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.
The group swiftly turned their gaze to a specific student at Pomona College, condemning the CI’s Managing Editor, Jose Ruiz, for being both a Person of Color and writer associated with the Claremont Independent.
After a series of complaints, the page removed the explicit mention of Jose’s name and promised to “refrain from posting names in the future” because “[t]he Lord does not need names to know for whom we pray.” In addition to this retraction, the group removed a picture featuring current Independent Editor in Chief Steven Glick, Publisher Taylor Schmitt, and former Editor In Chief Hannah Oh Thursday night. The inclusion of Hannah Oh appears contradictory to the group’s stated mission, but would be coherent within a larger mission to bully conservative students, a not uncommon practice at the Claremont Colleges.
Mr. Ruiz noted, “I have been targeted before for being part of the Independent, but usually in person. This is the first time I’ve been targeted over social media… It’s been getting worse over the years, and the negative sentiment peaked last semester.”
Not all students visiting the page appreciated the personal attacks. One student remarked on the page “I thought Claremont people [were] better than this cyberbullying crap… There is a special place in hell for people who bullied their classmates online in the name of [the] Lord.”
The group seems to have no specific religious affiliation, calling on the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, while claiming that “[s]horts with imperialist flags are not Halacha.”
As of this morning, the page has received over 100 likes and is still drawing support for their claim that: “Many of the boys of Claremont are in desperate need of salvation and our prayers. Submit the gross boys in your life to our prayer list!”
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