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.
Tag: Diversity
OPINION: We should all be ashamed of our monolingualism
As a larger portion of Americans speak multiple languages than ever before, there is an alarming decrease in multilingual pursuits by students on college campuses across the nation. Amidst the implementation of ongoing mass deportations and racial profiling initiatives by the Trump administration, “learning languages serves as a small but effective tool in order to push back against authoritarian efforts to make our nation less diverse,” Alex Benach PO‘28 writes. Benach wants students to take personal responsibility in realizing the inclusive and diverse vision of America that many claim to value deeply by learning languages other than their native tongue in order to foster a better understanding of the diverse perspectives around them.
Misty Copeland and her unexpected journey into dance
On April 15 at Scripps College’s Garrison Theater, Misty Copeland spoke about her unlikely journey into the dance world and her work in making the arts more accessible.
Pluralism, progress, problems: 50 years of interfaith chaplaincy
At the intersection of Scripps College, Pomona College and Claremont McKenna College stands the McAlister Center for Religious Activities (also called the McAlister Center for Spiritual Life), an institution many students pass every day. However, according to former Protestant Chaplain Naima Lett, 75% of the community she encountered during the 2021-2022 school year was unaware of the center’s chaplain services, which provide counseling for all students and faculty of the Claremont colleges regardless of religion. Even less known is the chaplaincy system’s fifty years of complex history, representing both the cutting edge of inclusive college campuses and archaic systems no longer relevant to student needs.
OPINION: Contemporary art must put individual before identity
As contemporary art shifts its focus from form to identity, does it still challenge the viewer, or has it become a closed loop of self-referential politics? Elias Diwan PO ’25 argues that contemporary art’s fixation on representation has turned inclusion into a substitute for communication, sidelining quality and meaningful engagement with the work itself.
“The New Code”: Creating more tables in tech at the Ath
On Feb. 3, Mancini spoke with Ryan Patel about the necessity of improving diversity in the technology industry at CMC’s Marian Miner Cook Athenaeum. Since 2011, Black Girls Code has supported girls of color in tech through workshops, after-school programs, camps and mentorship. Throughout her talk, Mancini emphasized the importance of authenticity and building a supportive, encouraging team.
OPINION: On ‘turning Black’: multiracial identities in politics
For people of color getting your identity questioned is a common experience, so it’s no surprise that it happens in politics. Jasmine Harrison PO ’27 deconstructs the rhetoric used surrounding Kamala Harris during the recent presidential race and outlines a history of the United States grappling with identity within politics. Using tools like the Multidimensional Model of Racial Identity, Harrison helps readers dissect this rhetoric and better understand how identity functions and is perceived in politics.
Lost in Translation: Wolf hats and word fumbles
Columnist Claire Welch SC ’27 has been giving weekly Chinese language lessons to a class of 34 curious kids. But, facing blank stares, Welch has started to wonder what she’s really teaching—and what she’s learning. Reflecting on her own journey from Nepal to California, Welch discovers that confusion and curiosity might just be a pathway to a new “vision of life.”
Dear Roommate: Who am I if not my race?
Having recently joined the Asian American Mentor Program, advice columnist Ellie Chi PO ’28 reflects on affinity groups and the nuances of belonging.
Girl Power: What “Lady Bird” gets wrong about girlhood
Greta Gerwig’s acclaimed 2017 film “Lady Bird” artfully depicts mother-daughter relationships and growing out of girlhood, among other things but falls short in other places. Columnist Anna Peterson SC ’25 compares the movie with 2002’s “Real Women Have Curves.”