “aesthetic overlay” of growing New England plants in unfit environments.

“It causes all sorts of maintenance issues and biodiversity

issues and actually tends to cost institutions a lot of money in maintaining a non-native ecosystem or garden,” Mahoney said.

To maintain a sense of continuity throughout its expansion, Pomona developed a set of landscape design guidelines that complement the existing architectural themes. This meant developing a variety of districts, each with unique building and planting standards.

The formal district — encompassing the Marston Quad, Little

Bridges and Carnegie Hall area — features New England-esque aesthetics, requiring grass and trees in its landscaping guidelines. Robinson clarified that the formal district is unlikely to see native planting anytime soon. However, in other areas like the science district — where the Seaver buildings and Estella reside — there is room to experiment with different types of landscaping.

In other words, Robinson said, “there’s a method to the

madness.”

While there’s no hard and fast policy for future drought-resistant landscaping projects, opportunities for integrating drought-resistant plants are always on the table.

Pomona adheres to Claremont’s city regulations for water conservation, including reduced watering days when necessary. To most efficiently utilize water, the school implements drip irrigation systems. But drought-resistant plants also play a large role in minimizing water use.

Mahoney highlighted some key advantages of native species.

“The plants that are native to a place or a region can tell us so much about the history, the past, present and future of the ecosystem — both the biotic ecosystem, but also the cultural ecosystem that embodies and inhabits this place,”she said.

Mahoney also commented on the benefits of such species to students.

“Students come to this place unaware of the Mediterranean semi-arid environment, and it really challenges their aesthetic notions about biodiversity and a rich, lush, biotic community,” Mahoney said.

Many of Pomona’s new buildings are Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certified, a globally recognized green building rating system. While LEED prioritizes aspects like energy sustainability, carbon reduction and the efficient use of utilities such as electricity and gas, it gives minimal attention to water conservation in its guidelines.

This revelation may come to a surprise to many, considering California’s constant drought state.

Robinson emphasized that the decision to integrate drought-tolerant plants in the new garden was driven by the fact that it was the “the right thing to do,” as opposed to a strategic move to acquire LEED points.

Pomona College Engagement Daniel Medwed at the Ath: Center creates new bridge ‘Why the innocent can’t get with City of Pomona ELLIE URFRIG On Saturday, Oct. 14, Pomona College opened its Community Engagement Center (PCCEC) in downtown Pomona, fulfilling the college’s 17-year dream of having a physical presence in the city of Pomona, with which it shares a name and history.

In 2006, a group of faculty wrote a report on community engagement at Pomona College. Much of what’s detailed in that report became scaffolding for the Draper Center for Community Partnerships. However, one aspect of the report, the dream of an engagement center, was left untouched — until now.

Sefa Aina, associate dean and director of the Draper Center, has been with the college since 2005. In the last few years, Aina has been heavily involved with the creation of the PCCEC. “There are invisible barriers that keep people away from the colleges … we want to erase those,”Aina said.

“We are extending the front door of the college out here, into the community.”

Initially, the PCCEC will host after-school programs on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday afternoons.

The downtown location provides walking access to students in the area.

“This is a great, tangible space for our local kids that don’t have anywhere to go after school, so we’re trying to be very practical in that sense,” Aina said.

The PCCEC intends to host workshops on college access and financial aid, as well as first-time home buying.

Additionally, they hope to support nonprofit organizations in conducting research.

Alayna Nonhomme PO ’24 is a Draper Center coordinator and sits on the Community Center committee.

She echoed the endless possibilities the PCCEC could offer for 5C students, staff, faculty and Pomona residents.

“Perhaps a beatboxing workshop, a talk on reproductive health, a yoga session, a history of Indigenous people in California, or even a scholarship writing workshop,” Nonhomme said in an email to TSL. For some people involved with the PCCEC, the downtown location is especially meaningful. Ed Tessier, one of the featured speakers at the opening, grew up in the region and graduated from Pomona College with a degree

in Urban Sociology in 1991. In collaboration with his family’s development and management companies, his career has focused on urban revitalization, education, and the arts.

“When I was in college, Pomona was a city you did not go to, but I was inspired by a highly influential professor, named Bob Herman, when I was in school,” Tessier said.

“He claimed that, during urban renewal, even in the most dysfunctional neighborhoods, something or someone is working — whether it be a restaurant or church, whatever it may be. In order to heal a neighborhood, you have to build around that, something that already works.”

Tessier took this to heart and co-founded the Pomona Arts Colony, an upbeat neighborhood filled with artists, galleries, restaurants, and now the new PCCEC. Nonhomme articulated just how impactful her time with Draper and the Pomona College Academy for Youth Success has been.

“Getting involved with the Draper Center provides you with the kind of hands-on learning needed to bring your very expensive liberal arts education to life,” Nonhomme said. “But more importantly, it will do so in a meaningful way. You’ll be able to identify with others — even if you don’t think you have much in common — and contribute to positive change much bigger than yourself.”

Aina echoed Nonhomme’s sentiment, referencing the iconic Pomona College gates, which state, “They only are loyal to this college who departing bear their added riches in trust for mankind.”

“Graduates of the college are supposed to ‘bear their added riches in trust for mankind.’ How are you going to do that if you don’t practice?” Aina asked a group of students, encouraging them to get involved with communities beyond the ‘Claremont bubble’via the Engagement Center or otherwise.

The PCCEC is open from 2 p.m. – 6 p.m. Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday afternoons. It is located at 163 W. 2nd Street, Pomona, CA 91766.

COURTESY: CARLOS PUMA

The Draper Center at Pomona College plans to host after-school programs and college-access workshops in its new center in the city of Pomona.

out of prison’

AMBIKA GUPTA On Oct. 11, Northeastern University law professor Daniel Medwed led a discussion at Claremont McKenna’s Marian Miner Cook Athenaeum titled “Why The Innocent Can’t Get Out of Prison.” Medwed focused on combating two popular myths: first, that America’s criminal justice system may not be perfect but is the best out there, and second, prisoners have access to endless appeals, some of which allow people to get off on technicalities.

Through the Innocence Project, a national organization dedicated to exonerating wrongfully convicted individuals, Medwed has led legal appeals to assist innocent incarcerated people in securing justice. He is currently working with Marcie Gardner, CMC’s Deputy General Counsel and chief legal officer, to develop a relationship between the Innocence Project and CMC. They are also creating a course about wrongful convictions which they hope will be offered in the spring of 2024.

During his talk, Medwed walked the audience through the different possible processes of appealing a wrongful conviction.

One way is the direct appeal, which Medwed pointed out is not a constitutional right. In this process, no new evidence may be brought in, and defendants may only reference the original trial. The defendant may argue that the judge abused their power.

However, even if the judge made a mistake, the defendant is not free. They must instead prove that the judge’s action was an abuse of power.

Additionally, if the defendant’s original lawyer made a mistake or was negligent, the defendant must prove that this mistake was impactful on their case and not a “harmless error.”

Medwed argued that the “[direct] appeal is devalued in our criminal justice system” and that “trial is the main event, the [direct] appeal is the undercard.”

Another appeal involves the habeas corpus approach, which can only be applied if the defendant proves there have been constitutional or judicial errors. The defendant challenges the legality of the application of federal laws

COURTESY: NORTHEASTERN UNIVERSITY

On Oct. 11, Daniel Medwed lead a talk at Claremont McKenna College’s Athenaeum about wrongful convictions within America’s criminal justice system.

that were used to convict them.

Medwed also mentioned a method where a defendant’s legal team must convince the original judge to reopen the case on the basis of new evidence, called the Writ of Coram Vobis.

However, Medwed said that the “courts have developed a narrow definition of new evidence.”

Medwed posed a question to the audience: “Do you think that the judge is going to be psychologically disposed to new evidence?”

He went on to explain how confirmation bias would discourage a judge from reopening a case, saying, “you discount evidence that comes against it, you over-value evidence that supports it.”

Medwed described the judiciary’s perspective on this issue as “not our problem.” He said some believe that this issue is best figured out by the executive branch, citing the power to pardon in the Constitution.

Although the governor has the power to grant clemency, this does not work in favor of the incarcerated innocent as prisoners are “statistically more likely to get clemency if [their] motives are understandable,” Medwed said.

So, if a prisoner is maintaining their innocence, they are unable to be granted clemency as they are seen as someone in denial and not rehabilitated.

Medwed said he has “long thought undergrads are an under-utilized resource” in the issue of appealing wrongful convictions. He ended his speech citing everyone’s responsibility to help find the innocent incarnated and bring them to justice. He urged his audience to register for his upcoming course and to “help me, however you see fit.”

Students who attended the talk said they were impacted by what Medwed shared and that it shifted some of their understanding of the U.S. criminal justice system.

“I knew that the system was flawed, but I didn’t realize it’s that flawed in the sense that people have all this evidence that works in their favor yet they are still imprisoned,” Talin Tyvand CM ’27 said after attending the talk.

Kendall Kozlowski CM ’27 said they are considering pursuing criminal law and want to take the course Medwed and Gardner are crafting because “there are so many things that need fixing in the criminal justice system.”

Asia Best CM ’27 described the lecture as one of the best Ath talks she’s been to.

“A lot of innocent people are kept in jail because their appeals are never met, and that’s both frustrating to me and also a little bit scary too, because that means that any of us can be convicted for a crime that we did not commit,” Best said.

News

October 27, 2023

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Hundreds of 5C students call for end to Gaza siege, demand Pomona financial disclosure, divestment from Israeli government SARA CAWLEY On Wednesday afternoon, over 350 Claremont students walked out of classes to demand that the Claremont Colleges divest from companies and manufacturers that support the Israeli government, citing the Boycott, Divest and Sanctions (BDS) movement. The demonstration and delegation effort was part of a nationwide student walkout calling for an end to Israel’s occupation of historically Palestinian land and U.S. support of what many international groups recognize as Israeli apartheid.

Wednesday’s walkout was the most recent student action of many protests, teach-ins, vigils and panels at the Claremont Colleges since Oct. 7, when Palestinian armed group Hamas launched a surprise attack on Israel, killing approximately 1,300. The Oct. 7 onslaught was one of the largest militant resistance efforts from a Palestinian group since the origin of Israeli military occupation in the West Bank in 1967. As of Oct. 26, Gaza’s Ministry of Health estimates that over 7,000 have been killed by retaliatory attacks by Israel Defense Forces since Oct. 7.

Less than 30 minutes before the walkout was scheduled to begin, Pomona College President Gabi Starr sent an email to students reminding them that they “must adhere to [Pomona’s] student code and demonstration policy at all times,” and that campus safety staff would now be present during protests “to help ensure the safety of all.”

7C community members have called out Starr for her lack of recognition toward and support of Palestinian students. A 5C student who participated in the walkout said they felt dispirited by Claremont administrators’ responses, or lack thereof, to the grief of Palestinian students.

“We’ve seen no [administrative] acknowledgement of the 75 years of apartheid which have been happening in Palestine, which is incredibly disheartening and honestly racist, the way that white lives are being valued more than brown lives,” the student, who requested anonymity for safety and doxxing concerns, said.

Wednesday’s walkout began at 1:30 p.m. when students left their classes to gather on Bowling Green Lawn at Scripps College, participating in protest chants such as “Stop the killings stop the hate / Israel is an apartheid state,” “Hey students, come outside / Claremont pays for genocide,” and “Gaza Gaza head held high / Palestine will never die.” Many wore masks to protect their identities. Several onlookers took photographs and recordings of protestors.

“The protest was peaceful, it was respectful, it was a joyous moment of community and advocacy for people who are being marginalized and whose voices have been overlooked for so long and whose humanity has been continuously stripped from them in the media,” the anonymous student said.

Around 2:15 p.m., students walked through Claremont McKenna College’s (CMC) campus to Pomona’s Alexander Hall, where hundreds of students stood outside administrative offices. One unidentified student leader spoke directly

to Pomona’s Vice President and Chief Operating Officer and Treasurer Jeff Roth about protesters’ demands. They asked Roth to disclose whether Pomona was investing their endowment in any companies that fund Israel and to divest from those companies if so. The speaker said that students would escalate action if Pomona failed to disclose investments by Friday.

“Until disclosure, we have every reason to believe that our tuition money is being used to support this internationally recognized apartheid regime and the war crimes of the Israeli State,” the student stated. “We are here because Pomona is complicit with the mass slaughter of an entire people, with the ethnic cleansing and the forced displacement of Palestinians.”

The protest dispersed after closing protest chants on Pomona’s Marston Quad just before 3:00 p.m.

Mark Kendall, Pomona’s chief communications officer, told TSL via email that the institution’s endowment investment policies are set by the Board of Trustees.

Kendall referred TSL to Pomona’s audited financial statements for more information on monetary disclosure.

“The pooled funds include international equities, and the investment policies do not single out any country or region with nation-based investment restrictions,” Kendall said. “Donations for current use (such as the annual fund) are not invested alongside the endowment. Tuition and fees also are separate from the endowment and are used solely to support college operations.”

The protester’s request was the latest instance of the BDS movement at the 5Cs, which has taken over some academic and student government discourse at Pitzer College and Pomona, to administrative pushback.

Hours after President Starr’s email in the early afternoon and the completion of the student delegation at Alexander Hall, Pomona students received another email outlining changes in policies for event promotion/advertising, speech and events. The email was sent jointly by Pomona’s Vice President for Student Affairs and Dean of Students Avis E. Hinkson and Associate Dean of Students & Dean of Campus Life Josh Eisenberg.

Amid last Friday’s scorching heat, over 150 7C students arranged a vigil for Palestine at Pomona’s Smith Campus Center (SCC). The vigil was followed by a teach-in, informing students on the historical context of the Free Palestine movement.

During the vigil, student representatives from different affinity groups and social justice organizations read out messages in solidarity with Palestine. Some event organizers also handed out information packets to attendees, which highlighted the event’s thesis.

