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On Monday, March 4th, join your candidates at 10:30 pm during Collins Snack for ASCMC positions as they present their personalities, philosophies, and platforms for their tenure as your elected ASCMC representatives! Voting will be open to the whole school starting 11:59 pm on March 4th and will be open for 20 hours, ending at 8:00 pm, March 5th. Read more to learn about the specifics of each candidate, and their hopes, dreams, and aspirations for ASCMC and the broader CMC community. Here are your candidates for ASCMC elections: Student Body President Ava Kopp Executive Vice President Ryunosuke Nakase Mateo Colbert Vice President of Student Activities Carson Bloom Dormitory Affairs Chair Senior Class President Victoria Williams Junior Class President Kylee Tevis Sophomore Class President Amrit Dhaliwal Zubin Khera Student Body President Candidates AVA KOPP Hello CMC! I'm Ava Kopp, and I'm excited to announce my candidacy for the position of Student Body President. Throughout my involvement in ASCMC, I've held the role of Junior Class President, Boswell’s Dorm President (#BosIsBack), and a senator on the Student Life Senate Committee. As your potential student body president, I am committed to the values of community, vision, and accountability. Over the past semesters, I've engaged with numerous students, gathering insights on a range of issues, including advocacy, events, dining, community engagement, and residential concerns. Clearly, there’s no shortage of action items, and the spectrum of suggestions highlights the varied needs of our community. My track record as class president reflects my dedication to listening to my peers and taking actionable steps to fulfill their ideas. For instance, in response to concerns about dining hall options, I initiated the ASCMC Collins Committee, collaborating with our dining staff and student volunteers to implement improvements like the chicken caprese sandwich, acai bowls, build-your-own pizza, and a mac-n-cheese bar. Recognizing the importance of community and connection in the college experience, I am committed to advocating for a wide array of campus events. Additionally, equity, diversity, and belonging are central to my work within ASCMC. If elected, I will continue supporting our affinity groups and marginalized communities within the student body. While the following list is not exhaustive, some key areas I plan to advocate for include affinity group budgeting, dining enhancements, affordable laundry options, support for transfer students, the implementation of a tap ID system, and promoting greater transparency and accountability within ASCMC to benefit the broader student body. I look forward to the opportunity to serve as your student body president and address these issues collaboratively with the CMC community. Executive Vice President Candidates RYUNOSUKE NAKASE For those that I haven’t had the chance to meet, my name is Ryu Nakase, and I’m running to be your next Executive Vice President! Over the past year and a half, I’ve had the immense pleasure of serving as the First Year and Sophomore Class President for the awesome class of 2026. From planning pre games, social events like the weekly Sophomore S'mores and the ‘26 Dating Game, to sending out my ‘26 Weekly News, I’ve had a blast. (I actually loved writing my weekly emails, so you know I’ll send great Senate emails every week!) I could go on and on about the work my cabinet and I’ve done these past two terms, but instead, I encourage you to talk to the ‘26ers! As EVP, I want to make changes on a broader school wide level. I want to build upon the great progress made during the past two administrations I’ve experienced while making changes to the parts that need improvement. Like a good paper, here’s an outline of my thoughts: 1. Revitalization of the Senate Something I love about the Senate is that it's the “People’s House.” It’s a place where any CMC student can voice their concerns and vote on numerous items, but an issue that the Senate has historically faced is student engagement. Your voices deserve to be heard, and I want to realize the democratic dream of the Senate. While changes in culture can achieve this, it can also be fickle. Within 4 years, a whole new CMC will exist, which is why I plan on creating institutional change toward achieving a better Senate. 2. Creating Traditions through Yearly School Wide Programming Kara Hagler has done a phenomenal job during this term as the EVP by taking on a more proactive role by planning fun school-wide programs, and this is something that I definitely want to continue. Hosting a dodgeball tournament to working with Priceless Pets to bring dogs onto campus to having a Mardi Gras dinner at the Ath, these are things that I want us to have the opportunity to experience every year and more! 3. Strengthening Relationships with Clubs and Organizations on Campus ASCMC stands for the Associated Students of Claremont McKenna College, meaning that it’s a body that is meant to serve the people (that’s you!) and that includes CMC clubs and organizations as well. Something I’ve noticed throughout my time here is the strained relationship between ASCMC and CMC Clubs and Organizations. I want to create a space where ASCMC and Clubs and Orgs can productively collaborate to better serve the student body. 4. Getting more Grassy Terrain With the installment of the Qwalala, we lost a huge amount of green spaces in Mid Quad. While I won’t promise you that I’ll get it back, because I can’t, I want to find alternative solutions so that the only grassy area where large events, both alcoholic and non-alcoholic, isn’t Green Beach (Green Beach, I still love you though). 5. Tap Access on CMC IDs for Dining Halls Similar to quality of life improvements (like small bugs game developers fail to fix), this is something that has plagued our student body. While unkept promises have been sung before, this is something that I want to actually implement. While it may not be a huge deal to swipe our cards instead of tapping them, given that the rest of the 5C colleges can swipe their cards, I want to give us the same privilege. As a fellow CMCer, these are issues that I believe will make our time at CMC better, and if you have any ideas or suggestions, I would be more than happy to hear your thoughts! Yours truly, The 5’ 6’’ Japanese man from Hawaii (the other one) Ryu Nakase MATEO COLBERT Hello my People! My name is Mateo Colbert and I am running to be your Executive Vice President (EVP). I am currently a junior who used to be a freshman. As a freshman, the first thing that jumped out at me was the community offered here at CMC. I was surprised to learn that ‘way back when,’ the community at CMC was even closer. I have found that some of the best information I’ve gotten, and learning I’ve done on this campus has been through my peers and friends. My main goal is to increase the sense of community here at CMC. How? Prior to the pandemic, there was a capture-the-flag game on Parents Field between grades. I’m committed to bringing this back, as it could further increase inter-year camaraderie. I’d like to maintain pre-sporting event tailgates. I’d also like to implement student-faculty workshops so that students may learn more about their professors, courses, and campus prospects. Now, there are some grumblings about EVP being a role whose sole focus is our ASCMC Senate… These grumblings do hold a degree of validity. A goal of some prior EVP candidates included increasing interest, turnout, and the efficiency of senate meetings. There are a plethora of things that could be done within the Senate to try to increase the three aforementioned items. ASCMC has a lot of agency, and as EVP, I would try to diversify the weekly Senate topics. This semester, I tried to implement candidate debates. While not feasible this year, I’d like to revisit it next year and shout out Kaitlyn and Kara for planning a town hall instead. However, the first thing I would do to increase interest, turnout, and efficiency is foster community engagement.  