In the latest issue of the Claremont Independent, Taylor Schmitt PO ’17 tries to invalidate as many liberal causes célèbres as humanly possible. He denounces “campus progressives” for often “privileging narrative over evidence,” making it hard for him “to sympathize with their cause” and causing him to feel “embarrassed” to
Author: Carlos Ballesteros
To End Rape Culture, Fight Mass Incarceration
Content Warning: This piece includes racial slurs and language and content about sexual assault that some readers may find triggering or upsetting. In 2010, the Center for Public Integrity published its groundbreaking investigative reporting series on college sexual assault, jumpstarting a movement that has reached every corner of the country,
Birdman Aside, Latinos Still Have a Ways To Go
So far, 2015 has been incredibly impactful for the Latino community in the United States. From immigration reform to back-to-back Oscar triumphs to (hopefully) future Chicago mayor Jesús “Chuy” García, our community is in the midst of historic cultural and political shifts. But underneath these success stories lie painful systemic repression and
5Cs Mourn Chapel Hill Victims
Over 80 students from across the Claremont Colleges held a vigil last night to commemorate three slain Muslim family members who were shot and killed near the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill on Feb. 10. The suspect, Craig Hicks, 46, was arrested on charges of first-degree murder after
CMC’s Focus on the Party Scene Distracts From Real Issues
Two weekends ago, the police raided a North Quad party at Claremont McKenna College. The administration decided to call it a night when the “gathering of well over 100 people,” armed with “glass bottles of hard alcohol and the projection of loud music,” refused to listen to the residence assistants
Battling Injustice: Small Steps in a Big Picture
Exactly two months ago today, hundreds of us marched down these vanilla suburb streets, hands and fists in the air. Then, when the Big Apple was left breathless, Frary and McConnell became protest sites of the new civil rights movement. For two weeks, no one—not even the apathetic—could escape the
What Do Ayotzinapa and Wall Street Have in Common?
“Impunity is the name of the game.” That was the central theme of La Jornada opinions editor Luis Hernández Navarro’s talk earlier this week at Pomona College. Navarro—who has covered indigenous communities, labor struggles and student movements throughout Mexico for the better part of four decades—pointed out to a crowd
In Defense of Russell Brand’s Stab at a Revolution
“When I was poor and I complained about inequality, people said I was bitter. Now I’m rich, and I complain about inequality; they say I’m a hypocrite. I’m beginning to think they just don’t want inequality on the agenda because it is a real problem that needs to be addressed.”
Blessing of the Commons: Fostering a Sustainable Future
The World Bank predicts that two-thirds of the world’s population will run short of fresh drinking water by 2025. That’s a little over 10 years from now, folks. The United States as a whole is financially wealthy and geographically safe enough to not worry about running out of water anytime
Racial Profiling, or Why CMC Needs More Diversity
Two weeks ago, I published a column on Claremont McKenna College’s five-year drop in its student body’s socioeconomic diversity and its overarching effects on the college as a whole. Never did I imagine my concerns being immediately validated. On the night of Sept. 20 (the day after the piece was