“In order to understand the Palestinian struggle, you must understand it through a framework that captures the historical processes that produced our current

WENDY ZHANG • THE STUDENT LIFE

Over 350 Claremont students participated in a nationwide student walkout.

conditions,” the pamphlets read.

“That framework is ‘settler-colonialism.’ In its current manifestation, this settler colonialism is enforced or sustained through systems of occupation and apartheid. This in turn requires us to understand the Palestinian struggle as one of national liberation.”

After listening to more than 20 speakers, the vigil attendees decorated the SCC fountain with flowers, stuffed animals and letters in support of Palestinians affected by the violence, including a message mourning “insurgents who have died for the liberation of Palestine.”

Some students disagreed with parts of the vigil’s messaging.

Riaan Dhankhar PO ’25 spent time working for the House Foreign Affairs Committee on policies around Israel and wanted to look at differences between student and policymaker perspectives on current issues. He cited compassion for Palestinian people and hopes for a ceasefire as his primary reasons for attending the vigil.

Dhankhar said he struggled with the voices centered at the vigil, saying that the majority of students who spoke were not Muslim, Arab or Jewish.

“I also felt that it wasn’t predominantly students who knew a lot about the issues, because they were kind of saying the same thing and a lot of them were teetering into propaganda,” Dhankhar told TSL. He emphasized his dismay at the lack of empathy and nuance present in conversations at recent student demonstrations.

“Everyone in this situation is going through hell. This is the darkest moment in Israeli histo-

ry since 1967, but it’s also what Palestinians view as the third Intifada, or as the second Nakba,” Dhankhar said. “That I think is getting lost because everyone is so mad and so vigilant and so interested in pointing fingers, that that need for aid and help and the moment to actually mourn the loss and actually have a real vigil has been lost.”

After the teach-in, students and organizers marched around the SCC. Their chants included “Resistance is justified when people are occupied!” and “From Palestine to Mexico / All these walls have got to go.”

The march continued through the campuses to its destination at Commencement Plaza during Pitzer President Strom Thacker’s inauguration. Around 50 students protested Thacker’s Oct. 13 response to Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack.

Thacker’s statement was his second response to the attack, with the first on Oct. 9 receiving criticism for neutrality.

Wearing all black and silently holding signs raising awareness for the Free Palestine movement, protestors maintained a stark visual for everyone on stage for the remainder of the ceremony.

Five days after these events, the vigil at the SCC was taken down by Pomona facilities staff on Tuesday morning.

Claremont students and faculty have also created platforms to share both research and personal experiences with conflict and occupation in Israel and Palestine.

On Wednesday evening in Pitzer’s Benson auditorium, four students and three professors from CMC and Pitzer participated in a panel highlighting an 11-day solidarity tour in Palestine they participated

in this summer.

A Pitzer student on the study tour, Jordan PZ ’23, talked about the impactful and joyful time he spent with Palestinian students at Birzeit University in the West Bank during the trip.

“It just felt like college students hanging out and joking around just like we would in Claremont,” he said. “This seems sort of banal, but it is profound because most of us who are Americans are taught to dehumanize Palestinians.”

One of the panelists, Pitzer Associate Professor of English and World Literature Amanda Lagji, spoke to her positionality and perspective on the Palestinian solidarity study tour.

“I’ll mention just briefly how I’ve taken what I’ve learned from the trip back to Pitzer into the classroom,” Lagji said. “My work is not simply to integrate Palestinian voices into my syllabi, not only to understand Palestine’s occupation as settler colonialism, but also to address the perception that to speak about Palestine is impossible.”

Other events that took place this week include a panel at Hahn Hall at Pomona on Monday, “Conflation of Antisemitism with Criticism of the Israeli Government: Unpacking a Campus, Domestic, & International Problem” and a Thursday Community Lunch at the Pomona Womxn’s Union “Standing in Solidarity with Palestine” co-hosted by Claremont SJP and Claremont Jewish Voices for Peace. Today, Claremont Hillel is sponsoring a weekly Lunch and Learn at CMC: “Israel and Us: A Faculty Moderated Discussion.”

Tania Azhang, Maxine Davey, Mariana Duran, Ben Lauren and Enoch Kim contributed reporting.

Mapping mass incarceration: Scripps alum Mariah Tso discusses community-driven cartography ZOE DORADO & NITYA GUPTA This Monday, the 5C Prison Abolition Collective (5C PrisAb) held a talk titled “Mapping Mass Incarceration’’ at Scripps College’s Motley Coffeehouse. Guest speaker Mariah Tso SC ’14, a Diné cartographer and Geographic Information Systems (GIS) specialist who currently works at Million Dollar Hoods (MDH), spoke about critical cartography and MDH’s effort to create a community-driven digital archive.

A Scripps alumni, Tso went on to get a masters in GIS from Redlands University. First introduced to the field at a Pomona College class called Urban Planning, she wanted to use the skills gained from her studies to make an impact.

MDH is a university-based and community-driven research project mapping and documenting the human and fiscal costs of mass incarceration in Los Angeles.

At the Oct. 23 event, Tso explained that maps present LA’s carceral landscape through constructed zones, which visually represent the areas heavily affected by mass incarceration.

“There is a dangerous assumption that maps are neutral,“ Tso said to an audience of 5C students and faculty. “Maps make reality just as much as they represent it.”

Tso further commented on how maps have revealed the tendency to misreport data by the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD). According to Tso, the LAPD reports

that violent crimes like rape and murder are driving mass incarceration, but in areas in which arrests are the highest, maps show that drug possession and DUIs are the top two charges.

“This led to the need for a digital archive, exposing the injustices the LAPD has perpetrated against communities for generations, using the department’s own records along with a collection of oral histories and community donated personal items or artifacts,” Tso said.

This archive is part of MDH’s mission to condense the separation between art, personal histories and data. In working on it, Tso is utilizing her position as a data scientist but also remaining critical of the sense of authority and objectivity that this position grants her.

“There’s an assumption that a scientific gaze maintains objectivity, but that distance oftentimes doesn’t serve the people who are impacted,” Tso said.

“I’m most interested in collapsing that distance and shattering these illusions that we have of objectivity.”

Instead of operating from a scientific gaze, in which certain kinds of knowledge are valued over others, Tso and other employees at MDH work as what they call a “collective algorithm,” decentralizing state-sanctioned power and putting it into the hands of communities.

“We’re weaving together our various skills and knowledge to take back 2,984 folders, holding

4,800 files, which accounts to about 400,000 pieces of paper that the LAPD did not want exposed,” Tso said. “We are digitizing them and exposing the impact of mass incarceration in Los Angeles.”

Throughout the presentation, Tso laced in works by artists, including a quote by Driftpile Cree Nation poet, scholar and author Billy-Ray Belcourt: “Anybody who thinks they can understand how terrible the terror has been, without understanding how beautiful the beauty has been against the grain of the terror, is wrong.”

“After all, our stories don’t just contain terror,” Tso said.

“There is beauty in our collective resistance, the freedom we never

relinquished. We have always fought back.”

In the fight to end mass incarceration, Tso believes that redirecting funds — such as those given to the LAPD — is imperative.

“We live in a system that is treating substance abuse and addiction through policing and incarceration and we’re paying millions to do it,” Tso said.

“Imagine what that amount of money would do in places like substance abuse services, counseling, education, housing services and institutions that build healthy and thriving individuals, families and communities.”

Audience member Bastian Collins PZ ’27 said he was most impressed by the way Tso com-

EMMA JENSEN • THE STUDENT LIFE

At her talk “Mapping Mass Incarceration,” Diné cartographer Mariah Tso SC ‘14 discussed how LA maps reproduce carceral systems.

municated all of this information to the audience.

“Through the poetry that she weaved in, the pages of keywords, the images of herself, the interactive maps, it was phenomenal,” Collins said. “It effectively communicates the emotion our presenter had and how much stake she had in the matters that she was talking about.”

Jacqueline Tsai SC ’25, the steering lead of 5C PrisAb and one of the event organizers, also commented on the effectiveness of the presentation, expressing her hopes that the talk left an impact on its audience.

“I hope that [from the talk], folks start to understand the oppressive power of conventional archives and the revolutionary power of abolitionist, community focused archives and maps,” Tsai said.

Tsai also explained how students can also take action through 5C PrisAb, where they can learn about the prison industrial complex, the current participatory role in the PIC and how to become active abolitionists.

“In a space like the Claremont Colleges, with million-dollar endowments, it is imperative that we use our funds, privilege and power to act radically and compassionately,” Tsai said.

Students interested in learning more about the 5C Prison Abolition Collective can follow them on Instagram @5cprisonabolition. Additionally, students can view Million Dollar Hood’s work here.

News

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October 27, 2023

Sappho as queer icon: Ella Haselswerdt talks lesbian futurism and queer theory

SASHA MATTHEWS • THE STUDENT LIFE

ANNABELLE INK As an icon of the queer community, Sappho has always been shrouded in mystery. Many of her poems exist only in fragments, which has led to controversy among Ancient Greek scholars about her status as a queer figure.

At a talk on Oct. 19, Ella Haselswerdt, professor of classics at UCLA, suggested that the fragmentary form of Sappho’s work can itself have important implications for queerness.

Open to students and faculty members from across the 5Cs, the event was organized by Jody Valentine, visiting assistant professor of classics at Pomona. According

to Valentine, Haselswerdt first caught her attention and earned her admiration in 2016 by publishing a “brave, honest, wickedly smart and very funny” piece titled “Re-Queering Sappho.”

During her presentation, Haselswerdt expanded on some of the ideas referenced in her 2016 article, which she described as a “living” project. She opened by talking about how Sappho’s prevalence in the queer community took root over 2,700 years ago, when she initially composed her poetry on the Greek island of Lesbos. Her work, which Haselswerdt says is meant to convey homoerotic feelings, now exists only in fragmentary

form.

Haselswerdt said that the space between fragments can be seen as reflective of the potential for queer people to create and imagine queer narratives.

The perception of Sappho as a queer figure has been widely contested by Ancient Greek scholars. Ellen Jennings PO ’24, who is currently enrolled in Valentine’s History of Sexuality class at Pomona, explained that classicists often disagree about whether or not we can call Sappho a lesbian or identify with her elements of sexuality and gender.

“Sappho’s erotic poetry articulates an intense love for women

Celebrating the UN’s 78th birthday: Claremont community builds resilience to climate change

CRYSTAL WIDADO • THE STUDENT LIFE

On Thursday, Pomona Valley’s United Nations of America celebrated the United Nation’s 78th birthday at Pomona College in an event highlighting the issue of climate change.

CRYSTAL WIDADO & COURTNEY CHEN On Oct. 26, the Pomona Valley United Nations Association (UNA) hosted a banquet to celebrate the United Nation’s 78th birthday at Pomona College. With around 300 attendees, the full house banquet included a seven-course meal, live performances, exhibits and speakers.

Guest speaker Branwen Williams — professor of Environmental Biology and director of Claremont McKenna College’s Roberts Environmental Center — delivered a speech encouraging action in response to climate issues. Attendees included faculty, over 100 students from the Claremont Colleges and residents from Pilgrim Place, a senior community in Southern California.

Williams delivered the keynote address titled “Building Resilience in the Face of Climate Change.” Aided by graphs of rising carbon emissions and trajectories of the future, Williams’ speech covered the history of climate change and its nationwide, state and local effects.

She also spoke on the inequities of climate change’s effects on every level of society, including on a local level in Claremont. Williams explained that these inequities become clear when comparing the southern and northern parts of Claremont.

“If you’re ever bored, try driving from south Claremont to north Claremont,” Williams said. “People who live in southern Claremont have fewer trees, there’s more urbanization, it’s lower elevation, and it gets hotter.

When you go further up, there’s more trees, houses are more spread out, there’s more vegetation and you’re at higher elevation.”

While Williams placed an emphasis on the severity of the impending threat of climate change, she also stressed hope in new technologies, such as carbon capturing technology, to combat the effects.

She likened the issue to the first moon landing, comparing the seemingly-impossible challenge of both events. Moreover, she emphasized society’s potential to solve climate change.

“I hope that people see optimism that there’s a pathway forward to mitigate and adopt,” she said.

Following Williams’ speech, student speakers Laura Somoza Valez CM ’24, Miller McCraw CM ’24 and Claremont Graduate University student MaryAnn Obidike spoke on the UN’s sustainable development goals (SDG). Obidike focused on the importance of one of SDG’s goals regarding health and wellbeing while Valez and McCraw talked about another one of their goals on climate action.

Valez and McCraw both hold leadership roles in Model UN at Claremont McKenna College (CMC).

As they strived for more community outreach within the club, Valez and McCraw managed to reconnect with the UNA. They explained that the club joined halfway during the banquet’s planning process.

To encourage student turnout at the event, Valez and McCraw assigned a student representative from each college to raise awareness of the banquet within their school communities. They also sent out posters with QR codes with help from the Keck Center.

With 154 signups and 107 showups, McCraw said the turnout exceeded his expectations.

The UNA was also able to offer opportunities to freshman students like Alana Nahabedian CM ’27, who founded and ran a UNA chapter in her hometown in Nevada. After getting connected with the UNA of Pomona Valley, Nahabedian was able to help run the event.

“I do hope to continue on with the UNA,” Nahabedian said. “I think it’s a really great organization and it makes contributing to a large organization like the UN very accessible, especially to students.”

Nahabedian praised Williams for having an optimistic view on the future of climate change, and various 7C students expressed similar sentiments on the event and its endeavors to address climate issues.

Sadie Scott PZ ’24 shared her lasting impressions on Williams’ speech, specifically noting the speaker’s concept of “sponge cities.”

“I had never heard of sponge cities before and the idea of it really being important to absorb water was fascinating because I’ve always thought about conservation,” Scott said. “I grew up in San Francisco where we grew up trying to conserve water in a state of perpetual drought and the idea of being a city that can be resilient and trap water when it is actually accessible felt very practical.”