A close community is an effective community. I would be honored to represent you, the students of Claremont McKenna. I am asking for your trust, your support, and your vote. I am dedicated to serving this community, and further fostering unity between the CMC student body. Vice President of Student Activities Candidates CARSON BLOOM Hello everyone, I’m Carson Bloom, a sophomore from Whitefish, Montana, running to be the next Vice President of Student Activities! I first got involved with the Events Team my freshman year. I soon became the Director of Events, a position which works closely with the VPSA (they are basically their assistant) in planning all ASCMC hosted and sponsored events including Pirate Palooza, Wedding Party, 601, and Club Claremont to name a few. As the next VPSA, I’ve got a list of initiatives I plan to tackle. First, I’ll ensure we retain our prized traditions. Last year we had to fight to allow seniors to spray champagne at 601. It’s a tradition I will continue to fight to preserve like so many others that make CMC the college we all love (most of the time at least)! Second, we’re all aware that most TNCs and smaller parties simply aren’t what CMC students want. I’m going to reallocate a portion of my budget to buy fog machines, lasers, lights, and new bluetooth speakers. I hope to start a loan program where students can borrow the equipment they need to host their own small party, and the ASCMC Events Team will support them in doing so. Third, when we do host smaller events such as a Halloween Party on a Thursday night, I want to make them 5C. We’ve all had the experience of showing up to a Mudd or Pomona party only to be denied entrance due to capacity or because we don’t go to the respective school. While wristbanding is a good way to prevent overcrowding at large Saturday events, we don’t need to make our Thursday night ones exclusive. They’re a lot more fun when there are 200 people there from across the 5Cs rather than 50 from CMC. Fourth, I’ve created a list of DJs from across the 5Cs. We are currently up to about 25. My goal with the DJ list is to ensure that CMC always has the best DJs for our major 5C events, whether they be from CMC or one of the other 5Cs. Here’s a few more ideas for specific events. Pong table-making event (we provide tables and paint supplies, you paint the table) Slip and slide on Green Beach (it's been done in the past) Air fresheners for Snowglobe, Monte Carlo, and Club Claremont (lol) Collaborate with CPB to ensure there are substance free offerings on busy party weekends Work with the ASCMC President to get tappable student ID cards (why are we the only ones who can’t tap our cards?!!) If there’s anything else you would like to see changed about how ASCMC Events are run or if you have a great idea please reach out @ cbloom26@cmc.edu Senior Class President Candidates VICTORIA WILLIAMS Hello Class of 2025! My name is Tori and I am super excited to be running for Senior Class President. A little bit about me: I am an Econ-Accounting major with a sequence in Leadership, I was born and raised in the Seattle-area, and I have a passion for contributing to the CMC community in any way I can! The biggest goal of mine is to help make our senior year together the most memorable yet. Whether this be through events, class bonding, or off-campus outings, senior class traditions, or brand new ideas and initiatives, I am committed to bringing your ideal senior year experience to life. I've spent the past two years on the ASCMC Events Team, first as Director of Event Operations, and then as Vice President of Student Activities. So, I do have a good amount of existing experience and institutional knowledge when it comes to event execution, which will come in handy when planning 200 Days, 100 Days, Thesis Party, and more. Although, I do understand that my responsibility as Senior Class President encompasses far more than just these staple events. I'll make it my top priority to maintain transparency, focusing on your feedback and ideas in order to cultivate a senior class culture filled with collaboration, community, and fun! If you have specific goals or changes that you'd like to see within our class -- or the CMC community as a whole -- I always want to be an accessible resource. So come talk to me at senate or executive board meetings, or if you see me around campus (my frequent spots are Appleby Lounge and the Hub). Thank you and I hope to receive your vote of confidence! :) Junior Class President Candidates KYLEE TEVIS This is how excited I am to be junior class president! Sophomore Class President Candidates AMRIT DHALIWAL "And so, my fellow [CMCers]: Ask not what your [school] can do for you – ask what you can do for your [school]. My fellow citizens of the world: Ask not what [CMC] will do for you, but what together we can do for the freedom of man. -JFK" -Amrit Dhaliwal ZUBIN KHERA Hello again, Class of 27! Chances are, you've stumbled upon the words above in your inbox over the past school year as you've sifted through campus updates and upcoming events to stay in the loop. Well, those emails were from me! Serving as your first-year class president has been an absolute blast! We've thrown some epic parties, bonded over Roommate Trivia sessions, spread love with Candy Grams, and so much more! However, let's keep it real—despite our best efforts, politicians lie, and I was no exception to this rule. I wasn’t able to touch on all the goals I had set out to accomplish this term. Stepping into the office is one thing, but understanding the inner workings of CMC's machine is a whole different ball game. It took me about two months to really grasp the powers and responsibilities of my role before I could start making tangible changes. So, here's the deal: let's skip the crash course, and I promise that we can hit the ground running for the rest of this year and next year! If Freshman Year was all about meeting your peers, my focus this year is strengthening those bonds by hosting even more fun-filled events that scream friendship! Think more off-campus adventures, more class pregames, and more excitement just for you! If you support fun, friendship, and festivities, then you support Zubin! Help me make your sophomore as awesome as possible! Hear more about my ideas at the candidate town hall this Monday at 8 p.m. or during speeches at the late-night snack on March 4th. Get Zub-In office!

On Tuesday, March 5, 2024, CMC students participated in an online election to select their representatives for the 2024-2025 Associated Students of Claremont McKenna College (ASCMC). With a voter turnout of 49.05%, 668 out of 1362 eligible students cast their ballots. The ASCMC announced the election results via email just 30 minutes after the polls closed at 8 pm. Ava Kopp, the Junior Class President, was elected as the new Student Body President in an uncontested race, securing 584 of the 688 votes cast. Her agenda includes enhancing the college’s social life by catering to diverse event preferences, addressing student clubs' budgetary concerns, and fostering improvements in the student experience through partnerships with various campus entities. Kopp emphasized her commitment to listening and serving the CMC student body, stating, "Part of ASCMC’s role is to facilitate campus improvements—both tangible and intangible—beginning with active listening to student voices. We aim to develop a comprehensive feedback and communication strategy this year." The Executive Vice President race was narrowly won by Sophomore Class President Ryunosuke “Ryu” Nakase, who garnered 327 votes (56.19%), edging out Mateo Colbert’s 255 votes (43.81%). Carson Bloom, running unopposed, was elected as Vice President of Student Activities with 485 votes. Bloom intends to diversify social offerings, focusing on more inclusive and varied events, including day parties and club-sponsored activities. He aims to rejuvenate CMC’s social scene, which has waned due to COVID-19, by laying the groundwork for sustained improvement and revival. In the contest for Dormitory Affairs Chair, Aleeza Saeed defeated Avinash (Avi) Rangarajan with 249 votes (52.75%) to 223 votes (47.25%). Victoria (Tori) Williams was elected without opposition, receiving 130 votes, for the Senior Class President position. In the race for Junior Class President, Kylee Tevis won against Donovan Davidson, securing 109 votes (60.89%) to Davidson’s 70 votes (39.11%). The Sophomore Class President position was clinched by Amrit Dhaliwal, who bested First Year Class President Zubin Khera with 93 votes (52.25%) against 85 votes (46.75%). Elections for the Class of 2028’s First Year Class President will be held in the upcoming fall semester.

