Often, advocacy work starts with a simple conversation: One student listens to another, sharing resources and helping navigate confusing systems.
This spirit defines Scripps Advocates, a peer support program training students to aid survivors of sexual misconduct. The program, long established, has undergone significant changes in recent years. Advocates now receive expanded training, are paired with mentors and focus on community building. Their goal is both simple and demanding: make it easier to ask for help, and easier to find it.
This semester, the Advocates are extending their mission beyond Scripps. They are strengthening ties across the Claremont Colleges, building bridges in a fragmented system where each campus has its own independent advocacy program.
When the current co-head Miriam Akhmetshin SC ’26 first joined her freshman year, she quickly realized how urgent the work felt on campus.
“I became aware right away of how pervasive sexual violence was on our campuses,” Akhmetshin said. “What is especially hard is the gray area where there is alcohol or consent for some things but not others. People feel shame and think their situation is not serious enough to deserve support.”
As co-head, Akhmetshin has moved meetings toward shared decision-making, instituted mentorship for new members and revamped training to include both intensive preparation and community bonding. Akhmetshin is also focused on expanding support for underserved students of color and queer students.
“I feel Advocates has been failing our students of color and queer students … we have made progress, but we are not there yet,” she said.
In response, Scripps Advocates recently collaborated with campus groups like Scripps Communities of Resources and Empowerment, the Queer Resource Center and international student affinity spaces to better reach diverse communities.
Many of the program’s newest members share this spirit of inclusion. Anna Mone SC ’28 joined Scripps Advocates after doing reproductive rights advocacy in high school.
She says older Advocates remember a time when the group felt less inclusive, and now “there is a real push to reflect the entire student body so everyone feels comfortable coming to us.”
Mone also addressed a common misconception about the scope of the Advocates’ work.
“Sometimes people think we do not really do anything because we are not Title IX, but our support looks different,” she said. “We are students helping students. We can walk with survivors through the process even if we are not the ones running an investigation.”
In recent years, Advocates have also broadened practical support on campus. They expanded harm reduction efforts, stocked free safe sex supplies and menstrual products in residence halls, implemented a google-form based free emergency contraception program and have planned a text line to offer virtual support for survivors.
In addition to this practical support, current leaders are focused on rebuilding trust with the student body. Junior co-head Hanna Shigemitsu SC ’26 says the Advocates’ image has improved, but some skepticism remains — especially among upperclassmen who remember earlier versions of the program.
In past years, low participation and visibility meant “we weren’t able to accomplish as much or build as much trust with the community,” Akhmetshin said.
Shigemitsu agrees that the group needs to focus on consistency and follow through. “We have to get feedback and better ourselves every year,” she said.
Part of the student confusion stems from the colleges’ independent operations. Each campus’s Advocates group has its own policies, budgets and training, so when a case crosses college lines, students can be unsure where to turn.
This year, Akhmetshin and Harvey Mudd Advocates President Mira Kaniyur HM ’26 have worked to bridge that gap. Kaniyur notes that campus culture shapes each program’s focus. For example, Mudd’s rigorous academics and close-knit environment mean their advocates emphasize confidential support and preventive outreach to foster a culture of consent.
On Oct. 22, leaders from four campuses — Scripps, Pitzer, Pomona and Harvey Mudd — met for the first 4C-wide Advocates event in years. The meeting gave them space to compare priorities and better understand each campus’s distinct culture.
“It [represented] a recommitment to tackling the issue from multiple angles,” Akhmetshin said. “Sexual violence is not a single campus issue, so more communication means better support.”
Kaniyur agreed with Akhmetshin, explaining that the meeting represented a broader commitment towards consent culture and community building that isn’t limited by campus boundaries.
“I hope we can help all 5C students feel safe, welcome and familiar with all campuses, especially when it comes to parties or social culture,” Kaniyur said.
Already, collaborative events have increased each program’s visibility: this fall, Scripps Advocates co-hosted a Halloween safe-partying workshop with peers from Pitzer, Harvey Mudd, the EmPOWER Center and the 5C chapter of End Overdose. Still, real progress at the consortium level will come in increments.
As Akhmetshin and Shigemitsu note, change is often slow and ongoing. But every conversation and small act of care moves the community closer together. As different groups begin to talk, meet and listen more, the Advocates’ quiet work widens the circle of care — a reminder that real change rarely comes all at once, but often starts with someone willing to listen.
Students seeking support can contact the Scripps Advocates through scrippsadvocates.wordpress.com, or visit the EmPOWER Center at empowercenter.claremont.edu. Title IX resources and reporting options can be found at services.claremont.edu/titleix.
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