THE
STUDENT
LIFE
The student newspaper of the Claremont Colleges since 1889
CLAREMONT, CA
FRIDAY, MARCH 15, 2019
VOL. CXXI NO. 16
PZ president vetoes Haifa suspension After 67-28 vote to end Israel study abroad program, Pitzer community blindsided by Oliver’s prompt override MARC ROD, PATRICK LIU & JAIMIE DING
TALIA BERNSTEIN • THE STUDENT LIFE
Pitzer President Melvin Oliver prepares to open Thursday’s College Council meeting at the McConnell Center, which ended with the council voting to suspend Pitzer’s study abroad program with the University of Haifa in Israel. Oliver overrode the decision hours later.
Less than three hours after the Pitzer College Council voted 67-28 Thursday to suspend Pitzer’s study abroad program with the University of Haifa in Israel, Pitzer President Melvin Oliver vetoed the decision and said he will not implement the suspension. “I fully respect the actions of the College Council, thus I do not make this decision lightly,” Oliver said in a press release. College Council votes are officially non-binding recommendations to the president. Oliver said the veto was based on the political nature of the suspension. “The recommendation would effectively cause the college — not some of its constituent members, but the college itself — to take an unavoidably political position on
one of the most controversial issues of our time,” Oliver said. “It is rarely, if ever, the role of the college to be taking such positions.” To take such a position, the college must have consensus across “internal and external constituencies in support of the position,” Oliver said. “This recommendation fails that test. … If implemented, the recommendation would unnecessarily alienate a large cross section of the college’s constituencies.” The motion the College Council passed Thursday afternoon in the McConnell Center’s Founders Room, which was packed with more than 200 students and onlookers, laid out a more broad policy than previous motions. The revised motion was an attempt to address concerns raised by Oliver and others
See HAIFA on Page 2
5CS SPRING INTO ACTION AHEAD OF BREAK Students pressure Scripps ‘Just not enough’: Pomona students PZ DACA protest draws rally for improved mental health to drop Sodexo 200+ students EMILY KUHN
Scripps College’s contract with Sodexo, a food services company that operates prisons in other countries, is set to expire in 2020, and students have been putting pressure on the administration to not renew its contract. More than 40 students protested the school’s involvement with the French multinational company outside Malott Dining Hall March 8 at a rally hosted by Drop Sodexo, a campaign to end Scripps’ contract with the company. A petition with more than 1,000 signatures was also delivered to Scripps President Lara Tiedens during the rally. Tiedens seemed receptive to students’ complaints. She said via email that students’ concerns over the past few years are in part responsible for the creation of
a Dining Services Advisory Committee, which will be composed of students, faculty and staff. “I know that the Sodexo contract is a topic about which there are some strongly held views in the Scripps community,” she said. “I encourage our students, and the Scripps community, to be informed consumers and I welcome information sharing about corporations’ practices, histories and structures.” This summer, Scripps will request and consider proposals from a number of food service companies, Tiedens said. “The college will evaluate the proposals based on a range of criteria, including cost, food quality and alignment with Scripps values, among others,” she said.
See SODEXO on Page 3
AMY BEST • THE STUDENT LIFE
Organizers Griffin Cloud PZ ’19, Sophie Peters SC ’20 and Alex Hammond SC ’19 give individual statements to kick off the Drop Sodexo rally March 8.
BEN REICHER
More than 100 students rallied at Pomona College’s Smith Campus Center on Monday to demand that the Pomona administration improve services for students with mental health issues, especially students from marginalized communities. The rally was organized by a coalition of 5C student groups under the name Students for an Accountable Pomona. “It’s not enough to admit low-income students, it’s not enough to admit students with disabilities, it’s not enough to admit black and brown students,” said Daniel Garcia PO ’21, an executive board member of First-generation and Low Income Scholars, one of the groups that organized the event. “I feel like we’ve just been admitted and not accepted here; we’re not being supported, we’re just being used for statistics.” On Feb. 6, Garcia published an op-ed in TSL urging Pomona to establish a summer bridge program to better integrate incoming first-generation and low-income students. Subsequently, a coalition consisting of FLI; College Community Action Network; Mental Health Alliance; and Disability, Illness, and Difference Alliance launched the rally. In a document released online prior to the ral-
LIFE AND STYLE
ELINOR ASPEGREN
IAN POVEDA • THE STUDENT LIFE
Diana Rodriguez PO ’19 and Rene Valenzuela PO ’20 pose with a sign demanding transparency from the Pomona College administration at a Smith Campus Center rally for improved mental health care March 11.
ly, the organizers outlined four concrete demands: the reinstatement of full coverage of off-campus therapy co-pays for students on the Student Health Insurance Program after a pre-existing program was canceled last fall, a Pomona-specific therapy program to relieve long wait times at Monsour Counseling and Psychological Services with at least four on-campus therapists, two full-time disability coordinator positions and a summer bridge program. Under the slogan “Nothing about us without us,” students at the rally stressed the need for transparency and accountability from Pomona’s administration. “On this important issue of mental health, there are many and growing needs,” Dean of Students Avis Hinkson said in an email
See HEALTH on Page 2
OPINIONS Pomona rescinding admission to students whose grades dropped after significant hardship signals the college’s priorities.
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See DACA on Page 3
ELINOR ASPEGREN • THE STUDENT LIFE
Students protest the withholding of an undocumented student’s scholarship money.
SPORTS
Todrick Hall, an American Idol finalist, YouTuber and judge on RuPaul’s Drag Race, visited Pomona for a performance and Q&A.
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to TSL prior to the rally. “We welcome all voices, and are continuing to consider ways to address the concerns that have been raised.” Pomona does plan to hire one new disability services director to begin work in the fall, Hinkson said. “I’ve been involved with DIDA for two years now, and the whole time I’ve been here there’s been consistency among Pomona students having really bad experiences with disability services,” DIDA leader Manya Singh SC ’19 said prior to the rally. Singh praised Pomona’s decision to hire a disability services director, but said more needs to be done.
More than 200 students marched to protest Pitzer College’s decision to withhold scholarship money from an undocumented student Tuesday. Damaris Esquivel PZ ’19, a Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals beneficiary, had her scholarship revoked due to “a course credit deficit,” which jeopardises her ability to graduate this year, according to a survey from the protest organizers. “Pitzer has proven to not be a sanctuary campus, nor safe to its undocumented and DACAmented students,” the statement said. In 2017, Pitzer President Melvin Oliver said
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Abby Johnson SC ’21, a foodie and star athlete, has emerged as a leader of the Claremont-Mudd-Scripps track team.
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NEWS.............................1 LIFE & STYLE..................4 OPINIONS.....................6 SPORTS..........................8
NEWS THE STUDENT LIFE
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HAIFA: ‘The fight is not over’ Continued from Page 1 that Israel was being singled out. In November, Oliver condemned the faculty for passing a resolution that specifically targeted Haifa but not programs in other countries. The motion was introduced in response to the Israeli government’s entry restrictions based on ethnicity or political dissent and its restrictions on granting student visas to those studying at Palestinian universities. “Why would we not suspend our program with China? Or take our longest standing program in Nepal where the Pitzer in Nepal program has been run for over 40 years. During that time they have had a bloody civil war that killed 19,000 people,” Oliver said. “Why Israel?” Thursday’s motion, brought forward by Faculty Executive Committee chair Claudia Strauss and professor Dan Segal, could have led to Pitzer suspending other study abroad programs in countries that restrict entry on the basis of either legally protected political speech, race or ancestry. However, the new motion did not sway Oliver. He said the motion still constitutes an academic boycott of Israel and is by nature prejudiced because it’s “singling out Israel.” Oliver said he’s had several months to consider the veto decision and has consulted FEC members, faculty, trustees, students and parents. Segal, one of the most strident supporters of the suspension, blasted Oliver in a message to the Pitzer community. Oliver’s veto “shows that his deeply personal commitment to protect Israeli apartheid is more important to him than the best interests of the college,” Segal said. “This shows a failure to appreciate that Palestinians are
our fellow human beings, and a contempt for the college’s democratic process,” he added. “Because of the divisiveness of the president’s actions and his betrayal of the college’s core values, the president is doing grievous damage to the college I love and have served for 32 years.” The FEC will meet Friday to discuss Oliver’s decision, Strauss said, but declined to comment further. Zachary Freiman PO ’20, a board member for the Claremont Progressive Israel Alliance, praised Oliver’s decision. “President Oliver, like any executive, has the right to not accept this biased, unjust and ill-conceived recommendation targeting the only Jewish state,” he said via message. “The Claremont Progressive Israel Alliance commends his bravery and commitment to academic freedom.” Lea Kayali PO ’19, chair of Students for Justice in Palestine, which backed the Haifa program’s suspension, criticized the decision. “There is a clear pattern here, which is that the higher ups in Pitzer’s decision-making processes are systematically not supporting Palestinian students and democratic motions that support those students,” Kayali said. SJP is calling on Oliver to reverse his decision and is circulating a petition advocating for him to do so. Pitzer’s board of trustees previously indicated opposition to Pitzer taking a political stance on the Israel-Palestine conflict. The trustees blocked a Pitzer Student Senate motion last year involving a boycott of products from certain companies tied to Israel. The College Council’s decision to suspend the Haifa program had been more than a year in the making, and picked up steam with the faculty vote
last fall. Many of the students at Thursday’s meeting brandished signs supporting the program’s suspension and let loose a raucous cheer after the vote was announced. Segal was choking back tears following the vote, praising the College Council’s decision — hours before Oliver vetoed it. “Today’s vote will send a historic message to the Israeli state and to Jewish Israeli society that they no longer have unconditional support from Americans for their oppression of their Palestinian sisters and brothers,” he said. Rabbi Daniel Shapiro, the 5C Jewish chaplain, condemned the College Council’s decision in a post on Claremont Hillel’s Facebook page, calling it “anathema to Pitzer’s core values and said he was “gravely disappointed.” He praised Oliver’s decision to reverse it. Many students at the meeting read statements they said were from Palestinian students in Haifa and Claremont, and said those students chose not to attend the meeting out of fear of retaliation. Several Jewish students also spoke in favor of the motion. The Pitzer Student Senate executive board posted a statement on its Facebook page condemning Oliver’s decision. “It’s antithetical to shared governance and is a fundamental threat to student, faculty and staff voice,” the statement said. “We have democratic processes in place to ensure that topics are given their fair consideration. And today, it was not respected … the fight is not over.” Hank Snowdon and Elinor Aspegren contributed reporting.
HEALTH: Monsour resources not adequate, students say
MARCH 15, 2019
Claremont McKenna, Harvey Mudd linked to college admissions cheating firm Both say no evidence of wrongdoing by staff, students
COURTESY OF ALBERTO G. VIA FLICKR
Claremont McKenna College and Harvey Mudd College have been linked to a college preparation service that allegedly helped students get into colleges illegally.
MARC ROD Although Claremont McKenna College is featured as a “success [story]” on the website of a company recently tied to a college admissions fraud scheme and a parent of a current CMC student praised the company in a testimonial on the site, CMC has no evidence of improper conduct by staff or students, according to a statement Wednesday. Founders and employees of The Key, a college preparatory consulting firm, allegedly arranged to pay bribes to college admission officials, coaches and standardized test administrators, as well as allegedly facilitated cheating on standardized tests to help some clients gain admission to highly competitive colleges, according to a federal indictment released Tuesday. According to the indictment and news reports about The Key, The Key did not participate in fraudulent or illegal activities on behalf of all of its clients. Neither CMC nor any CMC staff members were named in the indictment,
and no CMC parents have been indicted in connection with the investigation. CMC and Harvey Mudd College are both featured on The Key’s website as “success stories” for The Key clients in 2009, and a testimonial from a current CMC parent praising the company appears on the site. The CMC parent is not among the parents indicted in connection with the scheme, who include actresses Felicity Huffman and Lori Loughlin. Harvey Mudd spokesperson Judy Augsburger said via email that the college adheres to ethical and professional practices in admissions and has not been contacted by investigators. Students generally do not inform colleges when they are working with outside counselors, and Harvey Mudd is not aware of any former applicants “associated with the firm,” Augsburger said. Pomona College also appears, alongside CMC and HMC, on a document from 2011 on The Key’s website. The document lists admission rates at a variety of schools in 2010 and 2011 and advertises The Key’s services. It is unclear whether the list contains
schools to which The Key clients were admitted. Pomona spokesperson Mark Kendall said via email that Pomona has not been contacted by investigators in connection with The Key and “the Pomona statistics on that link just appear to be general Pomona admission statistics from those years.” “CMC has no evidence or reason to believe that any of its staff has had any contact with [The Key] or otherwise engaged in this or any other type of misconduct,” CMC’s statement reads. “We are now aware of a CMC family that appears to have been a client of [The Key]. There is no indication that there was any irregularity or impropriety during the admissions process regarding this family or any other.” CMC does not monitor applicants’ use of college consulting firms like The Key, according to the statement, and does not accept information or advocacy from such firms about their clients. “The college is reviewing all available information in order to ensure the full integrity of our admission process,” the statement reads.
