Vol. CXXXIII No. 8

VOL. CXXXIII NO. 8

FRIDAY, NovembeR 12, 2021

CLAREMONT, CA

SHS implements pooled COVID-19 testing AVA FRANCIS-HALL This month, some 5C students were puzzled to discover their COVID-19 test results from Student Health Services read “Pnegative,” rather than the formerly reported “negative.” The reason for their confusion? SHS began pooled testing on Nov. 1, and results shifted accordingly to reflect the new process in place. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, pooled testing has a faster turnaround time and is a more cost-effective method of COVID-19 testing. Saliva specimens are combined and then tested as a whole. If the pool doesn’t contain enough viral material to be detected by the test, it comes back negative. But if it comes back positive, then the pool’s specimens are individually retested to determine who is positive. This method of testing is more effective in areas in which positivity rates are consistently and significantly low, the CDC said — which has largely been true for the 5Cs since the fall semester began. The Claremont Colleges Services spokesperson Laura Muna-Landa cited high vaccination rates and universal indoor masking as “mitigating factors” in keeping cases low. Pooled testing means that “fewer lab resources are used resulting in a more cost-effective approach when used for screening of a population that is highly vaccinated such as TCC

students,” Muna-Landa said in an email, adding that the technique also results in improved turnaround times. Pomona College Treasurer Robert Goldberg said that the colleges collaborated with SHS to implement pooled testing. “The 7Cs discussed the issue with Student Health Services and agreed that with pooled testing we can continue to receive accurate and timely test results at a lower cost,” Goldberg said via email. But an increased pool size also increases the risk for false negatives because samples are diluted and genetic material might be harder to detect, according to the CDC. SHS pools eight samples at once, according to Muna-Landa. “There is no expectation that using pooled techniques will reduce the efficacy of our screening program in any meaningful way,” she said. According to the limitations stipulated in SHS pooled testing results, “If this specimen was initially screened by pooled testing methodology and validated in our laboratory as a Laboratory Developed Test, then a specimen with a low level of viral RNA may be negative in this procedure.” Madeline Hoorn SC ’24 found out about the implementation of

See TEST on page 3

ABBY PORTER On Nov. 4, the city and county of Los Angeles announced new mandates on proof of vaccination for COVID-19. The LA cit y ordi na nce is one of t he strictest in the country, requiring proof of full vaccination from all eligible customers to enter any “indoor portion of a covered location,” although it won’t be enforced until Nov. 29. LA County, which includes Claremont, updated its October vaccine mandate for indoor bars, nightclubs, wineries and breweries — which can no longer allow customers to show a negative COVID-19 test or partial vaccination for entry. Employees of these establishments had to provide full vaccination proof to their employers by Nov. 4. In the city of LA, the only exemptions are for those with medical conditions that prevent vaccination or those with sincerely held religious beliefs, who may instead show proof of a negative COVID-19 test taken within 72 hours. Customers unwilling to provide proof can still use outdoor venues and may briefly enter a business to use the bathroom or get take-out. It will be up to the businesses to review any exemption claims. Of the county’s eligible residents, 80 percent have received at least one COVID-19 vaccine dose and 71 percent are fully vaccinated, according to data through Oct. 31. Claremont continues to lag behind the county

With travel policies changing, 5C clubs grapple with funding allocations WALLY BARGERON After months of COVID-related restrictions on funding, 5C clubs are now able to request approval and funding for overnight trips, conferences and competitions from student governments. Clubs across the 5Cs were forced to start off the year with

Napier Initiative courses set to resume in person this spring

County tightens mandate LA County pushes businesses for vaccine verification

CeCILIA RANSbURG • THe STUDeNT LIFe

Students gather at the Pitzer mounds for the 5C Club Fair in September.

ANUSHE ENGINEER As course registration for the spring semester rolls around next week, students at the 5Cs are scrambling to figure out their ideal schedules. But a lucky few automatically get a seat in the courses they want. In fact, they’re an integral part of the courses altogether. For the last 10 years, members of the Pilgrim Place community have studied alongside 5C students in a host of courses as part of the Napier Initiative. This intergenerational collaboration between the Claremont Colleges and Pilgrim Place aims to build relationships between students and elders through courses focused on sustainability, justice and social change. The spring 2022 semester will mark a revival of in-person Napier courses as students and elders study alongside each other. Political Economy of Food, taught by Scripps College professor Nancy Neiman, and Gender, Crime and Punishment, taught by Scripps College professor Susan Cast-

See COVID on page 2

less funding than they requested, frequently because student governments were operating under rules from the colleges that prohibited funding for overnight trips. TSL’s analysis found clubs received, on average, 55 percent of the funding they requested when disbursements were released in October. Clubs whose allocations

were impacted specifically by travel restrictions received an average of 49 percent of their requests. According to ASPC Vice President of Finance Adeena Liang PO ’23, 5C clubs make an itemized request for funding at the end of each year. Then, clubs are funded at the beginning of

See BUDGET on page 3

CMC’s Roberts Pavilion now open to Pomona, Pitzer

agnetto, are the two designated Napier courses for next semester. “Elder co-learners bring a rich set of experiences and knowledge to the class that they are very willing to share with others in the room,” Castagnetto said of the five instances she’s taught Napier courses. Elders are expected to — and gladly do, according to Castagnetto — complete all the course readings and writing tasks. “They are excellent listeners, make very insightful contributions to class discussion and are not afraid to ask questions,” she said, in ways that serve as “a great model for undergraduates.” Aside from skipping a hectic course registration, other perks of the Napier Initiative courses include parking permits, boxed lunches on class field trips and reduced tuition for courses elders enroll in, according to Paula Hui PO ’67, who has previously taken Napier courses. The vision behind an immersive classroom experience, Hui

See NAPIER on page 2

CLARe mARTIN • THe STUDeNT LIFe

CHRIS NARDI • THe STUDeNT LIFe

Pomona and Pitzer College students, faculty and staff can now work out at CmC’s Roberts Pavilion.

ANURADHA KRISHNAN As the construction for Pomona College’s new athletics and recreation center continues, students, faculty and staff members at Pomona and Pitzer College are now allowed to use Claremont McKenna College’s Roberts Pavilion from 6 a.m. to 2 p.m. Mondays through Fridays, Pomona-Pitzer Director of Athletics Miriam Merrill said in an email to students Monday. Roberts opened five years ago to strong reviews from Claremont-Mudd-Scripps students. First time users from Pomona and Pitzer must sign a waiver before using any of the pavilion’s amenities, Merrill said. All users must keep their masks on at all times within the building and swipe into the building with their campus ID card. At this time, usage is only allowed within the specified timeframe and Pomona and Pitzer users are not permitted to register for or attend any CMS group fitness classes or other forms of “recreation program-

ming,” Merrill said. Despite the restricted window, students like Sonam Rikha PO ’24 welcomed the change. Although Pomona students have been able to use facilities at Pitzer’s Gold Student Center, Rikha said she appreciated being able to use Roberts since it’s closer to Pomona’s campus. “Unfortunately, I still won’t be able to exercise as much at Roberts Pavilion because I either have classes or work during those hours,” Rikha said. “I wish the hours were extended and that we also had access to the gym on the weekends. That way it’d be more accessible.” Pomona-Pitzer students have also had the option of reserving a spot at the “auxiliary fitness center” located on Pomona’s Strehle Track. But Rikha was never able to successfully use the auxiliary fitness center, which she affectionately referred to as “the shed.” “I’ve tried to go to the Pomona shed once and registered for an appointment at nighttime,” Rikha said. “Though when my friend and I searched for it, the door was locked and we were left lost in the poorly lit outskirts of the shed.”

SAmSoN ZHANG • THe STUDeNT LIFe

ARTS & CULTURE On Nov. 6, the Benton Museum of Art hosted artist Sadie Barnette to speak about her exhibition “Legacy & Legend,” which centers the FBI’s surveillance of her father for his involvement in the Black Panther Party. Read more on page 4.

The student newspaper of the Claremont Colleges since 1889

OPINIONS

SPORTS

Colleges have a responsibility to provide institutional support to Division III women’s athletes to help them make up for disparities in donations and networking opportunities, argues Madison Lewis PO ‘23. Read more on page 8.

Contrary to varsity sports with recruited athlete rosters, the unique intramural sports of innertube waterpolo and cornhole allow 5C non student-athletes to engage in recreational athletics. Read more on page 10.

INDEX: News 1 | Arts & Culture 4 | Opinions 7 | Sports 9

News

PAGe 2

NovembeR 12, 2021

Monsour’s return to campus brings mix of in-person and virtual offerings, continued access issues KHIMMOY HUDSON Struggling with a history of protracted backlogs and other issues raised by students, Monsour Counseling and Psychiatric Services is taking steps this semester to shorten wait times, offer higher-quality service and adapt to virtual telehealth services. Monsour is open, according to its website, but it’s “primarily offering virtual services in order to protect the safety of the 7C community, and to be able to see one another’s facial expressions unmasked, for optimal therapeutic benefit.” Its physical office is also staffed and open to students, and staff will be available for “in-person crisis sessions when necessary.” 5C students also have access to 7C Health, which provides 24/7 medical and behavioral telehealth care for 7C students, at no cost. The service also offers up to “12 ongoing therapy appointments for the academic year,” according to Monsour. “MCAPS offers a wide range of counseling and psychological services to students at The Claremont Colleges,” The Claremont Colleges Services spokesperson Laura Muna-Landa said in an email. “In the event of a crisis, MCAPS has a therapist on-call 24/7 for students. On average (pre-pandemic), MCAPS saw approximately 1,339 students over 6,693 appointments.” According to Muna-Landa, MCAPS has also hired new staff and is continuing to hire additional staff. Monsour says that it will offer students a brief initial assessment “in order to improve equity and timeliness of access to mental health services.” “Every student at The Claremont Colleges requesting MCAPS services will be seen for a virtual, brief 20-25 minute appointment within a few days,” its website states. Still, Muna-Landa said the wait time for an initial appointment is currently two weeks. Based on recommendations from an external review it undertook in fall 2019, Monsour also scrapped its session limit, which capped stu-

emmA JeNSeN • THe STUDeNT LIFe

Students continue to struggle with monsour’s appointment-making protocol.

dents’ appointments per semester, last year. The center is also offering dropin consultation sessions targeted towards Chicana/o and Latina/o students, Asian, Pacific Islander and Desi American students and athletes. But despite these reforms, students continue to encounter trouble getting appointments and seeking mental health help. Eben Sanchez PO ’25 began his journey with Monsour in late August, when staff at Chicano Latino Student Affairs directed him to the service for mental health support. “I remember that when I tried to get counseling in September, the wait was about a month and a half,” he said. Sanchez’s sessions with MCAPS

occur on a weekly basis. His sessions are virtual — posted on his door is a piece of wide ruled paper that reads, “In Therapy, Please Do Not Disturb.” “At the end of every session I have to schedule the next session. It’s whenever they’re available, so sometimes the day changes or the time changes,” Sanchez said. Since October, he added, he hasn’t had problems with scheduling. “But I feel like I’ve gotten lucky with that because it is very much an appointment-by-appointment thing,” he said. Anjali Karp PO ’25 has also run into issues booking appointments with Monsour this semester. For Karp, the availability of mental health resources was a defining part of her college research

process. “I remember I asked the rep who came to my school about what their mental health resources were, and he talked about Monsour,” Karp said. “It’s something that’s very important to me”. But when she tried to access its services, Karp said the process of booking appointments was “frustrating.” During the first week of October, Karp called Monsour, but received no answer. On Oct. 4 she received a voicemail from Monsour stating that they were returning her call. Her appointment to see a psychiatrist would be scheduled for Oct. 28, about three weeks after her initial point of contact. “I have had more time-sensitive interactions with Monsour and the

COVID: LA County tightens indoor vaccine mandate as 5Cs assess health conditions

help that I was able to get through those interactions would have been more helpful if I had gotten it in a more timely manner,” Karp said. “It just took a while and even though the people I ended up talking to were professionals in their field doing their best, it can only do so much when you’ve had to wait for as long as you have to wait.” Though Karp stated that she already has access to a counselor, she still needed to see a psychiatrist in order to pursue a change in her medication. “I didn’t need counseling services … I had a referral from my counselor to seek change in medication, so I needed to see a psychiatrist or a nurse practitioner or someone who was able to write scripts in California,” Karp said.

NAPIER: Classes emphasize lifelong learning Continued from page 1

JULIAN CHAPIN • THe STUDeNT LIFe

Patrons of indoor nightclubs and bars in L.A. County now need to provide proof of full CovID-19 vaccination.

