A September report by higher education research collective UnCivil called out four Claremont Colleges for their ties to civil discourse programs it says embrace anti-activist agendas or are funded by billionaire-led conservative nonprofits: the College Presidents for Civic Preparedness, the Constructive Dialogue Institute (CDI) and BridgeUSA.UnCivil aims to map the donor networks and conceptual origins of the Civil Industrial Complex, or the series of conservative campus initiatives and private- and state-funded “civic thought” centers that claim to support civil discourse and viewpoint diversity.
Tag: Israel
7C leftist organizations host ‘Week of Action’ to commemorate third anniversary of Oct. 7
Multiple leftist student groups across the 7Cs collaborated on a “Week of Action” from Oct. 5 to 9, organizing a series of events including teach-ins, poetry readings, a 10:07 a.m. walkout and additional programming. The events marked three years since the Oct. 7, 2023 Hamas-led attacks on southern Israel, with student organizers protesting Israel’s ongoing genocide in Gaza, as declared by the UN.
Amid tensions between the college administrations and certain student organizations advocating for Palestinian liberation, students raised concerns over some of the programming and questioned its choice of timing.
Claremont Hillel hosts Oct. 7 survivor at memorial service
Claremont Hillel hosted Rom El-Hai, a survivor of the Hamas-led attack on the Nova Music Festival, for a memorial service on Thursday to mark the three-year anniversary of Oct. 7. El-Hai spoke about his experience during and after the attacks to a group of around 30 5C students and community members on Oct. 8 at the Hillel house.
ACLU, Amnesty International report on repression cites Pomona, Pitzer, Scripps; Pomona disputes claims
Pomona, Pitzer and Scripps Colleges were mentioned in a Sept. 23 report by Amnesty International USA and the American Civil Liberties Union addressing suppression of “pro-Palestine speech and dissent” across college campuses nationwide. In a statement to TSL, a Pomona spokesperson wrote that the report “makes serious errors, unsupported by the source material.”
CMC ranks second in FIRE free speech rankings, other 5Cs receive failing grades
The Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE) gave Claremont McKenna College (CMC) the second-place spot on its 2027 College Free Speech Rankings, a report that rates the free speech climates at college and university campuses nationwide. CMC received a passing “B-” grade from FIRE, while all of the other undergraduate Claremont Colleges received failing “F” grades.
Of the 261 colleges surveyed, Pitzer College ranked 160th, Scripps College ranked 167th, Harvey Mudd College ranked 184th and Pomona College ranked 226th. While the other Claremont Colleges saw increases in their rankings compared to last year, CMC dropped by one rank, losing its first-place spot to the University of Chicago.
OPINION: Before Rebuilding Gaza, the World Must Confront Who Destroyed It
In an AI video posted by President Donald Trump to Truth Social, “Trump Gaza” imagines beaches and skyscrapers rising from ruins.: Trump’s proposed “GREAT” plan recasts Gaza’s destruction as an opportunity for profit, inviting the same powers complicit in its devastation to rebuild it while further displacing Palestinian populations and causing even greater environmental harm beyond that already caused by the war. Leili Kamali PO ‘29 argues that current plans for reconstruction are dangerously colonialist and anti-environmentalist, and must be reimagined in order to make proper reparations for those living in Gaza.
Pomona College bans two 5C students from campus following Oct. 7 memorial disturbance
Pomona College has identified and banned two 5C students from their campus as part of an ongoing investigation into a disruption at an Oct. 7 memorial hosted by Claremont Hillel.
Pomona College to investigate disruption at Hillel memorial event
Pomona’s President’s Office informed the school community via email this morning that four masked individuals disrupted a Hillel memorial.
5C organizations commemorate two years since Oct. 7 attacks
Several groups across the 5Cs hosted events this week to commemorate the two-year anniversary of Oct. 7, 2023.
Nicholas Kristof in conversation: Political lessons from reporting
On Feb. 20 at Pomona College, Nicholas Kristof discussed the future of the “Israeli-Palestinian conflict,” the Sudanese civil war, the question of what effective campus activism looks like and the future of the American left.