In an email from Professors Gaston Espinosa and Dan Livesay relayed through Dean Dianna Graves, Claremont McKenna College (CMC) students learned that faculty are debating a proposal to “revise the College’s General Education (GE) requirements for future students that would include a ‘Racial-Ethnic Understanding’ component.” The new curriculum would focus on racism and the social construct of race. The professors explained that “[i]n its current form, the proposal allows for t

Members of the Scripps Associated Students (SAS), the student governing body at Scripps College, have proposed a bias incident reporting mechanism for students to anonymously report instances of discrimination by professors and fellow students. When questioned by the Independent regarding potential misuse of the mechanism, SAS representatives said it “is something [they] are taking very seriously and a topic [they] are discussing amongst [themselves] and with administration.”

Yesterday, President Donald Trump signed an executive order stating that “it shall be the policy of the United States not to promote race or sex stereotyping or scapegoating in the Federal workforce or in the Uniformed Services, and not to allow grant funds to be used for these purposes.” This executive order could have a profound impact on the Claremont Colleges, affecting events such as last week’s Athenaeum talk by Ibram X. Kendi, author of How to Be An Antiracist, as well

On Sept. 19, Scripps College student groups Scripps for Black Lives Matter, Watu Weusi, and the Asian American Student Union released an open letter to Scripps President Lara Tiedens and Dean of Faculty Amy Marcus-Newhall. In the letter, the students demanded the college release a public statement regarding an August 30 altercation between Assistant Professor of Media Studies Jane Mi and a lone protester outside Mi’s South Pasadena home. The student groups asked for “the Coll

I’ve never seen “The Purge,” but it seems like an unpleasant movie. Although it’s fiction, I believe it holds some truth: it would be bad if we had no law enforcement. This metaphor is fairly involved, but bear with me; I imagine American society as a beautiful vegetable garden. We spend billions each year keeping the weeds away because they inhibit the production of vegetables by stealing nutrients and otherwise hurting the other plants. I think it’s great that we keep the w

In an open letter to the Board of Trustees at Scripps College, Students For An Accountable Scripps, a student activist organization, called for the firing of Vice President of Student Affairs and Dean of Students Charlotte Johnson. The student activists accuse Johnson, who is Black, of anti-Black behavior and negligence of students during the coronavirus pandemic, including the underfeeding of students who stayed on campus during the spring 2020 semester. One of the core comp

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

The Claremont Colleges are a place where events you couldn’t make up take place. For example, the recent “BlaQ Mixer” event at Pomona College, which initially banned people who weren’t a certain race from attending, was only desegregated after a publication by the Claremont Independent highlighting the event. A similar policy occurred at a Scripps College pool party a few semesters ago. Other events that are exclusionary based on gender or race are becoming increasingly more

Throughout November, Scripps College has been hosting and funding more speakers heavily praising Nicolas Maduro’s regime in Venezuela. This series is the third semester in a row in which Scripps has hosted talks extolling the virtues of Venezuela’s government; this small women-only liberal arts college in Claremont, California also hosted and funded speakers openly in support of the Maduro regime during the spring 2018 semester and last fall. This semester’s talks took place

In an opinion editorial for the Student Life, the administration-funded student newspaper at the Claremont Colleges, a white Pitzer student frets that the colleges’ outdoor programs, though open to all students and well-funded, are “predominantly white spaces” that deny people of color “access to the outdoors.” The article, written by Malcolm McCann, a freshman at Pitzer College—one of the member institutions of the Claremont Colleges—calls out clubs like Pitzer Outdoor Adven

Students at the Claremont Colleges plan to protest and “shut down” a speech by prominent political commentator Heather Mac Donald tonight. Mac Donald, a member of the Manhattan Institute and a contributing editor of City Journal, is scheduled to give a speech at Claremont McKenna College’s Marian Miner Cook Athenaeum. A photo of the students’ call to protest. According to the event’s description on the Athenaeum’s website, “The Black Lives Matter movement holds that the U.S.

On January 25, Vince Greer – the Assistant Dean of Students for Diversity and Inclusion at Claremont McKenna College (CMC) – distributed the following message to the students, faculty and staff of the college: “Dear CMC community, The Cultural Influences on Mental Health Center at CMC is offering a FREE 8-week compassionate meditation program for ethnic minority students to learn how to heal from racism- and race-related incidents. Students must identify as an ethnic minority

New students at Pomona College were welcomed to campus with posters all over their dorms giving instructions for “How to be a (Better) White Ally.” The signs state that white people should “acknowledge your privilege” and “apologize if you’ve offended someone,” adding that offensive language includes words like “sassy” and “riot,” which are “racially coded.” “Everyone is problematic and even the most educated and well-intentioned people will screw up,” the poster states. The

After several national media outlets covered Pitzer College student leaders’ defense of racially discriminatory housing practices, both the incoming President of Pitzer College, Melvin Oliver, and the Vice President for Student Affairs, Brian Carlisle, issued statements to the entire student body, faculty, and staff. “Recently, an article in local media quoted Facebook comments made by Pitzer students regarding their preference in race for their roommates in non-Pitzer housin

A group of students at the Claremont Colleges are in search of a roommate for next year, but insist that the roommate not be white. Karé Ureña (PZ ’18) posted on Facebook that non-white students in need of housing arrangements should reach out to either her or two other students with whom she plans to live in an off-campus house. The post states that “POC [people of color] only” will be considered for this living opportunity. “I don’t want to live with any white folks,” Ureña

Recently, the Independent obtained screenshots from the “5C Women of Color” Facebook group. According to its description, the group—accessible only to its 1,100 approved members—is “for 5C students and alumnae who identify as women of color to reach out and serve as resources/support for one another.” Many of the page’s most popular posts mock those who do not identify as women of color. In response to her adoptive white father making jokes at her expense, Sarah Weiyun Otters

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

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