Tim Cech PZ ’24, an exchange student from Switzerland, also praised the event’s age range of attendees.

“It’s so nice to see so many different people from different ages — a lot of students were here, but also all people from the community,” Cech said.

that is meaningful to many as representation despite efforts to deny or reframe her expressions as those of platonic love between women,” Jennings said in an email to TSL. In her talk, Haselswerdt explored this idea of Sappho as representing the lesbian community. She not only suggested that Sappho serves as an important figure within said community, but also emphasized the importance of approaching Sappho with an inclusive, open concept of queerness.

“What I’m interested in talking about today is what it means to cling to Sappho as an emblem of modern lesbianism at a moment when the identity category is

fraught with attempts to pit cis lesbians against trans women and trans lesbians in particular,” Haselswerdt said.

According to Valentine, Haselswerdt’s ideas challenge scholars’ traditionally misogynistic interpretations of Sappho.

“By centering Sappho as a queer icon and by exploring the possible expansive meaning that might still be able to emerge from understanding this historical figure as a lesbian … [Haselswerdt] is sort of breaking Sappho out of that misogynistic tradition,” Valentine said.

Haselswerdt delved further into the topic of Sappho by analyzing the ways in which artists have previously represented and transmitted Sappho’s work, looking into the immersive art book “Sappho Fragments” by Rose Frain in 1989, the fifth-century B.C.E. hydria “Sappho Lisant” and other pieces.

Jennings expressed her appreciation for Haselswerdt’s approach to Sappho, which she felt made the topic very accessible.

“I liked that Dr. Haselswerdt’s presentation had something for everyone — queer theory, literary theory and interpretation, history, very old and contemporary visual art and ancient language,” Jennings said. “It really felt like an interdisciplinary experience and though I’m new to the study of classics, I felt inspired in many directions and it was a very accessible and fun experience.”

The accessibility of the field of classics is something that Valentine hoped to address by hosting this event.

“One thing about classics is that it has, traditionally, been an inaccessible field of study for many people,” Valentine said in an email to TSL. “I like to create opportunities for students to decide for themselves whether or not they are interested in Greek and antiquity. So, an event like this is invitational.”

Jennings noted that the event was largely attended by women and feminine presenting people.

“I wish that more men involved in the study of classics, poetry and history at the 5Cs had found their way to Dr. Haselswerdt’s talk and that more men felt moved to attend and listen to events pertaining to women’s histories, research and art,” Jennings said.

Coop Store lowers prices by 20%, plans for more sales FIONA HERBOLD Pomona College’s Coop Store permanently lowered its food and beverage prices by 20 percent, Pomona Dean of Students Josh Eisenberg announced on Oct. 10. Coop Store manager Brenda Schmit and the ASPC implemented this price cut to encourage more student consumption on campus.

The Coop Store, which operates like a grocery store on one side and sells Pomona merchandise on the other, is run by ASPC. All of the profits go towards the ASPC budget, according to Eisenberg. He hopes that the recent price cut will encourage students to buy more food and drink items at the Coop Store.

“We’ve had students before who would go all the way up to [Harvey Mudd College] or [Claremont McKenna College] to go buy things because they were cheaper,” Eisenberg said.

“We’re hoping that bringing the price down makes sure the money returns to the student experience.”

Pomona-branded clothing and other merchandise sold at the Coop Store are not in-

cluded in the price cut. However, Eisenberg noted that, as of this year, the Coop Store will start doing more sales on these items.

“Before, we literally had the one one-day sale,” Eisenberg said. “We’ve tried to do more discounts — we did a rivalry weekend discount, we have a family weekend discount coming up.”

So far, the discounts have proven effective. The rivalry weekend sale, which offered students a 20 percent discount, brought in three times more revenue than it did on the same day in the past three years, said ASPC Vice President of Finance Daysi Manrique PO ’24.

Increasing the frequency of Coop Store sales is not just about making more money, however.

Selling more Pomona merchandise was a part of this year’s ASPC platform.

“One of the things that ASPC and Timi Adelakun [PO ’24], the president, has really pushed is creating a more team spirit feel on the campus,” Eisenberg said. “It also gets more branded stuff out.”

Manrique agreed, noting that this was a goal shared by many members of ASPC and that ensuring that students could afford food and merchandise on campus would contribute to school spirit.

WENDY ZHANG • THE STUDENT LIFE

On Oct. 10, Pomona College Dean of Students Josh Eisenberg announced that the Coop Store would be permanently lowering its food and beverage prices by 20 percent in order to increase sales and school spirit.

October 27, 2023

Arts & Culture

PAGE 5

Alexis Pauline Gumbs leads an alphabetical activity on joy and dedication BECCA CHOE On Thursday, Oct. 19, poet Alexis Pauline Gumbs spoke to a packed Rose Hills Theater at Pomona College on the topic “Remembering Joy,” exploring what it means to hold onto memories of happiness and loved ones.

The second guest of the Humanities Studio’s “Joy” Speaker Series, Gumbs began with a guided breathing exercise. She spoke in a soft, gentle voice and led audience members with deep inhales and exhales. Presenting to a relaxed room of 7C students and faculty, Gumbs opened with the key message of her presentation.

“There is an expansive, interspecies, intergenerational joy that we can have access to at any moment,” Gumbs said.

Gumbs’s work expands beyond her poetry. She is the founder of multiple organizations, projects, and online networks centered around Black, queer and feminist artist community spaces. According to her website, she believes her work in this lifetime is to “facilitate infinite, unstoppable ancestral love in practice.”

After the breathing exercise, Gumbs opened up the space to the audience. She asked for everyone to dedicate their experience that evening to a person in their lives who wasn’t in the room. Many picked their hometown friends, family members and parental figures.

Gumbs decided to dedicate this talk to her late father, who heavily inspired her work as a writer and artist.

“I’m really honored to have him with me, and I’m present to the fact that an inclusive joy actually transubstantiates,” Gumbs said.

This dedication exercise led to the premise of the evening’s talk – an oracle text exercise and what

COURTESY: POMONA COLLEGE COMMUNICATIONS STAFF The Humanities Studio welcomed Alexis Pauline Gumbs to Pomona College as the second guest in their “Joy” Speaker Series.

Gumbs called the “Inner Child Summer School.”

She showed the audience a computer folder she had filled with photos of her and her father from when she was an infant. Each photo was labeled with a letter of the alphabet (A to Z) and a word or phrase that began with the letter. Using those images, she asked the audience members to think about what curiosities of joy they had in that moment. “[My dad] was also a poet who wrote from photos, so I wrote

from these childhood photos,” Gumbs said. “We’re gonna work from the photos that are of him and me.”

Throughout the evening, various audience members volunteered to share their dedication, curiosity and the letter of the alphabet they associated with their responses. Gumbs then found the photo that corresponded with the given letter and read out the corresponding literature she had written inspired by the photograph.

FILM FILES

Nikia Chaney CG ’23 was one of the first volunteers for this exercise. She dedicated her time to her daughter.

“I dedicated this to my daughter, who is going through a tough time right now and I chose the letter ‘B,’” Chaney said.

Gumbs found the photo in her folder for the letter “B,” titled “Better my heart.” It was an image of her as a child, her father and her grandmother, all swimming at Dunn’s River Falls. She read a poem that centered around the

word “better.”

“Blink and think and carry on, forever. I will live and laugh in your eyes,” Gumbs said.

Another volunteer, Khimmoy Hudson PO ’25, dedicated his time for the evening to his parents. He explained his identity as a son of Jamaican immigrants and growing up navigating the experience of observing his parents work in America. His chosen letter was the letter “P” for “parents.”

“My understanding of remembering joy is rooted in me trying to figure out how much I can separate this idea of what the ‘American Dream’ is and simply finding a joy that exists outside of that,” Hudson said.

The photo in Gumbs’s folder for the letter “P” was one from when her parents had first taken her to Jamaica. The word associated with this photo was ”plot.” She recited a poem she wrote inspired by it.

“I long for home, a tree on land that owns and dusk that reached,” Gumbs said.

The letters and photos, in relation to the literature Gumbs read, answered many of the volunteers’ curiosities about joy. The evening’s topic of “Remembering Joy” became that of paying homage to the joy that centers around people and community.

Gretchen Rognlien, associate director of the Humanities Studio, described her favorite part of the event.

“It was a fresh breeze to see Dr. Gumbs step out of a linear academic presentation format and into an oracular, visual, poetic calland-response with the audience,” Rognlien said. “It was also moving to witness the willingness of Dr. Gumbs’ listeners to share their own impromptu and intimate musings about joy with a roomful of potential strangers.”

MOMENTS TO SAVOR

The controversial legacy The comical contents of ‘Lost in Translation’ of greenboxes EMILY KIM

LUCIA MARQUEZ-UPPMAN • THE STUDENT LIFE

HANNAH ELIOT Ahead of Sofia Coppola’s “Priscilla,” set to release next weekend, I thought it was time to revisit her 2003 film “Lost in Translation,” which celebrated its 20th anniversary last month. Released in United States theaters on Sept. 12, 2003, this story of a brief encounter between two lonely Americans at a hotel in Tokyo was a great critical and commercial success. Produced on a modest $4 million budget, it went on to pick up four Academy Award nominations, with Coppola taking home the Oscar for Best Original Screenplay.

The first of Coppola’s Americans is Bob Harris (Bill Murray), a washed-up Hollywood actor in Tokyo shooting a commercial for Suntory whisky. At least a decade past his prime and separated from his wife — she appears in the film as a disembodied voice on the telephone — he looks perpetually slumped and rumpled. The other, Charlotte (Scarlett Johansson), is a young college graduate who is visiting with her celebrity photographer husband (Giovanni Ribisi).

Abandoned during the day, she walks glassy-eyed and aimlessly through the Tokyo streets and around the sparse Park Hyatt Tokyo hotel.

Coppola famously wrote the screenplay for “Lost in Translation” based on her own experiences living in Tokyo after dropping out of university. She discovered the Park Hyatt Tokyo after staying there while promoting her feature film debut, “The Virgin Suicides.”

Coppola knows how to capture little moments that, in solitude, feel larger than life. The film’s soundtrack parallels these moments that could go one way or another, either utterly depressing

or exhilarating. Air’s “Alone in Kyoto,” for example, sounds like rainfall and introspection. Its inclusion in the film’s soundtrack complements their iconic contribution “Playground Lover” in “The Virgin Suicides.”

2003 was a big year for Hollywood and Japan with the release of “The Last Samurai” and “Kill Bill: Volume 1,” along with Coppola’s film. But for all the love of Japan and its products evident on screen in “Lost in Translation,” its people don’t receive that same fondness. None of the Japanese characters have any agency; they are all stereotypes in one sense or another.

While I understand what it means to feel alone in a foreign country, that alienation does not justify casual racism. For the solitary, aimless characters, Tokyo is simply their theme park. There’s a snootiness to every interaction with a Japanese person; not only are things lost in translation, but there is little effort from Americans to attempt any kind of translation at all.

The movie’s obsession with Japanese pronunciation of Rs and Ls, most famously with the sex worker who visits Harris’s room, has aged quite badly — particularly as neither Harris nor Charlotte attempt to learn more than a few words in Japanese despite all their free time. To understand what brings our protagonists together despite their sizable age gap, we must find the Japanese odd and unapproachable: Johansson was 17 years old when she filmed “Lost in Translation,” while Murray was 52.

“I’m not going to think about it,” Coppola told Rolling Stone about the film’s age gap. “I was just doing my thing at the time

it was made. I did notice that watching it with my kids, because they’re teenagers and they were like, ‘what’s going on with that?’ But Bill is so lovable and charming. Part of the story is about how you can have romantic connections that aren’t sexual or physical. You can have crushes on people where it isn’t that kind of thing. Part of the idea was that you can have connections where you can’t be together for various reasons because you’re at different points in life.”

It’s a recurring theme in Coppola’s films — young women who are taken by older men.

Another example is Coppola’s upcoming “Priscilla” biopic, which focuses on the relationship between Priscilla Presley and Elvis, from Priscilla’s perspective. While it’s clear that Coppola herself never fully reconciled the inherently problematic age gap in “Lost in Translation,” “Priscilla” appears to take a more clear-eyed look at the power imbalances within these relationships.

On its 20th anniversary, Sofia Coppola’s portrayal of Tokyo through the eyes of two lonely Americans speaks to the universal experience of isolation and the desire to connect, experiences which feel more pervasive than ever. However, the film’s representation of Japanese characters, cultural insensitivity and the age gap between the protagonists all warrant reflection. As we revisit this iconic work, “Lost in Translation” reminds us that the world of cinema evolves and we too must evolve in our understanding and appreciation of it.

Oh, greenboxes — the trusty food capsules that keep us fed beyond the walls of the dining halls. As a third-year, green boxes are nothing new, but it was only this semester that I developed a true appreciation for this reliable green clamshell.

There was one day before fall break where I holed myself up in my room, writing a paper for my English class and studying for hours. Realizing that I hadn’t eaten all day and that I was in fact very hungry, I scurried to Frary (thankfully only about 10 steps from my dorm room this year!) and grabbed a green box so that I could quickly return to my room to continue working.

As I meandered through each station of the dining hall, my mind was more focused on Suzan-Lori Parks’ “Venus” and Foucault’s repressive hypothesis – the topic of my English paper – than what exactly I was filling my green box with. When I returned to my room and finally saw my dinner choices all together, I let out a loud chuckle.

Inside the green box lay some agedashi tofu, curly fries, a handful of cucumber slices and jicama sticks, a spoonful of egg salad and a slice of coconut cake tucked neatly in the corner.

“I really just grabbed whatever I thought sounded good,” I thought to myself, laughing. “I didn’t think at all about how these things would work together.”