Corrections A news bite from last week stated Pitzer College’s study abroad office and committee would be conducting a study abroad audit. Claire Wengrod PZ ’19 and Pitzer Associate Vice President for International Programs Michael Ballagh clarified that multiple other divisions of Pitzer’s administration would be involved as well. The previous article also implied that dissatisfaction had been voiced directly to the study abroad office and committee, rather than to Wengrod via her survey. In an article about a Pitzer alumna arguing before the Supreme Court, it was incorrectly stated that a cross monument cost $200,000 in taxpayer money to construct. The construction of the cross was privately funded, but upkeep has cost taxpayers $200,000. TSL regrets these errors.
IAN POVEDA • THE STUDENT LIFE
Students gather at the Smith Campus Center March 11 to protest a perceived lack of accessibility to mental health resources at Pomona College.
Continued from Page 1 Shayok Chakraborty PO ’19, co-leader of CCAN, criticized Pomona’s lack of transparency in reducing funding for off-campus therapy. “We don’t know [why full coverage was rescinded], especially considering we do seem to have quite a bit of money, everyone’s throwing around this $55 million gym thing,” Chakraborty said. “How is it we [are able to raise] money to do that, but we don’t have money to fund off-campus therapy, especially when we seemed to before last summer?” $20 million of the funds for the new athletic center were donated specifically for that project. Pomona plans to cover the remaining costs with $9 million in additional fundraising and $26 million from the school’s renovation and construction account. Students at the rally also raised complaints about Monsour. “Monsour is just not enough,” MHA co-president Bita Tristani-Firouzi PO ’21 said prior to the rally. “Long wait times, and the therapists are not super high-quality.
Some of them are still in training. The turnover rate is very high at Monsour.” Wait times at Monsour, according to the organizers’ document, were three to four weeks for therapy and two and a half weeks for psychiatry at the end of last month. Students are limited to eight therapy sessions a year. Monsour does offer same-day appointments to students in immediate crisis. “At [Monsour], we support students’ right to express their opinions and advocate for change,” Monsour Assistant Director Fiona Vajk said in an email to TSL prior to the rally. “We at [Monsour] are aware that the wait is currently about four weeks for a new intake appointment, and we are concerned about access issues, just as students understandably are.” Vajk said Monsour is working to fill vacancies as soon as possible and has contracted with some therapists in the short-term. At the rally, more than a dozen students shared personal stories of unsatisfactory encounters with Pomona administrators about topics including mental and emo-
tional health care access and affordability; difficulties faced by LGBTQIA+ students, disabled students, undocumented students and students of color; and Pomona’s leave of absence policy. Brendan Barrow PO ’21 said that after approaching Monsour for help with his depression, he was referred to an off-campus psychiatrist who accidentally over-prescribed him for medication and failed to tell him about side effects. In his speech, he blamed Monsour for not properly vetting the off-campus specialists they refer students to. Dean of Campus Life Christopher Waugh was also in attendance. “Processing the different narratives and stories … I’ll definitely be thinking about this and processing it with other students and staff, this week and beyond,” Waugh said. Hinkson’s office did not respond to a request for comment after the rally before press time. To read the full article, go to tsl. news.
Pomona to fund students changing name and gender on legal documents Pomona College’s Dean of Students Office will provide funds for students who wish to change their name and/or gender marker on legal documents, Dean of Students Avis Hinkson announced in an email to students March 7. According to Hinkson, the Dean of Students Office has been working with the Queer Resource Center to learn how to support trans and non-binary students in legal situations. Pomona will provide funds to help students with application and document fees. Students can request funding through the Engage portal. — Siena Swift
ASCMC announces election results ASCMC conducted elections March 7 for five leadership positions. Dina Rosin CM ’20 was elected the new ASCMC president, Bryan Carlen CM ’20 was elected the new executive vice president, Chandler Koon CM ’20 was elected as the vice president of student activities, Andrea Amaya CM ’20 was elected as the dormitory affairs chair, Laleh Ahmad CM ’20 was elected as the senior class president and Johnson Lin CM ’21 was elected the junior class president, according to official ASCMC election results. About 50 percent of the student body voted in the elections, according to ASCMC. — Marc Rod
NEWS THE STUDENT LIFE
MARCH 15, 2019
PAGE 3
CMC officially changes SODEXO: New dining committee to give input Title IX policy Continued from Page 1
JULIA FRANKEL Claremont McKenna College officially published its new interim Title IX procedures Tuesday, which require both the person accused of sexual assault and accuser to attend a live hearing where their representatives can cross-examine the two students, according to an email sent to CMC students. CMC made the changes to remain in compliance with the law, CMC’s chief civil rights officer Nyree Gray said via email, referring to a January state appellate court ruling in a University of Southern California case. The decision found that the “fundamental fairness” doctrine requires that accused students be able to cross-examine their accusers at a formal hearing. The interim policy announced Tuesday matches the anticipated changes TSL reported on in February. CMC is the only school at the 5Cs to respond to the court rulings. Last month, Scripps spokesperson Carolyn Robles said via email that Scripps College and Pitzer College will not change their Title IX procedures until federal regulations are issued. “If final regulations are issued, as expected sometime in 2019, Pitzer and Scripps will make any changes to our policies that are required in order to comply with federal law,” Robles wrote. No such formal regulations have been issued since Robles made her statement. TSL asked both Pomona College and Harvey Mudd College if they planned to change their Title IX policies in accordance with the state appellate court decision and guidelines from Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos, but they did not respond by press time. CMC’s new policy aligns with the policies of other California colleges such as Occidental College, the University of California system and the California State University system, which also changed their policies in the wake of the January USC ruling, according to The Los Angeles Times. CMC’s new policy will only apply to cases going forward, Gray said. The updated policy states that the accuser and
the accused will be able to cross-examine each other through their advisers, who will ask the opposing parties pre-approved questions. The hearing officer, who will person conduct the hearing and then decide the outcome, will be selected from an internal pool and will also be present to ask questions of both parties. After the hearing, the hearing officer will make a decision about the case. Under the new policy, accusers who do not attend the live hearing will obstruct the college’s ability to “fully investigate.” Either party can request a partition screen to divide themselves from the other party, or can occupy an alternate meeting room equipped with videoconferencing capabilities if they do not want direct contact with the other party. This policy differs from CMC’s previous Title IX procedures, which required a neutral investigator to conduct a private investigation using private interviews with the accuser and the accused to determine whether a policy violation occurred. Under that policy, the accuser and the accused could ask the investigator to ask specific questions of the other party, but the investigator was not obligated to ask them. The new process still involves an investigation. However, the investigator will not make the final decision on whether the accuser is responsible for sexual assault. The new policy has also changed the appeals process — the process by which the accuser or the accused contests the outcome of the original hearing. Previously, three people determined the outcome of the appeal in a live appeal meeting. Now, only one person will. Live appeal meetings are no longer necessary with the addition of the live hearing phase, Gray said. In her email to students, Gray said the new Title IX regulations are not final. The policy will be evaluated to “ensure compliance with regulations as they are adopted.”
The new committee will provide input on the options, but the final decision will be made by Tiedens. Friday’s rally was organized by Griffin Cloud PZ ’19, Sophie Peters SC ’20 and Alex Hammond SC ’19, who began by giving individual statements condemning the administration for investing in a catering company that perpetuates labor rights abuses, low wages and poor working conditions. “The Sodexo campaign has met with the Scripps president countless times to voice our concerns about Sodexo operating on our campus, and time and time again the administration has tried to shut us down with arguments of ‘now is not the time,’” Hammond said. “But to that we say, ‘now is
the time.’ Sodexo management has gone on for far too long and the time has come for sustainable and ethical practices in our dining hall.” Student dissatisfaction with Sodexo isn’t new, as the company has been the food provider for Scripps since 2000. Cloud, Peters and Hammond all got involved with Drop Sodexo in spring 2017 and helped organize a lunchtime boycott of Malott two years ago. “A lot of times the message is misconstrued as us fighting the college, but [we oppose Sodexo] because we love this place, and we want this to be the best institution that it can be,” Alicia Goode SC ‘19 said. Drop Sodexo is also demanding that Scripps not contract with Aramark, a company that provides food to prisons and has been linked
to sexual harassment, drug trafficking and prisoner abuse, according to PBS. “We must continue pushing Scripps and the other 5Cs to choose humanity over profit, protect our workers and vulnerable students, support environmental justice and completely divest from the prison industrial complex,” Peters said. Nancy Neiman, a food politics professor at Scripps, spoke at the rally about the hypocrisy of contracting with Sodexo. “Many of us [at Scripps] teach on labor rights, we teach about racial justice and we teach about the Prison Industrial Complex,” she said. “We literally market ourselves on the basis of being a just institution … which is why it’s really important that we put our money where our mouth is.” Emma Li SC ’21, Mackenzie Rutherford SC ’21 and Jo
Choe PO ’21, representatives from the 5C Prison Abolition Collective also talked at the event, highlighting Pomona College’s decision to terminate its Sodexo contract in 2011. Drop Sodexo’s organizers urged Scripps to move to manage its dining services itself, as Pomona does, rather than contracting with a dining services company. “We’ve talked to Pomona and learned about their inhouse management system and how it’s better for the workers, better for the community and better for the school as a whole financially.” Peters said. Although they’re currently focusing on Scripps, organizers from Drop Sodexo and 5C Prison Abolition Collective said they hope to convince Harvey Mudd College to withdraw from its Sodexo contract next.
AMY BEST • THE STUDENT LIFE
Jenna Floricel SC ’19 voices her desire for change with an Angela Davis quote at the Drop Sodexo Rally March 8.
DACA: Protesters plaster signs on president’s house Continued from Page 1 Pitzer would be a sanctuary campus and “not voluntarily comply with Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or other public authorities, in any investigation of the immigration status of any member of our community.” The protesters marched from The Hive to the admissions office and then to the dean of students office. Many held signs that read “What Core Values?” and “Melvin, Support Your Students,” and chanted “Pitzer, Support Your DACA Students” and “Undocumented and Unafraid, Dama’s Here to Stay.” They grew in number as supporters joined them — although some people stood on the sidelines, either clapping or filming the protest. After the protest ended, the organizers plastered the signs from the protest on Oliver’s house and front walkway.
Selena Spier PZ ’19, who held a sign that said “Do Not Profit Off Your Alleged Support of a DACA Student and then Fail To Support Them,” said via email that she marched to support Esquivel and promote institutional social justice and progressivism. “Social justice is something that young people care about, and consumer society has caught on. Corporate America has turned activism into something that can be exploited for profit,” she said. “We cannot allow Pitzer to become part of that pattern. Specifically, we need to ensure that Pitzer administration actually upholds the progressivism that it uses as a marketing strategy.” Pitzer Executive Director for Advancement Jim Marchant told TSL that advancement could not comment on the protest itself, but said “we support the student’s right to protest.” But Nimiye Ogoun PZ ’19 wrote in a message to TSL that Esquivel “deserves [to have] her scholarship back.”
“The protest was powerful and spoke volumes. I think that it really showed administration the love and support Damaris has across the 5Cs,” she wrote. “I think it was a beautiful protest that was genuine and meaningful to so many.” Pitzer’s website states that
the Undocumented Student Scholarship, which Esquivel had received, is designed for students “who are ineligible for federal financial aid. “The scholarship is given annually to a student who embodies the core values and mission of Pitzer College,” the website states.
ELINOR ASPEGREN • THE STUDENT LIFE
Students march against Pitzer’s decision to withhold scholarship money from an undocumented student March 12.