“Clearly, menstruation would become an enviable, worthy, masculine event: Men would brag about how long and how much. Young boys would talk about it as the envied beginning of manhood… Congress would fund a National Institute of Dysmenorrhea. Doctors would research little about heart attacks, from which men would be hormonally protected, but everything about cramps. Sanitary supplies would be federally funded and free. Of course, some men would still pay for the prestige of such commercial brands as Paul Newman Tampons, Muhammad Ali’s Rope-a-Dope Pads, [and] John Wayne Maxi Pads.” — AN EXCERPT FROM "IF MEN COULD MENSTRUATE" BY GLORIA STEINEM Why is it that even at our elite liberal arts college, we’re unable to say, “I’m having debilitating period cramps and cannot make it to class?” It is not news that CMC was a men’s college. How different would our campus and country look if men were the ones menstruating? If Robert Day menstruated, Roberts Pavilion would have sanitary napkins and tampons available in every restroom. We would have ‘period friendly’ workout classes. If stags menstruated, we would have TNCs celebrating their synced menstruation cycles (themed cocktails would be Bloody Mary, of course). The Hub and Huntley would sell tampons, duh. RAs would keep tampons outside their rooms, in addition to condoms and candy. For decades, women have popped painkillers and gone to work without missing a beat. We’ve whispered in hushed tones to ask for tampons. Our society rewards women for ‘being like men’, expecting menstruating people to ‘just deal with it’ and suffer through cramps, fatigue, headaches, and mood swings — all with a smile on our face. We make up excuses such as, “I’m sick/I have the flu/I have a headache” instead of simply saying, “I have terrible cramps.” Conversations around periods are taboo. They are avoided to not make others (usually men) feel uncomfortable. Would you feel uncomfortable if a colleague said, “We’re going to have to postpone because I’m having debilitating period cramps”? Would you, then, think they just need to toughen up? Take a painkiller and get going? Many in our community may suffer from polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) or dysmenorrhea (painful cramps). According to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, More than half of the people who menstruate have some pain for 1-2 days each month. According to research by John Guillebaud, a professor of reproductive health at University College London, severe pain during periods can be equal to that of a heart attack. Additionally, these statistics and conversations around menstruation are largely exclusionary, failing to include transgender, gender non-binary and genderqueer folks. We cannot claim to be a forward-thinking institution and not talk about menstruation. Granted, there are people who have higher pain thresholds or do not get excruciating period cramps, but to be truly inclusive, we must acknowledge that our bodies are built differently. Those who menstruate (women, transgender and gender non-binary folks) have a set of extra challenges than those who don’t. It is a matter of equity. I am not only advocating for students, but for the college’s staff and faculty members as well. This pandemic has pushed us to work from home and use various asynchronous methods of instruction and learning – many of which can be included to accommodate period leaves. However, this still would not be enough. The option to work from home is a privilege. We need to find better solutions for our building attendants and dining hall staff – many of whom are women of color. Many faculty and staff also might be going through menopause, which causes hot flashes, headaches. This is something we neither account for nor talk about at all. We should have sanitary napkins and tampons available in the restrooms. We should have more conversations, surveying students, faculty and staff on how to address their needs. We should consider it normal and acceptable when someone needs to be excused from class or postpone a meeting because they have terrible cramps and cannot get out of bed. Maybe next year, we can have period pain simulator machines along with the massage tables on campus! We should be talking about periods, and we must begin now.

If I walked up to people and asked them if they cared about inclusivity, I think most people would say yes. The problem is, I don’t think CMCers fully understand what inclusivity takes. Inclusivity requires sacrifice. We don’t talk about this, because we want to convince ourselves that it's easy to do, so that it's palatable and easy to support. But it’s not. Inclusion means that the most privileged among us sacrifice something to level the playing field. Sometimes the sacrifice is a little easier, like restructuring a party you love, and sometimes the sacrifice is a little harder, like... you know, your grades during a global pandemic. I’m not surprised that CMCers don’t seem behind a universal pass/incomplete policy. We aren’t very good at giving up what we want for the good of the entire student body. To be very clear, the only equitable policy was a universal pass or universal pass/incomplete. Would it have hurt some people trying to boost their GPAs? Yes. Would it have leveled the playing field for the students most hurt by quarantine? Also yes. Why is it only disadvantaged students who are publicly outraged? Where is everyone else? But this misconception goes far beyond grading policy, as many students already know. It’s clear in moments as innocuous as Dry Week and our party culture. Students aren’t able to give up their one moment of fun, and respect Dry Week, to make sure that orientation is actually inclusive. Dry Week, among other things, means that everyone is able to socialize on an equal footing, regardless of whether or not they drink. If everyone respected it, there wouldn’t be some students who felt that they didn’t belong because they don’t like to drink, or even just don’t always want to. And it's not just first years, it's also not clear to FYGs that it's more important to model an inclusive culture than to look cool in front of your FYGlets and drink with them during the first week of school. The misconception comes out in FYGs wanting to take shots with their FYGlets at 6:01, it comes out in the racial divide at parties (typically based on music/location), it comes out in who we see on Green Beach. And the problem isn’t so much that EDM is played at parties or that people love being on Green Beach. People are definitely allowed to do what makes them happy, but it's really a question of how often there’s been a discussion of why certain demographics aren’t comfortable in those spaces, and what we’re actively doing to fix that. The ASCMC events team (and Quantum Records) can do all they want to program in a way that allows a more diverse range of people to engage, but it won’t fully work until all students start critically engaging with why they feel comfortable in certain spaces while their peers don’t. Why do certain people naturally feel more at home at the Athenaeum than others? It's not random. Do we really expect women and students of color to feel as comfortable when they see themselves reflected in speakers’ identities less frequently than their other peers? Do we really expect low income students to feel comfortable when they might’ve had to buy clothes just to attend? What if they can’t afford dress code friendly attire? They have to go to DOS and explain their circumstances, and already they get a different social experience at CMC. Is the Ath formality a fun part of the experience for some people? Yes. Does it make a lot of already marginalized students feel out of place? Of course it does. We seem to have some trouble understanding that none of this is random. Giving people equality of opportunity is not the same as giving them equality of experience. Sure, everyone can apply to a research institute. But, who naturally sees themselves in those positions? Who already knows how to write cover letters? Who already knows what they want when they come to college? And we know this, we’ve talked about this. And yet, how many organizations reach out to affinity groups? How many organizations have cover letter workshops? How many organizations push back fall hiring? Yes, it’s inconvenient. Yes, it’s difficult. Yes, maybe you’ll lose your implicit and irrelevant competition to get more applicants than other organizations. But does that really matter? Sometimes it’s just a question of caring enough to engage. Last year, Hong Kong was burning, India occupied Kashmir, there were massacres in Delhi, protests in Lebanon, Chile, Brazil, Honduras, Iran, Iraq. That’s not close to a complete list. Chances are, you know someone from one of these places. With numbers near 20% of the population, international students are one of CMC’s largest minorities. When something terrible happens in the US, domestic students have a community to support them. How many international students had to remain isolated as their homes were, in some cases, quite literally on fire? And of course, it all starts even before orientation. It starts at the legacy admissions. It starts at the schools the admissions office visits to recruit students. It starts at what prospective students see on our social media. And it falls on all of us to do something. As college students, we have power and privilege. It's easy to forget the weight of the responsibility that one should feel along with the privilege. For a lot of people, there isn’t an excuse for the inaction. Those with the most privilege have the most responsibility. But unfortunately, even those without significant privilege carry a responsibility simply by attending elite institutions. For some of us, we get to justify our place in these institutions. We get to say that we’re representing marginalized communities. But are we really? Representation is an active job. Representing our marginalized communities isn’t working for a company that had contracts with ICE. Representing our marginalized communities isn’t supporting policies that disproportionately harm them. Representing our marginalized communities isn’t forgetting you’re a part of it once you get to CMC. Representing your community means actively working to make sure you’re elevating the disadvantaged people around you. And yes, a lot of responsibility lies with institutions to support students and push for inclusion. But similar to what happened with grading policy, an administration can only create change when a student body demands it. If our student body does not start acting in the interest of inclusion, we will never have it. Inclusivity is active, and every single person needs to be invested.

