Imagine this: one unified sports team representing the Claremont Colleges, made up of athletes from all five campuses — Claremont McKenna College (CMC), Harvey Mudd College (HMC), Scripps College, Pomona College and Pitzer College. This combined force could be a Division III powerhouse. It would be capable of sweeping through NCAA tournaments while representing the Claremont Colleges not just as an academic elite, but as an athletic one too.
Why do this, you ask? Aren’t our current athletic rivalries between Claremont Mudd-Scripps (CMS) and Pomona-Pitzer (P-P) part of the charm of the 5Cs? Sure, but who doesn’t like winning on the bigger stage? Combining forces would create an opportunity to build a stronger, more competitive athletic program that could go head-to-head with the very best in Division III, all while preserving the unique identities of our individual schools.
We already see strong performances from both CMS and P-P athletics, with the Stags and Athenas having won a combined 336 SCIAC championships and the Sagehens earning 268 titles of their own. These are impressive stats individually, but there is potential in merging these programs. Both CMS and P-P teams consistently make NCAA tournament appearances — the CMS’s men’s soccer team, for instance, has had stellar recent seasons, while P-P’s cross-country teams frequently rank among the top in the nation. A unified team would not only build on these successes but also create more opportunities for recruitment and athletic growth.
One of the Claremont Colleges’ greatest selling points is its academic rigor. Students at the 5Cs have top-notch faculty and resources. All five schools rank highly among national liberal arts colleges, with U.S. News & World Report ranking CMC, Pomona and HMC in the top 12 best liberal arts colleges in 2025.
Balancing academic and athletic excellence isn’t easy, but it’s exactly what the Claremont Colleges are built for. A combined athletic program would reflect the same commitment to excellence as our academics, showing the world that we can dominate both in the classroom and on the field. There’s no need to settle for being great in just one area when we can excel in both.
A concern with merging athletic programs is that each of the 5Cs has its own distinct identity. However, it’s this diversity of cultures that could make a combined team even more interesting. The Claremont College consortium is already known for its unique ability to balance five different schools while fostering a shared sense of community. Bringing that into the athletic realm would only strengthen the relationships between the 5Cs. Maybe this powerhouse Division III team would inspire even more collaboration between the 5Cs in other areas of student life, allowing for a more cohesive Claremont Colleges community.
This doesn’t mean losing the unique identities of CMS and P-P, but rather building something bigger that includes all of us. Each college would still bring its own flavor to the unified team, celebrating the diversity that defines the 5Cs. The traditions and school spirit would continue to thrive, but now under one banner that reflects the shared strength of all five schools coming together as the Claremont Colleges.
Uniting the varsity sports teams across the Claremont Colleges would benefit everyone. We could build a stronger, more competitive athletic program while still celebrating the unique cultures of our five schools.
It’s time for the Claremont Colleges to think bigger. We’re already some of the brightest minds in the country, so let’s make sure we’re also some of the strongest.
Annika Sharma CM ’26 spends so much time staring at the bottom of the pool that she started dreaming up ways to make the 5Cs the best in D3 sports—maybe it’s her Asian genes or just that CMC drive to compete with everyone (especially on LinkedIn connections). When she’s not scheming for athletic glory, she’s busy writing articles and hoping someone buys into her master plan.
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