On Friday, Sept. 15, student activist organizations from across the 5Cs gathered at The Motley Coffeehouse for the third edition of the “Leftist Coffee Hour.” The Leftist Coffee Hour is an event featuring 15 different leftist-identifying student organizations, with representatives conducting presentations about their civic concerns, followed by a club showcase. The event enabled students to understand how to get politically engaged in issues such as environmental justice, prison abolition, affordable housing and more. Miranda Elder PO ’29, co-president of Inclusive Claremont, a club that advocates for affordable housing, echoed the importance of these gatherings, noting that one of the objectives of the Coffee Hour is creating an active community of progressive activists.
Scripps College
CMC and Scripps join SoCal campaign for stricter gas boiler regulations
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.
Motley and Scripps Store close on admitted students day amid staff strike
The Motley Coffeehouse and Scripps Store were closed on April 17, admitted students day, due to student staffing shortages. While the Motley’s barista bar was nonoperational, its lounge area hosted recurring teach-ins that outlined the workers’ demands and recounted the coffeehouse’s political history.
In light of the recent administrative decision to assign a supervisor — Interim Vice President for Student Affairs, Stacey Miller — to oversee each organization, 77.6% of Motley staff and 95% of Scripps Store staff voted to strike today, according to each of the business’s student co-heads.
Construction continues on Scripps Centennial Plaza Project; phase one set to complete in 2026-27 academic year
Scripps College continues to make progress on its Centennial Plaza Project, which involves renovations of the 10th Street building and the construction of the new Carolyn Lake Dance Center, both of which are expected to be complete during the 2026-27 academic year.
Leah Gorence SC ’28 said that it is exciting to see Scripps invest in new infrastructure. However, she wonders if the Centennial Plaza Project is the best allocation of Scripps’ resources.
Scripps appoints administrative supervisor to Motley; staff say student-run structure is threatened
The Motley Coffeehouse, a historically student-run cafe and popular event space at Scripps College, will undergo administrative changes beginning summer 2026 — potentially jeopardizing its entirely student-run business model, Motley staff said.
Stacey Miller, The Motley’s current administrative advisor, announced at an all-staff meeting March 8 that she will be taking on new responsibilities as a supervisor to the coffeehouse, alongside the Scripps Store.
Multiple Motley employees said they felt “blindsided” by this change.
Pomona and Pitzer move from ‘F’ to ‘C’ grades in Anti-Defamation League Rankings; Scripps maintains failing grade
The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) upgraded Pomona and Pitzer Colleges’ rankings from ‘F’ to ‘C’ grades in their 2026 Campus Antisemitism Report Card released last month, while Scripps College received an ‘F’ grade again and Claremont McKenna and Harvey Mudd Colleges remained unranked.
ADL reached out to both Pomona and Pitzer prior to releasing this year’s rankings and Pomona “shared some general information about Jewish life on campus,” a Pomona College spokesperson wrote in an email to TSL.
While the spokesperson said the college is “encouraged” by the updated ranking, the numerical value is not their only measure of progress.
Scripps celebrates National Women’s Colleges Day amid gender-targeted policy threats under Trump
Last week, Scripps College celebrated the second annual National Women’s Colleges and Universities Day at its weekly Wednesday tea. In the wake of new Trump-era gender definitions and budget cuts targeting women’s research initiatives, many students and faculty stressed the timely importance of celebrating historically women’s colleges.
Laspa Intern Geeta Karlcut SC ‘26, said it is important to acknowledge the struggles of women and gender-diverse people in education amid these recent changes.
Scripps anticipates housing shortage next spring due to record fall abroad applicants
Scripps College is anticipating housing shortages next year after receiving record numbers of study abroad applications for the fall semester, leaving many Scripps students concerned about spring semester dorm availability.Scripps’ office of Study Abroad and Global Education (SAGE) sent a notice on Feb. 24 to students planning to go abroad in the fall, encouraging them to consider going abroad in the spring due to potential issues.Though SAGE said they will not require students to change semesters, they strongly encourage students to reconsider.
Scripps’ biannual olive harvest postponed due to lack of rainfall
The Scripps College Olive Harvest tradition was postponed last fall, despite its biannual schedule, due to a lack of rainfall last academic year, according to Scripps’ Landscape Operations Manager Joya Salas.
The olive harvest tradition began in 2012 after Core II students proposed the idea of harvesting the olive trees lining the school’s Humanities Building rather than spraying them with chemicals to prevent fruit production.
Each year, Salas decides whether or not there will be an olive harvest by observing the trees throughout the year and anticipating their fruit yield.
Students question residential security after Scripps transitions to keycard-only door access
Over winter break, Scripps College updated on-campus door readers to enable swipe access, prompting student discussion about convenience and security. Under the former system, students accessed residence halls by scanning their student ID card and entering a personalized four-digit PIN. Isabelle Carlsen SC ’29 said that while she generally feels safe living on campus, the removal of PIN access has made her feel vulnerable.