Does simply listening to someone speak necessarily mean you support them? This is a question some CMC students, including myself, confronted on Wednesday, February 5th, when the former Director of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), John Brennan, came to campus. He met with small groups of students in two intimate sessions run by the Keck Center for International and Strategic Studies (one of which I attended), and then spoke at an off-campus “Ath on the Road” event partnered with Res Publica, a CMC alumni society. As I lined up to board the bus that would take me to Brennan’s off-campus talk, I was handed a piece of paper. I thanked the student who gave me the paper, thinking that she was affiliated with the event and was handing me an informative flyer. However, as I looked down at the leaflet in my hands and read the words “war criminal” in large red letters, I quickly realized that was not the case. I soon came to understand that she was one of two students from Pomona College who were protesting and attempting to encourage those who had signed up to boycott the event. As we got on the bus, the two students cited statistics about Brennan’s history in the CIA, such as the 563 drone strikes Brennan approved during the Obama Administration, purportedly killing over 2000 civilians. The students said it would “mean so much to the families of the people Brennan killed” if we didn’t attend the event. One of the students even complimented my friend’s outfit, noting that Brennan “[did not deserve to have her dress up for him and support him.]” The two students claimed that we couldn’t possibly gain any value from what Brennan had to say. To my knowledge, the valiant attempts of the Pomona students were unsuccessful, and every student in line for the bus boarded. However, I was well aware of the fact that many of my peers who were attending the talk did not support Brennan or his controversial history as a CIA director. I myself am critical of some of his decisions, and in a session at the Keck Center earlier that day, I asked him about his history of supporting extraordinary rendition of prisoners to other countries for torture. He responded that he wished he had been more outspoken against “enhanced interrogation tactics,” but that these were ultimately decisions of the Obama Administration and Congress at the time. I thought this was a bit of a cop-out, but I am glad I got the opportunity to ask the question in the first place. Regardless of the fact that Brennan took little responsibility in his response, I learned something about the CIA and the Obama Administration from it. Besides, it’s not every day you get to grill a former senior intelligence officer about torture tactics. Similarly, the final question that was asked at the Ath event that evening, in front of a room of hundreds of students, alumni, and faculty, was highly critical. A student asked Brennan about the Panetta Review, an internal review of the CIA’s enhanced interrogation techniques, including waterboarding, used during the Bush Administration in the wake of the 9/11 attacks. When asked about his supposed attempts to cover up this report, Brennan began to lose the composure he had maintained throughout the entirety of his speech, and the two preceding questions. He attempted to characterize the situation as a misunderstanding, claiming that this internal review should never have been accessed by the Senate. He used the law, hierarchy, chain of command, and Senate oversight as excuses to justify the barbaric torture techniques that the review detailed and gently mocked his portrayal in the 2019 film “The Report,” which explores this situation. This question clearly condemned Brennan’s actions, and his hurried, defensive response reflected that. As I walked out of the event hall that night, I thought back to the claims by the two Pomona students that I wouldn’t get any value out of hearing Brennan speak. It is true that I thought some of the anecdotes John Brennan told during his speech—such as one about how he wore a rainbow lanyard to work in an attempt to show his support of LGBTQ+ rights—were a bit trivial, and certainly did not distract from the brutal and controversial acts he committed while at the CIA. But I certainly learned a lot about how the CIA operated during the Bush and Obama Administrations from his speech. The Ath is an opportunity to listen, learn, and challenge, where appropriate. Yes, the speaker always has more voice than those who ask questions at the end, but it is nonetheless an exchange. Listening and participating in a civil exchange of ideas in no way indicates support or agreement, while not listening, on the other hand, precludes debate and eliminates the opportunity to challenge. So, is John Brennan a war criminal? There are compelling arguments on both sides. But I believe I will always get more value out of hearing both sides, than from blocking out opinions which differ from my own. So I will continue to go to Ath talks hosting speakers I disagree with. I will continue to ask thoughtful questions at the end of their talks, and I will continue to challenge them if I think they deserve to be challenged. I hope other CMC and 5C students will do the same.