Continued from page 1 at large, reporting about 72 percent of residents older than 12 with at least one dose and 67 percent with a completed regimen. As COVID-19 policies have shifted recently at the 5Cs, it’s not yet clear if new area mandates will affect campus life. Pomona College Dean of Student s Av is Hi n k son sa id she doesn’t anticipate students needing to show proof of vaccination again, as that information is on file. She added that individuals with vaccine exemptions will continue to test on a more frequent schedule. “We are in the process of determining how we will collect booster information and the timing of that process,” she said via email. Similarly, Pitzer College Vice President for Strategic Initiatives and Community Relations Jim Marchant said that continuing students will not need to prove their vaccination status at any

further point unless booster vaccinations become required by the county. Guests who visit Pitzer will not be required to prove their vaccination status, he added. “Although we encourage it, as well as frequent testing of those not vaccinated, since we are a fully vaccinated campus, it is likely that the only changes [due to the updates] would be if we allowed outside visitors to access the gym and dining hall — which we don’t permit at this time,” Marchant said via email. Mor e t h a n 99 p erc e nt of Pitzer students are fully vaccinated, as are more than 95 percent of faculty and staff, he added. Hinkson said that at Pomona, guests are currently required to prove their vaccination status or provide a negative COVID-19 test, which will continue. Non7C guests are still not allowed in residence halls. I n Claremont, busi nesses

continue to adjust to the seemingly ever-changing COVID-19 policies. Joyce Patra, manager of the Asian fusion restaurant 50-Fifty in Claremont Village, said she checks the vaccination records of her customers before they are seated. But Patra said that she won’t continue to ask for proof every time a regular customer comes. “This is all new to us and then we are understaffed and we’re trying to follow all the rules,” she said. 50-Fifty is still doing mostly takeout orders, so Patra has more space to keep distance between customers. “It’s so hard,” she said. “I try to ask everyone [for their vaccination card] but like I said, most of my customers are regulars so I know them. And sometimes [I realize] I forgot to ask but I don’t t h i n k it ’s appropr iate when they’re halfway eating and you remember. It’s so difficult.”

Hinkson said that the 5Cs will continue to discuss changes to COVID-19 protocol, including cross-campus dining, through December. “We are pleased with the s er iou sness t hat Pomona’s community has approached COVID-19 protocols in place to keep our campus safe,” she said. “We are especially proud of the dedication Pomona students have shown to weekly testing. Based on the low numbers of positive cases amongst members of our community, we believe that our protocols have done an excellent job of minimizing the transmission of the disease.” Marchant said that Pitzer has also been satisfied with the low positivity rate for staff and students this semester. Pitzer will continue to monitor the state of public health in LA County with weekly COVID-19 task force meetings to consider changes to COVID-19 protocol.

explained, was that elders would get the chance to be reacquainted with the college population and get to know students and their aspirations. “The excitement and intelligence students bring [are]invigorating for us [elders],” Hui said, a sentiment that Castagnetto echoed. On the flipside, the lived experiences of elders — many of whom have been longtime social justice activists — allow students to learn about real world experiences they otherwise might not have had access to, Castagnetto said. While many elders are mentors and “grandparent” figures for the students, students also get to see them as peers in the classroom. “It unsettles the notion of what a classroom should be like, who we can learn from [and] what it means to be a student,” Castagnetto said. “Students see that learning can be a lifelong passion.” Nelia Perry PO ’24 echoed the life-long learning sentiment as one of the main takeaways she’s had from the Feminism and Science Napier course she previously took. “I really admired their commitment to being lifelong learners,” Perry said via email. “It motivated me to be focused on the class for the sake of engaging with my learning and thinking critically about topics that mattered to me rather than constantly worrying about my grade.” Perry commends the way the class brought forth intergenerational understanding for experiences she and the elders found they shared, even if the circumstances surrounding them were different. “I loved having the opportunity to have intergenerational discussions on topics of feminist theory and womxn in STEM as we have had vastly different experiences with those themes and yet have a surprising amount of overlapping stories,” Perry said. Overall, the intergenerational aspect of the class allowed Perry to reflect on social issues spanning several generations, in ways “you do not get in other classes.” “I learned a lot about the struggles the elders had gone through in their own careers as marginalized individuals and admired the ways they navigated those struggles,” Perry said. “At the same time, I was frustrated at how seemingly little has changed.”

News

NovembeR 12, 2021

what’s new with KGI’s medical school?

PAGe 3

GiGi Buddie PO ’23 amplifies Indigenous voices in the climate crisis

SIENA SWIFT In 2018, Keck Graduate Institute announced its plan to found a medical school. Three years later, in August, the school welcomed an inaugural cohort of 22 students to the School of Medicine’s first degree-granting program: a two-year online Master of Science in Community Medicine. In this time, KGI has also focused on philanthropic outreach, raising millions from private investors and healthcare organizations. In 2019, KGI appointed Dr. J. Mario Molina as the founding dean, although he resigned just six months later to “pursue other opportunities,” according to a press release. In March 2020, Dr. David Lawrence, the former CEO of Kaiser Permanente, was named the new medical school dean. Last March, the university announced a partnership with the California State University system to recruit qualified local CSU students in an attempt to promote diversity and address the nation’s healthcare worker shortage. “Who we recruit, where we recruit them from, and how and where we train them is critical in encouraging doctors to practice in the communities that need them the most,” Lawrence said in a press release. The new community health master’s program gave admissions preference to first-generation students and students dedicated to working in “underserved or underrepresented communities” from the CSU system, according to the university’s website. T he program was f u nded by a $5 million grant from L.A. Care Health Plan, the largest publicly operated health plan in the country. The first cohort received full tuition waivers. ”KGI’s School of Medicine has recruited a diverse group of scholars who will serve as a pipeline for physicians into the L.A. County safety net. Ultimately, they will help to advance health equity in communities that are currently underserved,” John Baackes, L.A. Care CEO, said in the release. Dr. Monique Williams, hired in March 2021, serves as the master’s program’s founding director and a professor. KGI’s ultimate goal is establishing an integrated five-year program that includes the new two-year online master’s degree. Qualified graduates could opt to follow it with a three-year Doctor of Medicine program, which is still in development.

CoURTeSY: GIGI bUDDIe

Gigi buddie Po ‘23 engaged in the global climate change discussion at CoP26 last week in Scotland.

ELINA LINGAPPA Last week, GiGi Buddie PO ’23 traveled more than 5,000 miles to the United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP26) in Glasgow, Scotland, where she engaged in international dialogue about the voice of Indigenous communities and the future of the climate crisis. Buddie, a theater major with a passion for environmentalism, said she’s always loved the intersection of art and climate justice. That passion encouraged her to take an internship with the Arctic Cycle, a non-profit that uses theater to foster dialogue about the climate crisis, during her recent gap year. Her work with the Arctic Cycle soon crossed paths with the Human Impacts Institute, another nonprofit that seeks to merge art and climate activism. As a representative for the Human Impacts Institute, Buddie was invited to engage in a global discussion around climate change during COP26’s procession of events. She used the opportunity to bring international awareness to climate leaders whose stories have been underrepresented. “Not only are Indigenous voices often left out of the conversations … but a lot of times Global South individuals are as well,” Buddie said. “A lot of the negative impacts that are happening on our climate [is] because of [the] Global North, and it’s usually happening to Global South communities.” Buddie worked with the Human Impacts Institute to interview 10 selected climate leaders

and showcase their work in an exhibition presented at the climate conference. The organization also commissioned 10 Indigenous and Afro-descendant artists to create portraits of the interviewees for the exhibition. The participants ranged from all over the world: Tahiti, India, Bangladesh, Indonesia, Mexico, Panama, Ecuador, Peru, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Brazil. But Buddie, who is of Tongva and Mescalero heritage herself, remembers being struck by the similarity in each of their journeys. “No matter if we were interviewing someone from Tahiti or India, they have very similar stories about how climate change was affecting their communities and how governments were handling that and how their voices weren’t really brought to the table,” she said. “They felt like they couldn’t share their stories even though Indigenous communities are the first and hardest impacted by climate change.” Even with months of preparation, Buddie was caught off guard by the magnitude and energy of the conference upon arriving. “Whatever you’re thinking about the UN, triple the emotions and feelings and intensity of it,” she said. The massive convention room was split into different zones. One of them, the Blue Zone, housed negotiations between various world leaders. Buddie remembers seeing figures like Al Gore and Leonardo DiCaprio milling about. The intensity of this conference was especially high, Buddie said, as the new IPCC report dictates that world leaders must act with much

more urgency than was previously understood to avoid catastrophic increases in global temperature. While Buddie mostly organized and spotlighted the exhibition, she also got an opportunity to speak on her own story during an event with the Bolivia delegation. Buddie also told TSL she was struck by the number of young people at the conference. While their passion was inspiring, the circumstances that brought them to the conference were disheartening, she said. “This is the world that we’ve created,” she said. “Where children don’t get a childhood, because they have to fight to exist on this dying planet.” Buddie also accompanied the Human Impacts Institute to a local college to engage in dialogue with local students aged 15-23 years old. She noted that often at UN climate conferences, local communities feel disconnected from the convention, and this year was no exception. While speaking with these students, Buddie was struck by how, halfway across the world, youth seemed to be having similar conversations as those students hold in Claremont. Youth globally are faced with the same future in the climate crisis, Buddie added, especially those from marginalized backgrounds such as Indigenous communities. “For a lot of communities there’s not a day, a minute, a moment that goes by that they don’t have to be thinking about [the climate crisis],” she said. “Because it’s not the future. It’s just not. It’s now. It was yesterday. It was five years ago. It was the first climate summit.” Buddie acknowledged that the

BUDGET: Requests weren’t always fulfilled proportionally by school Continued from page 1 the next year by the student body governments of all 5Cs, who allocate funding from a pool of money they each have reserved for 5C clubs. When funding 5C clubs, each school normally gives a percentage of the requested budget from each club, proportional to their share of students in the club, Liang said. For example, if 20 percent of club members were Pomona College students, Pomona would give the club 20 percent of its requested budget. However, a school can go over or under this general rule “at the discretion of their budget committee or their finance person,” Liang said. And this year, COVID-19 cancellations forced student governments to originally give clubs less than what they asked for if the club’s activities had not been approved by the school yet. To dissuade clubs from participating in overnight trips or travel competitions as a precautionary measure, Pomona did not offer enough funds to cover such budget costs, Liang said. “We had a rule coming down from the college ... that Pomona isn’t allowing for conferences, competitions and any overnight trips,” they said. “So that really affected some traveling clubs such as club sports.” The rule also affected funding for traveling non-sport clubs, like Mock Trial and Model UN. But a Nov. 4 announcement from Pomona Associate Dean of Campus Life Ellie Ash-Bala signaled a policy change that granted more freedom to clubs. “Beginning [the week of Nov. 8], we will be allowing student organizations to travel and be reimbursed from club funds, with advanced approval and specific procedures in place,” Ash-Bala said. Ash-Bala’s announcement came

with expanded procedures to include new COVID-related rules like setting capacity limits for hotel rooms. Scripps Associated Students co-treasurers Madeline Safavi SC ’24 and Lily Wartman SC ’23 said in an email that Scripps had a similar rule regarding overnight trips. As a result, seven clubs that requested funding for multi-day excursions received reduced budgets. The treasurers didn’t immediately clarify a new policy after the travel announcement. Before the rule changed, Liang stressed that there was little that finance officials at each student government could do to change the rules that they were operating under. “Clubs are registered with the college, ultimately, not us. We just managed the money side of it,” Liang said. Club sports will need to work with the Pomona-Pitzer athletics department for trip permission, Ash-Bala said. Virtual meetings made it even more difficult to work with the other student governments to make sure each club gets funding, Liang said. The 5C women’s rugby team, of which Liang is a member, has far more students at Harvey Mudd College than Claremont McKenna College, but CMC gave the club $2,000 while Harvey Mudd only gave $80. “So, traditionally we’d want to meet in person so we could have more of a balance … [online] there’s not that communication being like, ‘Hey, you severely underfunded this club,” Liang said. But clubs like 5C Surf Club that don’t directly fall into the category of COVID-related travel restrictions, because they don’t compete in events and don’t go on overnight

trips, also received less funding than they expected. After requesting $4,573 for the 2021-2022 school year, the 5C Surf Club received $2,645, which is 58 percent of what they asked for. Nick Morgenstein PO ’23 is the president of the 5C Surf Club, which uses its funding for supplies such as leashes, wax, snacks and sunscreen. “[Underfunding] will limit how many trips we can take out across the year. We don’t have enough money to go three days a week like we wanted to,” Morgenstein said. “So we have to limit the number of trips we make, which is unfortunate.” Morgenstein said that the funding system for 5C clubs lacks clarity. “I think one issue with the system is that it is pretty opaque. It’s difficult to understand why your funding was less than you wanted it to be,” Morgenstein said. He also said members were unclear about what items on the Surf Club’s funding request got funding and which ones didn’t. “Basically, we just don’t know what they’re unwilling to pay for,” Morgenstein said. “It would be helpful if ASPC would tell

clubs why they didn’t get all of the funding [they asked for], and then what remaining funding they did get goes to what activities.” Liang said the $1,820 that ASPC allocated to 5C Surf — roughly 40 percent of the request — corresponds to the fact that Pomona students make up 40 percent of the club, meaning that “in terms of ASPC, we did fully fund their entire request.” They emphasized that clubs are always welcome to set up a meeting with them if there is confusion about funding, and that club leaders should reach out to the 5C student governments which did not fully fund requests proportional to the club’s makeup of students. “I’ve had several meetings this year already with club leaders who have had specific questions about funding for their clubs or funding in general and I’ve had dozens of email correspondences with many more clubs and/or club leaders,” they said in an email. In addition to travel restrictions, the budget allocation document listed existing money in clubs’ accounts, restrictions on funding subjects and lack of detail in requests as rationale for student governments’ decisions.

