Claremont McKenna College Hires New Assistant Dean Of Students For Academic Success
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In an email to Claremont McKenna College (CMC) students this afternoon, Senior Associate Dean of Students Susan Layden announced that CMC hired Matthew Layman as its new Assistant Dean of Students (ADS) for Academic Success. According to the email, the position has been empty since shortly before the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. At that time, the former ADS for Academic Success, Sean Rollolazo, took on a new role as the ADS for Health and Well-Being. The new ADS for Academ


The Claremont Independent
- Oct 5, 2020
Occupy Pomona Continues Fight Against Furloughs
Last Friday, in response to the widespread furloughs of Pomona College staff caused by a $37 million budget shortfall resulting from the COVID-19 crisis that came into effect on Oct. 1, the student group Occupy Pomona released a survey “to provide more information to Pomona College about the importance of financially supporting staff through this difficult period.” In the accompanying Instagram slideshow, “Debunking Pomona College’s Excuses For Furloughs,” Occupy Pomona charg


The Claremont Independent
- Jun 29, 2020
Students Demand Extrajudicial Bias Reporting, Statements In Support Of #BLM, In New Petition
In a recent petition released by the 7Cs (Claremont Colleges) For Black Lives Matter Coalition, student activists made a series of demands directed at the administrations of the Claremont Colleges. Citing “recent acts of anti-Black violence and the national uprisings in support of the Black Lives Matter movement,” the students called on their respective colleges to “enact systemic change within [their] institution[s] and to use [their] platform[s] to advance racial justice.”


The Claremont Independent
- Mar 14, 2019
Students, SJP Protest Pitzer President Decision to Keep Israel Study Abroad
Shortly after the Pitzer College student-faculty vote to suspend the College’s study abroad program with Israel’s University of Haifa, Pitzer’s President released a statement indicating that he will “not implement this recommendation.” Insisting that his decision did not involve “taking a position” on the issue, President Oliver highlighted his belief that approving such a vote would “only harm [Pitzer] College” as well as put “at risk [its] long-term best interests,” referri


The Claremont Independent
- Jan 31, 2017
College Presidents Spread False Anti-Trump Narrative to Student Body
Earlier this week, presidents of the five Claremont Colleges joined over thirty peer institutions of higher education in denouncing President Trump’s recent executive order, which halts refugee immigration from Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, and Yemen for 90 days. Trump stated of the executive order, “America is a proud nation of immigrants and we will continue to show compassion to those fleeing oppression, but we will do so while protecting our own citizens and b


The Claremont Independent
- Sep 5, 2016
Editorial: The Importance of Free Expression
Free speech on campus has become a growing issue in the US and internationally as traditionally freer countries place more and more restrictions on speech. As students and journalists at the Claremont Colleges, we have seen the negative repercussions of this trend firsthand—in our classrooms, jobs, places of worship, and even in our coffee shops. It’s sad what this culture has cost the colleges. We live in a community of bright, engaged students, but fear of radical left wing


The Claremont Independent
- Apr 5, 2016
Social Justice Warriors Are the Reason Donald Trump Exists
Over the past couple weeks, students at colleges across the country have retreated into their safe spaces to protest the “hate speech” that is Donald Trump’s name. Never to be left out of a big PC trend, the Claremont Colleges have seen plenty of oversensitivity to Trump as well. Students and administrators at both Scripps College and Pitzer College have referred to the phrases “#Trump2016” and “Make America” as “harassment,” “intimidation,” and “racism,” among other things.


The Claremont Independent
- May 13, 2015
Just The Facts: Pitzer College Tuition
With the current tuition increase rate at 5% per year, babies born this year (class of 2037) can expect to pay $156,671 per year—$626,685 over four years—for an undergraduate degree from Pitzer College. As a result, Pitzer students are left wondering, “where does my tuition go, and why has the tuition increased?” As a non-profit institution, Pitzer is not required to divulge its yearly financial audits. Fortunately, Pitzer used its discretion to post its audits from the past


The Claremont Independent
- May 13, 2015
Invest in Oil, Help the Environment
The fossil fuel divestment movement, like many other campus causes, mistakes posturing for effective action, giving its proponents a false sense of accomplishment. By divesting from fossil fuels last August, Pitzer College actually weakened its ability to help the environment. Fortunately, Pitzer’s mistake can be corrected. Current market conditions allow for Pitzer to regain and extend its environmental influence (and shore up its endowment) before it is too late. Pitzer’s m


The Claremont Independent
- Oct 27, 2014
Who’s the Fairest of Them All?
CMC Professor Emeritus Ward Elliott. Image Courtesy Ward Elliott. With midterm elections just around the corner and a heated battle between Democrats and Republicans over control of the Senate, it becomes imperative to ask the daunting question, “What will you do on November 4?” Instead of having to go around and take a poll, Professor Ward Elliott’s study entitled, “Political Attitudes at the Claremont Colleges,” takes a deeper look into the political trends on the 5Cs throu


The Claremont Independent
- Sep 7, 2013
Best Places to Study at the 5Cs
Certain people can study in their dorm rooms and lounges with ease; I’m not one of them. If you’re the sort of person who can grind through Thursday night econ problem sets with Avicii blasting and inebriated classmates traipsing loudly through your dorm, then more power to you. For the rest of us, I’ve compiled a short list of some of my favorite study spots around the 5Cs. The Cube: Virtually any CMC student would agree that the Cube easily ranks among the best places to st


The Claremont Independent
- Sep 4, 2013
Class Reviews: Seven Classes to Take Before Graduating
Trying to figure out which classes to take upon first entering college can be a daunting task. Fulfilling GE requirements (for those of you who have them) while still taking genuinely interesting classes is no small feat. Therefore, we at the Claremont Independent have gone around and asked students from across the 5Cs which class they would most highly recommend incoming students take during their time here. In the end, we came up with a diverse list that will hopefully help


The Claremont Independent
- May 5, 2013
Divestment 2.0
In a recent school-wide ballot measure, 78 percent of Pomona College students voted to request that the administration divest portions of the college’s $1.7 billion endowment currently invested in fossil fuels. The April 9 landslide vote was widely hailed by progressive-minded students at the Claremont Colleges as a sign of environmental consciousness and a step forward for sustainability. However, others have asserted that the recently passed divestment measure does not go f
The Claremont Independent
- Apr 22, 2013
Professor Raviv talks bias, Pitzer, and cockroaches
By Brad Richardson and Colin Spence Up until now, CMC Associate Professor of Economics Yaron Raviv has remained completely silent on his involvement in a March 4 conflict between himself and members of a pro-Palestine student group, Claremont Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP). When the Claremont Independent requested an interview March 12 via email, Raviv politely declined, saying he wanted to wait for the review process to take its course before going public with his s
The Claremont Independent
- Apr 18, 2013
Rumor has it: There’s a Republican at Pitzer
It is usually assumed that Claremont’s Republicans are housed at one of two schools, Claremont McKenna College or Pomona College. It is slowly being proven that this is not the case. In the 2012-13 school year the Claremont College Republicans received funding from all five schools, a feat that has never been accomplished before. I am proud to say that there are a couple Scripps students involved with the College Republicans and am personally happy to represent Scripps as Sec
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