My first year was also the first year of the CMC Advocates. Consequently, they had no power or funding. Bystander intervention, however, was alive and well. We heard that term repeatedly through orientation, from RAs, from FYGs. Personally, I didn’t really get it. It seemed pretty important, but I don’t think I had a clear understanding of all the ways in which a night could go wrong. Pretty early in our fall semester, one of my female friends started making comments about how a well respected senior man seemed to be interested in her. We weren’t really bothered by this. He moved on pretty soon, and seemed to become somewhat obsessed with another first year girl that we barely knew. Between then and now, I have heard from countless senior women that this man harassed them and followed them around when they were first years. They didn’t say anything in their first year. He was popular, he was involved, administration loved him. In retrospect, his actions were downright predatory. My first Halloween, I had, as usual, lost my friends very early in the night. I was hanging out at dark side Boz, and I knew they were around somewhere but wasn’t particularly worried about finding them. I ended up besides a junior at the time, and we started talking. He seemed really fascinated by the fact that I had not dressed up (I hadn’t discovered the black cat cop out yet). We kept talking for a while, and it became pretty clear that the night would probably end in a hook up. While he was briefly talking to his friend, I checked my phone. My RA had texted me: “Hey friend… I don’t know what your plans are for the night and don’t want to make any assumptions, but if it involves going home with him, I’d really recommend against it.” Assuming she could see me, I looked around and saw her standing with the other on call RA and one of the deans. Full of blind faith in my RA, I made an excuse about going to the bathroom and walked up to her to ask her why she had texted me. She ended up explaining that a lot of women had stories about sexual assault and rape and she wanted me to be safe. At the time, I don’t think I understood why I was so upset by the incident. I ended up going to my FYG’s room in Green and crying on her couch, while she tried to make me feel better about the hookup culture at CMC. In retrospect, I was just scared. If my RA hadn’t seen me, if she wasn’t plugged in socially enough to have heard those stories, I would have gone home with him. My sophomore year, there was a lot of talk about a list of sexual assailants circling. With a year under my belt, I’d heard way more stories of assault and harassment, and I had an informal list in my head, too. When I saw first year girls getting too close to certain men at parties, I would, like so many other women, intervene. But now the Advocates were an established organization, in their bright teal shirts, always watching. There was one line of defense. My junior year, Brett Kavanaugh became a Supreme Court judge. I was more upset by his appointment than I was by Trump’s election. All I could think about were all the current Government majors, who I knew to be predators and assailants, working towards similar positions. Listening to Kavanaugh’s trial and the surrounding commentary, I kept thinking of the men we were letting graduate who would, one day, be in positions of power like him. Every time someone questioned why Dr. Ford hadn’t said anything earlier, I was thinking about all the women I knew who also would not have said anything. I kept thinking about how women would come forward only when men got elected or appointed to ASCMC, became FYGs, RAs, student managers. I thought about all the incredibly brave survivors who also would come forward if their CMC rapists became Supreme Court judges. As a senior, I can’t even count how many men I know to be predators. I can’t do anything about it. The only thing I can do is never interact with them, and warn the underclassmen who don’t know. Short of reporting, that seems to be the only thing any of us can do. It's the spring semester, and with that comes new RAs, new FYGs, a new ASCMC board, and countless other leaders. And with those elections and selections, as usual, will come some men who have harassed, preyed on and assaulted women on this campus. Some of these acts are well known, some are not. Some happen publicly, some do not. What I think about is myself as a first year, who accepted that men in positions of leadership are trustworthy, who had blind faith in my RA. There will be more first years who believe that the people in positions of leadership on this campus deserve their trust. My RA looked out for me when I was drunk and unaware, but not everyone in their position necessarily would have. Bystander intervention truly seems to be the only line of defense people on this campus have, as predators are constantly elevated into positions of power. So, I guess, what my point is… is look out for your friends, because our institutions simply do not.

I never wanted to study abroad. In fact, when my study abroad advisor casually suggested studying internationally, I dismissed the idea entirely. After completing my first year at CMC with the intent of pursuing a dual degree and a sequence, I concluded that there was not enough time for me to study abroad and graduate on time. I was extremely nervous because studying abroad would mark my first experience outside of the United States. Many thoughts filled my head. I wondered about the challenges of existing as a black man in a homogenous, predominantly white, European country. I stressed about the possible language barrier between myself, fellow students, and other foreigners. I even worried about the possibility of not making friends. Nevertheless, by the end of the first semester of my sophomore year, I was prepared to embark on my first international experience in Thessaloniki, Greece where I would eventually study media relations at the American College of Thessaloniki. While abroad in Greece, I caught the travel bug and was left with no other choice but to extend my abroad experience until the of 2019, leading me to intern in Manila, Philippines as a marketing intern and complete yet another abroad program in Prague, Czech Republic. In the end, I only spent a total of three weeks in the United States during 2019 having traveled to two continents, lived in three cities, and visited over twenty countries. Living abroad for an entire year has been the most rewarding choice of my life, especially as a gay, African American man. Meeting other black students and travelers from America, Africa, and Europe as well as other LGBTQ+ members from various corners of the world has helped me develop a stronger relationship with and understanding of my blackness and queer identity. Going abroad allowed me to step outside of my home, analyze it, and compare my life abroad to how I lived and felt in the United States. As a black man, I often felt more welcomed in European cities than I did in America due to the prevalent racism and occasional homophobia. Of course, racism still exists within Europe, but it is more rooted in nationality or ethnicity rather than skin color. For example, Parisians might treat you differently if you cannot speak their language, not solely because you have a different skin complexion. This is not the case in America where racism continuously results in the disenfranchisement of minority groups. For me, this type of prejudice was oddly refreshing because, for once, it felt like people were judging me based on something other than the color of my skin. Over time, I fell in love with Europe, experiencing a connection that even my home never afforded me. This is why I stayed for an extended period of time because I was not ready to wake up from my European dream. To this day, I still miss Europe and the life I created for myself during my year abroad, and I am patiently awaiting the day when I can return and reunite with my chosen family. Of course, my journey was not free from obstacles. During my trip to Santorini, my friend and I were stranded on the island due to airlines canceling flights because of inclement weather, forcing us to stay on the island for one day longer than expected, spend additional money for a ferry ride from Santorini to Athens, and rebook our connecting flights from Athens to Thessaloniki. Meanwhile, none of this money was refunded… Another mishap occurred in Barcelona when I met a friend for her birthday. While taking photos at the Arc de Triomphe, my camera bag was stolen, and it contained camera gear, credit cards, money, clothes, and my passport. To make matters worse, this incident coincided with strikes and protests. Not only did I not have my passport, but the airport employees were refusing to check me into my flight and answer my questions about the situation. I eventually returned home safely, but it was no easy task. Yet, in spite of these trials, I would do it all again, not changing a single moment. While abroad, you are faced with tough, unexpected challenges, and it is how you respond in these moments that determine how you grow as a person. Resiliency is key and learned overtime. Sometimes, you just have to say, “it’s above me,” and keep pushing because the trying times will pass. One year later, I feel evolved. I know it’s cliche to say that abroad changes you, but it does, or at least it should if you are willing to experience discomfort and relish the small moments. You should earn a new degree of confidence from living internationally in an unfamiliar environment. You should get to know yourself on a deeper level: your likes, your dislikes, your passions, your goals, and everything in between. You should gain an appreciation for culture and the differences that unite us. To the students who feel uncertain about committing to an abroad program, I say stop thinking about how spending a semester away from your friends might put a strain on the relationship. We are only undergraduates for four years, and it is our responsibility to take full advantage of the opportunities and resources available to us. If you stay in one spot forever, you might miss experiences that could shape your future path for the better.