CoURTeSY: 5C SURF CLUb

elijah molenkamp PZ ‘23 rides a wave on a 5C Surf Club trip.

experience of the conference was draining, and she has a lot to process from her week in Glasgow. But she was struck by the positive emotions that she was left with since returning home. “As heartbreaking and scary and intense as everything was … I think I walk away from that with more hope,” she said. “I don’t know if I have a lot of hope for a world leader making competent decisions, right? But I have a lot of hope for youth, and the work that they’re doing, and how loud they’re yelling. And it’s not gonna stop, I don’t think it’s ever gonna stop. They’re fighting for their survival ... they’re fighting for their kids that aren’t born yet. They’re fighting for their voices.” Returning to Claremont, Buddie hopes to bring back the messages she feels so strongly about. She compelled students to learn more about the struggles and amplify the voices of marginalized communities. As an Indigenous student, she wants her peers to understand the impact the climate crisis takes on Indigenous communities. “If you destroy the land, you destroy their culture. The two are so interconnected,” she said. Most Claremont students can live without thinking about the climate crisis on a daily basis, she said, and that’s a privilege she hopes the 5C community begins to recognize. “[5C students] are privileged enough to have a voice. You’re privileged enough to be heard. Use it,” she said. “And if you feel like you don’t have a voice, if you feel like your community is underrepresented, let’s work together.” Although Buddie returned on Sunday, COP26 continues in Glasgow for the rest of this week.

TEST: Change wasn’t announced Continued from page 1 pooled testing through the newly resurgent social media app Yik Yak. “I feel totally fine about it, but at first I thought it was a joke and I saw it on Yik Yak — stuff about them mixing our spit together — and I did not think it was real. And then it actually was [and] I was very surprised,” Hoorn said. “But I don’t feel negatively about it at all.” Carter Moyer HM ’24 also said he didn’t mind the change. “I believe that they are going to be doing it in a safe manner,” he said. “There was some surprise when they did, and the results changed from ‘negative’ to ‘Pnegative’ for a lot of people, but overall I haven’t lost any confidence in the results.” Naomi Keita PO ’24 said she wished students had been informed of the change, since it impacts the community at large. “I understand that maybe it’s more efficient, for the people responsible for our tests and whatnot, but I feel like that could have been explained to us,” she said. “The entire system clearly changed. We just weren’t informed of that.” Keita also questioned the efficiency of pooled testing if a positive result requires retesting for many individuals. “Maybe it’s just a psychological phenomenon, but [it] might feel safer for us, the idea of individual testing,” she said. “But I guess so long as you can maintain the same efficiency, it maybe wouldn’t be a problem.” Last month, Scripps College joined Pomona, Harvey Mudd College and Pitzer College in testing students through SHS, seeking to increase access and compliance with tests. Claremont McKenna College facilitates testing separately through Hamilton Health Box.

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Arts & Culture

NovEmbEr 12, 2021

Celebrated author Sandra Cisneros shares personal peek into new novella with Scripps Presents ELLEN WANG Award-winning author of “The House on Mango Street,” Sandra Cisneros discussed the desperate survival measures she resorted to during her travels featured in her newest book — “Martita, I Remember You/Martita, te recuerdo” — at Scripps Presents. The virtual event on Nov. 3 was moderated by Colombian writer Jaime Manrique and celebrated the English and Spanish release of the novella, which draws from 28-year-old Cisneros’ experiences traveling in Paris with money from a National Endowment of the Arts (NEA) grant. Cisneros said the novella, first drafted over 30 years ago, highlights “how much I appreciated the small things people gave me, [which] made me ever sensitive of the plight of people who come as a stranger into the country and the community.” Centering on a young woman who travels to Paris to pursue her writing dreams, the story uses the protagonist’s two intense female friendships to frame her harrowing experience getting by with little resources. The book is also a tribute to her father, Cisneros said. “There’s a very loving portrait of his profesión, his profession … When he would sit on a badly upholstered chair, he’d say, ‘It looks like they made it with their feet’ — that’s a Mexican phrase. When you make a poem or story, you make the best you can.” However, Cisneros recalled her late 20s being riddled with insecurity about her profession and the tenuousness of earning hardly any money from writing. “I think all young artists are especially vulnerable in their 20s, trying to make something no one wants them to,” Cisneros said, conveying the tension and appeal to “get a ‘real job’ and not juggle a lot of jobs to keep art going.” These struggles are especially poignant for working-class women artists. “We certainly are not encouraged as daughters to go out,” Cisneros said, “But for women — working-class artist women — you are really looking

for something to prove that you’re a writer. Even when you’re published, you don’t feel like a real writer because you don’t get the perks.” Cisneros has collected a multitude of stories surrounding nifty practices she developed to survive during her travels. “In Chicago, I had to think about how I was going to get home — learning to run down the center of the street and not the dark side, where someone can come out of a car,” Cisneros said. “I didn’t have the money for cabs. If I wanted to go to a reading to hear a writer at night, I had to think about ‘How many connections, was it dangerous, how was I dressed?’” These practices became a habit for her to survive, and she endured several “close encounters,” Cisneros said. She sometimes even put herself in danger, almost being run over by a car so she could run in the center of the road. With humor, she recalled ways she coped with the lack of access to laundry options, flipping a shirt inside out and backwards to prolong its wearability. “A lot of the crummy sleeping situations are real, and they’re mine,” she said, smiling. Cisneros shed light on stories personal to her community and inspired by conversations with women from Nice, Paris, Milan, Sarajevo and countless others — stories that are underrepresented in mainstream literature. “This is one of the few works of fiction I know that takes these three young women who have these humble ambitions,” Manrique said. “Young women who are working class [and] illiterate are seldom written about in literature.” The jubilant author remained warm while talking about worries regarding publishing in the “right” places or doing certain writing fellowships. During her travels, she was judged for being a woman living out of a backpack and suitcases. Cisneros recalled male writers often asking her, “Are you a real writer?”

“They wouldn’t believe me,” she said. “Your courage was shattered. They looked at me like, ‘Yeah, right.’ When you met women and told them, ‘This is why I’m here and what I’m doing, and I just finished my first book’ — they give you support, encouragement.” Such empowerment and camaraderie from fellow women plays a pivotal role in Cisneros’ life and stories. “For Latina women, we talked to each other because we wanted to be powerful, we wanted to be like our white friends,” she said. “I inherited as a woman, daughter of immigrants, the shame of talking about your period. I wanted to be brava. I didn’t want to be censored.” Cisneros spoke of “The Time of the Doves” author Mercè Rodoreda as a strong inspiration. “You’re so much in her body from the first page,” she said. “ … When you name women writers, you don’t name her — only more well-known, more translated ones, but Rodoreda is

in my top five.” The Mexican women Cisneros met while vagabonding on her NEA money were adventurers, striving for economic footing as well. She said the book recalls younger, more romantic and street savvy versions of herself. “I found, with other Latinas, we wanted to be audacious,” Cisneros said. “We didn’t want to be ashamed; we were raised to be ashamed for everything — even being born female. Our upbringing taught us to be of service to others. We had a lot of deconstructing to do.” Through the characters and their everyday struggles, she integrates her travel experience and the people she met into her novella, conveying an authentic view of the real people with whom she crossed paths. “I tried to get phrasing where, even though I’m writing in English, [the character is] saying things in a very Argentine way,” Cisneros said. For Cisneros, memory is always based on emotions, while details can be clarified through research.

“I think this novel is a testament for when people enter our lives for a slender moment,” she said. “How do they stay there for so many years? Why do they stay so eternally in my heart?” When Manrique asked Cisneros to reflect on her literary achievements, Cisneros rejected the idea of her career coming to a close. “I don’t think I’ve written my masterful work yet,” she said. “ ... I want to explore other genres. I want to do many things. I feel like I’m just getting started.” She hesitated and spoke with more brevity. “My longtime dream: I would like to be the voice of a cartoon,” she announced. “I also want to do a coloring book of a part of my life.” Cisneros carried a vivacious energy throughout the webinar, expressing excitement over the opportunity to speak with an audience and alongside fellow cherished writer and friend Manrique. “These interviews with other writers make me feel máximo — the best!”

CoUrTESY: GAGE SKIDmorE/WIKImEDIA CommoNS

Speaking on her experiences as a working-class woman artist, Sandra Cisneros provided insight on her new book “martita, I remember You/martita, te recuerdo” at Scripps Presents.

Artist sadie Barnette reclaims family past, visualizes future in ‘legacy & legend’ exhibition opening

HANNAH WEAvEr • THE STUDENT LIFE

Pink, flowers and Hello Kittys cover Sadie Barnette’s works at the Benton, creating a new perspective on her family’s history.

HANNAH WEAVER An overflowing crowd gathered inside and outside the newly opened Benton Museum of Art at Pomona College last Saturday afternoon, eager to hear the methodology and meaning behind artist Sadie Barnette’s work. Barnette set the tone for future Benton openings by drawing in over 150 people to the museum’s first artist talk for her exhibition “Legacy & Legend.” The two-part exhibition includes one half at the Benton Museum of Art at Pomona College and the other at Pitzer College Art Galleries. The Benton half features 12 new drawings that expand on Barnette’s previous project, “Dear 1968,…” which features files from a 500-page FBI dossier documenting the organization’s surveillance of her father, Rodney Barnette, due to his involvement with the Black Panther Party. With this new series, titled “FBI Drawings,” Barnette meticulously recreated the files with powdered graphite into 60-by-48-inch drawings, then covered them with images of flowers as a memorialization, images of Hello Kitty as a nod to the father-daughter relationship and spray paint flourishes as a mark of protest.

“I wanted to turn this into artwork … somehow I wanted to make these files do something different than they were meant to do. I wanted to make them live in my world and tell my father’s story, my family’s story, which is also so many other families’ stories in this country,” Barnette said. At Pitzer, the other half of the exhibition is modeled to look like a living room with reworked Barnette family photos hung on the walls. Ciara Ennis, Pitzer College Art Galleries director and curator, explained that the installation imagines a future free from the kinds of violence inflicted on Barnette’s family and many others. “It’s a very intimate space, but at the same time, it’s very inviting… The whole point of the space is to provide some kind of respite from the police brutality, from surveillance, from gentrification,” Ennis said. Barnette hopes the interactive exhibition will prompt viewers to radically imagine the future. “I imagine the space at Pitzer as sort of a ‘where do we go from here’ space,” she said. “I think of this installation as kind of a room for magic, [a] room for possibility

and dreaming — space and objects that pay tribute to the moments of beauty and hospitality and togetherness that we manifest even amidst all that we’re up against. A space where maybe it’s OK to have questions and not have all the answers, and have debates and disagree and still be in loving community together.” The event also marked the launch of a book of the same name that compiles Barnette’s new and old work, including a zine commemorating the first Black-owned gay bar in San Francisco, founded by her father. For Barnette, the process of this series of works is that of reclamation, a way to heal from the harm caused by the FBI’s surveillance of her father. “I make this work just to kind of figure out a way to move through this world and to witness the world as I see it, [to] make sense of the poetry, of the pain and all of it together,” Barnette said. “Legacy & Legend” is part of the Benton’s Project Series, which has been in the works since 2018, before the Benton had opened. Rebecca McGrew, senior curator at the Benton, was introduced to Barnette through her exhibition at Charlie James Gallery.

