Over the summer, I read Arlie Russell Hochschild’s Strangers in their Own Land as part of Pomona College’s required reading for incoming students. The book dove into the thoughts, minds, and history of the American right through interviews with locals in the Louisiana bayou, one of the poorest and deeply conservative areas in the country. As a Democrat, President Trump’s election was a fresh wound, and I looked to these interviews to clarify what other side of the political a

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

On Wednesday, a Facebook page called “Pray for the Boys of Claremont” began circulating among 5C students. The group posts “prayer requests” for the salvation of various male students at the 5Cs. The page’s first prayer request targeted all men involved with the Claremont Independent. The subsequent post ridiculed the entire “vile” publication. After a series of complaints, the page removed the explicit mention of Jose’s name and promised to “refrain from posting names in the

Last fall the issue of political diversity took center stage at the Claremont Colleges as a result of two separate events. The first was the release of a 40-year study that measured the political attitudes of students and faculty at the 5Cs. The study found that over 70 percent of CMC students, and over 90 percent of students at the other colleges surveyed, identify as Democrats – a rate far above that of the American voting population. Of the 532 Claremont Colleges tenured f

In a recent issue of The Student Life, we came across a funny little name for CI articles that ruffle campus progressives’ feathers: “That One Article.” Some would see a problem. We see an opportunity. As a long-ignored voice on campus, it is great to see others acknowledging our efforts to challenge progressives’ control of the campus debate this year. But, why, some might ask, is it even beneficial that we exist and grow as a publication? Simply put, we are showing a differ