Pomona plans to start funding off-campus therapy again after cutting program in the fall LANEY POPE Pomona College plans to implement new off-campus therapy policies that would cover students’ co-pays, Dean Avis Hinkson announced in a faculty meeting March 6. Although the plan has not been finalized, the new program will “allow our students to use their insurance and have the co-pay — or the percentage that is not covered by the insurance — covered by the college,” Hinkson said in the meeting. Pomona is implementing this program at least in part due to long wait times for appointments with Mon-
sour Counseling and Psychological Services, which are “currently about four weeks,” Monsour Assistant Director Fiona Vajk said via email. Pomona previously supported a similar program to the one Hinkson outlined. In 2016, Pomona implemented a program that connected students with off-campus therapists and paid their co-pays, due to similar concerns about the wait times and a lack of diversity at Monsour. However, in September 2018, Pomona rescinded its full coverage of co-pays and announced that the 5C Student Health Insurance Plan would return to only
covering in-network therapists, according to an email to Pomona students from Hinkson. Under the proposed new plan, Pomona will reimburse costs not covered by students’ insurance — including but not limited to the 5C Student Health Insurance Plan. SHIP currently covers 80 percent of therapy costs, and Pomona would cover the remaining 20 percent, plus the co-pay, totaling about $40, Hinkson said. In the current program, student have to pay the copays for their off-campus therapy themselves. The funding for this off-campus coverage was
not already in Pomona’s budget, and came from Hinkson “working really hard with the donors to get a quarter of a million dollars,” President G. Gabrielle Starr said in the meeting. Additional funding has also already been added to Monsour, Hinkson said. The President’s Council has continued working “to provide additional funding to Monsour so they will be able to retain their staffing ... and all-in-all provide more resources for the students,” Hinkson said. There has been growing concern among students surrounding the lack of access to on-campus therapy, which culminated in a ral-
ly March 11 organized by a coalition calling itself Students for an Accountable Pomona. Speakers at the rally called for accessibility, transparency and support for students from marginalized communities, according to a document released by the organizers prior to the rally. In addition to covering co-pays for in-network therapists for SHIP, Pomona is currently working to expand the incoming program to include a wide range of providers who are on other students’ insurance plans’ networks, Hinkson said. The program is still be-
ing developed, because Pomona is “looking to make sure that we have an appropriate number of providers that are signing on to this program,” she said. The college is working to compile lists of in-network therapists for both SHIP and other insurance provides who are willing to take on new clients. “We are working to address the availability and accessibility of mental health options, with affordability as a key component. We are still working through details and plan to have more complete information within weeks,” Hinkson said via email to TSL.
LIFE & STYLE PAGE 4
THE STUDENT LIFE
REEL TALK
MARCH 15, 2019
IN MY BOOK
‘Eighth Grade’ is the Knowing when to move on coming-of-age story for the age of the internet RACHAEL DIAMOND It may come as a surprise that one of the most painfully accurate representations of adolescent girlhood I’ve ever seen was, in fact, written and directed by a 28-year-old man — Bo Burnham. After a successful YouTube stand-up comedy career and three full-length comedy specials, Burnham has become a household name in comedy. His first venture into film brought us the delightfully funny and heartfelt “Eighth Grade,” an achievement as impressive as his comedy career. The film follows 13-yearold Kayla (Elsie Fisher) as she struggles through her final week of eighth grade, facing the standard menu of middle school miseries: mean girls, unrequited crushes and embarrassing dads. The story is partially narrated through her YouTube channel — a series of self-help videos that cover commendable topics like “being yourself ” and “putting yourself out there” — which she casts out into the abyss of the internet, often with little response. But Kayla, who exudes awkwardness, speaks in sentences laden with “like” and “uh” and shifts nervously during nearly every social interaction, often struggling to live by her own advice. Fisher, who began shooting the film only one week after her own eighth-grade graduation, is so convincingly burdened with self-consciousness that it is often painful to watch her flounder in an effort to form coherent sentences in front of her crush or the intimidating “cool” girls. It is precisely this quality, however, that contributes to her charm and relatability, making it impossible not to root for her. And while Fisher is excellent on her own, the best moments in the film are scenes shared with her well-intended — but often clueless — dad ( Josh Hamilton), in which she exhibits peak teenage irritability. The finest example of this is a hysterical scene in which she throws a banana at him after he walks in on her attempting to give the banana a blowjob. Over the course of the movie, which spans a week of real
time, little actually happens. Kayla goes to school, attends a pool party, shadows a high schooler and meets friends at the mall. However, Burnham is able to brilliantly elevate mundane daily occurrences into moments of torment or heroism. By far the best aspect of Burnham’s vision is how compassionate and judgment-free his reflection of adolescence is. He portrays the difficult moments, such as an onslaught of social anxiety in the bathroom at a pool party, with the utmost sensitivity. At the same time he celebrates even the smallest victories, like faking enough confidence to do karaoke in front of a dozen peers, with pride. I first saw “Eighth Grade” when it was released last summer, but a recent re-watch with one of my friends from middle school left us reflecting
on our own adolescence for hours after the film ended. Different aspects of Kayla’s experiences rang true for each of us, as they surely will for every individual who sees it. Despite the fact that when the runtime is over you’ll feel like you’ve been put through the wringer right alongside Kayla, the movie is ultimately a comforting reminder that whatever unshakable humiliation or anxiety you felt as a middle schooler (or just as a person of any age), you are not alone in feeling that way. It is a reassurance I wish I had had when I was 13, but feel lucky to have now. Rachael Diamond SC ’21 is a philosophy major. She enjoys ranting about movies to anyone who will listen.
COURTESY OF MONTCLAIR FILM VIA WIKIPEDIA COMMONS
Director and writer Bo Burnham delivers a hearfelt comedy in the film “Eighth Grade,” capturing adolescence with sensitivity and compassion.
UGEN NORBU YONTEN • THE STUDENT LIFE
SAMANTHA RESNICK There is a sad truth that all readers must, at some point, acknowledge: It’s impossible to read everything. But let’s say I tried to. If I’m ambitious, I could read a book a week, and still go to school and work and, occasionally, sleep. There are about 52 weeks in a year, so that’s 52 books a year. Despite a certain tendency toward ice cream and “The Office” binges, I’m a relatively healthy 22-year-old, and the average life expectancy for a woman is 81. If all goes well, that means I have about 60 years left. Multiplying my book-per-year rate by the number of years gives the number of books I have time left to read in my life: 3,068 books. That’s not very many at all. In 2015 alone, 339,000 new, traditionally published titles were released. If we take into account self-published books, that’s another 727,000. Even if I read a book a week for the rest of my life, I still wouldn’t be able to read a fraction of those new releases. And that’s just for 2015 — think of all the books published beforehand that I would miss out on. According to Google, there were at least 129 million books across the world as of 2010. Distressed? I certainly was when I first did these calculations. I had to stop and stare lovingly at my bookshelf, reminding myself to be grateful for the gems I’d read so far. Then I noticed the sad stack of books in a shadowy
corner of my room, neglected and dusty. For a long time, this has been my “tower of shame”: the books that I’ve started and still haven’t finished. Somehow, they have survived all of my spring-cleaning flurries, moves between college and home, a flood and even a couple of fires. My refusal to let go lies in this compulsive need I feel to finish every book I start. And yet, I rarely do. The relationship between my books and me sometimes begins to resemble a bad one: We constantly break up and get back together, only to break up again. I treat every book purchase like a marriage contract. One with no option for divorce, even if the book turns out to be a bad one. This creates a sort of bibliophilic paradox: I know there isn’t enough time to read everything, and yet I still feel this near-masochistic commitment to finish unenjoyable books. Tim Parks of The New York Review of Books argues this is a sign of a fresh-faced, freshly peeled reader. He equates this desire for completion with an unnecessary compulsion to assert your identity as a reader, saying, “One can only encourage a reader like this to learn not to attach self-esteem to the mere finishing of a book.” He’s right. Part of my motivation to finish unsatisfying books lies in how I view myself. My tower of shame is precisely that — shameful. How can I call myself a reader when I can’t finish a book? However, it goes beyond my own identity. I’m still at the
stage where the very fact that a book is bound and published fills me with awe. I feel a sense of obligation to respect the work the writer put into it by reading it completely. Do I really owe this to the writer, though? The relationship goes two ways: The writer must first pull me in somehow — shock me, scare me, inspire me — if I am to commit to reading the rest of their work. Ultimately, the fact that a book was published does not ensure quality, or that it is the right one for me. That being said, I don’t want to stray too far into Tinder mode either, superficially swiping left on books before I give them a fair chance. The best books I’ve ever read have often been the most demanding; books that take time to savor. It’s a fine line to walk — do I stay, or do I go? Unfortunately, like with romantic relationships, there isn’t some magical panacea. When I asked a friend recently how she knows when to put a book down, she said, “When there is something else I would rather be doing.” I think she’s quite right. Reading should not resemble some strict and pious duty. Rather, we should finish a book because we can’t bear not to. As Parks says, “The more bad books you finish, the fewer good ones you’ll have time to start.” Samantha Resnick PO ’19 likes reading words, and sometimes, she likes writing them, too.
TRASH & TREASURES
What it means to be a good person: an exploration of morality in ‘BoJack Horseman’
BROOKE SPARKS This article contains spoilers for seasons one through five of “BoJack Horseman.” “BoJack Horseman” is a Netflix television series about a depressed, humanoid horse. Well, kind of. “BoJack Horseman” is about a lot of things — physical and verbal abuse, interpersonal relationships, intergenerational trauma, substance abuse and mental illnesses. BoJack (the depressed, humanoid horse) is the catalyst for nearly every catastrophe on this show, so all of these themes manifest themselves throughout the different seasons. There is a lot of debate buzzing among the show’s audience as to whether BoJack is a good person trying to disrupt his pattern of toxic behavior, or a scumbag completely incapable of change. While the show is quick to remind us that suffering from mental illnesses and having an abusive family does not excuse terrible behavior, it doesn’t present a clear answer to this debate, especially considering that even BoJack considers himself to be irredeemable. BoJack was once the star of a 90s sitcom “Horsin’ Around,” a fictional “Full House” promoting cheesy
family values. Now, he’s a washed-up nobody. Season one begins several decades after the show’s cancellation, where we are introduced to the rest of the main cast: his ex-girlfriend and agent Princess Carolyn, his roommate Todd Chavez, his ghostwriter Diane Nguyen and fellow actor Mister Peanutbutter. Each of these characters has their own unique perspective and problems to deal with, but these issues always manage to collide with BoJack’s. BoJack has done incredibly terrible things. He enabled the drug addiction of Sara Lynn, his old co-star for whom he was originally a father figure, and played a complicit role in her overdose and eventual death. He, in his early 50s, was caught almost sleeping with a 17-year-old girl. The end of season five illustrates his lowest low: While high on opioids, he nearly strangled his ex-girlfriend Gina to death. Despite his egregious mistakes, BoJack has also demonstrated a capacity for doing good. Although he has zero obligations to do so, he constantly attempts to improve his relationship with his half-sister, Hollyhock. He has screwed this up extraordinarily at certain points, but he does genuinely care about her
and seems to value her more than he does any other cast member. He finds an abandoned baby seahorse and brings it back to its father without any compensation for his efforts. He helps Todd break out of a cult. Perhaps the kindest thing he’s ever done is the gesture he makes toward Diane during season one — he allows an autobiography portraying him in a terrible light to be published in an attempt to further Diane’s career. In doing so, he becomes a laughingstock in the public eye for the sake of his friend’s happiness. So the question remains: Is BoJack Horseman a “good” person? In episode 12 of season one, Diane claims that “all you are is just the things that you do,” implying that people’s intentions don’t actually matter. The consequences of this line of thought are illustrated through the character of Sebastian St. Clair, a philanthropist volunteering in fictitious war-torn Cordovia. Despite the obvious good deeds he does on a daily basis, he does not actually care about the people he helps and is solely motivated by maintaining a positive public image. If you’ve done good deeds with absolutely no righteous motivations behind them,
does that make you a bad person? Likewise, if good intentions are all you have to show for yourself, then can you consider yourself a good person? “BoJack Horseman” shows us that good people aren’t necessarily people who do good things; rather, they are people who always try to minimize the damage that they’re capable of. Consistent inconsideracy toward the potential damage we can do is what makes a person bad. BoJack is an amalgamation of these qualities, leaving the audience relatively unsurprised when he messes up but always astonished by the new and creative ways he manages to do so. BoJack perpetually fights against his established apathy and willful ignorance in an attempt to minimize the damage he is capable of. So, no: BoJack is not a good person. He is a bad person trying to become a good person. This is a compelling narrative for many. Just like BoJack wants to better himself, we want to better ourselves in turn. That’s why the majority of the audience continues to root for him: We see ourselves in his character. Brooke Sparks PO ’22 never thinks before she speaks. She mains Zelda in Smash Ultimate.
COURTESY OF JAMES FLANAGAN VIA VIMEO
“BoJack Horseman” addresses abuse, relationships and trauma, but the issue of morality remains the overarching theme of the show.