McGrew felt that Barnette’s work was important to highlight at the Benton because of its relevance to the United States’ current political moment. “I think things only got more and more intense with all the social justice movements and the political unrest and uncertainty and the traumas of COVID and all the murders,” McGrew said. “… Sadie’s work speaks to another historical moment like that.” After COVID-19 delayed the exhibition’s planned spring 2020 opening, the show expanded to include the Pitzer portion with the help of Ennis. Working with Barnette and McGrew to bring the exhibition to life was a synergetic experience for Ennis. “[Barnette is] incredibly generous as an artist and very collaborative,” she said. “Some artists that you work with have a very fixed idea about what they want to do, but she’s open to having conversations about everything, including the production or what would be the look of the catalog and so on.” Since the exhibition opened to the public on July 22, Ennis said the response has been “amazing,” especially when she has taken her art history classes to

see the show. Due to the use of “informal materials like holographic fabrics,” Ennis said the format of the Pitzer show is particularly accessible for her students. “[Barnette provides a] platform to air these issues in a very exciting and provoking environment,” she said. In fact, many of the attendees of the artist talk and reception on Saturday were students, such as James Pratt PO ’24. He returned to hear more about Barnette’s work after viewing her work last month with his father, Nathan Pratt. Nathan Pratt felt that her work spoke to issues that concern young people. However, he noted that the Benton could do more to make its exhibitions and events more accessible to students. “I think that this museum has so much stuff in here geared toward the adults and non-youth … very high-end, high-concept art,” Nathan Pratt said. “But I was walking through this show, and thought it was just rockstar quality and would be something that that students would just love, if the campus would really push it.” His son agreed. “I’ve only been to this [kind of] event when parents went — it’s very non-student-friendly,” James Pratt said. Another student, Marisa Branco PZ ’22, was familiar with Barnette’s work but hadn’t gotten a chance to see it in person until this event. “I really like that her stuff has this ... high culture [and] low culture speaking to each other thing, especially with [the] cartoon characters and glitter,” Branco said. “I also think it’s a really fun appropriation of the documents.” John Trendler, Curator of Visual Resources at Scripps College, came to the talk because he’s a fan of Barnette’s work, having seen her work at previous exhibitions. “Her work’s fascinating,” he said. “I think there’s a lot of layers — [it’s] playful but intense, and so listening to her speak gave me more understanding of what kind of source materials [she used] and the background [of her work].” A second Pitzer event for the “Legend & Legacy” exhibition is planned for Dec. 7, this time formatted as a conversation between Sadie Barnette, her father Rodney Barnette and activist Ericka Huggins. Both installations are on view until Dec. 19 by reservation.

NovEmbEr 12, 2021

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A tender rebellion: How Kristen Stewart humanizes Princess Diana’s legacy in ‘Spencer’ ELIZA POWERS CW: Mentions of eating disorders. After escaping Queen Elizabeth II’s ornate and chilly country house, Princess Diana (Kristen Stewart) takes William and Harry to KFC. Diana has endured plenty during the torturous festivities of Christmas of 1991: Her curtains are sewn shut, every outfit is meticulously picked out and her weight is calculated. “Spencer,” Pablo Larrain’s taut, razor-sharp biopic, is a film about a woman suffocating under both public and private scrutiny. Diana is a butterfly pinned under a magnifying glass, a miniature ballerina spinning in a jewelry box. But as she drives away, radio up, hair flying in the breeze, convertible top down, Stewart’s Diana can finally exhale. The KFC drive-thru employee asks for the name for the order. “Spencer,” Diana answers, a reclamation of her maiden name and identity. Stewart’s Diana is an act of rebellion, a reclamation of power. She memorializes Diana with her own challenging youth: The crushing pressure of two girls thrust into the spotlight. Stewart advocates for humanity in the face of oppression. Her Diana is a revolution — one deserving of an Academy Award for Best Actress. Stewart, who starred as Bella Swan in the “Twilight” series, is no stranger to public scrutiny. Like Diana, she was catapulted seemingly overnight into a public persona with impossible standards: both a sex symbol and a chastity standard, America’s sweetheart and a projection of every 2005-2012 tween’s desires. Stewart’s body has been

CoUrTESY: PAbLo LArrAIN

In a compelling act of reclaiming her own past, Kristen Stewart powerfully embodies the People’s Princess’ nuances in “Spencer,” for which she deserves an Academy Award, argues Eliza Powers PO ’25.

picked apart, her sexuality scrutinized, her career trivialized, her relationships dismantled, her talent challenged. Stewart’s “Twilight” notoriety haunts her even a decade later, as her more serious films are overlooked and discredited by her teen stardom. It’s no coincidence that her spellbinding performance in “Clouds of Sils Maria” — for which she was lauded as the first American actress to win the French Cesar award — was overlooked by major American film academies. At least in the U.S., Stewart has a contentious reputation. The American public consistently and unflinchingly puts Kristen Stewart in

a game that she did not consent to play, reinforced by rules and obstacles she cannot overcome. Princess Diana, even after her death, falls victim to this same public entitlement. But isn’t acting in a major film franchise or marrying into a royal family consent for media attention? Not without the informed consent concealed from youth. Neither Stewart or Spencer grew up in the strict roles they were forced to inhabit. Stewart was 17 when filming Twilight; Diana was 19 when Prince Charles proposed. Neither knew what they were signing up for. And so Stewart understands

FILm PHILoSoPHY

The representation of burnout in ‘BoJack Horseman’ SIMONE BOGEDAL

While there are many signs of burnout, the lack of warning bells about deadlines that would normally cause stress may be the most alarming sign of the condition. In a 15 week semester, it is completely natural to be feeling burned out. No longer do deadlines strike fear, sleep seems like a completely appropriate method of studying and that little voice keeps begging the question, “Why should I do this?” It can be difficult to manage burnout, especially in the midst of an increasingly busy semester. When vague, uninstructive phrases and the commercialization of buzzwords like ‘self-care’ and similar words are flippantly thrown about as potential remedies, it may be hard to actually enact helpful behaviors to avoid the worst of burnout. While articles or studies can be instructive, sometimes it can seem like too much effort to even begin to find tools to regain motivation, which can be a problem. So, instead, let me bring your attention to a TV show which contains some of the most classic, comical, quintessential coverage of burnout: “BoJack Horseman.” Written by Raphael Bob-Waksberg, the six season show aired from August 2014 to January 2020. The show follows the washedup former TV star BoJack Horseman (Will Arnett) as he navigates his self-destructive behaviors after his peak of fame in the 1990s. While BoJack is a perfect example of some of the less helpful tendencies of burnout, such as procrastination, his ambitious companion and manager, Princess Carolyn (Amy Sedaris), provides a more instructive perspective on burnout. In particular, episode two of season six, “The New Client,” depicts the usually energetic Princess Carolyn at her most exhausted. As a single adoptive mother, head of her own business and fiercely protective friend, her life is pulled in a number of different directions. Beautifully animated, the episode physically represents the numerous stressors placed on one’s body by their career, friends and family. Princess Carolyn is accompa-

nied by various semi-translucent versions of herself throughout the episode, all doing different tasks. The singular, main Princess Carolyn appears as she normally does: collected, put-together and sharp. The episode beautifully, visually depicts the internal chaos that can ensue throughout a busy day. The translucency of the copies not only differentiates the real Princess Carolyn from her fictitious counterparts, but also serves in isolating Princess Carolyn. As other characters do not interact with the copies, she appears to be alone in her universe. However, to the audience, it is clear that she is surrounded by a crowd of her own thoughts and tasks. The overlapping noises created by the different tasks her many selves are completing — such as tapping on a phone or negotiating an offer on a call — culminate to create a seemingly perfect representation of how burnout may sometimes feel: overwhelming. The importance of the character Princess Carolyn specifically experiencing burnout is also notable. She generally acts as a foil to BoJack’s self-sabotaging, unmotivated character. Presenting her as a sleep-deprived, uncoordinated mess slurring her words with bags under her eyes hammers home the universality of burnout. You really aren’t alone. So, is that it? Does having obligations to ourselves, communities and our families mean that we will always be overwhelmed, isolated in our own stress and burned out? Life seems like a lot more to handle than the tidy and concise resume we put together makes it out to be. In short, no; we do not have to be isolated. Let me refer back to Princess Carolyn. While she goes about her days, stumbling from one stressor to another with little to no sleep, there are brief yet important moments of connection. These short scenes, taking up a maximum of five seconds, showcase the importance of our connections. On the phone call with former colleague Diane Nguyen (Alison Brie), Princess Carolyn allows herself a brief second of

vulnerability with a close friend. In the grocery store, she derives happiness from the giggle her daughter lets out. In the car, she takes a second to offer her own support to BoJack. While experiencing burnout, as Princess Carolyn was, friends and family are your greatest resource. The support system you build with them can be helpful, as her interactions with her baby demonstrate. As her phone call with BoJack shows, even when people themselves may feel burned out, support is still there for you. This, of course, is not the only way to defeat burnout nor does it negate strategies to avoid or work through burnout by yourself. If scented candles or face masks (while both equally relaxing!) are not your choice, there are many online sources that can be of use to you. As one source mentions, limiting studying hours, identifying suitable study spaces and (most importantly) exercise can be significantly helpful when combating burnout. Most importantly, recognize that burnout is normal. By implementing such ideas in a show as popular as “BoJack Horseman,” an accessible conversation regarding one’s mental health begins. Using talking cartoon horses and pink cats as their vessels, the creators are able to approach truly relatable, somewhat distressing concepts in an unconventional manner. As her semi-rival, Vanessa Gekko (Kristin Chenoweth), says in an uncommonly heartfelt conversation between the two, “You just have to do it the best that you can and know that that’s the best you can do.” The conversation provides a convincing argument. The world is very big; it needs a lot of good people. You do not have to be the best (a nonexistent thing to begin with) to be needed. Simone Bogedal PO ’24 is from Chester, New Jersey. She regularly consumes excessive amounts of coffee and is interested in applicable philosophy found in TV shows.

JADYN LEE • THE STUDENT LIFE

Diana’s carnal hunger. When confronted with platters and trays of pastries, mince pies and trifle awaiting the royal Christmas Day feast, Diana — who has refused to eat throughout the visit — begins to feast alone. Embodying Diana’s private, freed physicality, Stewart eats with her hands and licks her fingers, with shoulders relaxed and legs bouncing. Stewart picks at cream scones with currants; she takes a bite out of beef wellington and returns it to the wrong tray. She barely chews several bites of chocolate cake adorned with cherries, then sweeps her finger over the Christmas pudding. Yet there’s an in-

tentionality in Diana’s resistance that Stewart embodies. Even in moments of defiance, Diana maintains her integrity, delicately placing the devoured bones and wrappers back on the shelf. An Academy Award celebrates a performance, but Stewart’s Diana is a transformation. She developed lockjaw perfecting Diana’s sharp lilt, and her cadence highlights the People’s Princess’ sharp wit. “Spencer’’ isn’t overly interested with Diana’s past or the future that looms ahead (her tragic death took place six years after “Spencer” is set), but Stewart is. Her meticulous research of the princess’ history anchors Stewart’s Diana with the unique burden she must carry. Stewart says this all with her eyes. After every purge, Diana’s eyes glaze over with suffering in the bathroom mirror. Every long walk in the chilly halls is paired with the frantic scanning of a woman desperately searching for a stripped identity. For all of Diana’s self-destructive coping mechanisms, Stewart maintains a compelling portrait of her humanity. Despite degradation, Diana’s compassion prevails, whether she is conspiratorially glancing between her sons William and Harry as they play by flickering candlelight, tapping her fingers on the steering wheel as she sings along to the radio or tenderly grabbing the fingers of her one ally and dressmaker, played by Sally Hawkins. “Spencer” is an uprising, and Stewart’s performance is a battle-cry. Kristen Stewart doesn’t just deserve an Oscar, she demands it. Eliza Powers PO ’25 is from New Orleans, Louisiana. She loves reality TV, Phoebe Bridgers and searching for the perfect avocado toast recipe.

Scripps ‘Student Recital of Works by Women Composers’ lifts new voices INDIA CLAUDY Nestled in Pattison Courtyard, last week’s “Student Recital of Works by Women Composers” event was the first in Scripps College history to feature a repertoire exclusively consisting of female-composed works. Held on Nov. 4, the evening was presented in conjunction with Professor of Music Anne Harley’s class, MUS119: Women and Gender in Music. Students from the class made introductions for each of the composers, having researched and written these remarks themselves. They provided biographical information, spoke to the influence of these women and reminded attendees how female composers seldom receive the recognition and appreciation they deserve. Harley has envisioned this event for quite some time and was thrilled to finally see her hope come to fruition. “Since I’ve been here, [this event] is the first regular student recital that has presented more than 50 percent of women’s [compositions],” Harley said. “I hope it can become a tradition. Scripps College, as a traditionally women’s college, should be doing that.” Speaking to the study of female musicians, Harley also explained why these talented composers go unacknowledged — and how this event hopes to change that obscurity. “It’s sort of a self-perpetuating cycle that if students don’t know that repertoire is beautiful and available to them, then they don’t ask to study it,” she said. “And so, this [event] is a kind of intervention in the formation of the canon that teaches the audience about what is possible to study, as well as presenting it.” It was dark by the time the event started around 7:30 p.m., with only a small amount of light coming from the garden lighting and the lights clipped on to music stands. Annemarie Gerlach PZ ’23 and Amelia Huchley SC ’23 opened the recital, entering from off stage, singing and playing the hurdy-gurdy as they wove through the rows of attendees. Every chair was filled, and many were forced to stand in the back. The pair sang “A chantar” by Comtessa do Dia, a composer from the 12th century. Gerlach and Huchley are music majors and enrolled in MUS119 this semester, making them both presenters and performers at the evening recital. With these dual roles, both students felt the impact of the event. “I think that women composers have come a long way since the very beginning with the piece that Amelia and I performed by Comtessa do Dia,” Gerlach said. “Jodi Goble is a contemporary composer who is making … a lot of progress and showing what female composers can do and how their music can change the

world.” Huchley also spoke to the vitality of including female composers in music’s past and present. “I think that the really wellknown, classical pieces have a lot of power,” Huchley said. “People react so strongly when they hear the beginning of Beethoven’s fifth symphony, and there just aren’t that many pieces by women composers that are that well known … I think that having these concerts to highlight women composers is super important just to get them in people’s heads, just to get name recognition and to see the history of classical music and composition as what it actually was and is, and not what the most popular pieces would have us think it is.” Huchley also discussed the effects of power hierarchies in determining how well-known certain musical pieces have and continue to become. “There is a lot of misogyny that goes into determining what pieces get popular,” Huchley said. “There’s a lot of misogyny there’s a lot of racism. So many different intersections of marginalization.” All but one of the recital pieces featured vocal performance, and many songs were accompanied by piano. The Claremont Concert Choir performed four songs: two of the European convent tradition, one 20th century composition and “We Will Stand Up,” a co-commissioned piece premiered by the choir in the fall of 2021. This Karen Siegel song was a call to action, including lyrics like “We will bring change, we will bring hope” and “We have a right to a stable climate.” Spanning the 11th century up to the present day, the performers offered the audience a broad range of female-composed music in a variety of languages, from French to German to English. While the audience may not have been able to understand all of the words, many vocalists embellished their performances with gestures and facial expressions, adding to the impression of the evening. The inclusion of professor Harley’s class in the night also deepened the impact. Without background information on the female composers, the audience would not have been able to fully grasp these women’s perseverance, skill and adoration for music. Public speaking is not always the easiest of tasks, and many of the presenters had to practice their remarks and pronunciations — as well as their volume. “Whether it’s singing or spoken remarks, what happens in a performance is that the female students are learning to raise their voices,” Harley said. “So the whole [event] is both lifting up other female voices — composers, poets — but also learning to hold the stage, hold focus [themselves]. And I was so proud of all of them.” The presenters and performers alike intervened upon a white-male-dominated tradition, using their own words to celebrate those female voices which now live on only through their music — and their listeners.

