These past few years have seen a rise in extremism across the country. From Trump’s demagoguery to Sanders’ dogmatism, explosive rhetoric has drowned out calls for political unity. ‘Never Trumpers’ watched their own Republican Party undergo the greatest ideological shift since the 70s. Establishment Democrats suffered a monumental defeat in 2016, yet continue to offer weak presidential candidates. Reactionary conservatives and radical liberals have cultivated new, vocal bases

In late May, Claremont McKenna College (CMC) received Heterodox Academy’s Award for Institutional Excellence during 2019 Heterodox Academy Conference in New York City. The reward is given to a single higher education institution that has best advanced “open inquiry, viewpoint diversity, and constructive disagreement” on its campus, according to the organization’s website. Heterodox Academy is a non-partisan association of more than 2,500 college professors, administrators, an

Earlier this week, the Claremont Independent was fortunate enough to conduct an interview with Elliot Raskin, a freshman at Pitzer College, and founder of Free Speech Claremont (FSC). Free Speech Claremont, founded in February of this year, aims to provide a forum for students to “respectfully and meaningfully engage with a variety of viewpoints.” Open to all students of the Claremont Colleges (the 5C’s)—which includes Pomona, Harvey Mudd, Claremont McKenna, Scripps, and Pitz