Claremont McKenna College is committed to freedom of expression, viewpoint diversity and effective dialogue. The value of an education, especially a liberal arts education, comes in large part from being intellectually pushed. In the pursuit of higher learning, this often means that one will have to be made to feel uncomfortable. The Athenaeum talks and classes I’ve enjoyed most have forced me to grapple with ideas I hadn’t before and made me learn to think in new ways. I can’t speak for all the classes offered at CMC, but I’ve been to a lot of Athenaeum talks, and work as an Ath Fellow. I’ve been there every night this year, and before that, attended two a week (usually more) since my first year. I’ve definitely been pushed to consider new ideas. But sometimes it feels like attempts made by CMC and its students to ensure viewpoint diversity are focused on a subgroup within the majority population rather than acknowledging minority perspectives. Students of color at CMC are regularly challenged to think outside their comfort zone. By virtue of being at an institution where a majority of peers and professors are white, students of color are pushed to learn new ways of engaging and interacting. Yet, can we also say we push our white students as much? Do we push them to consider the ways in which they’re complicit in systems of racism? Do we push our students to consider the racial makeup of their friend groups or their contributions to gentrification? I sometimes struggle with how shallow the free speech and viewpoint diversity conversation seems to become. This is not a condemnation of initiatives to support free speech and viewpoint diversity. Rather, I’m worried about the aspect of the conversation we forget to have. Recently, Kiese Laymon spoke at the Athenaeum. He is the author of Heavy: An American Memoir and his talk was called What's Good: Reckoning with the Horror of One of Our Most Overused Words. Laymon did a brief reading from his book, and then opened up the room for discussion on how they feel about the word “good.” A few minutes in, he posed a question to the audience. He asked if white people ever talk to other white people about what it means to be a “good white person.” Kiese Laymon’s talk was about the word “good,” and we got lucky that he decided to pose that question. I’m at the Athenaeum a lot, and it’s pretty easy to sense the mood in the room when the speaker says something unexpected. The room was tense. The white people in the room were tense because they felt targeted. The students of color in the room were tense because the white students were tense. I was tense because I was holding a mic. But it wasn’t a disaster. The discussion was interesting, with white students realizing that they don’t talk about that question, and more generally about race, at all, and they then theorized why that might be. The dominant theme was that there was no reason for them to discuss, because they felt that they were not actively part of the problem. All of the comments and responses to his question were thoughtful and valuable, and I want to point to one in particular. At one point, a woman of color (Trinity Gabato ’22) stood up and said that the reason white people don’t have to think about what it means to be a good white person is part of white privilege, and people of color have never had that luxury. That’s true, and as an educational institution, aren’t we failing when white students feel like they’ve never had to personally consider race and their place in racial hierarchies? Can we even be an educational institution that critically examines society and the self without talking about one of the most important social categories that exist? I’ve been to a lot of Ath talks, and I’ve never experienced someone talk about race in such an honest way. Students after the talk all felt that they had a lot to process and struggled to work through the implications of the discussion that had just occurred. Isn’t that what we’re looking for when we talk about “freedom of expression, viewpoint diversity and effective dialogue”? And that’s just Kiese Laymon. His views on race are understandable for a black man in America. If we consider Laymon’s views as radical, it’s clear that we’ve missed out on something. When we talk about viewpoint diversity, we consider conservatism as the viewpoint we’re missing out on. I’m not making an argument about the merits of conservatism, but I am saying that we do not have diversity. We don’t push all our students equally. The initial silence at Kiese Laymon’s talk evolved into a thoughtful discussion that the people in the room had never had. What does it say that white students at CMC, some of whom are seniors, have never been pushed to consider race in a personal way before? We have the same issue academically. We have a shocking lack of classes at CMC that explicitly discuss race and gender. In my classes, I’m always thinking about what it means to be a “good” brown person, a “good” Pakistani, a “good” Muslim. That’s what you do when you’re the only voice in the room that represents your identity. You try to capture all the nuance that exists and make sure that you’re representing a fair image. It shouldn’t be radical to feel like there could be classes in which the Professor does that work for me. It shouldn’t be radical to have classes in which students are able to learn about experiences outside their own. If we do, students of color aren’t forced to teach their peers about their experiences. Just as we have OA funding to establish classes that grapple with political identity in a meaningful way, why don’t we funding going towards establishing classes that grapple with race and gender in a meaningful way? We have speakers at the Athenaeum who often discuss race in an abstract and academic way, and we have people who discuss racial issues in the US. Speakers talk about policy, immigration, criminal justice, gender. Students have opportunities to understand what’s going on a national scale. They rarely have opportunities to grapple with how those dynamics are recreated at CMC and what role we as individuals play in them. There’s a lot of special programming (shout out to the CARE Center), but it’s all opt in. That education only reaches people who already care, rather than being integrated into our routine education. When we do have classes and Athenaeum talks that grapple with these issues in a meaningful way, the people who attend are often not the people who would be the most challenged by the content. Part of the burden is on students to seek out discomfort. Men should go to talks about domestic abuse and rape culture. White students should go to talks about race. Humanities majors should go to STEM talks and vice versa. However, much of the burden falls on our educational institution to provide more opportunities for us to engage with a range of ideas. We don’t talk about how capitalism might just be unethical. Or about how much of race theory posits that we are all complicit in white supremacy. What about how gender might just be a completely constructed category? What it would actually take for men to be feminists? We really don’t talk about how consulting and investment banking firms are destroying the planet. We talk about diversifying oppressive structures instead of dismantling them. I want to acknowledge the limitations of my argument. I’m not delving into the intersection of classism and racism, how many of our white students grew up in affluent white neighborhoods, and many of our students of color did not. I’m not talking about gender, and how men aren’t pushed enough to consider what it takes to be a “good” man. I’m also only talking about viewpoint diversity in a political sense, not how we often focus heavily on social sciences at the expense of the hard sciences and the humanities. CMC students are limited in the classes we can take, and we’re limited in the conversations that we can have. How many of the philosophers taught in the Philosophy GEs are white and male? How many of the authors we teach in Literature classes tick the same identity boxes? How much is western? I’m not arguing that we shouldn’t teach material if it is written by white men, I’m arguing that we need to diversify our material. I’m arguing that we should critically engage with the idea that Shakespeare is one of “the greats” because white men decided he was one of “the greats”. Do I love reading Macbeth? Yes. Do I want to consider the power dynamics at work in Shakespeare’s fame? Also, yes. There’s demand from students. Classes that talk about race and gender are often the ones that fill up the fastest. To be clear, CMC is behind. CMC is behind in the range of ideas we are allowing our students to consider. We are behind in how much our students are pushed to consider experiences outside their own. We define an education as an experience that makes us open minded, makes us consider new ideas and experiences outside our own. And doesn’t that mean that CMC is behind educationally? Editor’s Note: This is an opinion article and the views of the author do not necessarily reflect the views of The Forum or the Editorial Board. Author’s Note: My views reflected in this article are mine alone and do not reflect those of the Marian Miner Cook Athenaeum, nor am I writing this within my capacity as an Athenaeum Fellow.