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NovEmbEr 12, 2021

WorKING oN WELLNESS

You’re not the imposter, the little voice in your head is SYDNEY LEE At some point in your life, you may have felt like you were in a situation you didn’t earn, even if your achievements indicated otherwise. Maybe you’re experiencing this right now. If so, you are not alone. Known as imposter syndrome, this psychological phenomenon affects up to 82 percent of people. People feeling imposter syndrome attribute their success to luck and fear of being outed as a fraud. Coined by psychologists Pauline Rose Clance and Suzanne Imes in 1978, imposter syndrome can affect anyone, but psychotherapist Brian Daniel Norton claims

that women, women of color and members of the LGBTQIA+ community are most at risk of experiencing it. Upbringing, birth order and personality traits are other contributing factors, but there is not one sole explanation for its cause. In a competitive academic environment like the 5Cs, it’s easy to feel inadequate. Sometimes, I sit in classes where students speak intelligently about readings, concepts and topics I can’t grasp. My peers are securing jobs at bigname companies and getting into prestigious school clubs. Plus, it seems like everyone can balance academics, a social life and ex-

tracurriculars with ease, leading me to wonder if I really belong at Claremont McKenna College and can successfully enter the workforce after graduation. Imposter syndrome has implications outside a school setting as well. Because they feel undeserving or unqualified, people with imposter syndrome may not take advantage of opportunities at work, and feelings of inadequacy in relationships may lead people to self-sabotage them. These outcomes highlight the importance of learning to combat imposter syndrome, and after some research and reflection, I’ve devised a few tips to help you over-

SELENA LoPEZ • THE STUDENT LIFE

LET’S SPILL THE POP CULTURE TEA

Disney launchpad is a step in the right direction ANNA TOLKIEN From almost the entirety of “Song of the South” to the keyboard scene in “Aristocats,” Disney has been called out for racist content left and right. As I went to revisit older Disney movies from my childhood, I found myself shocked and embarrassed about what the company — and its viewers — let slide. They’ve had to add trigger labels to numerous films on their website. As arguably the most influential company for children’s entertainment, Disney has done very little historically to promote diversity and inclusivity in their programming. After the events of the summer of 2020, the heat was on for the company to address their faults and make demonstrated changes in their storytelling. To respond to this pressure, Disney created Disney Launchpad on May 28 on their Disney+ platform. Their first season featured six live-action short films, all with the central theme of “Discover.” The point of Launchpad is to promote diverse stories from diverse storytellers, featuring stories about women, people of color, LGBTQIA+ people, different religions, veterans, people with disabilities and more. Directors chosen for the program are given mentoring and full support from the entire Disney team. Launchpad has been renewed for a second season focused on the theme of “Connection” and is now open to writers as well as directors. This program excited me and gave me hope for Disney’s platform. Don’t get me wrong: I am a huge Disney fan. I grew up watching the movies and can quote almost any line from “Finding Nemo.” I loved the older Disney shorts like “Piper” and “Lou,” but I felt Disney was lacking in representation and authentic storytelling. Children want to feel a sense of belonging: You want to be able to turn on the TV and open a book and see someone who looks like you. It is Disney’s responsibility to put out diverse movies and television so kids learn to celebrate diversity, and see their identity represented on screen. As a pre-teen, I found myself comparing my body to Instagram models, desperately trying to fit into the beauty standard. This probably came from being a little kid, going to Toys R Us and only seeing tall, thin Barbie dolls and nobody promoting body positivity. I think if we promoted body positivity at an earlier age, that would do a lot of good for young people today in the world of social media. If Disney could have more representation for different body types, this would reach younger audiences and instill body positivity at an early age. My personal favorite of the different shorts on Launchpad was “The Little Prince(ss),” directed by Moxie Peng. It tells the story of two seven-year-old Chinese students, Rob and Gabriel.

Gabriel loves the color pink, enjoys ballet dance and has a supportive father. Rob’s father is intolerant, judgemental, shames Gabriel for his femininity and discourages Rob from being his friend. The story was heartbreaking and well-done. Disney normally shies away from representing LGBTQIA+ characters, but finally they told an authentic story of a child exploring gender identity and that suggests how a parent should best support such a child unconditionally with no judgement. I thought the contrast between Mr. Chen and Mr. Wang was interesting as it represented the clash of intolerance and tolerance when it comes to parenting. I liked the narrative that difference is not something we should fear and, in fact, is something we should embrace. It was refreshing to see Disney actually making content that responds to what viewers want. Instead of giving us a three-second cameo of an LGBTQIA+ character, we got stories that focus on diverse characters and amplify their experiences. I also loved how the diversity wasn’t just in the script, it was behind the scenes. They wanted diverse writers and directors, ensuring the content that is made is authentic. Another Launchpad film I enjoyed was “American Eid” directed by Aqsa Altaf. This told the story of a Muslim Pakistani immigrant named Ameena and her fight to get her school to recognize Eid as a public school holiday. Her sister Zainab wants to go by the Americanized name “Z” and is private about her culture, while Ameena is vocal about her heritage. I think the conflict between Ameena and Zainab was well done and opened an interesting dialogue about what it’s like for immigrants to assimilate into new countries while still maintaining their cultural identities. But while Launchpad is great, it isn’t enough. I want to see diversity in Disney’s mainstream movies, the ones people are lining up to see in the movie theaters. This would allow them to reach more children and make a direct positive impact towards diversity in film. Hopefully the success of Launchpad will inspire Disney to hold up standards for diversity in storytelling across the board, finally changing the narrative in children’s programming to reflect the lives of kids who are watching. Anna Tolkien CM ’24 is one of TSL’s pop culture columnists. She’s a media studies and literature dual major and loves her pugs, iced coffee and Timothée Chalamet movies.

come imposter syndrome. Talk about it Acknowledging imposterism and talking about it with others normalizes the phenomenon. Being vulnerable is intimidating, but your peers could be experiencing imposter syndrome as well. Regardless of their outward appearance, everyone has insecurities, and vocalizing your feelings may also free them. Talking about imposterism with others will help you objectively look at your own accomplishments and bolster your confidence. Acknowledge victories, no matter how trivial If you find yourself asking, “How did I get here?” write down the classes you took, jobs you worked, competitions you qualified for and won, people you met or anything else that led to the present. Visualizing your journey will remind you of your capabilities and encourage you to reflect on the knowledge you gained with each experience. It’s easy to take the ordinary for granted, but recognizing the small joys will change your perspective. Simple victories might mean having enough energy to get out of bed or reconnecting with someone you used to be close to. The culmination of our life experiences shape our identity, and this reminder is helpful when imposterism is overwhelming. Reframe your thoughts The verbiage of our internal

monologues is more influential than we think. The difference between “I’m the least experienced person here — I won’t be able to contribute anything” and “I’m the least experienced person here — this is an opportunity for me to learn more” is that the second phrase reframes the situation as an opportunity, rather than a hopeless situation. Learning to recognize and reframe negative self-talk will encourage you to be more proactive. This might seem silly, but I have alerts on my phone telling me to trust myself. Since I’m constantly checking my phone, having the banner on my lock screen every time I look at my phone reminds me to believe in my abilities. Identifying the most prominent negative thought is an important first step. From there, you need to turn the phrase into something empowering and positive. Whether it is vocalizing this affirmation out loud in front of a mirror or writing it down on a sticky note, constantly reminding yourself will help you internalize it. Fighting imposter syndrome is an arduous process that requires patience. Progress is not linear, and it is normal to fluctuate between confidence and feelings of inadequacy. As we struggle to realize our roles in society, it is crucial to be forgiving of yourself and others. Sydney Lee CM ’22 is TSL’s health and wellness columnist. She’s a psychology and media studies dual major and likes hiking, coffee, and the Oxford comma.

LITErArY WANDErINGS

Getting a prescription at ‘The Poetry Pharmacy’

bELLA PETTENGILL • THE STUDENT LIFE

RYAN LILLESTRAND Voices pouring out when you hit the room; catching wisps of conversation as the murmur settles to an expectant silence. People sinking into overstuffed couches or lowslung armchairs or thick rugs, incandescent light falling across the room — and the rest is poetry. The Agave Review event last week was, for me, a particularly beautiful evening in a semester unexpectedly filled with poetry. The evening marked the release of Agave Review’s latest collection of pieces from the pandemic, as well as a time for students to share what they have been working on this fall. Listening to fellow students share their carefully crafted art during the open mic at the end of the night was especially inspiring. The reading was a poignant reminder of the power of poetry. It unites us; it reminds us that someone else has felt the same way. It brings richness to our everyday experiences; sometimes it’s pure, indescribable magic. While I have always read, poetry has never figured prominently — its only space in my life previously being the Shakespearean sonnets I was made to memorize in middle school. Between then and the beginning of this semester, I could probably have counted on one hand how many times I’d sat down and read a poem. The last two months, however, have been bursting with them. This happened by way of a series of serendipitous events in the early days of the semester — perhaps the most prominent being my

chance discovery of “The Poetry Pharmacy.” “The Poetry Pharmacy,” a small, unassuming, red clothbound book, is an anthology of poems ranging from the 14th century to the present. The poems are not arranged chronologically or in specific categories; instead, the sections are organized by broader themes and then “prescribed” by more specific contexts or emotions like “loss of zest for life,” “fear of the unknown” or “unrequited love.” The book was borne out of a literary movement in the United Kingdom that began when the first concept of the poetry pharmacy was experimented with at a literary festival in Cornwall. William Sieghart, the anthologist of the collection, sat for a one hour event that ballooned into several hours of listening and prescribing poems. The poetry pharmacy as an inperson appointment has existed ever since, and after thousands of such physical appointments, the book, published in 2017, is a collection of the most often prescribed poems. For me, the book was an exploration, presenting poets and poems that I otherwise would likely not have found. While not every poem hit me, that is the beauty in it. This isn’t a book made to be read cover-tocover, but one to be returned to again and again over the years. Some resonate deeply with me now, and others don’t, but poems are read in an entirely new light in different chapters of life and under different circumstances. They give us words when we have none. They show us that we are not alone in the difficult or exciting situations we find ourselves in during the many

seasons of our lives. There is something truly stunning about the human experience when we discover that over 700 years ago, someone put down on paper a thought, emotion or feeling that we are feeling today. This, however, is not an isolated development. The draw of books in times of personal or societal crisis is something we’ve seen become increasingly prevalent in the past several years. The field of bibliotherapy, or encouraging reading — and the reading of specific books or poems under specific circumstances — for its therapeutic effect, is one that has continued to grow in popularity, either through an established organization or through one’s own research. Just in the past two years, people turned to books in record numbers during the isolation of the pandemic. Even in an age where literature seems to be increasingly crowded out, people still seem to have an instinctive understanding of its vital importance in our lives. As I’ve slowly read “The Poetry Pharmacy” over the course of this semester, I’ve discovered the poems I love now as a junior in college. I’ve typed many of them up on my typewriter and hung them on my bedroom wall to be read and reread, memorizing some so I have them close at hand while walking to class or sitting at the dining hall. But I’ll keep “The Poetry Pharmacy” on my shelf to be returned to in the months and years to come, to find the ones I will one day come to love. Ryan Lillestrand PZ ’23 is TSL’s book columnist. He is currently memorizing “Having a Coke With You,” “The Peace of Wild Things,” “A Supermarket in California” and “The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock.”