LIFE & STYLE MARCH 15, 2019
THE STUDENT LIFE
PAGE 5
‘People are just people’: Musician and actor Todrick Hall on self-love and social media YASMIN ELQUTAMI In an era of social media, relatability and self-branding, Todrick Hall just wants us to be ourselves. Hall is a musician, actor, dancer, director and choreographer who visited Pomona College March 12 to promote his newest album “Forbidden” and discuss his place in the crosshairs of art and the internet. Hall is well-known for his eponymous YouTube channel (which currently boasts three million subscribers), his appearance as a finalist on the ninth season of American Idol and his role as a judge on television game show “RuPaul’s Drag Race.” He has also choreographed music videos for Beyoncé and Taylor Swift, been featured in the MTV docu-series “Todrick,” and performed in Broadway productions of “Chicago” and “Kinky Boots.” The Pomona event, titled “Todrick Hall: Behind the Curtain,” began with a performance by Hall and his backup dancers. It included a medley of remixed Disney classics — like “Tale As Old As Time” and “A Whole New World” — over throwback
90s hits by artists like Mariah Carey, Ginuwine and Montell Jordan. Hall also performed singles off his newest albums “Straight Outta Oz” and “Forbidden.” Students were animated during the show, cheering and clapping along to Hall’s intricate beats and high energy. “I respect him so much as a performer,” said Yanru Tan, a Pomona exchange student from Singapore. “He has so much energy and so much positivity; he just exudes it and it becomes contagious.” Following the performance, Hall answered questions and facilitated a discussion about his career, his thoughts on the future and his advice for students. His thoughts were underscored by a common theme — accepting oneself and resisting the urge to compare oneself to others. When an attendee asked him about self-comparison, Hall said, “I think that is such an important thing to talk about, because you see people on Instagram, at the mall, at your church, at your job and you feel like they have all these things — happiness, love, money. But everyone has skele-
tons in their closet, and people are going to close that closet and present the best versions of themselves.” Hall continued his discussion of envy, delving into his personal history. Growing up in Plainview, Texas, Hall said he lacked accessibility to the arts. He said his theatrical videos create accessibility for people who might yearn for artistic exposure. “Sometimes you can only do what you’re exposed to,” Hall said. “I grew up in a small town. We didn’t have theater, there was no dance studio, nothing toured through there, and this was before the internet. I had to clutch at straws to find anything that was even close to musical theater.” Hall said he thinks exposing children and young people to classic musicals is important. “For kids who are sitting at home and who don’t have a theater program, who don’t have a music program, that can’t go to a Broadway show, it’s really important for them to know that [theater] exists,” he said. “They can have it, too.” He said he would have done anything to get to Broadway earlier in his life, but now he’s gained
JEREMY SNYDER • THE STUDENT LIFE
Todrick Hall, a singer, dancer and choreogrpaher, performed at Pomona College March 11.
perspective on “making it.” “[A Broadway performer’s] passion isn’t any more than someone who’s giving all they’ve got on their local community stage,” he said. “That’s true of any profession, art or craft.”
Students appreciated Hall’s positivity. “He only has nice things to say about people. He doesn’t try to tear anybody down,” Tan said. Olivia Silva SC ’21 agreed. “He’s just so confident and
happy with himself,” she said. “That’s important for people to see, especially in this world we live in now, where it’s easy to compare and judge yourself. He sends a positive message I wish everyone could hear.”
Reynaldo Rivera’s photographs Five things to do over Spring Break explore a lost LA subculture
UNPACK THE FACTS
CATHERINE WARD
AMY LOWNDES • THE STUDENT LIFE
MADY COLANTES Spring break is finally upon us, and with a week off comes a week of lounging around and wondering what to do (one can only watch old Saturday Night Live skits in pajamas for so long). Whether you’re staying in Claremont, going home or heading elsewhere to visit family, here are some ideas to help bust your boredom over break without busting the bank.
1
Tiptoe through the tulips (and other flowers) March is a great time to see wildflower fields in all their blooming beauty. For those staying in Southern California, check out the Flower Fields in Carlsbad, about 30 miles north of San Diego. With more than 50 acres of buttercups and other specialty flowers — along with special events, like yoga and barre classes in the fields — it’s certainly a treat for the eyes. Similar flower festivals can be found across the country: Enjoy the sights at Washington, D.C.’s National Cherry Blossom Festival or the World Floral Expo in Dallas. Of course, you don’t need a festival to find flowers. A drive through the Great Smoky Mountains in Tennessee boasts beautiful violets, avalanche lilies bloom in Mount Rainier National Park in Washington and the Mojave Desert is home to the stunning California poppies. Just don’t forget to bring your camera.
2
Attend a storytelling event
If you’re looking for a show to make you laugh, cry and gasp all in one evening, “The Moth” is calling your name. “The Moth” is a non-profit organization committed to the “art and craft of storytelling.” You might have heard
some of their stories on NPR, but they also host live storytelling events regularly nationwide. In Seattle, I frequently attend their open-mic competitions called StorySLAMS, where people sign up to share a five-minute story on the night’s theme, or just enjoy the show. The stories are all true, so get ready for a night of insight, humor, inspiration and much more. To find a Moth event near you, visit their website. themoth.org.
3
Visit a local farm
Whether you’re looking for cows and pigs, or the less conventional animals (kangaroo farm, anyone?), tours of local farms can be both fun and educational. Here in SoCal, Mr. Joe’s Farm is a nonprofit, family-owned farm in the city of Perris. During the tour, you’ll meet a variety of animals, including goats, llamas, sheep and a camel. If you fall in love with the pigs there, make your way to Norco for the SoCal Mini Pigs farm. Wanting something less like Old MacDonald? Wherever you’re going, there’s sure to be a unique farm nearby. Delaware is home to the Hopkins Farm Creamery (which, yes, offers amazing ice cream), the No Regrets Farm in Oregon is home to the goat yoga craze and Montana’s Cowboy Cricket Farm can teach you about the agriculture surrounding edible insects. My personal favorite? Washington’s Outback Kangaroo Farm. If you’re headed to the Evergreen State for the break, stop by to meet lemurs, alpacas, wallabies and of course, plenty of kangaroos.
4
Start snapping at a poetry slam Poetry slams or open mics can
be a great way to embrace your inner artist and hear the different voices in your community. Unsurprisingly, Los Angeles is a hub for poetry events — Da Poetry Lounge in downtown LA hosts the largest weekly open mic in the country. There are countless other poetry venues in other cities as well: Youth Speaks is a San Francisco-based organization that hosts poetry slams and open mics specifically for youth under 21, and Poetry Slam Inc. is a good resource for finding events near you. Whether you want to brave the stage yourself or just sit back and listen, it’s an experience I highly recommend.
5
Get lost in the forest
There’s no better way to destress from the first half of the semester than by spending some quality time in the great outdoors. In fact, according to a study by Stanford University, walking in nature regularly can significantly help calm anxiety and reduce the risk of depression. Being outdoors has also been proven to lengthen attention spans, improve one’s ability to focus and increase problem-solving skills by up to 50 percent. Hiking can also be a great social activity — it allows for plenty of quality time to chat, and better yet, it’s free. With more than 52,603 miles worth of hiking trails in the United States’ 8,565 state parks, there should be nothing stopping you from getting out in nature. Mady Colantes PO ’22 is from Seattle. When not in shock over the lack of rain in Claremont, she enjoys reading and getting too excited over small things.
If you went to a drag bar in Los Angeles in the 1980s or ’90s, you might have seen a buoyant Reynaldo Rivera working the room. If your look was interesting, chances are his irresistible charm and humor would have you posing as he snapped away. Rivera came to Scripps College’s Balch Auditorium March 13 to present his work. Invited to Claremont by longtime friend Chris Kraus, the Mary Routt Humanities Chair at Scripps, the photographer is currently collaborating with Kraus to produce a book of Rivera’s photographs that highlight the ’80s and ’90s trans and gay Latinx subculture in Los Angeles. Rivera discussed and showed a slideshow of the photos that will appear in his book, and followed the talk with a Q&A. “I know many [people] in both our colleges and local communities are concerned with matters of gentrification, identity and art,” Corrina Lesser, the organizer for Scripps Presents, said via email. “Given our proximity to Los Angeles, it’s a great opportunity to hear from someone who has documented that ever-evolving metropolis to our west.” The event was intimate and interactive from the beginning. Kraus first reminisced on her 20-year friendship with Rivera before reading an essay that introduced the book. Many of the audience members were Rivera’s friends, and some even appeared in the essay and photographs. Rivera first started taking photographs as a young migrant worker from Mexico. He came to downtown LA for seasonal work and stayed at the St. Leo Hotel. As a result, the first photos he took were of the hotel’s maid Minny, and he said his early photographs all
came out black. He learned to take pictures through trial and error, and modeled his images after old movies and magazine spreads. He was drawn to photography for its ability to preserve moments in time. “I didn’t choose [photography] — it chose me. I wanted to do other stuff, but it came out of my need to document,” Rivera said. “I am a control freak, and interestingly enough photography allows you to control even time. You can freeze any second in time and relive it over and over.” Rivera photographed in black and white because the film was cheaper, but also because “when you’re looking at something in color, the color is going to take your eye away from whatever the fuck is going on,” he said. With black and white, he felt he could focus on the subject. As he went through the photographs, he engaged with the audience and told stories. Occasionally he paused on a photo in contemplation and the audience would goad him to reveal the context. One of the photos showed a drag queen staring to the right of the viewer. “I love this photo and photos like these,” Rivera said. “I mean, what was she thinking?” He then showed a photo of another drag queen and joked, “but not this girl, she was always thinking the same thing. See?” he laughed, flipping to a photo of the same subject posing in the mirror. The compiled images offered an exhaustive view of an under-documented subculture in Los Angeles, but mostly an intimate view into Rivera’s life in the ’80s and ’90s. There were pictures of his friends and family at birthdays, Halloween parties and weddings. At one point he said, “It feels like I’m flipping through a picture book, I’m getting emotional.” Occasionally the slideshow jumped to Mexico City, where
Rivera was born and returned throughout his 20s. Rivera became a National Geographic photographer for his work in Mexico City, but he mostly glossed over those images to return to his LA photographs. He commented that his work was often compared to a contemporary artist, Diane Arbus, but explained that there was a key distinction between their work. “She made normal people look freaky, but I make freaky people look normal,” he said. He wanted to portray subjects in their natural habitat: “When you look at my stuff you almost feel as though you’re invited in and you are a part of it because in most cases I was a part of what was going on,” he said. “That was always my forte, to make people feel comfortable enough to be vulnerable in front of this exposing thing.” During the Q&A, most audience members wanted to know whether there was a subject matter that captivated Rivera in the same way as his earlier photographs, and Rivera said there was not. “Things have changed from when I was doing this stuff back then to now,” he said. “I [photographed] a lot of trans clubs back then and they were really aware of your presence there because they didn’t allow cameras, especially in the back rooms where they were creating their magic.” In those days, he said that even the trans community was an outcast in the greater gay community. “I document people now, and the young folk — they could give half a shit — they were taking their clothes off, they didn’t care that I was there taking photos, and that was a very different experience from back in the day when I shot all that stuff.” Rivera’s currently unnamed book will come out next year through Kraus’s independent publishing press Semiotext(e).
TIMOTHY LIU • THE STUDENT LIFE
Reynaldo Rivera discusses his photographic work on the ’80s and ’90s trans and gay Latinx subculture in Los Angeles.
OPINIONS THE STUDENT LIFE
PAGE 6
Don’t criticize great movies because they’re from Netflix
THE STUDENT LIFE Editorial Board KELLEN BROWNING, Editor-in-Chief MEGHAN BOBROWSKY, Managing Editor HANK SNOWDON, Managing Editor
CHRIS AGARD
Senior Staff MARC ROD, News Editor LANEY POPE, News Editor JULIA FRANKEL, News Associate NATALIE GOULD, Life & Style Editor MABEL LUI, Life & Style Editor SCHUYLER MITCHELL, Life & Style Associate DONNIE DENOME, Opinions Editor ANIKKA VILLEGAS, Opinions Editor TORREY HART, Sports Editor NOAH SHAPIRO, Sports Editor DELANEY HARTMANN, Sports Associate
CASSIE WANG, Production Editor JAMES KARSTEN, Senior Design Editor ANNE JANG, News Designer HELENA ONG, Life & Style Designer DAPHNE YANG, Opinions Designer JILLIAN BATIUK, Sports Designer OLIVIA TRUESDALE, Copy Chief NINA POTISCHMAN, Graphics Editor TALIA BERNSTEIN, Photo Editor AMY BEST, Photo Editor
The Student Life, the oldest college newspaper in Southern California, is produced and managed by students of the Claremont Colleges and published weekly. The Editorial Board consists of the editor-in-chief and two managing editors. Aside from the editorial, the views expressed in the opinions section do not necessarily reflect the views of The Student Life. E-mail Letters, Questions, and Concerns to editor@tsl.news. Email tips to liaison@tsl.news; email advertising inquiries to ads@tsl.news and print subscription inquiries to subscriptions@tsl.news. TSL welcomes letters to the editor, which can be submitted by mail, email, or in person at Walker Hall 101 of Pomona College. Letters must be under 400 words (although when an issue is particularly salient, we reserve the right to allow letters to run at a longer length) and submitted by 4 p.m. Wednesday of the week of publication. We reserve the right to decline publication of submitted letters and will not accept anonymous letters, letters containing profanity, factually inaccurate letters, or letters making personal attacks. TSL also reserves the right to edit for spelling, punctuation and grammar. Letters may be signed by a maximum of three people. All letters become the property of TSL and may not be reprinted without prior permission from the Editorial Board. Singles copies of TSL are free and may be obtained at news stands around campus. Multiple copies may be purchased for $0.47 per copy with prior approval by contacting editor@tsl.news. Newspaper theft is a crime; perpetrators may be subject to disciplinary action as well as civil and/or criminal prosecution.