Greek life does not formally exist at Claremont McKenna, but is a large aspect of college life for students across the world. Living in a fraternity or sorority can offer students meaningful and close friendships. Going Greek can also yield many academic opportunities and professional connections. Since sisters and brothers participate in planned events with other members, stress about finding friends and choosing among the overwhelming varieties of events to attend can be eased with a Greek community. However, these advantages do not compensate for their negative impact on college campuses. Fraternities and sororities create financial barriers to entry, foster toxic environments, and can initiate dangerous behavior. The prevalence of sexual assaults in Greek life is nothing new. Students in fraternities are more likely to commit rape than non-fraternity members, according to two studies conducted in the NASPA Journal. In one of those studies, sorority members are 74 percent more likely to be raped than non-sorority members. Sexual violence involving members in Greek life is partly due to the culture in fraternities. Victims often do not report abuse for fear of retaliation by the perpetrator or their fraternity, who may try to protect their brother in honor of their “brotherhood.” Specifically, almost 80 percent of victims do not report rapes or sexual assault, and only two or 10 percent of cases are false accusations. Without much accountability to the college, fraternities conduct many of their activities behind closed doors. To keep fraternities accountable, the Interfraternity Council (IFC) work with their member fraternities to regulate leadership and promote collaboration. Nonetheless, it is difficult for the IFC to regulate all activities held by fraternities. “CMC wants people to be more open with what they’re doing and being able to see what’s going on campus. There’s a lot of secrecy involved [in Greek life], as the IFC at USC may think they are in control, but they really aren’t. A lot of the IFCs are jokes, and they don’t know what they’re talking about,” commented CMCer Abai Houser, a transfer from student The University of Southern California. Many fraternities do not face disciplinary action, which exacerbates the issue of sexual assault on college campus by allowing inappropriate behavior to continue without penalty. Americans niversities expel less than 30 percent of students found responsible for sexual assault, according to the Huffington Post. For instance, three incidents of sexual assault involving date rape drugs occurred at Sigma Pi, a fraternity at UCSB. Although the fraternity expelled one of its members, and Sigma Pi’s executive office suspended its chapter at UCSB, the university has not placed any sanctions on the fraternity. “There have been multiple date rape druggings and sexual assaults that have occurred within a matter of weeks, and the frat is still here, which is really frustrating. The individuals and fraternities committing crimes aren’t actually being held accountable. Instead, [the administration] has sent us emails and more modules that are basically telling us how to not get raped,” UCSB student Kate Ripley said. Rather than addressing the perpetrators, many school administrations target potential victims through these additional programs. Although education is important in reducing rates of sexual violence on college campuses, a major part of the problem lies in fraternities, but administrations overlook their problematic behavior instead. When Renee Perper ‘21 attempted to decrease rates of sexual violence on Colgate University’s campus, she experienced several roadblocks. She hoped to have trained students at parties in fraternities and sororities to help ensure the safety of all students, but not all fraternities agreed to her proposal. Since the others were underground, Perper was unable to implement her program. Without Greek life at CMC, events are free and open to all students, now with free ticketing. People from different social circles participate in these events, whereas many aspects of Greek life are exclusive and elitist. “CMC does have an active student body and an active organization that runs events and makes sure everything is under control, as they pay for security. There’s no membership or a process to get in [to parties]. People can come to any event. The experience here is awesome because it’s well-coordinated, open, and fun,” Houser said. In 2009, Princeton’s undergraduate student government conducted research to learn about the demographics of its Greek life. Although 47 percent of their student body identifies as white, 77 percent of sorority members and 73 percent of fraternity members were white. Additionally, 95 percent of Greek life members were from the 25 percent, and over 25 percent were from the top one percent income bracket. However, about 55 percent of their student body received financial aid, and 16 percent of students came from low-income families. Low-income students who cannot afford the dues required for Greek life involvement are left out. At the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, the average fraternity board and dues in $2,970 per semester, while Kansas University fraternity members pay an average of $5,300. Low-income students are already underrepresented at elite universities, and expensive Greek life dues pose just another financial barrier. Even within sororities and fraternities, competition and ranking existed. At Colgate, one fraternities refused to invite a sorority house because they found the female students unattractive and disliked their strong focus on academics. Consequently, “the top members started a group chat, and they would have mixers organized with just them and the other fraternity. It made a lot of my friends who were not apart of the top group feel really left out,” Perper said. “Because Greek life already segments people into this hierarchical structure, it makes it so competitive even within groups themselves.” The connections that Greek life offers are reserved for mostly white, wealthy brothers and sisters. Students from different backgrounds who may want to join Greek life may not feel welcomed or supported, as their identities are underrepresented in those organizations. “For some of them, if you’re an athlete or celebrity, then you automatically get in. If your family is famous or you have siblings in there, then you definitely get into a certain level of fraternity or sorority,” Houser said. Specifically, Perper recalls moments when students lied about their backgrounds to secure spots in the highly ranked fraternities and sororities, which stigmatizes low-income students’ participation in Greek life. “[Fraternities and sororities] took very predictable lines of white women or white men who were wealthy. One girl wanted to get into [a certain sorority], and she was from Connecticut but not Greenwich. So, she lied about where she was from, so she could be a part of the rich, elite circle of girls,” Perper said. A student’s status in Greek life also determined their positions on campus and created exclusive circles. “Leaderships of clubs tended to be determined by connections made in Greek organizations. I definitely grew further apart from people that were my closest friends freshman year because rush was sophomore year, so the first semester [of sophomore year], they were really orienting themselves with this new organization,” Perper said. Even after the rush period ended, membership in fraternities and sororities built barriers between friends due to the time commitment of Greek members. “There was always that wall between you and someone who was outside of your organization, and between whether you were affiliated or not and also what affiliations you had,” Perper said. Nonetheless, many administrations have difficulty penalizing fraternities and sororities because many have an established presence on campus. “A lot of alumni were a part of [Greek life], and alumni are the biggest donors to the school. Parents of the members in fraternities were on the Board of Trustees, so there was no chance, even if they did the most heinous thing, nothing was going to change,” Perper said. Universities with Greek life: reconsider the role fraternities and sororities play on campus. Although Greek life offers many benefits to its members, its presence also hurts all students. Greek life can create an unnecessary social hierarchy on campus and increase rates of sexual violence. Because Claremont McKenna does not have Greek life, our campus life is more inclusive, welcoming, and diverse.