OpiniOns

November 12, 2021

Cats aren’t just cute, they’re beneficial for your health

PAGe 7

You don’t truly know your home until you’ve gotten lost in it WILLA FRANK

CorINA SILverSTeIN • THe STUDeNT LIFe

Cats can be a critical source of emotional and mental health support for students, writes mishaal Ijaz SC ‘24.

MISHAAL IJAZ After a long day away from home, I would always look forward to coming home and seeing my cat. Whether she was ready to greet me at the door, or curled up on the couch, petting her provided much-needed comfort in my most stressful days. During the worst parts of the COVID-19 pandemic, having my cat around made life a little easier. Cats are not only very loving animals, but they can also be very helpful for our individual wellness. They provide comfort and can be a great friend when we feel lonely. Cats have unique personalities, making them fascinating to be around. It is important to recognize how useful having a cat can be because they offer much more than we think. Recent studies have shown that petting a purring cat can relieve stress in both the human and the cat. The cat’s vibrations have also been shown to have a calming effect that replicates vibrational therapy, which people use for promoting bone growth and healing fractures. Purrs have also been linked to reducing symptoms of dyspnea (difficulty breathing). Beyond the physical healing benefits, cats offer loving companionship during hard times. During the height of the pandemic, my cat helped ease my loneli-

ness by sleeping in my bed with me and following me around. Surveys have shown that others shared this experience during their quarantine. There is a common belief that cats are not interested in cuddling and want complete independence. However, this could not be more of an untrue and over-generalized statement. Studies have shown that cats adjust their behavior in accordance with how much attention their owner gives them. If you give your cat a lot of attention, it is very likely they will do the same. If you’re allergic to cats, there are still ways to benefit from them. Research has shown that simply watching cat videos on YouTube lowered people’s anxiety, sadness and annoyance. Cats have extremely funny behaviors, and watching them jump or make funny sounds online is enough to make us happy. Cats are also very emotionally intelligent. If their owner is sad, cats will notice this and adjust their attitude and behavior. If a cat notices their owner is angry, it will often give its owner some space or even act defensively. The complexity of a cat’s responses to human emotion makes them seem more like a friend rather than just a pet. For college students, cats are a logical emotional support an-

imal to have, especially if you live in a dorm. Cats don’t mind smaller spaces, and they can also tolerate being left alone for a little while. They also make very quiet noises, if any at all. If you are experiencing loneliness and are capable of being a responsible pet owner, adopting a cat for your dorm may be a good idea. It is also important to remember that in order to have a healthy relationship with your cat, you need to treat them with respect. Cats are not dogs — most don’t like their heads aggressively rubbed and many of them have highly personal petting preferences. Some cats love having their belly rubbed, while some will scratch you immediately if you even try. You have to learn what your cat likes in order to develop the best bond possible. Some people label cats as snobby because they have such specific preferences, but part of owning a cat is learning how to respect their boundaries. If you are able to build trust with your cat and make them comfortable, they are wonderful pets that can help your physical and mental well-being.

When was the last time you were lost? Did it stress you out? Probably. But there is real merit to being lost. Nowadays, we can almost completely eradicate the experience of being lost with the rise of Google Maps and the virtual world we are so embedded in, but in losing the opportunity to be lost, we lose a sensation of discovery. During the pandemic, I, like many folks, began to take (perhaps excessively) long walks nearly every day. The music and podcasts I listened to cast a protective shield around me as I walked the cold, icy streets, my feet carrying me miles through the city. I lost my sense of direction for blocks at a time, then would spot some familiar landmark in the distance, and I would blush inwardly, satisfied at knowing my way. Despite spending over 18 years in my neighborhood, the pandemic taught me that I hadn’t really known my city until I got lost in it on those lengthy, ambling, purposeless evenings. Upon coming to Claremont, I’ve found myself missing the space and time to be lost. I’ve been here for most of a semester and hardly know this town; I’m only slowly gaining a hypothetical sense of my placement within its larger geography. I need to go out and get lost a little bit to make a map of this place for myself. What would it look like for you to go and get lost? Maybe walking miles alone in the evening scares or bores you. You can create this same sensation by losing track of your surroundings in some smaller way — lose track of time, go forth without direction or purpose, even if just for a few minutes.

Mishaal Ijaz SC ’24 is from San Diego, California. She dreams of owning multiple cats one day.

This idea is not a new one, but I’d like you, reader, to pause and consider it again. There have been many proponents of the aimless walk before me — one only need read Henry David Thoreau’s charming, though haughty, essay “Walking.” Then there is the line from Robert Frost’s poem “Directive,” which I think of often: “And if you are lost enough to find yourself.” More recently, I’ve been reading about being lost before bedtime. In her wonderful book, “A Field Guide to Getting Lost,” Rebecca Solnit writes that “To be lost is to be fully present, and to be fully present is to be capable of being in uncertainty and mystery.” Later she writes, “Never to get lost is not to live, not to know how to get lost brings you to destruction, and somewhere in the terra incognita in between lies a life of discovery.” These authors — and many more — have found a certain solace in the enlightenment of being lost. With our busy, spillingover-the-brim, compromise-laden collegiate schedules, we walk a carefully plotted path and are seldom lost in our quotidian routes. Perhaps the only time we feel lost in the day is down that rabbithole of our phones — be it Instagram, TikTok, or, dare any of us admit, Yik Yak — but these devices in which we lose ourselves are the very things that have nearly obliterated the opportunity to wander, directionless. Being lost within the internet does not accomplish that same semblance of losing track of the stresses and structures which envelop us in order to access another part of ourselves. Getting lost within and outside of ourselves is a crucial means of understanding both place and self. Willa Frank PO ’25 is from Cambridge, Massachusetts. She enjoys petting every dog ever on Marston Quad and professing her love for New England to no one in particular.

CLAre mArTIN • THe STUDeNT LIFe

Support for Black students at Pitzer is long overdue LUCIÉNNE REYES During an overnight visit to Pitzer College as a 12th grader in February 2020, I remember noticing how few students of color there were in comparison to white students. One would think that Pitzer’s reputation for social justice would denote a racially diverse student body. However, the admitted class profiles from 2017 to 2021 reflect Pitzer’s standing as a predominantly white institution. Black students are one of the groups at Pitzer that have less representation in particular, comprising 6.5 percent of the admitted class of 2021. Moreover, despite its core values of social responsibility and intercultural understanding, Pitzer is not exempt from racism. Pitzer still has much to do to support Black students and promote their success. In an interview with TSL, Paris Primm PZ ’22, president of Pitzer’s Black Student Union, said she did not believe the campus climate regarding Black students had substantially changed since the murder of George Floyd in May 2020 and the following protests against police brutality. “[Since my first year,] it has always been all white guilt or being on eggshells [with respect to] wanting to talk about certain issues,” she said. “Maybe there’s a teeny more willingness to learn [about Black struggles] just because of so many acts of violence that happened [in] spring and summer 2020.” Primm described being Black in a predominantly white institution as “Just so many things. Definitely the microaggressions … and there are so many things I don’t process until way later, like, ‘What did she say to me? That was lowkey racist.’” On Sept. 14, 2020, BSU emailed a document called the Pitzer College Black Student Union 2020 Address to the Pitzer community, listing ways Pitzer could better support its Black students. Several listed items resembled a list of demands made by the consortium-wide BSU in 1968-69. The 2020 statement’s call for “aggressive recruitment of Black students” at Pitzer parallels the

XIAo JIANG • THe STUDeNT LIFe

Pitzer College needs to embody its values and better support black students, argues Luciénne reyes PZ ’24.

1968 document’s demand for “an active recruitment of minority group members [to] be initiated immediately” at all Claremont Colleges. Both documents ask for more Black administrators and faculty, stronger financial aid packages and more curricula on preventing anti-Black racism. The establishment of an intercollegiate department of Africana studies in 1969 fulfilled the demand in 1968 for Black studies. Yet the prevailing similarities between the two addresses signify the insufficient progress towards racial equity at Pitzer in the 52 years since the consortium-wide BSU released its demands. Furthermore, in a letter on Nov. 4, 2004, Pitzer’s BSU called for “a component integrated into all Freshmen Seminars that address, explain, and emphasize the dynamics of power and privilege in this country throughout the course of the semester.” This component has not been systemically implemented in Pitzer’s first-year seminar courses. Such a component in a seminar only exists at the individual discretion of the professor. In an email to the Pitzer community on Oct. 19, 2020, Pitzer President Melvin Oliver detailed

Pitzer’s plans to meet the demands of the 2020 address. Although Oliver wrote that Pitzer does not have the resources to eliminate loans from financial aid packages as demanded in the address, he wrote, “We are also in the process of making inquiries with both Posse and QuestBridge as to their costs and viability to help Pitzer recruit and enroll more diverse students,” among other actions. During the interview with TSL, Primm said she believed Oliver’s response was adequate. “And I would also say the whole social response was decent as well,” she added. “We didn’t mention the Office of [College] Advancement or the Community Engagement Center [in the address], and they were still reaching out and creating programs.” Primm described progress towards meeting BSU’s demands as “baby steps,” mentioning that there are three new Black faculty and staff at Pitzer this year. Additionally, she stated that the Office of Admission is forming a partnership with Young Black Scholars, a college preparatory program. Primm said the best response came from the Community Engagement Center, which

now has an Amplifying Black Communities Program Assistant position open to Pitzer students, a paid position to work on making changes at the CEC to better serve Black students. While Pitzer administrators met with BSU last year several times to discuss the address, Primm said that such meetings have not yet resumed this semester. She partly attributed this to the difficulties of running a club after more than a year off campus and helping underclassmen acclimate to campus life. However, she said another reason the meetings haven’t continued is that administrators did not reach out to BSU. I understand that returning to campus and COVID-19 protocols have tasked the administration with additional challenges this year, but the administration should have already reached out to BSU by now, considering that only a few weeks in the semester remain. Despite Pitzer’s progress towards meeting BSU’s demands, they can still do more, particularly after decades of failing to adequately support Black students. In an email to students on Nov. 2, Oliver encouraged them

to complete the National Assessment of Collegiate Campus Climates, a survey about campus racial climates. In another email to students on Nov. 8, political studies and Chicano studies professor Adrian Pantoja wrote that the survey responses would guide policy decisions towards fostering racial inclusion. “As Associate Dean of Faculty, Chair of the Racial Justice Initiative, and co-Chair of the Diversity Committee, I will help lead campus discussions when we have the survey results,” Pantoja wrote. “Student voices will be essential in developing action items from those results. I look forward to those conversations.” If administrators will hold discussions with students, they don’t have to wait until the survey responses have been collected. This doesn’t mean they should make potentially premature policy decisions without giving everyone the opportunity to voice their concerns; it only means they should have started more conversations sooner. Even when the administration is responsive to student pressure, it bears a responsibility to exercise additional proactive measures towards racial justice at Pitzer. These include continuing to converse with BSU, as making decisions about issues that most directly affect Black students should center Black student voices. The challenges associated with returning to campus constitute even greater reason to actively maintain conversations with BSU and other interest groups. Half of the student body is new to campus. Transitioning to in-person college isn’t quick for everyone. Many students are still adjusting to campus life in November; marginalized students are more vulnerable to academic setbacks from the difficulties of learning to navigate a new environment. There is no better time than now for Pitzer to embody its core values by more proactively upholding Black students, furthering its advancement towards racial equity and ensuring that all students can succeed. Luciénne Reyes PZ ’24 is from Los Angeles, California. On Halloween, she went trick-or-treating in the Claremont neighborhood with friends.