EDITORIAL BOARD
Media censorship is never OK Pitzer should have opened Haifa meeting to all
On Thursday, Pitzer College committed an egregious assault on the freedom of the press by barring non-TSL news outlets from attending a highly anticipated upcoming vote. In an email to TSL, Claudia Strauss, Pitzer’s chair of the Faculty Executive Committee, said Pitzer was barring The Los Angeles Times, The Claremont Independent — a student-run, conservative 5C news outlet — and other news sources who asked to attend the Pitzer College Council’s vote on suspending its University of Haifa study abroad program Thursday. Strauss cited “limited seating” for the College Council vote as the reason for their exclusion. Journalists are protected by the First Amendment and have the right to report on events and inform their community about the decisions being made that affect them. Claiming there wouldn’t be space for them at the meeting, when other media accommodations could easily be made, is not acceptable. The debate over suspending Haifa has embroiled Pitzer and the 5Cs for months, and the situation came to a head Thursday, when President Melvin Oliver vetoed the College Council’s suspension of the
study abroad program. It was not OK for Pitzer to ban certain outlets from the meeting that decided the council’s vote, silencing student voices in the process. This isn’t the first time members of the media were banned from College Council meetings on the Haifa decision. Last semester, a TSL reporter was kicked out of a Haifa meeting after refusing an offer to delete their photos from the event in exchange for a transcript of Pitzer President Melvin Oliver’s speech. The reporter was told the event was Pitzer-only, but there was never any indication that the meeting was restricted to the Pitzer community. No one checked IDs, and the door remained open for the duration of the meeting. Several nonPitzer students were present and were never asked to leave. This decision by Pitzer is another example of blatant discrimination against the media. However, this episode is even worse. To allow one media outlet to be present at the event, while banning others, is abhorrent and should not be tolerated. We do not agree with all The Independent’s policies; for instance, their leniency regarding the use of anonymous
opinions in news stories. The Independent’s story on the ban refers to TSL as “student-government funded” outlet, with the implication being that we are a mouthpiece for student governments. While a portion of our printing budget does come from student government allocations, we are editorially independent and have never allowed money to dictate what we cover. The Independent’s story also unfairly criticizes TSL as “left-leaning”; while many of the writers in our opinions section espouse liberal views, our news coverage is non-partisan and unbiased. Despite our editorial differences and differences in perspective, we stand full-heartedly beside The Independent and condemn Pitzer’s decision, as censorship of any media outlet is never acceptable. Just as other news outlets banded together in support of CNN after President Donald Trump rescinded reporter Jim Acosta’s press pass, we must now stand with The Independent, The LA Times and other news outlets.
KenKen
In a 4x4 KenKen, the numbers 1-4 will appear in each row and column exactly once. To solve, fill in according to the operation in the upper left-hand corner of each bolded area. For example, the bolded area with 5+ will include two numbers that add to 5.
THEA BAROVICK • THE STUDENT LIFE
LAST WEEK’S ANSWERS
MARCH 15, 2019
Renowned film director Steven Spielberg recently made efforts to restrict the Academy Awards’ eligibility to films not released on streaming services like Netflix and Hulu. In the past, he’s said these types of movies should be eligible for Emmys, which give awards to television shows. However, there’s a reason platforms like Netflix and Hulu are thriving. Movies released on streaming services are accessible to more people around the world. As a result, the diversity of the people watching these movies is greater than that of movies released at a theater, where one ticket usually costs more than a month’s subscription to Netflix. Not only are the people using streaming services more diverse, so are the stories that are told. On March 3, director Ava DuVernay tweeted about her appreciation for the platform she and other black artists have when releasing work
through Netflix, referencing how the service is available in 190 countries. “I’ve had just one film distributed wide internationally. Not SELMA. Not WRINKLE. It was 13TH. By Netflix. That matters,” she said in the tweet. Legitimate films by directors and filmmakers of all sorts of acclaim have been distributed by streaming services. Directors such as Alfonso Cuaron, Steven Soderbergh and the Coen brothers have all made movies for Netflix. Ultimately, the effort is meant to counteract the perception that films released on streaming services undermine the unique experience one has when going to the movie theater. However, as trips to the movies become more expensive and options online become increasingly diverse, going to the theater has become more special. There will always be a need for movie theaters. Not only is there a level of sentimentality in going to the movies, but the visual and sound quality far exceeds that of a computer or phone screen.
Going to movies still remains an enjoyable experience and a staple in my life, despite having a myriad of options in my dorm room. Acknowledging films from streaming services does not reduce the legitimacy of the movie theater experience. However, the quality of the films released online is not less than those released in theaters. They are, in all relevant respects, the same kind of content, just distributed in a different way. There could be a separate form of recognition for these types of movies, but I fail to find a reason why there should be. This discussion ultimately boils down to what exactly makes a movie. Does its distribution matter more than its actual structure, concept and quality? Perhaps there is no objective answer to this question. But we should celebrate the increasingly diverse selection of movies that we are now offered. Chris Agard CM ’21 is from Atlanta, Georgia. He does not put pineapple on his pizza.
JENNY PARK • THE STUDENT LIFE
Non-white people can be racist, too CHRISTOPHER SALAZAR The sociological definition that racism is prejudice plus power is immoral and dishonest. Though it’s amusing how non-white people attempt to absolve themselves of their racism on account of their nonexistent institutional power, they are, in effect, racists. It’s a sad truth that a person’s pigment still matters. And to say that white people tend to experience less prejudice is not a controversial statement. Still, I find myself bemused. “Black people can’t be racist. Prejudiced, yes, but not racist,” said Logan Browning, the actress who plays Sam White in Netflix’s “Dear White People.” “Racism describes a system of disadvantage based on race. Black people can’t be racists since we don’t stand to benefit from such a system.” This drivel is a convoluted, convenient pardon for non-white people. Should we suspend reason for a moment and accept the definition that racism is prejudice plus power, then, yes, a non-white person cannot be racist. But this semantic ploy, first introduced by social scientist Patricia Bidol-Padva in the 1970s, raises several issues which demonstrate how incredibly unhelpful the sociological definition is. Imagine two people, Sophia and Agnoia, in conversation. Agnoia, a person of color, mutters a racist epithet about a white passerby. Sophia, also a person of color, calls Agnoia a racist. Agnoia claims it is impossible for her to be racist, only prejudiced, because racism is prejudice plus power. Then, Agnoia claims that reverse racism is not real. Sophia corrects Agnoia, detailing that racism is a matter of prejudicial, racial superiority and hostility — power or influence do not factor — and clarifies that, indeed, reverse racism does not exist. There is
only racism. Agnoia reiterates that racism is prejudice plus power, and excuses herself of the label she deserves (again assuming the conclusion that a non-white person cannot be racist, that she is only prejudiced). This circular reasoning, if education, veracity and sanity are to matter, should be disavowed, as should linguistic confusion, which deprives language of its efficacy. Prejudice, a preconceived opinion that is not based on reason or experience, is only one component of racism. The Oxford Dictionary defines racism as prejudice, discrimination and antagonism foundationalized by notions of racial superiority. Here, Agnoia’s epithet, if considered racist, must be more than mere prejudice. But there is no means by which a person of color can be racist if racism is prejudice plus power, regardless of whether they are, in effect, racist. In this regard, the word prejudice is wholly impotent. Racist bigots should not be excused on account of being brown, or not white. Should that claim upset you, I invite you to interrogate yourself. In this spirit, power and prejudice succumb to at least two additional deficiencies. First, the formulation that racism is prejudice plus power commits the single cause fallacy, which occurs when a complex problem is oversimplified without acknowledging the tapestry of joint causes. Further, power works here if, and only if, white people are diligent members of a united, cohesive body of white people, who possess the requisite influence and access (simply by virtue of their whiteness) to affect cultural and institutional structures. This is unreasonable, and exhibits the thought pattern of a racist: all people of a certain race are identical. Power is complex, operating vertically and horizontally. A lack of melanin does not grant
absolute authority. Secondly, there is the “reductio ad absurdum” (reduction to absurdity) case: an argument which illustrates the absurdity of its logical conclusion. Suppose an analogous example of theft. For sake of illustration, imagine theft, a crime of stolen property, was stipulated as part of a system of oppression and occurred if, and only if, power and prejudice were determinants. More still, because a person of color cannot benefit from the oppression, it’s impossible for theft to occur even if a person of color steals someone else’s possession. In this case, because power and prejudice are immaterial, the act is no longer theft but, instead, false borrowing. As a consequence, a nonwhite person could, in effect, steal a white person’s property. But the only recourse, if theft must include prejudice plus power, is to designate such a person a false borrower. Again, this is ineffectual drivel, and it points to an error in reasoning. Neither theft nor racism are contingent on power or prejudice. Proponents of the prejudice plus power stipulation must consider whether it applies to any other domain of social life. The collective supersession of complexion over individual character suggests that a homeless white man has more power than, say, Denzel Washington or former President Barack Obama. Untenable though this may be, this is where the logic leads. There is no need to introduce a stipulation to redefine racism to include prejudice plus power because terms such as institutional racism or race-based oppression suffice, without obfuscating the discourse — and without emboldening unthinking racists of color. Christopher Salazar PZ ’20 is a philosophy major from La Verne, California. He’s not one to proselytize, but he considers whiskey on the rocks sacrilege.
OPINIONS MARCH 15, 2019
THE STUDENT LIFE
Pomona’s negligence toward mental illness affects students pre-matriculation CAMERON TIPTON CW: Self-harm, sexual assault When I was 13, I made the mistake of coming out to my mother and stepfather. Years of emotional abuse, Christian conversion therapy and familial estrangement ensued. This extended to all facets of my life, including where I would attend college. Columbia University, of course, was not an option, for attending such a “singing and dancing school” would result in me “raping someone in a dark alley.” Obviously. This is my way of setting the stage, explaining the buildup of tension and resentment that ultimately culminated in my parents disowning me during my senior year of high school. I was kicked out of the house with no reasonable accommodations (they dumped me off at my grandfather ’s house, two hours away from my high school), and when friends offered for me to stay with them, my mother wasted no time calling their parents to inform them that I was “a danger to their family.” By this time I had secured my acceptance to Pomona College, and for all intents and purposes I thought things would begin to look up. I was, after all, out of a toxic household, finally able to rekindle relationships that been forcibly cut off during my stay at the house that was never a home. I was wrong. My parents immediately prevented any form of communication between my sister and me. We were best friends throughout our entire lives, and nobody meant (or means) more to me than she did. And now that was gone, too. I won’t say my mental health was great before all of this transpired, but I was definitely averse to adopting any sort of psychodiagnostic label. Of course I wasn’t depressed. Everyone thinks about killing themself every day, right? Regardless, at this point the reality of my mental state became painfully clear. This
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Normalizing dissent: A letter to my high school EAMON MORRIS
was, unsurprisingly, reflected in my grades. Concerned for my future, I immediately reached out to Pomona for fear of having my acceptance rescinded. I was consoled, told my circumstances would be taken into account, that the institution would “accommodate” me, that I was supported and merely had to do my best. Well, as fate would have it, my week-long absence from high school (while staying with my grandpa) was not an “excused” absence, and thus professors were under no obligation to allow me to make up the assignments I had missed. And given that I was in five AP classes, I missed quite a few assignments. That, coupled with debilitating depression and the news that my mother had spent my entire college fund just to spite me, made “doing my best” incredibly difficult. I n t h e e n d , m y G PA “slipped” to a weighted 4.0 (compared to my usual 4.6), and consequently Pomona rescinded my acceptance. I wish I could have prepared for it, but every time I reached out to them they simply told me that “no decision had been made,” that I would have to “wait until final grades had been released,” even when I knew perfectly well that my grades would not change. They waited a whole month after graduation to inform me of this decision, at which point it was too late to apply to any other school. The best part is that, when my dad went in to contest this decision, their response was basically, “some students have endured similar hardships and still maintained their grades.” In other words: Pomona did not care about me. No accommodations, no sympathy and definitely no support. And I know I am not the only one. I have friends who endured similarly traumatic events and had their acceptances rescinded as well.
the administration. Why bring this up now? Well, Pomona’s evident indifference, while not a wholly novel concept (let’s face it: Monsour Counseling and Psychological Services, while well-meaning, is grossly ineffective), has recently become abundantly clear with the decision to cut off-campus funding for mental health resources. But hey, at least we had tens of millions lying around to build a new gymnasium. Glad to know there are more pressing issues than students’ mental well-being.
The culture of performativity at the 5Cs is a grave problem, and it begins with
I’ve had enough. Enough neglecting students with mental illness. Enough supporting students only when it’s convenient. Enough inaction. Pomona, it’s time to get your act together. Pomona was not able to respond to queries on their policy regarding rescinding acceptances by press time. Cameron Tipton PO ’20 is a psychology major. They are passionate about creative writing, mental health issues, Lana Del Rey and Foucauldian discourse.
