#Protest

New CMC Initiative Sweeps Changes Across Career Services, Faculty, And Curriculum To Support “

The Claremont Independent

Jun 18, 2020

New CMC Initiative Sweeps Changes Across Career Services, Faculty, And Curriculum To Support “

In an email to members of the student body sent earlier today, Hiram Chodosh, the President of Claremont McKenna College (CMC), announced changes to college diversity and inclusion policy “[i]n response to the murder of George Floyd.” The email announces new initiatives to increase the college’s offerings on “structural inequality, racism, and the Black experience in America” and pave the way for additional recruitment and retention of Black faculty. Chodosh set out new manda

Scripps Students Organizing Strike For A’s In All Passed Classes

The Claremont Independent

Apr 18, 2020

Scripps Students Organizing Strike For A’s In All Passed Classes

Students at Scripps College were considering starting a strike of their classes in a bid to achieve a universal-A grading system for this spring semester amid the coronavirus pandemic. Students are also organizing to lobby professors, especially those on the Faculty Executive Committee, for a universal pass/no record/incomplete system, similar to the policy Pomona College faculty passed earlier this week. In a survey gauging interest for a potential strike sent out to student

Scripps Protesters Lash Out Against Sodexo at Presentation

The Claremont Independent

Feb 4, 2020

Scripps Protesters Lash Out Against Sodexo at Presentation

On Feb. 4 at noon, French multinational catering management company Sodexo gave a presentation at Scripps College in a bid to renew its contract with Scripps to manage the college’s sole dining hall, Malott Commons. The presentation, which took place at Scripps’s Balch Auditorium, was met with a room full of protesting students. The auditorium was almost completely full, with nearly every student in attendance bearing a sign reading “DROP SODEXO.” The protest was organized by

Scripps Students to Protest Against Sodexo Over Private Prisons

The Claremont Independent

Feb 3, 2020

Scripps Students to Protest Against Sodexo Over Private Prisons

A protest will take place at Scripps College on Tuesday, Feb. 4 at 12:10pm against the college’s dining hall catering company, Sodexo, which runs the college’s sole dining hall, Malott Commons. The gathering is organized by the Drop Sodexo movement at the California liberal arts college, which has campaigned for months—with another protest in March last year—to pressure the college administration to change the catering service provider. Additionally, a boycott by Scripps stud

UPDATE—Westboro Baptist Church to Picket at Pomona College

The Claremont Independent

Nov 7, 2018

UPDATE—Westboro Baptist Church to Picket at Pomona College

The Topeka-based Westboro Baptist Church (WBC)—a religious organization renowned for hate speech—issued a press release Tuesday stating that they will picket at Pomona College in Claremont next Monday morning, according to their picket schedule. The California college is part of the Claremont Colleges, a consortium which also includes Harvey Mudd, Claremont McKenna, Scripps, and Pitzer Colleges. WBC took offense to Pomona offering a course called “Queering Childhood,” which i

Student-Run Café Closes to Accommodate Kavanaugh Protesters

The Claremont Independent

Oct 9, 2018

Student-Run Café Closes to Accommodate Kavanaugh Protesters

The Motley Coffeehouse, a student-run café at Scripps College—a member of the college consortium— closed its sitting room during business hours to accommodate protesters against the confirmation of Justice Brett Kavanaugh amid previous allegations of sexual assault. About one hundred students from the Claremont Colleges gathered at Scripps to protest the confirmation. This protest took place at noon, and was planned to last until 1 p.m., but finished early after about half a

UPDATED—Kavanaugh Protest Planned to Support Survivors

The Claremont Independent

Oct 8, 2018

UPDATED—Kavanaugh Protest Planned to Support Survivors

Student organizers at Scripps College have planned a protest against the United States Senate’s Saturday decision to confirm Justice Brett Kavanaugh. The protest, which will take place Tuesday noon at Scripps College, aims to “support survivors and show solidarity with those who are distraught by the Senate’s recent decision,” according to one of the event organizers. The Facebook event description states that “[this] has been a really devastating time in US Politics. We want

The Claremont Independent

Jul 22, 2017

Silencing Dissent Is Social Injustice

In an editorial published Wednesday, the editorial board of The Student Life—the Claremont Colleges’ newspaper funded almost exclusively by mandatory student fees—“wholeheartedly disavow[ed] the sanctions Claremont McKenna College imposed” on students who blockaded the entrances and exits to a scheduled appearance by conservative scholar Heather Mac Donald at the college in April. The board rests its case against the sanctions on a black-and-white portrait of moral rectitude.