As I ate my smorgasbord of a meal, I started reflecting on my green boxing habits over the course of my time at Pomona thus far. Though I’ve never been that frequent of a green box-er, it humorously occurred to me that when I have green boxed, the contents (and their cohesiveness or lack thereof) have also reflected my state of mind.

I was reminded of the time last year when I green boxed brunch in order to study for an upcoming exam and forgot to put my bread in the toaster. I also remembered sweet moments from just earlier

in this semester when I green boxed and had FaceTime dinner dates with friends from home, carefully choosing my food based on the wine that we would all decide to drink ‘together’ across different college campuses, time zones and coasts. Though this wasn’t my own experience, I also recalled my friend Bet-sua’s funny story in which she (like a genius) decided to green box fruit and yogurt one morning and blended up an entire smoothie in her dorm room.

I realized that as memorable as eating meals in the dining hall can be, green box meals eaten outside can be just as enduring. They can remind you of the rhythm of college life you are currently in and even amusedly indicate that something may need to change.

For example, right now, I am unashamedly in my tofu and curly fry only-one-month-until-Thanksgiving era. The second-half-of-the-semester slump is setting in and I’m learning to ride with it, lightheartedly laughing at myself for my tired college student food choices. I am still taking the time to toast my bread, however and you should, too.

I know that I’m not the only one feeling tired as we trudge towards the holidays, with Thanksgiving somewhat within reach but then finals looming ominously in the corner. Although, I hope that the next time you green box, whether it is to study or call a friend or watch TV, you can look at its contents and get a good laugh. Perhaps some of you are, like me, unashamedly embracing a season of tofu and curly fries or whatever permutation of odd green box combinations. Maybe others of you feel steady and energized like Bet-sua, able to organize your green box in a way to concoct the perfect smoothie. But however you feel, I hope that your green box can put a smile on your face as we push through the last 50-ish days of the semester.

Emily Kim PO ’25 is from Irvine, California. She loves carrying around her Jellycat coffee purse even though it doesn’t help her actually look her age (everyone says she looks younger than 21).

NICOLE CEPEDA • THE STUDENT LIFE

PAGE 6

Arts & Culture

HIDDEN GEMS

In ‘Tell Me I’m Worthless,’ the specter of fascism haunts the UK NATALIE ORTIZ

Three friends go into a haunted house. Only two make it back out, and they want nothing to do with each other anymore.

This is the backstory of Alison Rumfitt’s “Tell Me I’m Worthless,” a dark novel about the rising threat of fascism and the potential to hate that lies within us all.

The two protagonists are Alice, a white trans woman who suffers from severe social anxiety and makes porn for a living and Ila, a mixed-race Jewish lesbian who has gotten involved in the trans-exclusionary radical feminist movement. Both are deeply traumatized by what happened that night. If they want to move past it, they must reunite and go back into the house where they lost their friend Hannah.

This story is not for the faint of the heart. With violence, rape, frank portrayals of bigotry and other triggering topics, the novel’s overall atmosphere is crushingly bleak.

I read most of “Tell Me I’m Worthless” alone in my room at night with the lights off, which made the experience all the more immersive. From the very beginning, there’s a sense that something is off.

Alice believes her own room hates her and that the singer on her band poster comes out at night: “Sometimes, at night, in the dark, when I can’t know for sure if I am sleeping or lucid, the man, the one with the hair and the jawline, he crawls out from the poster, he stands over my bed, the flowers still in his hand, and he flickers in and out of focus. He pushes out from the past, away from his bandmates and into the now. He wants me.”

It’s a creepy detail that conveys Alice’s paranoia and makes the setting feel menacing.

“Tell Me I’m Worthless” is an effective work of horror with many gruesome moments that are sure to stay with you. I’m not easily disturbed, but I was unsettled.

Though there are supernatural elements, much of the horror comes from real-world bigotry. For me the most memorably uncomfortable scene involved Alice coming across a man’s transmisogynistic erotic fantasies on a fetish forum. It affected me because it felt so real, exactly the kind of content that exists on certain parts of the internet. Hate, as Rumfitt demonstrates, is pervasive.

The house works by amplifying people’s existing prejudices and its influence is spreading throughout the United Kingdom. Hannah, ordinarily a loyal friend, becomes a virulent homophobe in the house and shouts slurs at Alice and Ila. Radicalization is depicted as a physically painful process that renders a person unrecognizable, a metaphor that resonated with me as someone who has lost friends to hate groups.

Unfortunately, the political aspects are also where Rumfitt loses me.

I am not opposed to overtly political fiction. Many of my favorite books are incisive commentaries on issues such as racism, poverty and misogyny.

Nor do I disagree with Rumfitt’s message, which is that everyone harbors subconscious prejudices, and that fascism gains its power by stoking feelings of resentment that already exist.

Hannah believes Alice and Ila are jealous of her for being

a straight white cis woman and therefore ‘better’ than them; Alice plays anti-Semitic pranks on Ila and thinks immigrant families are stealing jobs from the British, a belief she inherited from her rightwing father. This alone would be enough to get the point across. But Rumfitt outright tells the reader what to take away: “Is it clear how all of this works? How easy it is to slip, unthinking, into ways that the House wants you to be?” It reminded me of classroom lectures. I like drawing my own conclusions about a book, not having them spoonfed to me.

My second major misgiving is with the ending. The thirdto-last chapter is one of the most blistering walls of text I’ve read in a while, a scream of rage and grief that ends on a powerful and nightmarish image: “Alice, guts trailing across the floor, shuffles towards her friend. They embrace, covered in each other’s insides. ‘I love you,’ says Ila. ‘I love you,’ says Alice.” I would have been fine with it ending here.

But it continues for a few more pages, and what comes next feels so much weaker in comparison that I couldn’t help but be disappointed.

I did not love everything about “Tell Me I’m Worthless,” but I haven’t read many other books that are so consistently unnerving. I recommend it for those who like horror and don’t mind the occasional diatribe.

Natalie Ortiz (PO ‘25) is from Los Angeles. She loves horror and anything spooky.

SASHA MATTHEWS • THE STUDENT LIFE

October 27, 2023

FASHION BIBLE

Jeans and a going out top… RIP

BELLA PETTENGILL • THE STUDENT LIFE

LISA GORELIK “So what are you wearing to the TNC?” “Oh, you know, just jeans and a going out top… ” This is an exchange that I have borne witness to far too often in the dorm halls of Claremont McKenna College (CMC). It was my hope and dream that we left the “jeans and a going out top” ensemble back in high school.

But since this fashion phenomenon is alive and well across the 5Cs, let’s examine what the students of the Claremont Colleges think of it.

Ruva Kiara CM ’25 brought up the contrast between outfits students wear to class versus going out.

“I think that surprisingly the choices of what people wear [at] night are similar across the 5Cs despite [the fact] that during the day, people dress differently,” Kiara said.

Even though daytime fashion at the 5Cs is clearly distinct and it is easy to identify who goes to Pitzer College versus who goes to Harvey Mudd College, something strange happens after the sun sets. Everyone comes out of the shadows in their jeans and crop tops, mixing into the crowd and disguising themselves.

Still, women’s fashion at the 5Cs still seems to top men’s.

“I feel like [women’s fashion is] more put together than the men’s going out fashion for sure,” Grace Florendo CM ’25 said. “The women definitely have better style across the 5Cs compared to the men.”

One reason, at least at CMC, may be that women don’t have such a deep emotional attachment to their Claremont-Mudd-Scripps shirts, some say …

Now, let’s get something straight: The adjective “basic” does not mean that something is bad — it just means that a lot of people agree that it’s good. As for the “jeans and a going out top” trend, people lean towards it because it’s easy; it’s comfortable and it consists of pieces that most already own. Natalie Owen SC ’25 stressed the benefit of having basic items in a wardrobe.

“I think it can be subversive to be a woman wearing jeans and [a] going out top because in the face of criticism that you might be basic, you’re saying that you don’t care,” Owen said.

“That being said, I think that it’s valuable to be more creative sometimes.”

If you are someone who is deeply satisfied with your current party look, more power to you. But I have an underlying fear that there is something more to this than just a lot of people liking the same outfit — there may be some degree of conformity, anxiety and judgment here.

“I’m really glad that you’re addressing this,” Owen said. “And I think it’s a layered issue that is important to address as you did in your previous article about men’s fashion. It’s important to acknowledge stagnation in fashion.”

Just like with the sense of men feeling that they have to dressdown to fit in with their peers, I think that “jeans and a going out top” has been used as a scapegoat for a safe and tested-out option that will not make you stand out or provoke attention from others.

It’s okay to have an easy go-to — something that you can throw on quickly and feel good in — but what about exploring other options that you may fall in love with?

What about creativity, self expression and boldness? Why not give it a try, even just once?

I rarely see anyone sporting a dress to the regular, non-themed weekend bashes, which I think is a noteworthy alternative. “I would say a dress is always a great option because you’re not constricted … by a waistline like from a pair of jeans,” Haley Morton CM ’25 said.

And as for those chilly, fall nights coming up, why not elevate the look of your summer skirt with a pair of funky, patterned tights, leg warmers, or knee high socks?

Jackets are also often overlooked, as they are usually used to get to and from the venue, but a leather or jean jacket could be used not only for warmth, but also as an accessory.

There is something to be said for the prioritization of comfort above everything else and conformity to fashion norms that we see at the 5Cs. I seriously encourage everyone to engage in a little introspection and ask yourselves why you choose to dress the way that you do. Is it truly just for you or do you dress for other people? Do you actually not care about fashion or do you just not know where to start?

At the end of the day, your fashion is only a reflection of yourself. Unfortunately, I do not have the power to make everyone care about their style. But if I can inspire a handful of people to explore their creativity and empower them — I consider my job done.

Elizaveta (Lisa) Gorelik CM’25 is from Moscow, Russia. She has to confess that she does in fact own one CMS shirt…

HORROR HOUR

Challenging the male gaze and embracing feminist revenge in ‘Jennifer’s Body’ ANNA PETERSON

In 1976, MGM Studios produced a film adaptation of Stephen King’s horror novel “Carrie.” The movie was a box-office hit, garnering over $33 million in revenue, earning critical acclaim and securing nominations from both the Academy and the Golden Globe Awards. Today, the film maintains a score of 93 percent on Rotten Tomatoes and stands as one of the most influential horror movies of all time.

“Carrie” brought the sub-genre of female revenge into the mainstream.

Nearly 30 years after its release, Karyn Kusama and Diablo Cody directed the iconic cult-classic “Jennifer ’s Body” (2009). In the film, up-and-coming indie rock band Low Shoulder attempts to murder high school student and local mean girl Jennifer (Megan Fox) as a virginal sacrifice to Satan for success in the music industry.

However, Jennifer is not actually a virgin and instead becomes possessed by a demonic spirit.

Until a final confrontation with her best friend Needy (Amanda Seyfried), Jennifer embarks on a bloodthirsty quest to devour the school’s male population.

Despite having a similar female revenge story to “Carrie,” “Jennifer ’s Body” faced extreme

criticism when the movie was released in theaters. In his 2009 review for the Guardian, Ben Child said, “half the manflesh she tucks into belongs to perfectly decent young lads who you end up feeling pretty sorry for ” and “surely if there were some feminist subtext to the whole thing, it would have made sense to make the victims awful high-school jocks who deserve everything they get.” Robert Abele at The Los Angeles Times wrote, “‘Jennifer ’s Body’ held promise, but it’s decidedly more self-possessed than possessed.”

The onslaught of negative reviews can be attributed to the failure of the film’s marketing campaign. “Jennifer ’s Body” was depicted as a hyper-sexual scary movie that catered to the male gaze.

Fox’s performance was only considered as valuable as her appearance. However, when young male audiences packed theaters anticipating a sexy slasher, they were left sorely disappointed.

Instead, “Jennifer ’s Body” is a distinctly feminist film.

Writing for Vox, Constance Grady interpreted the sacrifice of Jennifer as a symbol of sexual assault, in which a group of men use Jennifer ’s body and exploit her torment as a means

of professional advancement and bonding.

Through this lens, Jennifer ’s murder spree may actually be a strategic weaponization of her sexualization and an act of resistance against the same patriarchal factors that initially subjugated her. In an interview, Fox even said “Jennifer ’s Body” was a reflection of her treatment in the film and media industry.

Thus, it appears that the film is a revenge fantasy rather than a sexual one.

In fact, the film even directly opposes the sexualization of Fox by embracing the bloody, disgusting and gorey elements of abject horror which led critics like Anderson Wright at The Student Life to say, “Most people do find Megan Fox attractive, but probably not while she projectile vomits black venom after tearing through a Boston Market turkey leg with her bare hands” and “Kusama is unable to properly place Fox in situations that accentuate her looks.”

In the years following “Jennifer ’s Body,” similar female revenge stories like “Ma” and “Carrie” (2013) received abysmal criticism. Yet, there seems to be a revival in the interest of female revenge stories in the last couple of years with hit horror flicks “X” and “Pearl.” In the present day, film bros around

the world have even begun to appreciate and understand the appeal of “Jennifer ’s Body” as a unique feminist

horror film. If you’re a fan of the subversive, the abject and the controversial, “Jennifer ’s Body” might be for you.

BELLA PETTENGILL • THE STUDENT LIFE

October 27, 2023

Arts & Culture

Grove House kitchen: A taste of community and sustainability JULIA SKAGGS Nestled near Pitzer College’s iconic clock tower, a student-operated café embodies an intricate blend of sustainability, community and culinary creativity. A charming bungalow, the Grove House dates back to the 1970s, harmonizing gracefully with the earth.

The Grove House Kitchen, snuggled within the house, is a student-run café featuring delicious lunch, breakfast entrees and refreshments on weekdays to students, faculty and staff.

This magical, storied dwelling is the essence of Pitzer culture and community. Namely, the bonds and connections among the student community of employees at the Grove House Kitchen extend far beyond its commitment to environmental sustainability.