MEGHAN JOYCE • THE STUDENT LIFE
Jasper’s Crossword: Cardinals
Earlier this week, I received a message from an alumnus from my high school. It was simple — a link to a local news story about an individual who graduated a few years before me and was now being held on $100,000 bail for sexually assaulting a minor. I didn’t know the assaulter. I didn’t even recognize his face. But for some reason, I wasn’t surprised he did something like this. It took a few minutes of reflecting on the article before I realized how colossally screwed up it was that I wasn’t surprised this happened. At best, high school is purgatory. At worst, it’s a nightmarish hellscape lorded over by underpaid teachers and ruled by a perverse social hierarchy. I’m not going to go so far as to say my high school was a carbon copy of the latter, and I’m not so self-absorbed to think I was a victim of it. Nonetheless, my high school — Servite High School, a private, Catholic, all-boys school in Anaheim, California — was tremendously, massively screwed up. There were swastikas and slurs carved into the bathroom stalls, bigoted meme accounts, widespread far-right sympathies, a deep socioeconomic divide and rampant sexism and homophobia. The spring dance with our sister school was fiesta-themed (problematic in itself) and girls in shorts that didn’t meet dress code were turned away while guys in border patrol outfits and MAGA hats waltzed past the chaperones. Sickening rumors frequently spread about the female teachers, who were mercilessly objectified and bodyshamed. A video of a kid being hit in the head with a wrench by his classmates in the parking lot was widely circulated. Gay students stayed in the closet in fear of being singled out by their peers or the administration. These problems primarily arose within the student body, but the administration was
aware of many of them and complicit in most. I’m ashamed to say I was, too. However, I did do some things to battle these issues. I debated my classmates in theology and government classes, and I reported a few of the meme accounts. But in hindsight, I could have done so much more. I could have tried to involve the media. I could have told my parents. I could have organized a group of concerned students to bring up the issues publically. Coming to the 5Cs was a culture shock. The driven activism and passion I saw in my new classmates made me realize how greatly I had failed, and it made me reflect on the reasons for my failure. A big part of it was fear, and a big part of it was my own complicity. Another substantial part of it was that my school didn’t teach me the value of dissent. So many schools fail to do this. Young people are told they’re taught the truth, always. This culture, where what’s said in the classroom is deemed true, regardless of whether it actually is, harms so many people. It leaks beyond the hallways of high school, which is seen as a simulacrum of society as a whole and where issues of bigotry are overlooked under the assumption the whole world simply operates this way. I’m not sorry I went to that school. It got me here, after all. It was my decision, and I take full responsibility for that. I’m also thankful my parents sacrificed so much for me to get there. However, I am sorry that I didn’t speak out more vehemently against the problems there. With my failure to speak out, I blame myself for some of the problems there. Until young people like me are encouraged to ask questions and dissent from the norm, more of these issues will be overlooked and passed off by the students experiencing them. Eamon Morris PZ ’22 is from Orange, California. He’s still bitter about losing the English and Writing award to his high school’s valedictorian.
Pomona’s orientation has so much potential More 5C events would create better community CHRISTOPHER MURDY
JASPER DAVIDOFF • THE STUDENT LIFE
ACROSS 1. Encrypted chat app 7. Guaranteed 15. Cheap cigar, slangily 16. Conditional code 17. Tweets for the Ps? 18. Devour more than 19. Bovines 20. Does a Hail Mary 21. “______ day in history…” 22. Tool to read docs out loud 23. Mozart’s “____ Kleine Nachtmusik” 27. Nigerian city 28. Baller O’Neal 30. Fuzz 31. Shoes to fill 34. Russian royals 36. State north of Ill. 37. Beginning and ending of a Star Wars name 40. Singer Celine 41. Misbehaved 43. Oeuvres 46. _____ a tie 48. Some shirts 49. Some airplane seating 53. Those who emit 17-across 55. Soldier 56. Trail mix acronym 57. Classic Sorkin drama (with The) 61. Characteristic of one-dimensional objects 65. Actress Gasteyer
66. Actress Tone 67. Actor Norton 68. Crimson 69. Wicked inspirer 70. Remove a farrier’s work from a horse DOWN 1. Dry plaster painting technique 2. Freshman rep Omar 3. Most like the Flyers’ mascot 4. Fashionable fleece brand (with The) 5. Submitted letters of recommendation 6. Takes the L 7. Fosters 8. Independence Day word 9. ______ fiddle (in shape) 10. Uncertain 11. Actress Witherspoon 12. Popular citation style 13. It’s before tee 14. Title for H. Poirot or J. Peralta 24. Unblindfolded person’s exclamation 25. Neither partner 26. Short albums, for short 29. Cotton swab on a stick 31. Fleet still flying its 737 Maxes, briefly 32. ___ Tac 33. Any minute now 35. Lefties 38. Pianist Powell
39. Phrase before and after ‘what’ 40. Confounded 42. Silk Road location 44. Hallow follower 45. Draft org. 47. Pester 49. In conflict 50. Chemist Joliot-Curie 51. “That’s a bummer!” 52. Auction item 54. Crumble 58. “Ooh, ___ rebel just for kicks, now” 59. “I’m okay, yourself?” in textspeak 60. School of whales 62. Old-timey cheer 63. Ranch suffix (Sp.) 64. Lemon or lime follower LAST WEEK’S ANSWERS
In just a few months, the school year will be over and attention will shift toward orientation for the class of 2023. If it’s anything like the orientation for my year, it leaves room for much improvement. Our orientation this past August lasted 10 days. For international students, it was a whopping 14 days. As anyone attending the information sessions could attest, they became increasingly sparse with each passing day. The administration tried to remedy this by announcing plans last December to move Orientation Adventure to students’ sophomore year. But backlash from the Pomona community led the administration to reverse the decision within a week. OA should, though, be one of the first things we do upon getting to campus or should take place after students finish meeting with their advisors and working out their class registration. Students looking to place into certain language or STEM classes took placement tests the day before OA, yet they wouldn’t be meeting for classes or registering for classes for another week. In between that time, we went on OA, leaving many people nervous about class registration because the placement tests already put people in that mindset. During our 10 days of
orientation, it was also very easy to forget there were four other colleges right on our doorstep. Besides clubs, there was very little to no mention of the shared resources, including classes, Athenaeum talks and shared fellowships. Our unique system here in Claremont offers us the opportunity for some special orientation opportunities. For instance, we could set up a series of lunches on Marston Quad or Walker Beach with a couple students from each college sitting at each table. This could really help to expand those inter-college friendships beyond just the sports teams in those early days.
“With first-years limited to one class outside of Pomona in their first semester, orientation perhaps offers one of the best chances to foster this 5C unity.”
With first-years limited to one class outside of Pomona in their first semester, orientation perhaps offers one of the best chances to foster this 5C unity. While attempts
to foster class unity during orientation are admirable, the simple fact is that Pomona’s entire first-year class will spend the next 10 months living right next to each other on South Campus. Just last week, the Outdoor Education Center offered a night trip to go rock climbing, and little events such as these could be open to all 5C first-years and sprinkled throughout orientation. While it’s a good idea to keep the main orientation trips college-specific, these smaller events could make the rest of orientation more exciting and memorable. Additionally, more practical information could be shared during orientation such as the best times to avoid crowded dining halls or the quietest study spots. Even though the incident with moving OA demonstrated that widespread student input can sway the administration’s decisions, it is best not to let it get to that point. We should freely express our concerns and suggestions in the forums open to us, whether it be the meetings last month about orientation or administration office hours. There can be more meaningful experience during orientation besides OA if we make our voices heard. Christopher Murdy PO ’22 is an intended international relations major from Lido Beach, New York. Agree? Disagree? Different suggestions? Email him at christopher.murdy@pomona.edu.
SPORTS PAGE 8
THE STUDENT LIFE
MARCH 15, 2019
Abby Johnson: Foodie, star athlete leads tight-knit Athena runners UMA NAGARAJANSWENSON Recalling a track meet in Houston earlier this year — in which she finished fourth overall in the mile and first among Division III athletes — Abigail Johnson SC ’21 chose to focus instead on a different part of the weekend. “When we traveled to that meet, we ate at Chili’s the night before,” she said. “It was my first time eating at Chili’s in my whole life, so it was a very exciting weekend.” Outside of discovering new foods, Johnson is a standout on the Claremont-Mudd-Scripps track and cross-country teams. Recently, she won both the 800-meter and the 1500-meter races at a SCIAC Multi-Dual meet at Redlands March 2, and finished fourth at the SCIAC cross-country championship meet last October. That’s just the start for Johnson, though. She’s also a leader of the team’s positive culture, according to head distance coach John Goldhammer, who has been coaching CMS cross-country and track and
been an athletic administrator for 35 years. “Abby’s just a person that works hard and people follow her,” he said. “There’s a definite group that believes that Abby is someone they want to follow.” As a team leader, Johnson has been a key part of cultivating a culture that encourages athletes to not take themselves too seriously. Johnson said the team’s welcoming environment and focus on having fun outside of racing is the basis for her success. “The team atmosphere invites everyone to show up physically and mentally every day,” Johnson said. “That just makes you better automatically, because you have the right attitude and you’re trying to work hard for the team.” For Johnson, being part of a tight-knit group is something that has always been important. She originally played soccer, but transitioned to distance running in high school because of friends on the team. Her high school team was very close, which Johnson said was a deciding factor in her
decision to choose CMS. “I was looking for that kind of team experience and motivating group [in college], and that’s what I got,” Johnson said. Despite her successes, Johnson isn’t taking anything for granted. She’s working hard to overcome challenges that arose during her first year of college. “I struggled with confidence a lot last season,” Johnson said. “I got in a cycle of not running what I wanted to run and getting worried about it, and it’d mess up my next race.” She’s made a concerted effort this year to change her “self-talk” before races to combat that tendency, with the hope that it’ll help her run her best. Johnson has learned to relax before meets this track season and has been able to enjoy pre-race Chili’s meals instead of worrying about her races. Goldhammer said Johnson also has an ability to balance rigorous academics with the demands of a highly competitive team. “She’s a very focused in-
COMMENTARY
Don’t hate Tim Tebow for chasing his baseball dream
COURTESY: FLICKR
Former Heisman trophy winner Tim Tebow left football to pursue a baseball career in 2016. He is currently playing with the Mets’ Triple-A affiliate
KELLAN GRANT Since taking his last NFL snap in the 2015 preseason, Tim Tebow has remained busy, most notably in his pursuit of an unexpected MLB career with the New York Mets, which began in 2016. This year, he will likely start the season playing Triple-A ball, and might even have an opportunity to earn a call-up to the major league squad. Yet, despite his impressive progress, it has become common practice for the media and public alike to criticize the athlete at seemingly every opportunity they get. Many believe Tebow’s rise in baseball to be more of a marketing ploy by the Mets than a legitimate reward for his talent. Critics argue that if it weren’t for his mega-popularity — due largely to his college football career and outspoken faith — Tebow wouldn’t be anywhere near the baseball field. While it remains to be seen whether Tebow will ever actually play in a regular-season MLB game, it’s time people stop judging the player for his athletic dreams and start looking at him for what he really is: a great role model. He certainly doesn’t care
what others have to say about him, and you shouldn’t either. “It’s really about keeping perspective and not letting other people define you because they sure want to,” Tebow told Yahoo Sports reporter Mike Oz when asked about his public perception. “Shoot, I try to encourage young people all the time to not let the world or outside sources define you because you are always going to have critics and naysayers and people that are going to tell you that you won’t, that you can’t, that you shouldn’t. Most of those people are the people that didn’t, that wouldn’t, that couldn’t.” How could you criticize a response like that? Tebow has pretty much every reason not to be playing baseball. For starters, before trading in his broadcasting headset for a baseball cap when he signed with the Mets in 2016, he had not played baseball full-time in 11 years, with the last time being his junior year of high school in 2005. Additionally, in the year between the NFL and the MLB, he had become a welcoming face in sports broadcasting with ESPN and the SEC Network. Regardless, he decided to pursue his new dream in base-
ball. That decision should be applauded, not ridiculed. Sure, Tebow was no Tom Brady in football, and he’s certainly not Mike Trout in baseball, but his personality and attitude are second to none. He has never allowed others to influence the pursuit of his dreams, and that’s something everyone can believe in. Beyond his sports careers and accomplishments, and behind his uniform, it’s also clear that Tebow is a guy with a really big heart for others. Probably his most notable community service act of many is his foundation’s Night to Shine prom events. Each year for the past five years, the Tim Tebow Foundation has provided a prom experience for those with special needs all around the world. Remarkably, this February’s Night to Shine served 100,000 guests with the help of more than 650 churches. Regardless of whether his baseball career pans out, Tebow has put his sportsbased fame to good use, and he can’t be faulted for that. He will keep on dreaming, and in a world where it has become so easy to get caught up in other people’s opinions, that’s refreshing to hear.
dividual when she’s in the athletic part of her life, as she is in academics,” Goldhammer said. “She’s a do-by-example type of person.” Johnson is hoping to complete a dual major in legal studies and Spanish, and eventually pursue a career of legal advocacy; she’s also interested in immigrant rights and foreign policy. Outside of sports and school, Johnson describes herself as a resourceful baker; someone who finds enjoyment in all types of food and particularly likes to repurpose items taken from dining halls. But most of all — even sweeter than banana bread crafted from dining hall leftovers — Johnson savors her team’s achievements. “I think there were maybe eight [Athenas] in the prelims for the 1500 and six of us qualified for the final,” Johnson said of last year’s SCIAC championship track meet. “So there were 12 people in it from our conference and half of them were Athenas. It was just a beautiful sight and everyone did really well.”