UPDATE: In Unprecedented Move, CMC Faculty Permits Seniors Who Violated Student Code to Graduate

The Claremont Independent

Jun 5, 2017

UPDATE: In Unprecedented Move, CMC Faculty Permits Seniors Who Violated Student Code to Graduate

Claremont McKenna College (CMC) told the Independent in a statement that its faculty voted in May to allow CMC seniors who violated the student code during a protest in early April aimed at preventing Heather Mac Donald from speaking at the college to partake in commencement exercises despite their conduct. According to an internal letter obtained by the Independent, this move is an unprecedented, break from the college’s standard approach to disciplinary cases. In the letter

CMC President Promises To Punish Policy Violators in Wake of Protest

The Claremont Independent

Apr 7, 2017

CMC President Promises To Punish Policy Violators in Wake of Protest

After protesters at Claremont McKenna College shut down a scheduled lecture and Q&A with Heather Mac Donald, a critic of the Black Lives Matter movement, by blocking the venue’s entrance, Hiram Chodosh, the president of Claremont McKenna College, promised to crack down on some student protesters for violating college policy. Chodosh observed that, despite the protesters’ efforts, a live-stream of Mac Donald’s talk was viewed by nearly 250 people live and had been watched over

The Claremont Independent

Mar 31, 2017

Scripps Students Boycott Dining Hall, Say Caterer is “Neocolonial,” “Racist,” and “Exploitive”

Scripps students boycotted Scripps College’s Malott Dining Hall during lunch on Thursday in order to protest Scripps’ contract with its dining hall provider Sodexo, accusing Sodexo of racism, exploitation of labor, environmental violations, and management of private prisons. Organized by Scripps student campaign Drop Sodexo, the boycott as well as a simultaneous protest outside the dining hall were aimed at ending Scripps’ contract with Sodexo. Drop Sodexo urged students to e

Editorial: We Tell the Truth When No One Else Will

The Claremont Independent

Apr 29, 2016

Editorial: We Tell the Truth When No One Else Will

A recent editorial in The Student Life (TSL) criticized a Claremont Independent article because they thought it opted “for sensationalism over accuracy and impartiality.” Our article’s title pretty much summed up the story: “Black Women Protest Campus Party Because Non-Black Women Are Invited.” TSL notes that the event “attracted controversy due to confusion over whether the even [sic] was open to all women of color or only black women.” In other words, there was no inaccurac

The Claremont Independent

Apr 25, 2016

Why I Haven’t Enjoyed Claremont

When I came to Claremont, I hoped to find a loving community and an extended family. Unfortunately, what I found instead is an environment in which professing a commitment to social activism is often more important to my fellow students than actually connecting with the people around them. Many of my progressive classmates concern themselves with berating their peers for their ostensible insensitivity or privilege, rather than with expressing sensitivity to each other. I have

28 Scripps Professors Will Protest Madeleine Albright’s Commencement Speech

The Claremont Independent

Apr 9, 2016

28 Scripps Professors Will Protest Madeleine Albright’s Commencement Speech

Yesterday’s issue of The Student Life contained an open letter, signed by twenty-eight Scripps faculty members, criticizing the selection of former U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright to deliver the commencement speech at Scripps College this May. “As concerned Scripps faculty members, we are outraged at the selection of Madeleine Albright as the 2016 Commencement speaker and will not participate in this year’s graduation ceremony,” the professors write. “Our oppositio

Scripps Dean: Writing #Trump2016 is ‘Harassment,’ ‘Intimidation’

The Claremont Independent

Apr 1, 2016

Scripps Dean: Writing #Trump2016 is ‘Harassment,’ ‘Intimidation’

Last week, Scripps College’s Student Body President, Minjoo Kim, sent an email to the Scripps community describing a “racist incident” that occurred on campus. “A Mexican-American Scripps student woke up to find her whiteboard vandalized with the phrase: ‘#trump2016’.” A similar incident occurred at Emory University where students felt frightened and disturbed after pro-Donald Trump chalkings appeared on campus with the phrase “#trump2016.” “This racist act is completely unac

The Claremont Independent

Mar 31, 2016

Scripps Students, Faculty: Protest Madeleine Albright Because She is a ‘White Feminist’

Recently, the Office of the President at Scripps College sent out an email informing the student body that former U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright will be the commencement speaker this spring. “We proudly welcome Dr. Albright to Scripps College and eagerly anticipate a glimpse of the person ‘behind the position’ in her history-making role as America’s first female Secretary of State.” Several students were upset by the decision to invite Dr. Albright to speak at gra

Scripps Students Demand Required Anti-Oppression Training “To Ensure their Unlearning Process is Con

The Claremont Independent

Nov 24, 2015

Scripps Students Demand Required Anti-Oppression Training “To Ensure their Unlearning Process is Con

Yesterday, students from Scripps College issued a list of demands to the school administration. “As a collective of students who recognize movements here, and globally, we are calling upon increased action to combat institutional racism and oppression,” the students write. “Together, we have written the following list of proposed actions with the faith that our institution, Scripps College, will honor its commitment to institutional change that centers diversity and inclusivi

CMC Students Feel Marginalized, Demand Resources and Resignations

The Claremont Independent

Nov 12, 2015

CMC Students Feel Marginalized, Demand Resources and Resignations

Yesterday afternoon, a student demonstration took place at Claremont McKenna College (CMC), where students of marginalized identities demanded administrative officials accommodate their specialized needs on campus. Their demands include a permanent resource center; the immediate creation of two diversity positions for student affairs and faculty; and a general education requirement for ethnic, racial, and sexuality theory; along with over a dozen other demands listed in their