The Student Life

Pomona College to host California gubernatorial debate: Here’s what to know

April 24, 2026 2:25 am Chloe Kiparsky 0

On Tuesday, April 28, Pomona College will host the first of four California gubernatorial debates in Bridges Auditorium. 5C students, faculty and administration eagerly anticipate the event, and student political organizations will put on related events such as watch parties and post-debate panels.

Only Pomona students were allowed to enter the selective ticket application to attend the debate in person, but student groups such as the Claremont College’s League of Women Voters (LWV) and 5C Democrats will host watch parties for others to engage in dialogue surrounding the debate.

CMC and Scripps join SoCal campaign for stricter gas boiler regulations

April 24, 2026 1:25 am Kahani Malhotra 0

Claremont McKenna College and Scripps College passed resolutions this month to support phasing out large industrial gas boilers in Southern California.

Jaden Yang PO ’28 and Clarissa Aquino PZ ’26 have led the charge at the 5Cs to pass student resolutions on gas boilers. The end goal of the campaign is to convince the South Coast Air Quality Management District (SCAQMD), a government agency that oversees air quality standards, to phase out the use of medium to large-sized boilers across Southern California.

They hope to get all 5Cs to support the resolution by the end of April, so they can show full support for shifting away from gas boilers at the SCAQMD’s next board meeting on May 1.

Student organizations collaborate to push Metro U-Pass initiative

April 24, 2026 12:20 am Carys Hardy 0

The 7C Transportation Working Group is developing a plan to bring Los Angeles Metro’s U-Pass, a reduced-fare transit pass, to the 5Cs. The group said the program would expand student opportunities and reduce car dependency.
The group — composed of students from the Claremont Urbanists, a club for urban planning, and the Associated Students of Pomona College (ASPC) Sustainability Committee — is advocating for the colleges to enroll in a pilot plan in which The Claremont Colleges Services (TCCS) would purchase U-Pass from LA Metro to give students who pay a one-time $2 fee unlimited rides across a network of 10 transit agencies.

5Cs to switch to 100% renewable electricity

April 18, 2026 11:26 am Bianca Mirica 0

Presidents across the 5Cs announced Friday, April 17 that the colleges will transition to 100% renewable electricity by enrolling in the Clean Power Alliance (CPA), following a yearlong 5C Environmental Justice (5CEJ) campaign to phase out fossil fuels.
The “Claremont Off Fossil Fuels”campaign proposed the Colleges stop purchasing electricity from Southern California Edison (SCE), an investor-owned utility that primarily relies on fossil fuels, and instead enroll in the CPA, a not-for-profit energy provider that offers 100% renewable electricity options. The Claremont Colleges’ Business and Financial Affairs Committee and the consortium-wide presidents committee have now approved the proposal.

Milo Slevin PO ’28, campaign co-founder, said the transition marks a concrete shift in how the Colleges demonstrate their commitment to sustainability by taking action that immediately reduces carbon footprint.

Off the Shelf: K-Ming Chang reinvents Asian American narratives

July 23, 2026 7:25 pm Corina Yi 0

In the second installment of her “Off the Shelf” column, Corina Yi PO ’28 reviews K-Ming Chang’s short story collection “Gods of Want.” Featuring cigarette-ad models coming to life, ghost-cousins, shape-shifting daughters, various nameless widows and nine-headed birds, the collection blurs the line between realism

A Girl’s Guide to Terrible Men: Men think they invented liking “The Godfather”

July 23, 2026 7:09 pm Bianca Mirica 0

When columnist Bianca Mirica PO’29 was fourteen, her father decided it was time to watch “The Godfather” together. Years later, Mirica reflects on the iconic film’s male power dynamics, Al Pacino’s face card, and all of “The Godfather”’s unsung heroes — the women.

Audrey Between Frames: ‘The Boroughs’ contention with ageism is weighed down by Netflix banality

July 23, 2026 6:25 pm Audrey Green 0

Audrey Green SC ’27 partially praises Netflix’s new sci-fi thriller “The Boroughs” for its novel concept. Moving past the script’s quippy nature and poor execution, the show was thematically provocative, especially for those with a deep-seated fear of being deemed nonsensical.

What Makes Us Human: Five things AI can’t replicate

July 23, 2026 6:12 pm Kira Heller 0

In her first column, Kira Heller ’29 dives into her thoughts about what makes humans distinct amid the rapid growth of artificial intelligence. She uses Notre Dame’s DELTA framework to explore five human qualities that AI can’t replace: dignity, embodiment, love, transcendence and agency.

OPINION: AI won’t automate work away, it will expose it

July 11, 2026 3:33 pm Ali Alattar 0

“If artificial intelligence replaces every job, humans will face a mass disillusionment. It won’t be the humanist disillusionment we expect — the mythologized anticlimax of humankind, a world where machines outperform us at jobs we thought were uniquely ours,” writes Alattar. “Rather, we will realize that those jobs never needed to exist, and more begrudgingly, that no job needs to exist.”

OPINION: You should get to know the local candidates on your ballot

June 25, 2026 9:58 pm Akshay Seetharam 0

The gubernatorial debate hosted at Pomona College earlier this spring made it impossible to ignore the contest to become the governor of California. However, candidates for many other positions, including Claremont’s city council and the State Board of Equalization, deserve equal attention.

OPINION: Pomona needs more rigor. The liberal arts are at stake.

June 25, 2026 9:36 pm Ali Alattar 0

Grade inflation discourse often engages with letter grades as instrumental means to an end: workforce employability, grad-school competitiveness, post-college salaries, and social mobility. At Pomona College, though, debates over grade inflation are also debates about what a liberal arts education should demand of its students.

OPINION: Weigh your options — psychiatric drugs are overprescribed

April 24, 2026 4:59 am William Riley 0

Liam Riley PO ‘26 discusses the prescription of psychiatric drugs in the U.S. He discusses the neurochemical model and how it can be a damaging way of looking at the world.

Athenas end Saghens’ 20 year run as SCIAC water polo champs

April 24, 2026 2:36 am Anne Reardon 0

On Saturday, April 18, Claremont-Mudd-Scripps (CMS) women’s water polo dethroned Pomona-Pitzer’s 20-year reign as SCIAC Champions. Despite P-P’s wins on Feb 25 and April 8, CMS cements its historic season in triumph after beating P-P for the first time in 20 years in January and holding strong for a 14-10 win in this SCIAC Championship game.

The WNBA is in full bloom and roots run closer than you may think

April 24, 2026 2:31 am Ava Fleisher 0

WNBA players’ recent advocacy and negotiations have made headlines, with some critics calling the progress and popularity a modern anomaly. Far from that, Ava Fleisher SC ’28 explores the rich history of women’s basketball at the 5Cs, dating back to Pomona’s groundbreaking 1903 team.

Growing out of the dynasty; saying goodbye to my Warriors-filled childhood

April 24, 2026 2:28 am Charlotte Hahm 0

After a full decade of record-setting dominance in the NBA, the Golden State Warriors dynasty is nearing its end. Charlotte Hahm SC ’28 reflects on her memories growing up alongside the team’s break-out years and how her hometown team’s dependable success fueled childlike hope and naivety.

Seminars and scoreboards: David Goldblatt

April 24, 2026 2:12 am Jake Creelan 0

Pitzer professor David Goldblatt is obsessed with football (soccer). After finishing his undergraduate years at Cambridge University, a young Goldblatt visited a place he hadn’t been since his childhood — a football stadium. This was the spark that ignited his multi-decade tango with the sport, not as a professional athlete but as an author and journalist examining its hidden political and sociological impact.