“Each staff member has a deep, personal connection with the space,” said Wynne Chase PZ ’26, a dedicated kitchen team member and a Grove House caretaker. “To us, it’s not just a Grove house; it’s a Grove home.”

Olivia Buist-Thuillier PZ ’25, a student employee of the Grove House Kitchen, described the care every staff member puts into their work.

“Each dish is made with care, love and intention,” Buist-Thuillier said.

According to Buist-Thuillier, one of the most beautiful aspects of working at the café is the opportunity to see people open up and reveal their raw, unfiltered humanity. The shared responsibilities and challenges bring the student employee community closer together, cultivating a passionate, tight-knit family.

“I’ve met people in the space that I didn’t ever think I was going to become close with,” Buist-Thuillier said, “and that’s because it is such a loving environment.”

The decentralized nature of the kitchen offers a place where students can connect and grow together through hands-on learning experiences. Team members

understand that their actions directly impact the Pitzer community as a whole.

“Self-accountability is the key to success here,” Buist-Thuillier said. “For instance, if one person doesn’t show up for a prep shift, it can make it difficult to open the following morning.”

The Grove House’s dedication to eco-consciousness is intimately aligned with the earth it stands upon, surrounded by lush gardens filled with golden barrel cacti, swaying palms, yucca and palo verde trees. Appreciating the cycles and creations that nature has to offer, the Grove House also specializes in crafting and catering its menus towards local, seasonal fruit and vegetation throughout the year.

“The menu evolves and changes consistently with seasonal fruits and veggies,” Chase said. “It reflects slight or substantial transformations, keeping the culinary experience fresh and exciting.”

“Currently we are featuring a yummy horchata — an absolute delight,” Buist-Thuillier said.

The kitchen infuses its creations with a touch of individual, creative flair and playful innovation. Namely, the Grove House has accumulated quite the reputation for its pancakes and legendary sandwich “the hal.”

“Our pancakes are known far and wide for how incredibly enormous they are,” Chase said.

“And you may customize the dish with any fruits or chocolate chips as you please.”

“The hal is an open-faced breakfast sandwich made with a homemade everything bagel, pesto cream cheese, topped with two fried eggs and carmelized onions,” Buist-Thuillier said, “I like to sprinkle assorted veggies on top.”

Experimentation with foods is a passion among the student workers. The student-operated café thrives on scratch cooking and actively works to integrate more vegan friendly foods, giving life to each dish.

“Presently, we are exploring a vegan egg recipe with a mug bean base, vegan pancake mix and vegan cinnamon roll dough,” said Nozomi Shima PZ ’25, a student worker at the café. “We hope to add more vegan options to increase accessibility for all friends with dietary lifestyles.”

Along with its culinary innovations, the café also fosters a close, cyclical bond with the Pitzer Student Garden.

“We give them our waste to compost, they use it to grow more food, giving it a second life,” Buist-Thuillier said. “We also source herbs from the garden to create our sage and lavender syrups.”

The Grove House’s commitment to strengthening community ties extends to their involvement in Pitzer traditions, such as Harvest Fest, taking place this year on Nov. 4.

“This beloved Pitzer tradition will hopefully be catered by the Grove House, curating fall-themed foods to reflect the spirit of the season,” Chase said.

Chase believes at its heart, the café exudes a calming sense of intimacy and home, providing an accessible and welcoming space by and for the community.

“The Grove House inspires honesty and community care,” Chase said. “It offers a place that feels incredibly safe and comfortable [to me] and in return asks for nothing, but this community of people who love the Grove House are willing to care for it.”

The Grove House Kitchen is open to all students, staff and faculty at the Claremont Colleges between Tuesday through Friday from 8:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. They accept Flex, Claremont Cash and physical cash as forms of payment.

More information about Pitzer’s Grove House Kitchen can be found through their Instagram: @ thegrovehouse.

The Grove House kitchen is known for iconic dishes such as “the hal” sandwich.

EMMA JENSEN • THE STUDENT LIFE

PAGE 7

Radical Roots: Pitzer exhibit celebrates history of student organizing

EMMA JENSEN • THE STUDENT LIFE The third part of Pitzer College’s Radical Roots series opened in Skandera Hall on Oct. 19.

DYLAN ZULUETA Standing in Skandera Hall at Pitzer College on Oct. 19, Professor of Political Studies Nigel Boyle welcomed students to the college’s newest exhibit from the archives.

The exhibit is the third in a series that commemorates and celebrates Pitzer’s “Radical Roots.” This part focuses on Pitzer’s rich history of activism.

Spanning the 1960s to ’70s, it features the formation of the Black Student Union (BSU) affinity group and Chicano Studies Center.

Boyle described Pitzer’s ties to radicalism as a natural development.

“Pitzer wasn’t really founded to be a radical institution, but because of when it was founded, it sort of became one,” Boyle said.

Stacy Elliott, the archivist for the Pitzer College Archives, started working at Pitzer in 2012 and designed the previous three parts of the exhibit before the COVID-19 lockdown.

In order to create the exhibit, Elliott interviewed faculty and alumni, reviewed primary documents from the Claremont Colleges Library and combed through drawers full of negatives from photographer Arthur Dubinsky, who captured Pitzer’s early years.

Elliott got emotional reflecting on what she hopes students and the community get out of the exhibit.

“I hope they look … the Black [Student] Union and the [Chicano Studies Center], I’m glad that they did all this,” Elliott said.

Students who attended the reception were deeply inspired

by Pitzer’s history. Sarah Snyder PZ ’24 explained that the school’s history of radicalism is what drew her to Pitzer.

“As a high school student who was interested in real social action, this was the place that I saw it happening, and what’s discussed in these archives is a big reason why I feel like most of us are here,” Snyder said.

Snyder attended the reception as part of the curriculum for their class, “Power, Justice and the Environment” at Scripps. Clare Reimers-Jehnal SC ’26, who is also in the class, described how the exhibit is being integrated into their curriculum.

“We’re looking at archives around student organizing across the 5Cs and creating a walking tour that connects physical spaces to the student resistance … so we were excited to find out about this at the last minute, because this is really, really important,” Snyder said.

However, Reimers-Jehnal also discussed current issues at Pitzer and its controversial image as a radical institution.

“Something we’re also interested in in our research is how the admin co-ops student organizing to just contribute to marketing and admissions,” Reimers-Jehnal said.

Anthony Shing PZ ’24 noted much of Pitzer’s radical identity is a result of student action rather than by administration. “[Students refer to] Pitzer’s Radical Roots when you talk about student activism, but no one says radical administration,” Shing said.

“We currently have another list of demands from First Gen, a marginalized group on campus. How can you be championing these things, where you’re not currently really doing the things for the students you’re supposed to serve?”

Elliott has seen this disconnect between Pitzer students and Pitzer administration. “[Students] always say, ‘I love Pitzer, but I don’t like [the administration],’” Elliott said. “They always say ‘I love the professors, but the [administrators] are not nice.’”

In addition to the opening of the exhibition, the reception celebrated the achievements and commitments of Pitzer faculty who earned tenure this year or have reached a milestone in their years of working at Pitzer — some having taught for as many as 35 years.

“I do want to say that it’s really beautiful to see so many Pitzer alumni and faculty who really do care about the students and the organizing that we’re doing here, and want to preserve this institutional memory,” Snyder said. “I think it’s great that so many people who were potentially a part of this organizing history are here to make sure that it gets remembered.”

The Radical Roots exhibit will continue until the spring of 2024 and is available for viewing in Skandera Hall. For access to the conference room, which contains the majority of the exhibit, students can contact Elliott.

For more information, see the website https://www.pitzer.edu/archives/ or the Pitzer College Archives Facebook account.

‘From artificial intelligence to collective wisdom’: The power of a boundless imagination ANANYA VINAY Dr. Ruha Benjamin identifies two contrasting stories about technology: the first portrays technology as our savior, while the other portrays technology as our slayer.

“Both stories assume technology is in the driver’s seat,” Benjamin said.

“Rather than agonizing about a coming dystopia or longing for a future utopia, we have to reckon with an ‘UStopia,’ a word that describes the fact that the future is us.”

As a part of Harvey Mudd College’s “Being Human in the Age of AI” Nelson Speaker Series, Dr. Ruha Benjamin presented her lecture “From Artificial Intelligence to Collective Wisdom” on Oct. 19. Benjamin discussed how inequitable practices long present in non-digital industries have bled into digital technologies, most recently in AI. Dr. Benjamin, assistant professor of Africana Studies at Princeton University, has authored four books and is the founding director of the Ida B. Wells JUST Data Lab. At the start of the talk, Benjamin invited the audience to consider the costs of collectively subscribing to the imposed visions of the few.

“Millions [are] being poured into the future of medicine, but healthcare for all [is] somehow farfetched,” Benjamin said. “[I’m speaking of] … a lopsided imagination, where we can imagine regenerating sick bodies and not an ailing body politic.”

This conversation on inequities of healthcare brought Benjamin to the story of Georges Cuvier, a French naturalist who attributed Black people’s inferiority to physical characteristics.

“Scientists are creating these distortions,” Benjamin said. “We know the academy created it, naturalized it, diffused it, so we are responsible for tackling it head on.”

Recognizing the racism that has historically pervaded the sciences, she cautioned the audience to be wary of the often empty promise of diversity and inclusion in oppressive systems.

“Diversity and inclusion doesn’t necessarily mean liberation or fairness,” Benjamin said. “[People of color] can be included into harmful and violent systems …We have to look beyond the buzzwords to develop a new vision to meet our social reality.”

Benjamin proceeded to use inhospitable architecture as a metaphor for coded inequity. Benches with spikes, such as in the United Kingdom and China, only go down if one pays every 15 minutes of sitting, reflecting the extent of this phenomenon.

She pointed out that in the digital world, these metaphorical spikes are often built into hierarchical structures. The widely used Student Success predictor score, where Black students are more likely to be assigned higher risk scores, reflects the hidden spikes in society.

“Why are we labeling students medium, low or high?” Benjamin said. “We should label the departments, the fields that are producing the risk … Always we should [consider] from whose perspective are the questions being asked and the data being collected.”

Moving to how these inequities have moved into the technological sphere, she coined the term ‘The New Jim Code’ to describe the process of a history of exclusion causing discriminatory inputs and outputs in technology.

“Here, we’re talking about the ways in which the imagined objectivity of technology is coupled with coded bias in order to obscure forms of containment,” Benjamin said.

Benjamin then offered guidance

on ways we can rethink the impact of technology and challenge existing power structures.

Currently, leaders are attempting to regulate AI through measures like the AI Bill of Rights and AI Accountability Act. She said that this reckoning should not just be a top-down process. She advocated for building “consentful” technology, which uses the principles of consent in data storage, access and user interaction.

Benjamin concluded her lecture with a call to action.

“If inequity is woven into the very fabric of society, then each twist, coil and code is a chance for us to weave new patterns, practices, politics,” she said. “Its vastness will be its undoing once we accept that we are patternmakers.”

ANANYA VINAY • THE STUDENT LIFE Dr. Ruha Benjamin spoke about inequity in the digital world as part of the “Being Human in the Age of AI” lecture series.

During the Q&A after the lecture, Bradley Gommiah HM ’24 asked how the power structures of Big Tech operate. ”Is it tech-driven versus people-driven or is it rich people-driven versus the rest of us-driven?” Gommiah asked.

Benjamin emphasized that the harms of inequitable technology are universal.

“The elite know the harm they’ve created,” Benjamin said. “How do we design differently? Some call it public interest technology or decolonizing technology … we should be thinking about how to create different approaches that are sustainable …

Instead of platform capitalism, think about a cooperative approach to [an] economic model for creating digital tools.”

Seohyeon Lee PO ’25 said the lecture reflected her concerns about her potential career path.

“As a student studying computer science and mathematics, I do have a fear that I will be sucked into a career that will be contributing to implicit harm that’s baked in technology,” Lee said.

Zachary Dodds, a computer science professor at Mudd, felt empowered by Benjamin’s final call to action.

“This vision … is part of the framing of everything we do as a professor,” Dodds said. “I found it very inspiring to think that at every moment, there’s an opportunity to embrace [these] truths and perspectives.”

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October 27, 2023

My name is Don’t be afraid to study what makes you passionate not your choice LIZETTE GONZALEZ

NORA WU • THE STUDENT LIFE

VAIDEHI SRINIVASAN Over two months ago, I moved into Pomona College, unable to contain my excitement over my new home here in Claremont. Our orientation schedule overflowed with opportunities to meet new people, and I was determined to make the best of each one.

To my pleasant surprise, early conversations strayed far away from the predictable “What’s your major?” or “Which dorm are you in?” and were instead free-flowing and organic. However, as time went on, I began to dislike the early process of introductions.

Specifically, I started dreading the most frequent question people asked me: “By the way, what’s your name?”

As innocuous and necessary as this question was, I couldn’t escape the undue stress it placed on me.

Even back home in India, many struggled to pronounce my name, so the idea of introducing myself to non-Desi classmates filled me with uncertainty.

With this in mind, I found the amount of people who asked if I had an ‘easier’ nickname they could use to address me unnerving; some would even create ones that I didn’t agree to. While this may seem harmless, it implies that non-white-sounding names aren’t worth learning or respecting.

If someone doesn’t introduce themselves using a nickname, or if they don’t offer you the chance to call them one, don’t assume the authority to rename them to something that sounds whiter. Instead, it’s okay to ask for help — I don’t expect every 5C student to be fluent in Tamil. In fact, I truly appreciate those who made the effort to know my name correctly despite being unfamiliar with certain syllables.

Still, in some of those moments of repetition I wondered how much easier introductions would be if my name was Jane or Kate.

I’m sure some of my other Desi

friends wondered that too, which is why, although they cherish their birth names, they chose to adopt Anglicized nicknames for their lives in the United States. This is an experience several non-white communities share. I used to believe it warranted shaming and criticisms of ‘whitewashing,’ but recent experiences in this country have changed my mind.

