Choir Decks the Halls of CMC’s Ath

The Claremont Chamber Choir performed at Claremont McKenna College’s Marian Miner Cook Athenaeum Dec. 2 as part of the Athenaeum’s annual holiday celebration. Open to faculty, staff, students and family members, the event featured a special holiday dinner. The night’s program included works by Gregorio Allegri, Bob Chilcott, Per Norgard,

Read more

Critic of Elite Education Targets ‘Leadership’ at CMC

Amid the resources of the 5Cs, many consider that students in the consortium—along with students at other elite colleges—are in a position of privilege. But perhaps none have articulated this sentiment as strongly as William Deresiewicz, the vocal critic of American higher education and author of Excellent Sheep: The Miseducation of the

Read more

Deresiewicz and CMC’s Problematic Priorities

I love going to hear guest speakers. They allow me to procrastinate on my schoolwork without being nagged by the feeling that I’m wasting my time on frivolous, non-educational activities. As a result, I’ve been to Claremont McKenna College’s Athenaeum at least a dozen times so far this semester and

Read more

Interim Ath Director Diversifies Speaker Lineup

Transgender rights activist Janet Mock. Artist Mary Weatherford. Spoken word poet Anis Mojgani. Comedian David Misch. Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Robert Schenkkan. All of these speakers have visited Claremont McKenna College’s Marian Miner Cook Athenaeum this fall under the leadership of Interim Director Priya Junnar.  Since replacing longtime director Bonnie Snortum in August, Junnar has

Read more

CMC Alumni Talk Future of Journalism

Last month, British author, editor and blogger Andrew Sullivan declared to his audience in Claremont that print media’s future is dead. A five-person panel convened at Claremont McKenna College’s Marian Miner Cook Athenaeum on Oct. 13 to explain exactly why Sullivan was mistaken. Comprising of six CMC alums and a

Read more

Is Media Dead? Andrew Sullivan Discusses Journalism of Today

In the late 1950s, American journalist and social critic Vance Packard warned Americans about the advertising industry’s insidious manipulation of them in his groundbreaking work The Hidden Persuaders. British author, blogger and editor Andrew Sullivan carried that torch into Claremont McKenna College’s Marian Miner Cook Athenaeum on Sept. 30, describing

Read more

Ronald Herring Discusses Role of Science in Agriculture

Ronald Herring gave a captivating and thought-provoking talk on genes in food Sept. 29 at Claremont McKenna College’s Marian Miner Cook Athenaeum. Herring, a political economy and ecology professor at Cornell University, teaches a vast range of topics but maintains a primary focus on agriculture and rural development. An expert on agrarian political economy, Herring is currently the

Read more

Anis Mojgani Slams Ath With Poetry

Rarely does one see poetry performed like this. Critically acclaimed spoken word poet Anis Mojgani performed at Claremont McKenna College’s Marian Miner Cook Athenaeum Sept. 24 in front of a large and adoring audience. A two-time National Poetry Slam Champion and winner of the International World Cup Poetry Slam, Mojgani

Read more

Janet Mock Talks Trans-Activism at CMC

“I am constantly ‘the transgender person,’” said Nancy Williams HM ’95, a Keck Science chemistry professor. “When you feel like you’re standing in for your entire minority because you’re the first person of the group they’ve ever met … it’s nerve-racking.” Williams, who came out as a transgender woman in 2011, moderated

Read more