ELOISE SHIELDS • THE STUDENT LIFE
Abby Johnson SC ’21 fosters a postive team environment on the CMS cross-country and track teams.
CMS SPORTS WEEKLY ROUNDUP TORREY HART CMS lacrosse ends DIII win streak at 25 with loss to Colorado College The Athena women’s lacrosse team (6-1, 5-0 SCIAC) lost to Colorado College 12-10 last Sunday, its first regular-season loss to a Division III team since 2017. The Athenas were also bounced from the 2018 NCAA tournament by the Tigers. The team bounced back in a big way Wednesday night, taking down SCIAC opponent Chapman 16-3. The game was a close 5-3 early in the second half, but the Athenas closed out the game with 11 unanswered goals. Corie Hack CM ’19 led scorers with five goals; Sally Abel CM ’21 followed with three of her own. Athena water polo notches first two SCIAC wins of the season Defense led the way this week as the CMS women’s water polo team (4-8, 2-1 SCIAC) defeated SCIAC opponents Caltech and Redlands 13-6 and 7-6, respectively, but fell to Whittier 7-6. In the Redlands game, goalie Jessica Salaz SC ’22 racked up eight saves, including a crucial block on a second-half penalty shot; she also tallied five steals. Celia Aldrete CM ’20 led in scoring with three goals against the Bulldogs. Against Caltech, Krystal Sung CM ’19 scored three times, while Maddie Menard CM ’22, Haley Gibbs SC ’19 and Amelia Ayala ’21 each added a pair. Katzman wins four as Stags tennis continues perfect season The CMS men’s tennis team (7-0, 0-0 SCIAC) picked up dominant wins
against Rensselaer, Division I Quinnipiac and Division II Western New Mexico last week, with final scores of 8-1, 7-0 and 5-2, respectively. The Stags swept the doubles matches against both Rensselaer and Quinnipiac, adding wins in 11 of 12 singles matches; the team used 11 different players in the strong singles effort. Jack Katzman CM ’21 picked up two singles wins, with the first match going to a third set, and won twice with doubles partner Robert Liu CM ’21. Athena tennis blanks three opponents in commanding Sunday sweep CMS women’s tennis (10-1, 2-0 SCIAC) played a whopping 27 matches last Sunday versus Hardin-Simmons, Haverford and DI Quinnipiac, and didn’t drop a single one. Against Hardin-Simmons, three singles matches ended in 6-0, 6-0 wins, and two ended the same way against Haverford. Relatively, the toughest competition of the day dame against Quinnipiac. The doubles team of Catherine Allen SC ’20 and Caroline Cox CM ’21, currently ranked as DIII’s No. 1 pair, won their match 8-0, as did partners Nicole Tan CM ’20 and Sarah Bahsoun CM ’22. Sydney Lee CM ’22 posted a commanding singles performance, winning 6-0, 6-2, while both Cox and Tan came to win three-set tiebreakers after both dropping their first set. Stag starters shine in CMS baseball’s sweep of Whitman CMS starters Josh Cordova HM ’22 and Justin Hull CM ’20 combined to throw 11.2 scoreless innings in the Stags’ (6-5, 2-4 SCIAC) sweep in a doubleheader against Redlands last weekend, winning the first game 3-1 and the second 2-1. Cordova allowed just one hit, stuck out three batters and walked three in his five-inning effort; Hull allowed three hits, struck out four and walked one in his 6.2 innings. Danny Porras
CM ’21 notched a scoreless save in both games. CMS softball sweeps Redlands to remain undefeated in SCIAC play Late-inning heroics fueled the Athena softball team (9-2, 8-0 SCIAC) in both games of its doubleheader against La Verne last weekend, keeping the team perfect in SCIAC competition this season. In game two, it was Alexa Schulten CM ’22 who came through with a two-out, two-run single in the bottom of the sixth inning to seal starting pitcher Lauren Richards’ CM ’22 complete-game win, and a 3-2 win for CMS. Richards also threw a scoreless eighth inning to hold the then-tied game one, before Chloe Amarilla CM ’19 drove in Jessica Fox CM ’21 to walk off the 8-7 win. Christensen climbs CMS all-time rankings at Oxy Distance Carnival Miles Christensen HM ’22 finished second in a open-division 5,000-meter field with a time of 14:24.67 last weekend at the Occidental Distance Carnival, ranking him fourth in Stags history. Current track and field teammate Thomas D’Anieri CM ’20 holds the fastest time in CMS history at 14:21.04. Stag javelin throwers Jordan Venglass CM ’21, Maxwell Knowles CM ’20 and Connor Schulz CM ’21 placed second through fourth in their event. For the Athenas, Jacque Desmond SC ’20 won the pole vault by a wide margin, clearing 11 feet while no one else competing reached 10. Amanda Gallop SC ’20 took fourth in javelin and fifth in shot put, as well as ninth in discus. Classmates Bailey Mknelly SC ’21 and Kellie Okamura SC ’22 tied for second in high jump.
CAMILA MEIJA • THE STUDENT LIFE
Nikolai Parodi CM ’20 crushes a serve during a successful singles match in the Stags’ 7-0 win against Quinnipiac March 10.
SPORTS THE STUDENT LIFE
MARCH 15, 2019
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From education to the pros and back: P-P Hall of Fame inductee Jase Turner on his career path TORREY HART Chance to represent DIII at the pro level was an ‘honor’ for Pomona-Pitzer HoF inductee Jase Turner Pomona-Pitzer HoF inductee Jase Turner, former MLB prospect, talks professional path Jase Turner PO ’05, recently inducted to the Pomona-Pitzer Hall of Fame, didn’t take a traditional path to professional baseball. Instead of playing at a big-name power school, Turner chose to attend Pomona College, a relative unknown in college baseball. After a stint in the minor leagues, Turner had the chance to continue to play baseball in an independent league. But thanks to his education, he knew he had better options. “That wasn’t how I wanted to continue chasing the dream,” he said. “And I was tired of being broke, and so I had other aspirations, which is why I [originally] went to Pomona instead of going to another type of school.” Turner was originally selected by the Pittsburgh Pirates in the MLB draft following his senior year of high school, and considered forgoing college entirely. But the fit wasn’t right. “For me, it was a financial discernment,” he said. “If they had offered me enough money that made it worthwhile to think about not going to college right away, then I was willing to consider. But they didn’t come with that type of a financial offer. So it made my decision
pretty easy.” Turner had to be sure, however, because once a player enters a four-year institution, they cannot be drafted again until after their junior year. He could have opted to attend community college and would have been eligible for selection every year. “But that wasn’t my focus academically, so that wasn’t an option for me,” Turner said. “My plan and my goal was definitely to play professional baseball … And so I was really hoping to get drafted my junior year, and I got a lot of attention, and got a lot of special-type workouts, and it just didn’t work out.” Because he spent college summers playing in high-level travel ball leagues with mostly Division I athletes, however, his efforts did not go unnoticed. And once you’re on the league’s radar for the draft, you’re “in the system,” Turner said. After graduating from Pomona, he was picked by the Kansas City Royals in the 27th round. But the decision to finish school proved prudent, as Turner’s professional baseball career was short-lived. He played two seasons of rookie ball in Idaho Falls, then one at Class A Burlington before being released. “I didn’t know what to expect [of the minors], but it was definitely terrible. It was not nice at all,” he said. From 13hour travel days that concluded with a game, to gas station dinners, to packing roommates into
Spikeball sweeps the 5Cs
tiny apartment living rooms, Turner experienced it all. But it was all worth it for a shot at that elusive “dream.” “I mean, it was all the horror things that you could think about, which also led to this once-in-a-lifetime experience and opportunities, at the same time,” Turner said. Particularly, he loved the cultural education that came from playing with teammates from Panama, Venezuela, Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic. And it never mattered that he lacked a big-name sports school on his resumé. Recently, between one and two percent of players selected in the MLB draft hail from Division III programs. In 2018, for instance, 11 DIII players were picked out of 1,214 total. The 2010 draft featured 22 players from DIII, the most ever. Turner is one of eight Sagehens to be drafted over the past 25 years — most recently, Tanner Nishioka PO ’17 was picked in the ninth round by the Boston Red Sox following his senior year. “To me, it was an honor to be able to go play professionally coming from Pomona because we’re not really known, obviously, for athletics, especially for professional athletes,” Turner said. “So it was cool being able to help put a small school on a map.” Because of what he did academically in college, Turner was primed for the transition out of professional ball and back into education when the time came.
Eric Oregel CM ’21 leads his friends in a game of spikeball at the OTL Website Launch Party March 8.
UMA NAGARAJANSWENSON On a sunny Saturday in Claremont, you don’t have to walk far to see a familiar sight — four people gathered around a miniature trampoline-like net, attempting to ricochet a small inflated ball onto their opponents’ sides. First popularized in the mid-2000s, spikeball has taken ahold of college campuses across the country — the 5Cs included. This year, for the first time in history, there is an intramural spikeball league at the 5Cs. Formalizing spikeball through the Claremont-Mudd-Scripps intramural league was only a matter of time, as the sport has picked up in popularity in recent years. Julia Brock SC ’22 is playing it this season after noticing it when visiting campus. “When I visited the 5Cs, I saw people playing spikeball and I thought it looked really interesting,” Brock said. Brock decided to form a team with friend Alejandra Butcher SC ’22, even though neither of them had played before. For many players, spikeball is just about having fun. “People aren’t going to be too competitive, people are going to be friendly about it, but you’re still going to have a good time,” Myles Anderson CM ’21 said. Looking at team names, the levity of the game becomes apparent –– Anderson’s team is named “Jeremahu & the
Thotianos,” and Brock’s is “NO GAME SCHEDULED,” which she and Butcher chose with the hope that they could confuse opponents and win by forfeit. Although it is primarily played recreationally, for some, spikeball can become competitive. Gait Nairn CM ’22 travels to schools regionally to compete in spikeball tournaments. “I’ve been to tournaments in Santa Monica, Riverside, up north in the Bay as well,” Nairn said. “There’s different skill groups — there’s beginner, intermediate, advanced and premier. I usually play intermediate, sometimes advanced.” To qualify for a premier league, a team has to win a certain number of tournaments, Nairn said. He said the tournaments aren’t solely comprised of current college students, and many competitors are recent graduates who still play. While competitive spikeball is more about winning, the fun isn’t lost. “A lot of my friends go to schools in LA, so we all come together to play,” Nairn said, describing the community the game fosters. Nairn is also playing in the 5C intramural league. His team, with teammate Ashkon Aghassi CM ’22, is called “Practice Safe Sets.” “It’s just a really fun thing to go blow some steam off,” Nairn said. “We had our first game last Sunday –– we whooped ’em.”
As a senior, he worked as a teaching assistant at Condit Elementary in Claremont, which led to a career interest outside of baseball. “The teacher that I worked with… she was great, and she gave me a ton of space to explore, and to help, and to connect with students,” he said. “And that was really my first time I thought working at schools is something that I really enjoy doing.” Then, in his minor league off-seasons, Turner would go home to Oakland, California, and substitute teach. “Basically I subbed, and then I trained, and that’s what I did
every day, all day,” he said. “And so once I was released, I had had this three-year experience working in schools.” He began his career in education as a middle school physical education teacher, advisor and dean at Oakland’s kindergarten through eighth grade Redwood Day School, all while pursuing his master’s degree. From there, he took a job at Bishop O’Dowd High School, also in Oakland, as an academic support coordinator. “And then from there I was able to kind of keep moving up, so to say,” said Turner, now the school’s associate principal at 36 years old.
All the while, he’s continued to coach baseball on the side. Turner would advise his students and players to take a similar route, if only as a precaution. “For many of my teammates that didn’t do well in school, or didn’t like school, or didn’t finish school, life after sports was really a challenging period of time,” he said. “And so just know that you’re not going to be playing a sport much longer than you are going to be playing a sport. So you want to set yourself up to have opportunities when that time comes, whether it’s senior year, or it’s college, or in your 20s or 30s.”