As much as one’s name reflects the rich and beautiful culture they grew up in, it is also an extremely personal facet of individual identity. This is especially the case considering how heavily one’s name can shape the way they are treated in the United States. Judging the way individuals of color cope with feelings of alienation in white environments is both unnecessary and counterproductive.

I want to emphasize that the choice to adopt a nickname is exactly that — a choice. It must be made by an individual without shame or coercion. The way people choose to identify shouldn’t be up to others to decide. Instead of alienating someone for their ‘difficult’ first name or ‘whitewashed’ nickname, we should address the true problem at hand — Eurocentrism. It is the reason why we equate whiteness to normality, without which both ‘hard-to-pronounce’ names and Anglicized nicknames would not exist in the first place.

With this in mind, know that you have full authority over how you express your own identity. No matter how much judgment you face for the name you want to be called, be fearless in your pursuit to ensure people get it right.

What are you majoring in?

As college students, we’re used to this question. It’s the one that comes right after many introductions. Many of us don’t know yet. For those who do, there’s the other reality of being judged based on their response.

My answer throughout high school has been politics and a minor in Chicane/Latine studies. It’s not necessarily a lie; I’ve known since a young age that the intersection of politics and activism is what brings me genuine passion.

It wasn’t until recently that ethnic studies was added to the mix.

It began in my high school when I was lucky enough to take a course called Latinx Identity In The United States.

My school didn’t directly offer it, but they allowed students interested in specific fields to take courses through an online program.

In high school, I only had one Latina teacher, so it was through this virtual class that I found solace and strength within representation. I found a special magic that was often always buried. Ever since then, I added Chicane/Latine studies to my response.

Still, I would always say it would be “a minor.”

There’s a common idea that there are certain majors that are more economically stable or will bring more generational wealth. Think computer science, a STEM field, economics — you get the gist. Many times, family members or close friends try to influence what we want to study under the guise that we should focus our studies

Vaidehi Srinivasan is a first-year at Pomona College. She loves fluffy novels, horror movies, combat sports and chocolate chip cookies.

on what will bring us the most stability in the future.

I’ve gotten my fair share of strange looks when I tell people that Chicane/Latine studies is a field I want to pursue. People’s automatic responses tended to be along the lines of “That’s impractical” or “What would you even do with that?”

In an endless cycle, I began to try to justify my reasoning. I felt sentences rapidly escape my mouth that centered around the idea that the field is interdisciplinary, that there are so many opportunities I can engage in with a degree like that in different professional sectors.

Why do I need to justify it, though? Shouldn’t it be enough to say that I’m doing it because it brings me joy?

There’s an added layer of complexity when we think about how students of color are expected to pursue specific disciplines and career choices. A lot of our immigrant families tend to believe that medicine, law or engineering are the careers that we should take part in because they bring the most wealth.

There’s a fear of financial instability that a lot of marginalized communities grew up in.

A part of the so-called American Dream is creating a better life for our families and this automatic instinct of survival leads a lot of people to pursue things that they might actually not even be interested in.

I feel this weight all the time.

If I have the privilege of gaining a college education, why don’t I study something that will guarantee my family the most wealth?

I vividly remember the emotions I felt after my first Chicane Histories class this semester. I walked in and saw the board

and saw Spanglish. I saw a professor that looked like me. I felt mesmerized learning about a history that not everyone takes time to learn about. I walked out of the class speeding onto my next class with a few tears in my eyes.

The readings and work I’ve done for this class have not felt like a burden to me. Who knew I would actually love reading hundreds of pages a week?

I started imagining how pursuing this history might allow me to inspire other students in the future in the same way that I left professor Summers Sandoval’s class feeling a mix of joy, empowerment and heartbreak. Because if I ever had a lightbulb moment, it would be that one.

Now, I find myself responding to that dreaded major question with: a major in Chicane/Latine studies and a minor in politics.

Deep down, I think I’ve always known it was going to be in that order. I was just giving people the answer that was going to make them more comfortable. But it never made ME feel comfortable.

Is it impractical? Is it going to take me places? What are my plans after?

I don’t know. Most of us don’t know despite studying the socalled “better” majors. I mean, hey, we might not even know if what we think right now will change by next semester.

What I do know though is that this major combination brings me happiness and passion and I’ll take that over misery any day. That’s what I came to college for, after all.

It’s easier said than done, but don’t be afraid to study what you truly want. Take those voices of others outside of your head and listen to yours. Think about your lightbulb moment and wear them proudly.

LUCIA MARQUEZ-UPPMAN • THE STUDENT LIFE

Open your mind to Instapoetry CORINA YI Since the advent of social media, Instapoetry has emerged as a popular form of written work. Mostly shared through Instagram but not limited to social media, Instapoems are typically characterized by brevity, minimalistic language and emotional vulnerability. Maybe you’ve seen some of these poems on your own feed — simple words and short verses fit into the square of a single post.

As New York Times book critic Carl Wilson puts it, these poems are “often brief enough to fit into a tweet, or to be overlaid on a photo or an illustration.” Social media subcommunities like BookTok and BookTube have further pushed Instapoetry into light as a topic of literary discussion. This digitization of poetry and its growing evidence of success, has sparked public controversy in recent years. But Instapoetry shouldn’t be as controversial as it is.

There is much to appreciate about Instapoetry: It’s accessible, digestible and reaches a wider audience than traditional print or online publication. According to a survey by the National Endowment for the Arts, poetry readership declined from about 20 percent of the American population in 1982 to approximately 7 percent in 2012, then rebounded to around 12 percent in 2017. This recent growth in poetry readership could be attributed to expanding online platforms for poetry exposure. For people unfamiliar with poetic language, scrolling through Instapoems can be a passive and entertaining way to spend their time and delve deeper into poetry as a genre.

So then, what makes Instapoetry so controversial? Literary critics argue that Instapoetry devalues the art and essence of poetry. Instapoetry is

disregarded as holding little to no literary merit while still packaging itself as a form of poetry. In Instapoetry, minimalistic language is often criticized as plain and content exploring emotional vulnerability is deemed cliche and unoriginal.

However, crafted language in this sense is a two-way street.

What may be oversimplification and plainness for some may be accessibility and enjoyment for others. The content Instapoetry has popularized is surprisingly not too different from that of traditional poetry. Heritage, love, identity, family — the list goes on.

But differences in crafted language have led to a difference in how these themes are explored and perceived.

Among this discussion, Sikh-Canadian writer Rupi Kaur has emerged as the controversial face of Instapoetry. Kaur’s 2014 debut book “milk and honey”

embodies the core characteristics of Instapoetry: short verses, simple language and emotional intimacy translated through themes of love, survival and healing. The purpose of “milk and honey” means well to empower and move readers, but at times Kaur’s writing can appear unoriginal and unprofound — which, admittedly, I can attest to.

Let’s take a look at an excerpt from “milk and honey”: “it is a part of the human experience to feel pain do not be afraid open yourself to it” Although these lines make use of poetic structure, it seems to lack poetic language and purpose in a conventional sense. The absence of rhythm and sensory details makes the piece appear more a statement than a poem and there is little depth or nuance to these words.

LUCIA MARQUEZ-UPPMAN • THE STUDENT LIFE

Intuitively, the content and message conveyed seems overplayed as well; accepting pain as part of the human experience is not only a common theme in literature, but also a universally accepted circumstance in society. And while this excerpt is organized by line breaks, they seem to occur arbitrarily.

The release of “milk and honey” resulted in a twofold response: eminent success and harsh criticism.

These reactions are common in pop culture, to which Instapoetry is often linked (many people refer to Instapoetry as “poetry going pop”). From one angle, I feel compelled to sympathize with critics.

As a writer myself, I understand how difficult it is for poets to gain recognition at the smallest scale, let alone make a living off their work. Writers are still human; despite the sentiment that we enjoy writing for ourselves, we still want to reach an audience that appreciates and recognizes our work. While Rupi Kaur made millions of dollars selling copies of her Instapoetry-style books, many poets who write in a more traditional sense reach a more limited audience.

That said, criticisms against Instapoetry tend to be rigid and uncompromising. Instapoetry is not necessarily devaluing the literary community. Whether you consider it to be a real form of poetry or not, Instapoetry is vastly different from traditional forms of poetry. For this reason, they cannot be pitted against each other. Just as traditional art is examined differently from digital art, Instapoetry and traditional poetry should also be considered separately. Instapoetry blends the line between tradition and experimentation and with this reasoning, it could be categorized as an interdisciplinary art of sorts: one that does not represent poetry

as a genre but can exist under the umbrella of it. Recognition-wise, many poets who write in a more traditional sense have accumulated great public attention — take best-selling author Ocean Vuong as an example, who’s gained nearly 300,000 followers on Instagram and whose name strikes as familiar as a mainstream celebrity.

Because art is subjective, people will always voice their opinions on whether a piece is good or bad, jumping to conclusions with these labels without considering gray areas. Some may condemn Rupi Kaur’s work as a dishonor to standard poetry that breaks all the rules of its foundation, while others may praise her work as a novel reinvention of traditional writing that caters to a more suitable audience in today’s day and age.

For 5C students interested in learning poetic craft and analyzing pieces, Instapoetry might not be the best way to go. There are plenty of creative writing courses and external resources at your disposal to introduce yourself to poetry. For others, checking out a copy of “milk and honey” at the library could be a nice way to spend time unwinding or exploring various styles of writing. Feeling connected to a piece of literature should be a personal experience, not one that is dictated by the media or your peers. So if an Instapoem moves you, allow yourself to feel connected to it.

The bottom line is this: you may not be the target audience of Instapoetry — you may even hate it. My own tastes in literature tend to lean towards more traditional forms of contemporary poetry and I rarely spend time reading Instapoetry on my own time. But that doesn’t mean others can’t enjoy it for what it is.

Corina Yi PO ’27 likes em dashes and chai lattes. She misses her dog a lot.

Opinions

October 27, 2023

PAGE 9

Too hot to handle: How 5C students can tackle climate change JOANNE OH It’s the end of October and it’s hot. My fellow pumpkin spice drinking and cardigan wearing girlies, gents and nonbinary friends may be left wondering: What in the world happened to sweater weather? Rather than wearing sweaters, it seems like this is the season of sweating.

Science has the answer. According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the rate of warming is more than twice as fast as it was in 1981. In fact, scientists say that 2023 is on track to be the hottest year on record.

These statistics can leave people feeling hopeless and helpless. Exerting effort on such a large issue can seem futile. And, given how busy we are as college students, we may feel we don’t have the time to help in the first place.

As 5C students, it’s important for us to find an avenue in which we can make a difference.

One way to get involved in the effort to slow global warming is joining Divest Claremont Colleges, a club that started in 2015 to put pressure on Pitzer College authorities to divest from fossil fuels.

“The main strategies of the organization are a two-pronged approach of working within and outside of the institution,” Anthony Shing PZ ’24, a previous member of Divest 5Cs, told me.

“Working inside could mean signing petitions and encouraging faculty to support divestment and contacting admin and trustees to be more transparent about their investments. Working outside is more about generating public pressure and educating students about divestment.”

Getting involved with on-campus organizations such as the Green Bike Program and the Robert Redford Conservancy are also excellent choices. You can also participate in climate strikes occurring on campus. For those looking to make an impact beyond the 5C bubble, I encourage you to engage with organizations like California Society for Ecological Restoration, United States Fish and Wildlife Services and the Sierra Club.

JOANNE OH • THE STUDENT LIFE

However, involvement doesn’t have to be limited to solely participating in Divest 5Cs or other on-campus organizations.

For those who can afford it, action can look like urging your friends and family to switch to using electricity from wind farms and solar panels. Also, switching your car to an electrically powered one can save you up to $1,000 a year overall.

O f c o u r s e , n o t e ve r y 5 C student has the socioeconomic means to implement these changes — and that’s okay. For those who don’t find themselves able to make the solar switch, I suggest action in the form of

lobbying to hold policymakers accountable. This means reaching out to your representatives and signing petitions to enact change, a process made simpler through organizations like Sunrise Claremont Colleges.

According to the Berkeley Lab, “the primary barrier to increased alternative energy use will not be cost, it will be enacting new policies. A coordinated policy response between states and the federal government will be necessary to succeed.”

Let’s help make this a reality by putting pressure on government officials to make the changes we want to see.

TUNNELS UNDER CLAREMONT: A COMIC BY BELLA PETTENGILL

Hipster professor

If you find yourself feeling overwhelmed and discouraged, I don’t blame you. Sometimes it feels like the weight of the world is entirely in our tiny, minuscule hands. It is a valid feeling. At the end of the day, it is impossible to tackle the climate crisis alone. It is far too much to bear. That’s why it is so important that we make a concerted effort together.

When I need inspiration, I turn to this quote from Naomi Klein’s book “On Fire”: “The answer to the question ‘What can I, as an individual, do to stop climate change?’ is nothing. We can only meet this tremendous challenge together, as part of a massive and

organized global movement.”

Whether you excel in writing, public speaking, math, computer science, graphic design or more, your skills are valued and can be utilized in tackling the climate crisis. There is strength in numbers and your participation does matter. Together, in solidarity, we can enact change. Let’s get to work before it’s too late.

Joanne Oh PZ ’25 is a biochemistry and sociology major at Pitzer College.

Although no longer an environmental science major, she still is passionate about the environment. It’s almost as if she cares about preserving the earth she lives on.

MANHOLE SANDWICH: A COMIC BY SASHA MATTHEWS

After the game 2: After ‘after the game’

JJ’s Crossword: This is 5C Halloween ACROSS 2. The name of this candy is also the sound it makes when eaten.

5. Instrument associated with Halloween.

7. Oct. 31 door greeting.

8. Witch’s transport.

DOWN 1. Fruit (from a botanist’s perspective) that is a central Halloween symbol.