Ding. Just hours into the first day of campaigning, us first-years receive notifications on our phones. We have follow requests from those campaigning for ASCMC student government positions: Austin Topham, Desmond Mantle, Sarah Simionas, Colin Sam, Julia Schulman, and Maureen Tchatchoua. After some mild stalking on our parts, we hit accept. Accepted. From social media platforms, we begin learning more about these candidates: what stance are they campaigning from, what they are planning for the coming year, and most importantly, what they will do for us. When the time comes to vote, however, does all this even matter? Friends vote for friends. Classmates vote for classmates. WOAmies vote for WOAmies. Teammates vote for teammates. In the end, the person with the biggest social circle typically wins. It’s not a rule of law, but typically, if one individual is involved in a multitude of organizations and clubs more so than other individuals, he or she will most likely receive the most support. This type of blind support is problematic for our student body because it can at times overlook the person most qualified. Does your candidate have the skill set to handle the position they are running for? Do they believe in the same issues as you? On the other hand, is being involved in different organizations and being voted for that reason a bad thing? It indicates that a person is more involved on campus, and more aware of what the school and the students need. In the end, research is needed to make an educated decision, and I trust the students of CMC to have made those educated decisions. People who didn’t know enough about the candidates didn’t vote. People who did vote didn’t vote for their friends because they were promised pizza parties and movie nights. When the “popularity” statement is made, it can be interpreted that the wrong candidate has won. That is not the case here. We simply cannot tell until due time has passed. What we do know right now is that Colin Sam, our first-year president, has experience, is open to ideas and is realistic about what we can actually accomplish. To ensure a successful first year, however, the process is not over once votes are submitted. Ultimately, it is not just the the class president’s responsibility, but also our responsibility to provide feedback, pitch ideas, and participate. The goal here is to create an inclusive, unified community for the class of 2023. Thus, reach out to Colin at csam23@cmc.edu or to any member of ASCMC to create an inclusive community and have a successful first year at CMC.

Recently I was one of the many ill-fated students to have lost their AirPods on the Claremont consortium campus. It was somewhere upon my walk from the CMC hub to Pitzer’s Scott hall, when I realized my AirPod case had, quite literally, disappeared. Scrambling for next steps, I was kindly directed to post both on my class facebook group and - the real kicker - the 7C buying and selling group. Frankly, I’ve always been daunted by such a page. Posts are made at seemingly light speed and prices range from “FREE” to “$10,000,000”. The real issue, though, is not with the 7C page’s variety of price points, nor with its speedily disorganized post system, but rather with the fact that it has become a kind of ‘lost and found’ for our digital age. We have come to equate 7C “buying and selling” with “lost and found” and I have never understood how these concepts can adequately map on. Put plainly, the 7C buying and selling group has become an empty hoax - a choppy sea filled with lost single AirPods, charging cases, and apple pens that are randomly mixed amongst ‘for sale’ used text-books and vintage clothing. It is an unnavigable ocean that no boat can guide itself through, no matter the desperation or will power behind its sailor. Nevertheless, with sheer disbelief and sadness fueling me, I crafted my lamenting post, priced my AirPods at - yes, you guessed it - $10,000,000 and waited. But, nothing happened. Instead, I met the cruel destiny that becomes of all 7C Buying and Selling (Lost and Found) posts: dismissal. Indeed, upon scrolling through posts made before and after mine, I noticed that they were rarely answered and few ever received that satisfying ‘found’ ending. In fact, it was only upon finding my AirPods (on my 3rd walk retracing my steps) that I was forced to mark my pods not found, but SOLD...another empty lie perpetuating the void that is the 7C For Sale/Free Facebook group. In an even crueler twist of fate, posts aren’t simply met with silence, but rather garner the ‘sad emoji’ reaction or the occasional ‘sarcastic joke’ comment from so-called ‘friends’ that belittle any lost item. Students are left with no alternate route of action, the 7C group has failed them - yet again - and their lost items will remain floating amongst that unnavigable ocean filled with disarray. When speaking with a friend he objected: “It’s more of a marketplace for the transfer of goods” (yes, this was a CMC Econ. major ) and then he added, “It’s just an object-oriented exchange, don't be extra.” But I couldn’t help but wonder: Is asking for an organized, responsive, and specified Lost and Found “extra”? Is it too much to fight for a designated Facebook page that is made solely for ‘Lost and Found’ items amongst the Claremont community? Comedy aside, it seems obvious that this community is in desperate need of a digital forum - facebook or otherwise- that includes all lost and found items on the consortium grounds. Importantly, if one already exists, please point me in its direction and I’d be more than happy to explore and push for its popularization. But, it is precisely the point that such a page - if it exists at all - is unpopular and, more likely, that it remains unused amongst the sea of students looking to find their lost items, that a new and improved digital lost and found for the 7C community must be created. Thus, let us not succumb to the abyss that defines the 7C For Sale/Free facebook group, and instead pave ourselves a new path filled with organization, answered posts, and more importantly FOUND ITEMS.

The tagline for Zane Tolchinsky ‘20 and Samy Vilenski ‘20’s new podcast, The Laymen, strikes a chord for the knowledge-hungry and curious: “Two college kids who know no things, talking to people who know some things, so they can learn a few things.” Each episode’s featured guest is an expert in their respective field who shares origin stories, reflects on their life and career interests, and offers up advice. The series’ premise seduces just about anyone, whether they have a diverse array of interests or just want to learn about something specific. Tolchinsky and Vilenski began working on the project this past summer and are sponsored by the Gould Center for the Humanities. They are recording eight episodes in cities across the United States, such as Chicago, DC, New York, and San Francisco. Tolchinsky is studying PPE and Vilenski is studying Economics and Philosophy. In their second episode, “Cooking: Chef Bruce Sherman,” the hosts interview the titular Sherman, acclaimed chef and partner of the North Pond restaurant in Chicago, which received a Michelin star in 2019. The episode is largely an examination of transition, framed through discussing seasonality, major career changes, and the evolution of passion. The hosts connect Sherman’s style of sourcing seasonal food to phases that people go through in life, and skillfully expand on the concepts. They manage to keep the ruminations compelling yet light enough to easily absorb an audience. Sherman jokes, “I think the one difference [between aging and food] is that you’re not going to go back to being twenty again, whereas I may get asparagus back next year, and that’s not a bad thing.” The Laymen podcasts are not structured like traditional interviews: the casual format allows for a more natural conversation. The only drawback to this structure is that the pacing and direction are hard to anticipate. That, however, is part of the charm of a more organic, smaller-scaled production. The conversation with Sherman never gets too technical. While in some ways a focus on the world of culinary arts might appeal to audiences, I anticipate that within the larger diegesis of the series, the time dedicated towards broader conversation will build important connections between all the varied themes and fields explored. If you’re interested in one chef’s journey, pursuing authenticity and passion, and affirming advice, listen to this episode and wait for more to come from The Laymen. Their podcast is available on Spotify and Apple, and you can hear directly from them on Instagram at @the_laymen.