P-P SPORTS WEEKLY ROUNDUP NOAH SHAPIRO
AMY BEST • THE STUDENT LIFE
ELINOR ASPEGREN • THE STUDENT LIFE
Jase Turner PO ’05 speaks at the P-P Hall of Fame event March 9, where he was inducted for his historic baseball career.
P-P softball sweeps doubleheaders to build four game win-streak The Pomona-Pitzer softball team (11-2-1, 6-2 SCIAC) went undefeated last week, winning both sides of a home doubleheader against Hiram (1-8-1) 8-1 and 6-3 March 8, before beating Redlands (6-12, 2-6 SCIAC) 13-5 and 6-5 on the road last Saturday. Kristen Hong PZ ’19 showed out in the decisive wins over Hiram, going 4-5 with four RBIs and a run on the day. After getting dominated in game one, Redlands pulled it together in game two, coming back from a 4-0 deficit to take a 5-4 lead in the bottom of the sixth. However, after an RBI single from Olivia Campion PZ ’20 sent the game to extras, Liz Rodarte PZ ’19 came in to close it out, and shut out the Bulldogs for the final three innings. P-P picked up the win on an RBI single by Megan Otsuka PZ ’22 following a triple from Izzy Deatherage PO ’20 in the top of the ninth. Rodarte pitched 10 innings and allowed just one run in the two games.
put up two nationally ranked times and the women had four performances good for top-10 in program history. In the men’s 5000-meter, Andy Reischling PO ’19 finished in 14:24.40, the second-best time in Division III this season and good for sixth in the race, which consisted of athletes from all three divisions. Owen Woo PZ ’21 finished 19th, eighth all-time in program history with a time of 14:43.52. Rosie Linkus PO ’22 posted the ninth-best time in P-P history in the 800-meter, finishing seventh overall in 2:18.34, and Micaiah Palmer PO ’19 jumped 17-feet-4.75-inches in the long jump, good for seventh overall in the event and sixth best in program history. Vicky-Marie Addo-Ashong PO ’20 and Sophie Richards PO ’20 finished second and fourth in the women’s 100-meter hurdles, with times of 15.25 and 15.55, respectively. Sagehen baseball picks up four out-of-conference wins in busy week on Alumni Field The Sagehen baseball team (10-3, 4-2 SCIAC) went 4-1 on the week, playing host to three non-conference opponents. After
beating the Centenary Gentlemen (8-10-1) 7-4 Friday they beat Ithaca College (4-2) 1-0 Saturday before losing to them 10-4 Monday. P-P closed out the busy week by beating Bowdoin (0-4) 1-0 and 6-1 in a doubleheader Thursday. The first win against Bowdoin was decided with one swing of the bat, as Jeremy Jess’ PZ ’20 solo home run in the bottom of the fourth inning proved to be the game’s only run. Tyler Yoshihara PO ’20 pitched the full game for the Sagehens, striking out six and allowing no runs in seven innings. P-P women’s lacrosse falls to CMS, comes back with high-scoring win over Marymount The P-P women’s lacrosse team (5-1, 4-1 SCIAC) picked up its first loss of the season in a 9-5 loss to Claremont-Mudd-Scripps (6-1, 5-0 SCIAC) Friday, but bounced back with a 22-13 win over Marymount (4-4) Wednesday. Both games were at home. CMS got out to a 5-0 lead and held off the Sagehens the rest of the way. Zoe Puccia PZ ’22 led P-P with two goals in the loss. P-P grabbed the momentum early in the win over Marymount, scoring nine straight
goals in the first 20 minutes. Kate Immergluck PO ’21 and Maggie Sweeney PO ’22 led the Sagehen scoring barrage, scoring four and three goals, respectively. Three big wins over conference opponents thrusts P-P women’s water polo atop SCIAC The Sagehen women’s water polo team (9-8, 5-0 SCIAC) picked up three big SCIAC wins last week. After beating Whittier (6-4, 2-1 SCIAC) on the road 8-5 Saturday, the Sagehens beat Chapman (57, 1-2 SCIAC) 17-5 at home Tuesday and then downed Cal Lutheran (10-7, 4-1 SCIAC) 12-7 on the road Thursday. Anna Yu PO ’19 had a hattrick in the win over Chapman, and Natalie Hill PO ’19 added two goals and four assists. The game against CalLu was a matchup of the top two teams in the SCIAC. P-P gained sole possession of first place with the win, and now stands as the only team undefeated in conference play. Janelle Lewis PO ’19 had two goals and a game-high five steals in the win.
Sagehen men’s tennis drops close match to Mary Washington, 5-4 The Sagehen men’s tennis team (4-5, 3-0 SCIAC) fell 5-4 to the University of Mary Washington (5-3) March 8 in a hotly contested match. After the two teams split two and three doubles, the No. 1 match went down to the wire, but Octave Bellet de Giacomoni PZ ’19 and Josh Gearou PO ’19 were unable to hold on, losing 8-7 (5). Jed Kronenberg PO ’21 and Gerou won their singles matches at one and two easily, and Sam Gerou PO ’19 earned the win at No. 4 in a wild match, coming back from a 6-1 loss in the first set to win the next two 7-6 (5) and 7-6 (6). However, despite close scores, the Sagehens were unable to find a win in the other three singles matches. P-P track has strong early season performances at Oxy Distance Carnival The P-P track and field team had a successful weekend at the Occidental Distance Carnival Spring Break Classic, as the men’s side
AMY BEST • THE STUDENT LIFE
Nicole Larson PO ’19 races an Athena player to the ball in the Sagehens’ 9-5 loss to CMS March 8.
SPORTS
PAGE 10
THE STUDENT LIFE
P-P BASEBALL
Led by veteran coach, young P-P baseball team eyes SCIAC title
MARCH 15, 2019
P-P Athlete of the Week Men’s Track and Field Carter Floyd PO ’21 Kingwood, Texas Floyd was named SCIAC track and field Athlete of the Week following his shining 1500-meter run at the Occidental Distance Carnival. He finished second overall in a stacked field that included Division I and professional athletes. Floyd’s time of 3:49.09 places him third on the Pomona-Pitzer all-time list in the event and currently ranks him No. 1 in the nation by more than seven seconds. Floyd could remain atop the nation in this event, as his time would have won the 2018 NCAA championship in that event.
ADAM KUBOTA • THE STUDENT LIFE
Jack Damelio PO ’22 swings at a pitch during the Sagehens’ 7-4 win over Centenary March 8.
DELANEY HARTMANN Led by veteran coach, young Sagehen baseball team eyes SCIAC title Pomona-Pitzer head baseball coach Frank Pericolosi started coaching baseball abroad in 2000 before taking over the Sagehen program in 2003. He still spends his summers in Sweden and Italy, but Claremont always draws him back. Perhaps it’s because the years have proved rewarding: He picked up his 400th win with the Sagehens (8-3, 4-2 SCIAC) two weeks ago against La Verne. Or maybe it’s the athletes and schools themselves. “I love the institutions that I work for, and I like the kids that these schools attract to the program,” Pericolosi said. He said he likes to coach well-rounded players and peo-
ple who are both academically and athletically motivated. “[Pericolosi] really cares about us outside of baseball,” pitcher Ryan Long PO ’21 said. “He understands and cares about our academics and lets us have time for them. Having a coach that cares about you outside of the sport is really cool and unique.” Pericolosi emphasizes a “player-oriented” program in which he hopes all athletes can have a positive experience and be part of a group they are proud of. Over time, he has worked to understand the high demands of academics and extracurriculars at the 5Cs, and structures his program to support athletes accordingly. “One thing that makes our program unique in the SCIAC is the fact that I don’t think many other coaches would be able to adapt to some of the course loads or work com-
mitments that we have here,” outfielder Brian Knapp PO ’20 said. Both Knapp and Long said having a coach who is dedicated to the same goals as the athletes — and has also shown a long term commitment to the program — is motivating. While the team only has one senior, there’s no lack of leadership, thanks to a strong junior class. Both Pericolosi and Long agreed that the juniors serve as great role models for the rest of the group and lead by example. “I think the upperclassmen and coach have cultivated a very healthy atmosphere this year more than ever that has encouraged every player on the team to buy in,” Knapp said. “It’s easier to win games when you know everyone has bought in.” The team is all-in with one goal — ending the regular sea-
son on top of the SCIAC, and going on to win the SCIAC tournament title. While the Sagehens started the season ranked in the middle of the conference, Pericolosi sees the current group of teams as very evenly matched. “I don’t think any team in the SCIAC is unbeatable, and I think we have enough talent in the locker room to win the championship,” Pericolosi said. “But I also know that many other teams in the league have enough talent to win. It will all come down to which team is willing to fight to win close games.” Long agreed that the Sagehens have the personnel necessary to win the title. “We aren’t arrogant, but we do have a sense of confidence that we can win,” Knapp said. “I like our chances.”
CMS Athlete of the Week Women’s Tennis Catherine Allen SC ’20 Shoreline, Washington Allen and her doubles partner Caroline Cox CM ’21 grabbed two wins over the weekend against Haverford and Division I Quinnipiac. Both matches ended in 8-0 shutouts. The duo is currently ranked the No. 1 team in Division III, and hope to defend their 2018 national title. Allen also captured a singles win in the No. 1 position to cap off her impressive weekend.
CMS WOMEN’S LACROSSE
Athenas fall to rival Colorado College in nailbiter, will look for revenge at NCAA
ALLIE GOULD The Colorado College women’s lacrosse team (4-0) defeated Claremont-Mudd-Scripps (6-1, 5-0 SCIAC) 12-10 last Sunday on Zinda Field, ending the Athenas’ streak of 31 straight regular season wins against Division III opponents, dating back to March 2017. CMS and CC are fierce non-conference rivals and have faced off in the NCAA tournament the last two seasons. While CMS won each of their regular season matchups in 2017 and 2018, CC eliminated CMS from the tournament in both years. Sunday’s game was tight throughout — the Athenas were up at halftime, and neither team led by more than two goals until there were three minutes remaining. Attacker Emma Johnson SC ’20 said the team anticipated a close contest. “Every time we play Colorado College it’s definitely a battle,” Johnson said. “It could’ve gone to either side — it was just whoever finished their shots.” CMS’ contests against CC are a stark contrast to the normal level of play they face in SCIAC games, where they have outscored their opponents 61-26 so far this season. Per league rules, once one team is up by 10, the clock doesn’t stop on dead balls. Head coach Lauren Uhr also has the CMS team stop scoring after 20 goals for the sake of sportsmanship, according to Corie Hack CM ’19. The team still finds value in these games, despite the often lopsided scores. “It’s not like we’re just standing, waiting for the game to be over,” Hack said. “In those situations, we like to work on our team thing — so we’ll work on our ball movement or our offensive stats.” Sally Abel CM ’21 agreed that SCIAC matchups still hold value. “It’s all about team chemistry, and we can work on that with our SCIAC opponents,” she said. Nonetheless, Hack sees the weaker SCIAC competition as
a bit of a disadvantage when it comes to facing more skilled teams in the NCAA tournament, like CC, who will likely be waiting in the tournament for the Athenas again this season. “In the games where the competition isn’t as high, we can get away with making mistakes,” Hack said. “We’d play in [the] SCIAC and in our league, and we’d go to NCAAs, and we wouldn’t be prepared for that level of competition.” Both Hack and Abel value Uhr’s efforts to schedule matchups with tougher competition like Colorado College. This season, the Athenas have also scrimmaged with Division I San Diego State and will head to the East Coast next week to play Montclair State and Kean University.
The Athenas have a lot to take away from their loss. “Coming off of this we have some really good points of things that we need to work on, so that will be a big focus for us this week at practice,” Hack said. She said there’s room to improve defensively — where some younger Athenas have shown some inexperience — and in team fitness levels. Johnson, who hasn’t experienced a SCIAC loss in her entire career, said she thinks the loss could actually be good for the team. “I think it will help us in the future,” Johnson said. “It will light the fire. We remember that we can lose.” CMS also played Sixth Street rival Pomona-Pitzer (51, 4-1 SCIAC) last weekend, winning 9-5 Friday in a game
that was closer than what the Athenas are accustomed to. Last season, CMS beat P-P 155, 17-3 and 17-5. Abel said she believes the SCIAC is becoming increasingly competitive. “Other teams are bringing in more good recruits, we’re bringing in more good recruits. It’s just constantly getting more competitive, which is really exciting,” she said. Nonetheless, the team’s biggest competition remains Colorado College, who they’ll likely face in the NCAA tournament again this year. The rest of the season will determine who hosts. “We’ll watch this film, we’ll take away the things that we need to work on, so hopefully — whether here or there — we’ll get the outcome that we want,” Hack said.
AMY BEST • THE STUDENT LIFE
Above: Blaire Southmayd CM ’21 battles a Sagehen defender in the Athenas’ 9-5 win over Pomona-Pitzer March 8. Below: Allie Hill CM ’20 looks to score in the March 8 game.