3. PO dining hall where you’ll go to see some scary decorations.

4. Candy with a (misspelled) animal in its alliterative name.

6. While you might walk into them, they are a common Halloween decoration.

JJ HOFFMAN • THE STUDENT LIFE

PAGE 10

October 27, 2023

Kahani’s Crossword: Climate, catastrophe, oh my!

ACROSS

DOWN

2. Symbol that indicates which articles in this issue are climate-related.

1.Name for the effect which traps heat in the Earth’s atmosphere.

6. Greenhouse gas most associated with humancaused warming.

3. Alternatives to plastic takeaway boxes at the 5C dining halls.

8. Space organization conducting research into the effects of climate change.

9. Happy 78th birthday to the _____!

10. Species largely at fault for climate change.

11. Hurricane that made landfall this week in Acapulco, Mexico.

4. Planet which popular culture intends to be Earth 2.0 in case of climate disaster.

5. 5C campus where 40,000 square feet of grass turf was removed over 10 years.

7. Club started in 2015 to pressure Pitzer College to divest from fossil fuels.

12. Reduce, reuse...

KAHANI MALHOTRA • THE STUDENT LIFE

The Climate Issue Special Projects Editors’ Note From hurricanes and wildfires to record-breaking heat waves, the effects of climate change garner front-page headlines. The fight to actually slow global warming, however, rarely does. This week, we focus our coverage to honor the work of 5C students raising awareness of and combating climate change.

Climate change is daunting and it is easy to feel overwhelmed by its origins and effects. In the face of a hopelessness as widespread as rising temperatures, the 5C individuals and groups highlighted in this special report continuously reject despondency in favor of action.

Look out for the earth symbol next to our climaterelated articles!

In this issue, we feature 5C-specific climate efforts, like campus landscaping and Grove House Kitchen; community coming together around the outdoors in the People of Color Outside club and green boxing; and action items for students and experts to build resilience in the face of a changing planet. We also feature a special data story breaking down Pomona’s annual sustainability report.

Thank you for reading!

— India Claudy and Elena Townsend-Lerdo Special Projects Editors

Pomona College greenhouse gas emissions up amid changing climate, COVID recovery UNITY TAMBELLINI-SMITH A report released this month by the Pomona College Sustainability Office revealed that the school’s annual greenhouse gas emissions have increased by an estimated 19 percent in the past year, putting emissions at their highest since 2019.

Three student interns, Diego Tamayo PZ ’25, Evelyn Mineo PO ’25 and Katie Chao PO ’25, helped compile data into Pomona’s annual Strategic Action, Visible Effects (SAVE) report this past summer.

They found that Pomona emitted a net 2,243 tonnes more carbon dioxide equivalent in fiscal year 2023 (FY2023) — the period spanning from July 1, 2022 to June 30, 2023 — than in FY2022, following spikes in electricity and natural gas usage and an increase in transportation-related emissions.

The SAVE report, released each October ahead of the meeting of the board of trustees, quantifies the college’s progress over the past year on its SAVE goals, a series of climate goals across nine categories ranging from energy-use reduction to sustainability education, with the ultimate vision of achieving carbon net neutrality by 2030, a goal known as CN2030.

“Carbon neutrality means that an entity or organization has no net release of carbon dioxide to the atmosphere,” Chao said via email. “This is typically accomplished through a combination of reducing emissions, and purchasing what are called ‘carbon offsets,’ which are tradable certificates directly linked to activities that lower the amount of CO2 in the atmosphere.”

Pomona plans to achieve CN2030 by cutting greenhouse gas emissions in half from a baseline of 2014 emissions and offsetting the remaining 50 percent. As of this year, Pomona has reduced emissions by 21 percent from 2014 levels, primarily through direct reduction with the contribution of a small number of offsets.

What caused the increase in emissions?

The report identified greater energy demand as one primary cause of Pomona’s increased emissions, following both hotter summer weather and an unusually cold winter.

“Electricity and natural gas usage made up the first and second largest portions of our emissions this past year, respectively,” Chao said. “Their contributions to the overall growth in GHG emissions by the College can be more or less attributed to weather.

We’re having hotter summers and colder winters, meaning we’re all the more reliant upon our temperature control systems in every building

we inhabit. This is simply a reality of climate change.”

During the 2023 school year, electricity usage, which made up 35 percent of emissions, increased by 9 percent. For natural gas, making up 31 percent of emissions, usage increased by 21 percent. This effect was particularly pronounced in academic and administrative buildings, which both saw gas usage increase by more than a third.

Nikhil Schneider, assistant director of Pomona’s sustainability office and supervisor of the creation of the 2023 SAVE report, told TSL that the increased usage underscores the importance of efficiency projects in the face of climate change.

“What [increased emissions] illustrate is not that our efficiency gains are being overwritten. It’s showing that the extreme weather would be having a much greater impact if we weren’t taking these efficiency steps,” Schneider said.

“Any improvements we make are going to have greater and greater returns as we continue to have to use more power to meet our heating and cooling demands.”

In total, energy usage contributed an extra 653 tonnes of Co2e toward the 19 percent increase in emissions. The largest contribution, however, was from transportation emissions, which accounted for nearly 2,000 extra tonnes of Co2e this year as compared to FY2022, experiencing what the report refers to as a “drastic” 148 percent increase over the reporting period.

According to the report, transportation emissions rose as commuting and air travel patterns halted by COVID-19 returned to their pre-pandemic rhythms.

“Travel programs were pretty much curtailed entirely during the

COVID-19 pandemic,” Schneider said. “That was illustrated by our emissions taking a strong dip in 2021. In 2022, we saw some of those programs start to come back online. The most recent year was really the first fully normal year since COVID.” Following COVID-19, a handful of study abroad programs returned for the 2021-2022 school year, but programs did not fully restart until last fall, meaning the 2022 report recorded far fewer emissions from study abroad related airfare: less than 1 percent of emissions in FY2022 as compared to 5.5 percent this year. Similarly, emissions from air travel — primarily student and faculty travel to and from conferences — jumped from 8 percent to 12 percent of total emissions in the past year.

Emissions from staff commuting, which made up 7 percent of total emissions in 2023, nearly doubled.

According to the report, staff telecommuted less and drove from further distances than in 2022, and were twice as likely to make trips in a single-occupancy vehicle as faculty, a fact which can be attributed to a lack of affordable housing near Claremont.

The report says that advocating for affordable housing in Claremont “could enable more members of the Pomona College community to live where they work, resulting in more equitable and lower-emission commute patterns.”

Looking forward to 2030 Selene Li PO ’25 is a member of the CN2030 committee, an offshoot of the board of trustees which makes recommendations for how

best to achieve CN2030. Li said that when it comes to planning for CN2030, the board has a “long-term thinking style.”

“2030 is on the horizon, but it’s still five years away,” Li said. “What happens at a board meeting ends up happening maybe five years down the line.”

In that time, Schneider said that big projects include continuing to improve the efficiency of energy usage in buildings, ensuring that energy-efficient design choices are made in new construction projects including the Center for Global Engagement — which is set to replace the Oldenborg Center — and switching from gas to electricity where possible, because electricity can be transitioned to renewables, whereas gas cannot.

“California’s energy grid is going to continue getting cleaner, but our gas is going to stay just as dirty as it is,” Schneider said.

Pomona’s electricity currently comes from approximately one percent renewable sources, primarily on its off-campus properties. The college aims to have at least ten percent of energy from renewables by 2030.

However, Schneider said improving this percentage on-campus is not dependent on Pomona alone: because the 5Cs share an electric grid, they would have to agree to increase reliance on renewables.

“All five colleges would need to agree to enter that type of purchase agreement, and it would increase utility bills by 10 or 15 percent,” Schneider said.

Li, who looked into the feasibility of a 5C energy agreement in 2022 for a project separate from the board, said that to their most recent

knowledge “the cost was essentially prohibitive.”

Li also said that funding in general has limited climate action.

“I think that the board is fairly constrained in terms of what they are able to spend, what they consider valuable spending money,” Li said.

“A ballpark estimate of infrastructural changes … goes into the 10s of millions … so, I think that’s a thing that has prevented more progress.”

Despite constraints, Li said that they are hopeful about the trajectory of sustainability on campus.

“I’m working on this because I care. And I don’t feel like it’s useless,” Li said, adding that “it’s also nice that when I’m in board meetings I’m being asked for my opinions, my feelings on what students are concerned about.”

Schneider told TSL that he believes that the student voice has an important role to play in sustainability conversations on campus.

“Students should know the power they have to hold their campus accountable,” Schneider said. “I don’t think every student realizes the voice they have and the voice they will have as an alum … It’s difficult to get your voice acted upon, but the first step is asking.”

The full 2023 SAVE report is available to view on Pomona’s website as well as through the sustainability office.

All statistics in this story are exactly those available in the 2023 SAVE report as of October 25, 2023. Due to the complicated nature of the calculations involved, statistics in the report may be subject to some change after the date of publication. For the most up-to-date statistics, the SAVE report can be accessed online or through the Sustainability Office.

October 27, 2023

No strings attached: Club badminton courts enthusiasts

Sports PAGE 11 We Outside! People of Color Outside creates opportunities for minorities to connect with the outdoors PETER DIEN & ADAM AKINS

COURTESY: NATASHA YEN 5C club badminton practices in the Rec room at Roberts Pavilion.

ANSLEY WASHBURN Serving up a good time, 5C club badminton has smashed into the hearts of its members in an engagement-flexible environment.

The club offers a space for students of all levels and previous experience to practice their skills in a recreational environment. Their membership ranges from people who have never played before to those who have competed at high levels for years. The club holds no tryouts and their practices on Friday and Sunday from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. in Roberts Pavilion are open to anyone. Despite their wide range of skills, the club works to ensure that everyone is met at their current level, while still offering each member the opportunity to take from the club what they want — whether that be high level competition or low-stress recreational fun.

According to co-captain Natasha Yen PZ ’25, who joined as a sophomore in 2022, the club has an amiable culture where everyone feels comfortable with each other, but members are conscious of the difference in skill and account for it to ensure all participants are met where they’re at.

“Everyone is very open to meeting new people and just playing badminton together, even if they don’t really know how to play,” Yen said. “There’s always people that you can tell are more experienced, but they tend to play with each other.”

Grace Chung SC ’27, who played competitively throughout high school, found the club by browsing Instagram in search of community. She said the club’s welcoming atmosphere of individuals with a shared passion for the sport drew her in immediately.

“Coming into college, it’s a pretty big community; I went to a small high school and so it was a big adjustment,” Chung said. “I think it can be hard to find your people, but for me, finding the badminton club has been really fun. We all have those shared interests so we can connect through playing and that’s awesome.”

Co-captain and President Mason Cai PO ’24, who has been on the team since his sophomore year when students returned to school after the COVID-19 pandemic, cited badminton’s relatively small following as a reason why members of the club bond so quickly. He also said he is pleased that the club is able to provide a space at the 5Cs for new people to learn about the sport.

“There’s a nice culture where we don’t really need to have a deep conversation with one another but we’re like ‘they get it, they play badminton,’” Cai said. “Because badminton is less popular than some mainstream sports, I feel good that there are people who are coming to learn how to play it and getting exposed to it.”

According to Yen, the captains try to integrate those new to the sport as

smoothly as possible.

“We realized [following the club fair] that a lot of people really did have varying levels of experience … Mason helped by leading drills and teaching basic techniques,” Yen said. “We regularly have new people and if they are interested in learning more, they are welcome to ask us to teach.”

However, she added that they try to balance coaching with maintaining a laid-back environment.

“When Mason and I are with other badminton members, sometimes we will give kind pointers to how they can improve if they want,” Yen said. “But again, it’s very casual and I know a lot of people come to just have fun, so we try to not be too overbearing with doing drills or anything like that.”

According to Chung, the captains do a good job making the environment inclusive and allowing participants to take away from it what they want.

“People are really welcoming,” Chung said. “Especially the captains, they try to take care of everybody. Everyone is super nice, the atmosphere is definitely friendly.”

Cai said that in the spirit of allowing individuals to choose their level of engagement, he has worked to connect club members to local badminton gyms and has organized the club’s first off-campus competition appearance.

“This semester is the first semester where we have decided to play tournaments off campus,” Cai said. “We let people know and whoever wants to sign up can, but there are fees and people pay out of pocket so it’s really about if you want to experience it.”

Chung explained that because the club has no formal tryouts or any strict practice regime, the engagement doesn’t feel mandatory.

He said that he enjoys this aspect of the club because it allows everyone to be as committed or as casual as they chose.

“I think it’s really good that people can just show up on a whim and play however much they want with no commitments,” Cai said. “I think the anonymity of it is comforting because since I as a captain don’t know everyone’s names, they don’t need to feel responsible to come, but they can still totally come if they want to.”

Cai believes regardless of experience, everyone who comes to play in the club is given the opportunity to push themselves.

“I think feeling competitively challenged is not about playing people who are better than you per say, but the spirit of wanting to get better,” Cai said. “There are a lot of people who are really committed to getting better so it’s always challenging.”

In a letter to the International Federation of Sport Climbing (IFSC) on Oct. 11, renowned route setter Tonde Katiyo, a Black Zimbabwean, announced his resignation from the organization, citing issues of systemic racism as the cause. His exit came after working for 11 IFSC events in the span of 14 years and organizing approximately 30 major climbing competitions in 15 countries.

Katiyo said that the IFSC had denied his experiences of racism from veteran members of the climbing teams while telling him to “keep his head down” instead of asking for better conditions and professional advancement in his field. Although Katiyo’s experience may seem quite far from the 5Cs, the issues of equity in outdoor spaces are not isolated from the experiences people of color face here in Claremont.

During the 2023 spring semester, Hasana Parker PO ’24 and Mya Corral PO ’24 came together to create a space of inclusion for people of color on campus through People Of Color Outside (POCO).

