In the latest and last entry of her column, Ila Assegaf profiles Miriam Akhmetshin SC ’26, an art history and economics major who recently completed training to be a doula.
Special Projects
Ten years of ‘yes, you can’: How the Hive reshaped creativity across the 5Cs
As of this fall, the Hive has been a staple of the 5Cs community for ten years. In 2015, a grant transformed what had been the Seeley G. Mudd Science Library into a more flexible, lively space. A decade later, the Hive remains an experiment in creativity and collaboration.
Letter to the editor: In response to Claremont Independent coverage
To the editors, Your article on the Claremont Independent reads less as journalism than as resentment. The Independent has accomplished what TSL has not: it has broken stories, documented misconduct and drawn national attention. Rather than engage with that record, you devoted an entire feature to implying that its success
Tranquil by design: A history of Scripps architecture and culture
Visitors to Scripps College are often struck by the beauty and peacefulness of the school’s campus and dorms. The college’s founding residence halls were built to feel like houses, and these architectural choices shape dorm culture and social life at Scripps nearly a century later. Today, they can often feel overbearing.
MULTIMEDIA: 47 Questions with Jonathan Lethem
Jonathan Lethem has been teaching in Pomona College’s English department since 2010, when he succeeded David Foster Wallace as the Roy Edward Disney ’51 Professor of Creative Writing. TSL’s Multimedia team visited the novelist and professor at his office to get his answers on their top 47 questions (chirp chirp).
Behind The Claremont Independent: Its origins, funding and wider impact
The Claremont Independent (The CI) is the only 5Cs student publication that receives funding exclusively from outside sources, instead of from the schools. Earlier this year, the newspaper’s coverage of pro-Palestine action on campus was cited by a letter sent by The U.S. House of Representatives’ Committee on Education and the Workforce to Pomona College demanding student disciplinary records related to alleged “occurrences of antisemitism.” Given The CI’s national spotlight, this article seeks to go behind the publication. It reviews their funding sources, national affiliations, and origins in the 1990s to illustrate the CI’s political significance both on campus and beyond.
Claremont Characters: Simon Leonard is a fun guy who loves fungi
Simon Leonard PO ’29 is six foot eight, learning Indonesian and fascinated with fungi. For the latest edition of “Claremont Characters,” Ila Assegaf PO ’28 profiles Leonard.
Hidden curriculum, community and visibility: A look into the 5C first-gen experience
First-generation students make up between 9.6-20 percent of the student body at each of the 5Cs. Amidst national legislation targeting DEI enrollment and threatening already-vulnerable students, Maya Zhan PO ’26 unpacks first-generation students’ spaces and experiences.
At Pomona College, Jonathan Lethem remains curious — and he’s teaching his students to be, too
For acclaimed novelist and Pomona professor Jonathan Lethem, curiosity is central to the writing process. Lethem came to Pomona in 2010, succeeding David Foster Wallace as the Roy Edward Disney ’51 Professor of Creative Writing. Bianca Mirica PO ’29 sat down to interview the writer on the practices that define both his teaching and his work.
Claremont Characters: Zoe Dorado’s cultures of probiotics and poetry
This week on Claremont Characters, Ila Assegaf PO ’28 spotlights Zoe Dorado PO ’27. An English and politics major, her interests include the teen writing industrial complex, the indie man epidemic and bell hooks eating Greek yogurt.