OpiniOns November 12, 2021 Fragility of Roe v. Wade shows need for abortion rights legislation PAGe 8

ABBY LOISELLE Every time a state passes a new anti-abortion law, we inch closer to living in a reality straight from the dystopian novel “The Handmaid’s Tale.” Female reproductive rights have never been secure, particularly throughout the chaos of the Trump administration. Roe v. Wade was a 1973 court case that challenged a Texas law which made abortion illegal, alleging that the state laws were unconsistutionally vague and went against the plaintiff’s rights to personal privacy. However, since the Supreme Court’s landmark decision that the right to privacy “is broad enough to encompass a woman’s decision whether or not to terminate her pregnancy,” Roe has stood on shaky grounds. This fundamental “right to privacy” based in the Due Process Clause of the 14th Amendment at present protects a pregnant woman’s choice to have an abortion, but that right is balanced against the government’s interests in protecting women’s health and “the potentiality of human life.” Blurred lines in the definition of constitutional rights, coupled with Roe’s foundational weakness as a legal opinion, have resulted in extensive legitimacy concerns. Roe may have provided the right to choose, but that right is under constant threat. By removing the right to choose from the legislative realm entirely, Roe sparked relentless debate and led individual states to pass policies designed to criminalize seeking an abortion and to make abortion harder to access, especially for low-income women. It’s time to bring abortion back to the forefront of legislative conversation. It’s time to move past Roe v. Wade. Pro-choice advocates are reliant

on the Supreme Court to continue to protect its validity. It’s true that a court with a Republican-nominated majority ruled in favor of Roe, but that was almost 50 years ago. Republican politicians have since successfully stacked the court with judges who believe that Roe was wrongly decided. With a 6-3 anti-abortion majority, these justices are willing to rule against it. The Supreme Court will not be the savior in the fight for women’s reproductive rights. Meanwhile, Roe is under attack from policymakers across the country. Texas’ most recent “heartbeat bill’’ is just one example of legal attempts to dismantle Roe. This law bans abortions after six weeks, which is before most women know they’re pregnant. It allows private citizens to sue abortion providers and anyone else who helps a woman obtain an abortion, essentially bribing individuals to attack women’s reproductive rights. Even if the Supreme Court decision on the heartbeat bill isn’t the ideal case for conservative justices to take down Roe, other opportunities are closely available. Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, which challenges Mississippi’s law banning abortions after 15 weeks, will begin oral argument on Dec. 1. This ban on abortions undermines the framework in Roe that claims a woman has the right to terminate before a fetus is viable, usually 22 to 24 weeks. This case enables justices to reconsider the heart of what Roe means. While we sit wondering what the Supreme Court will rule regarding the Texas and Dobbs cases, any decision they make won’t be enough to preserve Roe. It is more likely to put it at greater risk. Conservative justices have

ruled contrary to their personal biases in the past, but in a postTrump political era, government decisions have been increasingly arbitrary and seemingly against all precedent. Justice Sonia Sotomayor wrote in her dissent that the court’s decision not to block the heartbeat bill was “stunning” and that “presented with an application to enjoin a flagrantly unconstitutional law engineered to prohibit women from exercising their constitutional rights and evade judicial scrutiny, a majority of justices have opted to bury their heads in the sand.” It would be detrimental to women’s rights to put faith in Justices Amy Coney Barrett and Brett Kavanaugh going against their fundamental beliefs. Alarm bells began signaling a long time ago. The death of Ruth Bader Ginsburg, dubbed ‘RBG’ by her fervent admirers, signaled a devastating blow to the Supreme Court’s fading support of Roe. With every new case brought before the court, they have new opportunities to re-examine the law and overturn it. Abortion advocates should continue to sue to stop new policies, such as the heartbeat bill, from taking effect. However, a focus should be put on implementing long-term strategies that are not hanging on such a thin thread as Roe. We need to stop putting all our efforts into saving Roe. While anti-abortion advocates attack the policy from every angle, its legitimacy hangs by a thinning thread. Make noise about abortion rights; demand that the politicans whom we voted for stick to their promises by supporting new legislation that preserves the constitutional right to abortions. This also means supporting elec-

DIII women’s sports deserve more institutional support

CoUrTeSY: PXFUeL

Pro-abortion advocates should shift their focus to enshrining abortion rights in legislation, argues Abby Loiselle Po ‘23.

toral candidates committed to protecting reproductive rights. Vote more than once every four years. State and local officials implement nationally decided policies. We’re seeing individual states like Texas and Mississippi implement policies that contradict a woman’s legal right to abortion. Holding local officials accountable is a critical step to protecting what Roe intended to save. It’s necessary that we call for an outpouring of laws that guarantee the right to choose in Democratic-led states, at the very least. Liberals just barely hold a majority in Congress, but it remains a majority vote. The first goal should be to place abortion rights within the fight for fair access to health care. This includes free access to contraceptives, addressing the growing racial and socioeconomic disparities in infant and maternal

mortality and providing effective prenatal care to everyone. The current health care system is incredibly flawed, so it is crucial to address federal policies that stand in the way to women’s access to safe abortions. We should focus on appealing policies like the Hyde Amendment, which bans Medicaid funding for abortion services. Enacted in 1976, this Amendment was swift to follow the decision in Roe. We must stop idolizing a court decision that increasingly seems to benefit women in name only. There needs to be a line of defense ready if, or more accurately, when, Roe v. Wade falls. We need to advocate for new legislation that could stand strong in a post-Roe era that is quickly approaching — it’s now or never. Abby Loiselle PO ’23 is a Public Policy Analysis major. She is a firm supporter of women’s reproductive rights.

Jasper’s Crossword: it’s a toss-up

NANAKo NoDA • THe STUDeNT LIFe

Kelsey Polhemus Cm ’25 jumps for a spike.

MADISON LEWIS

OFF THE RECORD

It’s 4:30 a.m. and 11 girls and their two coaches are on the pool deck, bags packed, gear ready to go. We’ve all been up for at least an hour already, and now we’re loading up the bus that will take us to UC San Diego for our 8 a.m. water polo game, the first of four in the Triton Invitational tournament that weekend. Through a yawn, someone asks, “How do they have enough money to fly the entire football team to Washington, but not to put us in a hotel for two nights?” “Donations.” The response makes everyone stop complaining about the athletic department budget. It is an accepted fact — this is the way things are. The conversation that morning was entirely speculative, but the sentiment certainly holds truth. Athletic department budgets at Division III schools are tight and administrators and coaches try to work as hard as they can with what they have, but often decisions become trade-offs. Are we going to pay for a hotel or food? New balls or more games? This is where outside support is incredibly helpful, and unequal. Title IX requires equal spending on men’s and women’s sports by university athletic departments, but because of reliance on donations and informal contributions, women’s athletics don’t necessarily have access to truly equal funding. Since men’s collegiate athletics are far more established and have a longer history, the alumni and donor base for male sports teams is larger in scope and age. Over quarantine, our Pomona-Pitzer water polo coaches put together Zoom meetings for both the men’s and women’s teams to meet alumni. The oldest alumna who talked to the women had been in the Class of 2005, our current coach’s

first year. They all described how before then, the women’s program had been a complete joke, neglected by the coach and entirely self-funded. Not a single alumna was over the age of 40. Historic gender inequalities in college athletics continue to play out at the 5Cs. The institutional administrative change brought about by Title IX — and social change that is beginning to take female athletes as seriously as their male counterparts — is still bogged down by structural financial barriers. This is especially pertinent at the Division III level where donations play a large role in funding athletic activity. Athletic departments don’t have to pull money out of thin air for their women’s athletic programs, but they should empower them to ask for it with greater institutional support. Discussing potential fundraising with my teammates, it is clear all of us are passionate about the greater opportunities additional funds could get us, but have absolutely no idea how to get them. A bake sale? Exhibition games? How much of our own money would we have to put in? How would we organize an event? Coordinating, planning and executing is an incredibly daunting and discouraging task. Institutional guidance from industry professionals would be invaluable in both executing effective fundraising and validating the value of women’s sports. Athletic departments should create fundraising guides, and actively work with captains to brainstorm possibilities and formulate logistics. The 5Cs pride themselves on using our resources to find creative, equitable solutions. We should apply this mindset to women’s athletics as well. Furthermore, athletic departments can play an active role in

empowering their female athletes to ask for what they want. Young women are often conditioned to take what they’re given and work twice as hard. This ingrained mindset persists in the professional realm, where women continue to face glass ceilings and pay gaps. Athletic departments should play an active role in addressing persistent structural inequities while empowering their individual female athletes. Despite all the progress we’ve made, female athletes, especially in Division III, continue to be undervalued and under-supported in comparison to male athletes. We put our blood, sweat and tears into competing — not only with our opponents, but against a culture that trivializes our accomplishments, to prove that we can win. We know this is Division III. We play, we race and we practice because we love the sport. But sports are a powerful tool to build confidence and empower strong women. When it comes to funding and general perception, combatting historic inequality means applying equitable solutions, ones that require extra care for those who have previously been left out. The Claremont-Mudd-Scripps and P-P athletic departments have a responsibility to invest extra institutional resources — time, thought, networks — into their women’s teams. They have the unique opportunity to combat continued structural gender inequality in sports, while empowering female athletes beyond the scope of their collegiate career. Madison Lewis PO ’23 is from Palo Alto, California. She is a varsity athlete on the Pomona-Pitzer women’s water polo team.

RED (Taylor’s Version) is here! All Too Well (10 minute version) (Taylor’s version) (From The vault) (explicit).

Going to spend the rest of 2021 crying. Forever winter commencing

Yik Yak has gone RED Straight men beware!

The wait for 1989 (Taylor’s Version) begins or perhaps Speak Now (Taylor’s version)

JASPer DAvIDoFF • THe STUDeNT LIFe

ACROSS 1. Does awful onstage 6. What haste makes 11. Fig. on an important card 14. Artist who sings Easy on Me 15. Put in order 16. Talk to a baby 17. Word after mass or multi 18. Like water below 32 degrees 19. Go bad 20. Devastating period for 19th century Ireland 23. Show one’s agreement 26. Page in a browser window 27. Jacob who wrote Sissy: A Coming- of-Gender Story 28. Where to swipe some produce? 33. Clutter 34. Sierra _____ 35. Earth Day’s mo. 36. Short (of) 37. Its applicants are in a rush? 42. It’s out of 4 45. Lesnar’s org., or 38-down backwards 46. Waze suggestion 50. Anthony who starred in Rent 52. Challenging topic for a politician 55. Parts of an archipelago 57. Section of a race 58. Noah’s vessel 59. Certain course … or what 20, 28, 37 and 52-across have 64. Chart-topper 65. Like fans after a goal 66. Streaming service Jay-Z bought 70. Friend for Francois 71. What’s on a book’s cover 72. Bert’s pal (or more?) 73. “I hate ___!” 74. Hit the slopes 75. Dead, as a meme DOWN 1. “Pow!” 2. Love poem 3. Pre-___ (on track for the MCAT) 4. Spot on a radar 5. Furry marine mammal 6. Sushi condiment 7. Plenty 8. Missile’s domicile

9. Acronym for the end of the week 10. Conclude with 11. Those with scrolls and quills 12. Kind of close to happening 13. Pretty challenging 21. Effect of sandals in the sun 22. Subject of a May celebration 23. Aaron Rodgers’ grp. 24. Mine product 25. Two-factor authenticator 29. Gerund’s end 30. In a birthday suit 31. NASA research center in Pasadena 32. Melber on MSNBC 38. “Gross!” 39. Coats! (can be made from this animal’s wool) 40. Boats! 41. Canon camera line 42. John who writes legal thrillers 43. Storied hobby, like baseball 44. Exam on which one tries to earn a V 47. Country of 31-across 48. Katy on MSNBC 49. Startled screech 51. Part of m.p.h. 53. Scowled 54. Fish that can be up to 13 feet 56. Moneyball’s subj. 60. Psychologist Erikson 61. Non-naan flatbread 62. Reason for a discount 63. Spicy secret 67. It’s in your genes 68. Feel sick 69. Actor and martial artist Bruce

LAST WEEK’S ANSWERS

SportS

November 12, 2021

PAGe 9

P-P women’s soccer wins SCIAC championship, punching ticket to second consecutive NCAA tournament

Left: Isla burch PZ ‘24 takes a shot, challenging regal keeper Gabby Flores. (Anna Choi • The Student Life) Upper right: The team poses for its postseason victory following their 2-0 rout of Cal Lutheran. (Nanako Noda • The Student Life) Lower rIght: The P-P women’s soccer team congratulates Hanna Kim Po ‘23 for receiving the tournament mvP title. (Nanako Noda • The Student Life)

GABE FISHER Reprising its dominating match over Cal Lutheran earlier this season, the Pomona-Pitzer women’s soccer team again reigned superior over the Regals on Saturday by shutting them out 2-0, taking the SCIAC postseason crown. With this win, the Sagehens clinched a second consecutive trip to the NCAA Division III Women’s Soccer Championship. Striker Hannah Mandell PO ’23 shined the brightest on offense for P-P, assisting both midfielder Charlotte Tapp PO ’23 and attacking midfielder Anna Ponzio PZ ’22 on their goals. Regarding strategies heading into the match, Tapp said the Sagehens pushed to keep the Regal defense on its toes. “Our coach always wants us to try to test the keeper as early as we can,” she said. “It just happened to

work out today, which was nice.” This plan proved effective early in the match, as the Sagehens dominated possession throughout the first half. Within the first 19 minutes of play, Tapp found the back of the net after taking a shot that sailed past Cal Lu’s diving goalkeeper. In contrast to the Sagehens’ early success, the Regals failed to generate legitimate scoring opportunities and only managed to record one shot. Constantly defending Sagehen attacks, Cal Lutheran hardly moved the ball into P-P territory in the first half. After halftime, the Regals came out in better form. Multiple Cal Lu attacks forced P-P goalkeeper Taylor Kane PZ ’25 to charge out of her box and save potential chances. Amid these scoring threats, Anna Ponzio PZ ’22 struck a

hard blow to the Regals in the 66th minute. She earned the game’s second goal by tucking a left-footed low shot into the bottom left corner of the net, effectively sealing the match. To conclude the game, the Sagehens outshot the Regals 18-7 while having nine shots on goal to the Regals’ two. P-P’s defense was stellar each of the three times it came up against Cal Lutheran this season; the Regals were shut out in all of them. Regals’ head coach Frank Marino was impressed. “They’ve had a great defense all year,” he said. “Their back line has been tremendous. I thought we had some good chances today; we just didn’t put them away.” After initial celebrations, the Sagehens returned to midfield to be officially announced as SCI-

AC champions. League officials then presented the Most Valuable Player award to veteran defender Hanna Kim PO ’23. “It’s a great moment just because it’s all coming back after two years of not playing soccer, two years of not being on campus with all of my teammates,” Kim said after receiving MVP. “Having a moment like that on the field and winning the championship again is amazing.” Cal Lutheran players experienced a different set of emotions, exchanging hugs to comfort disappointed teammates. Many cried, including Marino, who praised his team’s growth this year for being more than just ordinary soccer players to one another. “It’s a hard day today because it’s the last day for some seniors, but they brought so much to the

program,” Marino said. “We always talk about leaving the jersey in a better place, and I truly believe they did that.” Meanwhile, P-P will hope to further the success it had in its 2019 NCAA tournament run, which saw them reach the Final Four for the first time in program history. Head coach Jennifer Scanlon said she’s already proud of this team for the adversity it has overcome and is optimistic about its chances. “We’ve got a chance to make a good run,” she said. “This group has a ton of heart, and they’ve learned how to win; it has been pretty exciting to see them come together when it’s most important.” The Sagehens play in the first round of the NCAA championships tomorrow against Pacific Lutheran in San Antonio, Texas.