Outdoorsmanship as a whole is characterized by monolithic whiteness and lack of representation. The Journal of Leisure Research found that African Americans and Hispanic Americans made up only 10 percent of all visitors of National Parks in 2021 despite making up 30 percent of America’s total population. Students in Claremont, such as Zora Beatty PO ’25, who grew up in Chicago, Illinois, explained this has affected their perceptions of selves in outdoor spaces.

“The predominance of white people in [outdoor] spaces made me feel as if I was wrong to be there,” Beatty said. “So I think that it’s important to have a space for people of color so that they know that they do belong in the outdoors — while disintegrating the potential for stigma.”

Beatty, who is POCO’s travel catering coordinator, said she hopes to combat the issues of racial equity through this new club. Parliament members in POCO meet to create fully planned trips — such as a recent stargazing event in Mt. Baldy — to introduce people of color to the outdoors while retaining a culture of inclusivity. “[POCO] offers a safe, comfortable place for [people of color] to do something that’s already out of their comfort zone while [not feeling] that they are in a predominantly white group,” Chase Wade PZ ’26, POCO’s webmaster, said.

“Going somewhere that they are completely unfamiliar with — that may create a lot of discomfort for people of color.”

Attending predominantly white institutions, co-founders Parker and Corral explored this inherent sense of exclusion when they founded the club. They address this in their mission statement: despite the strides made by diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives at the 5Cs, racial minorities still need spaces made explicitly for and by them to feel safe and connected.

“There is a difference between a space making room for you, [and] that space being made for you,” wrote Parker and Corral. “Even at an institution like Pomona, this school was not built with the intention of having students of color go here.”

Although it was only founded last semester, the organization has already been successful finding funding and communicating with administration to support their cause. With five fully funded and supported trips already completed and five more planned before winter break, the club hopes to garner more membership across the 5Cs as the academic year continues.

Wade elaborated on the importance of building a relationship with administration.

“I think that the other 5Cs could be a little more supportive in terms of the resources that they give …

Pitzer especially,” Wade said. “I also think that comes with getting

more kids or students across the 5Cs involved in the club … hopefully as engagement grows with the club, we’ll also see an increase in the resources we get.”

According to Parker, each POCO trip aims to equip students of color with a feeling of safety outdoors and a new place to connect with their community.

“A lot of the trips that we do are very beginner-friendly, very beginner-focused,” Parker said. “So we would bring guides with us for a lot of the things we do and provide things like wilderness first aid training and teaching people how to build tents.”

Since POCO’s establishment, they have grown their leadership by creating the POCO parliament — a cabinet which includes teams for social media outreach, sign-up, trip leaders, financials, transportation and organizing food.

“POCO parliament came to be because I wanted the club to live on after I graduated,” Parker said.

“It was a lot of work, and having someone who’s in charge of transportation, food and having trip leaders who are able to plan and lead so I don’t have to go on every trip.”

Corral and Parker said the expansion of POCO has allowed them to to plan twice as many trips and events as last year, with recent projects including swimming lessons, pool parties with the Pomona Latinx Student Alliance, trips in conjunction with the Young Men’s Collective and a collaborative effort with Pomona housing to take local high school students on a zoo trip.

With both founders looking to study abroad next semester, POCO will face its first semester under new leadership, and the Parliament is looking for new members, a greater reach throughout the 5Cs and more opportunities to say “We Outside.” “[In POCO] I have been around people who look like me and enjoy the environment as much as I do,” Beatty said. “So I think that it’s important to have a space for people of color so that they know that they do belong in the outdoors — while disintegrating the potential for stigma.”

COURTESY: PEOPLE OF COLOR OUTSIDE (POCO)

Claremont men’s club soccer falls to Cal State Fullerton in a 0-1 battle AMEYA TELI

Tussling with the Tuffy Titan Elephants, the men of the Claremont Colleges’ soccer club were ultimately stomped in a vocal and aggressive battle that saw Cal State Fullerton hand them a loss in their first game of the season.

On Saturday, Oct. 21 at 2 p.m., the Claremont College men’s club soccer fell 1-0 to Cal State Fullerton at Parents Field, starting their fall 2023 season off with a loss.

The game began with Claremont on the attack. They maintained a fast-paced and aggressive tempo, pushing Fullerton onto the defensive.

One of their several attacking chances resulted in Claremont putting the ball in the back of the net in just the first few minutes, but the goal was revoked due to an offside offense.

Nevertheless, Claremont continued to apply pressure on the Elephants. Andrew Palmer PZ ’26 said he was pleased with the team’s performance in the beginning of the first half.

“We were really pressing high and winning the ball up the field and putting the pressure on them,” Palmer said.

However, despite Claremont’s hot start, Fullerton found their grounding and the game transitioned into an even back and forth between both sides. Palmer explained the Elephants’ comeback could have been

avoided, had Claremont been able to execute their chances.

“If we could have taken advantage of an opportunity we got there, the game could have gone a lot differently,” Palmer said.

Regardless of several near misses on both sides, the game remained a scoreless draw for the

first 40 minutes.

However, in the final minutes of the first half, the stalemate was shattered. Fullerton’s high pressure helped them draw a corner and they were able to guide the ball into the box. It was met by the ready foot

of an attacker who directed it swiftly past the Claremont keeper’s dive and into the goal, giving Fullerton the 1-0 lead going into the half.

Palmer said the team’s small moments of losing focus gave away a few too many chances, which allowed Fullerton to tilt the scale in their favor.

“We gave away a lot of setpieces and they capitalized on one of them,” Palmer said. “It’s just that part of being focused.”

As the half was nearing an end, Claremont had a burst of energy.

They began to push aggressively and kept the ball in their attacking

COURTESY: KYLE WILSON Diego Fuentebella PZ ‘26 puts out a challenge against Cal State Fullerton offense.

final third. Fullerton matched their energy and countered with a dangerous shot on frame, but it was denied by Claremont’s goalkeeper.

Ryle Faurot PZ ’26 said he noticed this pattern, noting that the team struggled in their execution, but remained strong in the back.

“Defensively, we looked quite solid and building out of the back we worked well,” Faurot said. “It was the attacking third in which we struggled.”

As the whistle blew to signify the end of the first half, Claremont walked lethargically off the field.

Palmer said that going into the half trailing by a goal impacted the team.

“We probably could have picked ourselves up a bit more,” Palmer said. “Our mentality was good, but we just needed a little boost energy-wise.”

After regrouping at halftime, Claremont was able to re-energize.

Five minutes into the second half, they launched a successful attack from the left wing and were able to successfully cross the ball into the box.

Still, similarly to the first half, the ball continued to be directed back and forth with both Claremont and Fullerton pressing forward then defending. In the 60th minute, Claremont had a promising attack.

From a throw-in, Claremont got the ball into their forward and a well placed header was aimed on target but was saved by Fullerton’s keeper.

Although Claremont had many chances to score in the last few min-

utes of the game they still could not come through. Ari Benveniste PO ’25 described the team’s inability to gain momentum.

“I was hoping in those last 20 minutes we would just knock one in,” Benveniste said. “I think if we had just scored one the floodgates would have opened and we would have had it.”

Meanwhile, Faurot highlighted Claremont’s individual talent but described how they needed to work better as a unit.

“Our attacking players are very skillful,” Faurot said. “The lack of outcome was not due to any individual performance, but rather, a lack of a cohesive, practiced attack.”

Although they could not get anything going on offense, Claremont’s defense refused to let up to the bitter end. This was punctuated by a spectacular save from Claremont’s keeper.

“The last minute save our keeper [Otto Fritton PZ ’27] made was unbelievable,” Benveniste said. “The dying seconds to keep us in the game were pretty unreal.”

While Claremont may have come away with a loss in their first game of the season, Palmer didn’t necessarily see it as a negative.

“That’s just how the game works sometimes,” Palmer said. “You play really well, you just don’t get the result, but the performance was not bad at all.”

Claremont Men’s Club Soccer will continue their season at the Pomona turf fields, where they will face Cal Poly Pomona at 2 p.m. on Nov. 4.

Sports

PAGE 12

October 27, 2023

Hens fly high: P-P women’s volleyball pushes to third in SCIAC division with a 3-1 defeat of Redlands Bulldogs MAGDALENA PAPA Feathers went flying and whimpers echoed throughout Voelkel Gymnasium as the Sagehens put the Bulldogs through puppy-training and then slammed their crate shut in a decisive 3-1 victory against Redlands.

On Tuesday, Oct. 24, the Pomona-Pitzer (P-P) women’s volleyball team took on the Redlands Bulldogs in one of the last regular season games of the fall, defeating them three sets to one.

The Sagehens got off to a rough start, going down 7-2 early in the first set, but managed to come back from the early deficit.

Kills from Chloe Gill PO ’25 and Samantha Grabb PO ’27 helped level the score to 8-6. When an ace from Emily Bunnell PZ ’24 brought the Sagehens within one, Redlands rallied, landing several aces and extending their lead to 12-9.

But the Hens turned it around when a block from Paige Mountanos PO ’26 tied the score at 12-12.

The teams traded points, and a kill from Charlotte Sekerka PO ’27 gave P-P its first lead of the game. A sit-down block from Sekerka grew P-P’s lead to 21-17. The Sagehens went on to win the set 25-19.

Grabb said she was pleased with her team’s ability to come back from trailing and win the first set.

“I think that it’s very important that when you don’t feel as comfortable out there that you are able to push past that and still get points,” Grabb said.

P-P began the second set in the same way they did the first.

A trick set gave Redlands the 4-1 lead and their subsequent ace extended their advantage to 5-1.

Still, P-P rallied, and a kill from Paige Mountanos PO ’26 cut the Redlands lead to 6-4, putting the Hens right back in it.

A double-handed hit from Redlands was called for an error, giving P-P a 12-11 lead. The Hens kept the pressure on and a kill by Kellan Hayes PO ’25 made the score 16-13. The set ended with a kill from Grabb, and the Sagehens won the second set 25-22.

Hayes was proud of the team’s ability to persist and execute when it mattered after starting their first two sets down.

“I think we pushed through when we maybe weren’t playing our best,” Hayes said. “We did our job.”

The third set started with points flying back and forth between the teams, resulting in the score tying up multiple times.

The Bulldogs went up 8-6, but back-to-back kills from Paige Wilson PO ’24 and Hayes leveled the score.

However, P-P could not match their energy, allowing Redlands to take a 14-8 lead. P-P immediately called for a timeout. However, Redlands kept up the pressure and an ace made the score 15-8.

Another ace increased their lead to 20-14, after which P-P called another timeout. Corina Benson PO ’27 said she felt the timeouts were helpful for the team.

“I felt that we had meaningful communication in the huddles between points,” Benson said.

Returning from the break, the Sagehens began their comeback.

An ace from Benson gave P-P some momentum and narrowed the gap to 21-17. Continuing with their burst of energy, a kill followed by a block from Hayes made it a two-point game 22-20 in favor of Redlands. Yet another kill from Hayes tied it up 22-22,

giving the Sagehen their first glimpse of hope in the third set.

However, the Sagehens’ push was not enough and Redlands ultimately took the third set 28-26.

The fourth set started evenly, with the teams exchanging points back and forth. However, P-P was able to pull ahead and lead 12-7, causing the Bulldogs to call for a time-out. Despite their time to regroup, Redlands could not match the Sagehens’ energy, and after the break, P-P extended their lead to 19-13 with a kill from Grabb and a sit-down block by Hayes.

They kept their advantage for the remainder of the set and won the

SARAH ZIFF • THE STUDENT LIFE Tene Ariyo PO ‘26 goes for the ball during the Sagehens’ 3-1 victory over Redlands.

Claremont-Mudd-Scripps

Athletes of the Week Meilan Uyeno

CMC ’27 Bellevue, WA Women’s Swim and Dive

The first year made a splash right away in the first competition of the year. Uyeno took home 1st place and second place on the 1 meter and 3 meter boards against California State University, Bakersfield last weekend. She posted a score of 215.60 on the 1m to give her a comfortable 30 point win, and finished close behind teammate Alexis Romero CM ’25 with 217.40 points on the 3m. The Athenas will face off against their Alumni this Saturday, at 10:30 am.

Friday, October 27

Pomona-Pitzer The senior attacker out of Upland led the Sagehens to an undefeated week, tallying three wins including critical conference victories against DIII no. 4 ranked Chapman and no. 10 ranked La Verne. Green recorded 10 goals across those three wins, as well as four assists and six steals as Pomona-Pitzer cruised to victory. The Sagehens take on Occidental this Saturday at 11:00 am at home.

Kyle Green

PZ ’23 Upland, CA Men’s Water Polo

Women’s Soccer @ Redlands 11:00 am

Volleyball vs. Cal Lutheran 7:00 pm

CMS

Football vs. Chapman 1:00 pm

Saturday, October 28

Men’s Soccer @ Cal Tech 2:00 pm

Men’s Cross Country (SCIAC Championships) 9:00 am

Volleyball @ Whittier 6:00 pm

Women’s Cross Country (SCIAC Championships) 9:45 am

Saturday, October 28 Men’s Cross Country (SCIAC Championships) 9:00 am

P-P

set 25-20, ending in the game with a Sagehen victory.

Although she was excited about the win, Hayes remained focused on finishing the season strong and continuing to improve to the end.

“I think we need to work on our consistency,” Hayes said. “We have the team chemistry. It’s just a matter of always showing up and always playing at the high level that we are capable of playing at.”

This game pushed P-P’s conference record to 10-3, maintaining their third place position in the SCIAC. The Sagehens will be back in action on Saturday, Oct. 28 at La Verne.

Women’s Cross Country (SCIAC Championships) 9:45 am Men’s Water Polo vs. Occidental 11:00 am

Volleyball @ La Verne 4:00 pm

Sports Calendar

Men’s Soccer @ Chapman 7:00 pm Football @ Cal Lutheran 7:00 pm Sunday, October 29 Men’s Golf (Fall Preview)

Men’s Water Polo vs. Golden West 4:00 pm

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