Kevin Wu po ’23 bringing back club soccer ‘one step at a time’ SIERRA TAI-BROWNLEE As Kevin Wu PO ’23 strides up to the penalty kick line, he looks the goalie straight in the eye. Aiming for the top right corner, Wu strikes a banger that sends ripples through the net, winning the penalty kick shootout for his team. Along with fellow co-president Jan Charatan PO ’23, Wu recently restored the men’s club soccer team after a two-year hiatus due to the pandemic. During this time off, he mostly missed the sense of building community and tight-knit bonds with the team. “I feel like soccer teaches you something about discipline: coming to the field every day, being prepared and working hard to achieve some goal,” Wu said. “I felt like [soccer] was something that would keep a sense of normalcy [during the pandemic], something everyone had gone through for the first time.” Wu began playing soccer at a young age, long before becoming co-president of the Claremont men’s club soccer team. “My dad signed me up for the local Christian Soccer League when I was four or five years old,” he said. “Peewee soccer kicked off my journey to become a soccer player.” Through his adolescent years, Wu continued to play because he enjoyed creating practice routines for himself and improving all aspects of his game. “It’s day in, day out, it’s one step at a time,” he said. “You may not get there in one day, or one week or one month, but with each training you

work hard to just get better and better.” Also involved in SagePost47, Claremont Poker Club and other extracurricular activities, Wu knew continuing to play in college was a “no-brainer” because the sport provided an environment for him to become more sociable with those who shared his passion. “I just love the game; it’s a beautiful game, the game of soccer,” he said. “I wanted to remake that community [my first year], where I found a lot of success making friends and being really close with different individuals throughout high school.” Having had this experience in his past, Wu and Charatan revived the club and organized tryouts that featured “100 to 120” fierce competitors on the field. “We ended up taking something like 35 [players] for the club team,” Wu said. “It was a really robust pack with a lot of talent; it was very difficult whittling the team down to what we have today.” Following the tryouts, however, the team immediately faced hardship when Wu sustained an injury while biking. His knee contusion caused him to miss out on the first two weeks of the season. “I think the biggest [flaw] of being off the field is that I lost [the] community and camaraderie that you hope to be building up,” Wu said. “So really that fall off the bike was not only an injury to my knee, but was also an injury to the time that I could have spent playing soccer, improving and just being

Editorial Board

[around] some fantastic individuals on the team.” Despite his absence, Wu said Charatan was the backbone behind keeping the team together. “Jan did a lot of heavy lifting with the club,” Wu said. “He’s a very inspirational character with the way he stays organized, communicates and makes sure that everything runs smoothly. He was involved in the back end for coordinating how the club would be organized this year, how tryouts and training would go and where our coach would come from.” While still piecing everything together, the team has been successful thus far, flashing an overall record of 2-0-1 within the first couple weeks of the season. After recovering from the knee contusion, Wu returned to the field more amped up than ever. “Coming back from the injury was extraordinarily exciting for me because I was able to re-engage with some of the people that have made a pretty big impact on my career,” he said. “Just being able to talk with [my teammates], kicking around a ball, and rebuilding that disciplined, trained community of individuals was just wonderful.” Looking ahead, Wu hopes his team reaches the ultimate goal of winning the league title. “We’re really hopeful that in these next two matches, which are the last games of our season, that we could beat first-place Cal Poly Pomona and seize the title,” he said.

ANNA CHoI • THe STUDeNT LIFe

After coming back from his knee injury, Kevin Wu Po ‘23 is looking to help take his team to the league title.

THE STUDENT LIFE

KAYLA ALCORCHA, Editor-in-Chief JASPER DAVIDOFF, Managing Editor CLAIRE DUMONT, Managing Editor

Senior Staff JAMES KARSTEN, Production Editor SELENA LOPEZ, Production Editor GRACE SAUERS, News Designer STELLA CHENG, Opinions Designer CHARIS KIM, Sports Designer ANNA HARTMAN, Copy Chief SIMONE NIKITINA, Copy Chief

ANNA CHOI, Photo Editor NANAKO NODA, Photo Editor MARIANA DURAN, Graphics Editor ANURADHA KRISHNAN, News Editor JENNA MCMURTRY, News Editor SIENA SWIFT, News Associate LARKIN BARNARD-BAHN, Arts & Culture Editor

MENA BOVA, Arts & Culture Editor HANNAH WEAVER, Arts & Culture Associate AVIKA JINDEL, Opinions Editor BEN REICHER, Opinions Editor ALEX CHUN, Sports Editor

TSL’s Editorial Board consists of the editor-in-chief and two managing editors. Aside from the editorial, the views expressed in the opinions section do not necessarily reflect the views of The Student Life. Singles copies of TSL are free and may be obtained at news stands around campus. Multiple copies may be purchased for $0.47 per copy with prior approval by contacting editor@tsl.news. Newspaper theft is a crime; perpetrators may be subject to disciplinary action as well as civil and/or criminal prosecution.

SportS

PAGe 10

November 12, 2021

Totally tubular: Intramural sports open up opportunities for 5Cs’ non-student-athletes

ALYSSA LeoNG • THe STUDeNT LIFe

Unique intramural sports such as innertube waterpolo allow 5C non student-athletes to engage in athletic opportunities.

KATIE HANSON Harvey Mudd College’s cornhole and Scripps College’s inner tube water polo leagues probably aren’t the first things that come to mind when thinking of athletics at the 5Cs — but these eclectic intramurals and others like them are roping in students who might not otherwise feel at home on the field or in the pool. Operating under Claremont-Mudd-Scripps athletics in the fall, both intramural sports feature walk-on participants from the three colleges. Unlike varsity teams with recruited athlete rosters, these unique leagues draw students who have diverse athletic histories. Assistant director of recreation Matt Ryan oversees intramurals and is responsible for creating schedules, training student referees and providing necessary equipment. He said these unusual sports offer a chance for more people to get involved with CMS athletics. “I just think that rec programming as a whole, not just intramural sports, but all across the board are about reaching people

on campus,” Ryan said. “If it was up to us, we would have something for everyone. We want to offer things that people who maybe would be less inclined to play, would be comfortable coming out and having a good time.” In her freshman year, Kyra Clark HM ’22 spent a lot of time with upperclassmen residence hall mates who always talked about inner tube water polo. After receiving emails about the sport, she thought about giving it a try. “It just looked like so much fun,” Clark said. “Inner tube water polo is like water polo, but without all the bad parts. There’s no aggression, and you’re not treading water to save your life.” Comparative to soccer, inner tube water polo features five to six players to a side, including a goalie, according to Clark. Each player sits on top of an innertube and adheres to normal water polo rules, passing the ball back and forth to make goals. Within her first few games, Clark instantly became one of the team’s top scorers. Her ath-

letic prowess in the pool isn’t surprising considering her previous athletic achievements, which ranges from being a gymnast to playing actual water polo. “I was a bit of a jock,” Clark said. “I did lots of sports for a long time. I never thought I was a jock until I went to Mudd.” Considering her athletic status, Clark is now the team captain in her senior year. The role not only requires administrative duties, like registering the team and working with CMS coordinators, but also entails informal responsibilities, like carrying on the team tradition of leading chants and jamming to music on the way to games. Clark said the sport was crucial to making her feel connected to her campus. As a captain, she hopes to maintain this tightknit community. “I think it was the first experience of my college career that made me feel like a part of my community, because I felt valued and recognized by seniors as a little baby freshman,” Clark said. Outside the pool, cornhole

Athletes of the Week Pomona-Pitzer Kayla Hankins PO ’24 Oakland, CA Women’s Basketball Coming in as a solid starter for Pomona-Pitzer women’s basketball, Kayla Hankins PO ’24 has demonstrated impressive showings in her first collegiate games. In a 68-46 blowout against Pacific Lutheran that gave the Sagehens their first victory of the season, Hankins led P-P in all three major categories, posting a standout double-double with 12 points and 13 rebounds while dishing out three assists. Despite suffering a loss in the second game of the season versus Puget Sound, Hankins still proved one of the best Sagehens on the floor, nearly posting another double-double with 8 points and 9 rebounds while recording two assists and a steal. Starting off the season with a 1-1 record, women’s basketball will next face Pacific at Roberts Pavilion on Saturday.

offers a set of two wooden boards where teams of two take turns tossing bean bags into the hole of the board. For Kalena Delong SC ’25, cornhole runs deeper than links within campus, representing a more profound connection to familial roots. “It’s actually something my family has played for a really long time,” Delong said. “My grandparents and most of my family on my dad’s side live in Pennsylvania, and so whenever we went to visit we would play cornhole as a family. So, I feel like I’ve kind of grown up playing it.” In collegiate play, Delong participates in official matches with partner Melina Durre SC ’25. Despite not engaging in formal practices, the duo pushes each other to become better by throwing a few bean bags around before every game. “I think we get along well because we’re both pretty competitive,” Delong said. “I don’t think we’re completely crushed when we lose. I think we’re just there to play and to kind of just participate in this weird sport.

Weekend Calendar P-P

CMS

Saturday, Nov. 13

Friday, Nov. 12 Women’s volleyball vs. Aurora @ Wartburg College NCAA Division III regionals

men’s & Women’s Swimming & Diving @ redlands men’s & Women’s Cross Country NCAA West regionals Women’s Soccer vs. Pacific Lutheran @ San Antonio, TX NCAA Tournament Football

Claremont-Mudd-Scripps

@CmS Women’s basketball

Jenna Holmes CM ’24 Rancho Cucamonga, CA Women’s Volleyball Amid a stacked outside hitting core of the Athenas that includes stars Jackie Jones CM ’22 and Melanie Williams CM ’22, Jenna Holmes CM ’24 proved vital in CMS’ grueling five-set victory over Chapman to seize the SCIAC postseason chip. Despite conceding two of the first three sets in the match, the Athenas rallied behind Holmes’ 20-kill effort to stage a major comeback, outscoring the Panthers 40-22 overall in the final two sets. After posting this impressive feat, the sophomore outside hitter received SCIAC Tournament Most Outstanding Player Honors. Having won four consecutive SCIAC postseason chips, the Athenas will next face Aurora in the first round of the NCAA Division III Regionals Tournament, in their quest to become Division champions.

We had a good rhythm of supporting each other as we play and congratulating each other.” The sport has different methods of scoring based on what the two sets of opponents agree on, but they typically agree to a bestof-three format. Delong said the CMS employees who referee the game are often enthusiastic and supportive. “I feel like they viewed us as the underdog, because we would be losing so badly,” Delong said. “Every once in a while, we would have three points and the other person would have 17 or something like that, and then we would make just like a little bit of a comeback. The refs would cheer for us.” Although just getting started with collegiate cornhole, Delong said the sport has already had a positive impact on her. “I think the part that I love most about it is just kind of how close it is to my heart just because it’s something that I grew up with,” she said. “It just reminds me of really, really good memories, and then it’s also kind of cool to do it in a new environment with new people.”

vs. Pacific (Ore.) @ roberts Pavilion men’s basketball @ UC Santa Cruz men’s Water Polo vs. Whittier Sunday, Nov. 14 Women’s Soccer NCAA 2nd round (if P-P advances)

Women’s basketball vs. SAGU American Indian College Saturday, Nov. 13 men’s & Women’s Swimming and Diving @ Chapman (with Caltech) men’s & Women’s Cross Country NCAA regionals @ Pomona-Pitzer Women’s volleyball vs. bethel/UWSP (if CmS advances) @ Wartburg College NCAA Division III regionals Football vs. Pomona-Pitzer Sunday, Nov. 14 Women’s volleyball (if CmS advances) @ Wartburg College (Waverly, Iowa) NCAA Division III regional Finals Women’s basketball vs. Pacific(Ore.)