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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.

In working towards the goal of making our college more inclusive, I’m proud to share that the Associated Students of Claremont McKenna College (ASCMC) will not be selling tickets for any school-wide event in the 2019-2020 academic school year. At the last meeting of the Spring 2019 semester, ASCMC passed a budget that will allow us to provide tickets to students at no personal cost for all school-wide events. At its core, the mission and purpose of ASCMC is to promote a more inclusive on-campus community, and ensuring that the cost of all events is included in the student fee is a necessary component to meeting that end. In our most recent budget, we anticipated taking in $0 of revenue from tickets to fund Monte Carlo or Wedding Party; in other words, we do not plan to charge for these events this school year. Previously, ASCMC has charged between $15 and $30 for tickets, making it more difficult for some students, especially low-income students, to attend these events. If we want the social scene at CMC to truly be inclusive, then a crucial step is to fully remove the financial barrier to entry. We were able to eliminate paid entry to school-wide events for a few reasons. With the new increase in student fees that was passed last term, we had more room in the budget to maintain similar funding levels for events without having to offset the costs of the events with revenue from charging for tickets. Chandler Koon, Vice President of Student Activities, has been working on innovative ways to reduce the cost of these events to make them more accessible. We will also be asking for financial contributions from the student governments of the other Claremont Colleges, which will allow us to similarly not charge 5C students. To help fill in the budgetary space created by our decision not to ticket events, our Chief Financial Officer, Max Dawson, set up an endowment for ASCMC that will generate profitable returns on our existing savings. This will not only promote the long-term financial stability of the organization, but also allows us more flexibility with our budget. This change was not easily achieved, nor was it done lightly, but was an important step to making our events, and our community, more inclusive. We still have further to go in making our events financially inclusive. Events for the Senior Class, such as 200 days, 100 days, and the Las Vegas class trip are unable to be fully offset within our current budget, though they are heavily subsidized from class funds that are allocated within the ASCMC budget. While we have a lot of work to do before we are able to operate fully revenue free, we will make sure to proactively inform students about alternative forms of payment for these events. Max and I believe it is financially sustainable to fully eliminate ticketing costs for years to come, and it is my hope that this will remain a permanent fixture of the ASCMC budget. Removing the financial barrier to attending events is critical not only to making our community more inclusive, but in promoting social justice at CMC. With this in mind, we will also be considering other ways to make our events safer and more inclusive for all students. For several years, students requested removing paid ticketing for events, and many current members of ASCMC’s Executive Board campaigned on greatly reducing or eliminating these ticket costs. It is the mission, and fundamental purpose, of ASCMC to fight for student interests, whether by changing policies within our own organization or advocating for larger institutional changes at the College. I hope students continue to feel empowered to bring ideas and concerns to members of ASCMC with the confidence that these concerns will be heard and addressed, as we want to continue fighting for a more inclusive CMC. 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.

For all the first years who are nervous about their Claremont McKenna College journey, I want you to know that when I started at CMC, I really didn’t know what was happening. I didn’t know very much about the school before I was accepted. I applied regular decision, waited until I heard back from all the schools I applied to and then tried to make as informed of a decision as I could. I hadn’t toured. I didn’t know anyone who had gone to the 5Cs. So naturally, I was completely terrified on move in day. To make matters worse, the 12 hour time difference was devastating and I was too sick with a fever and cold to try to make friends. Instead of improving my mood as I had imagined, WOA had the opposite effect. I was very ill for most of each day and my sore throat made it hard to talk to my WOAmies . The only people I knew after orientation were my First Year Guides, who made a huge effort to keep me company. They got to know me well between bringing me food from Collins and consoling me when I would sulk on the floor of my room, crying, because I thought I had missed my window to make friends at CMC. Everything about my ‘first year fear’ is a little absurd when I look back on it. In retrospect, of course I hadn’t missed my window to make friends. In fact, even though being sick for the first three weeks of school definitely sucked, it wasn't that big of a deal in the long run. It's easy to recognize the absurdity of that fear now that I’m going into my senior year and things have definitely changed since then. However, first year students don’t enjoy the benefits of 20/20 hindsight. I tell this story because it reflects a lot of the fears first years feel when they arrive. Everything feels like life or death. Socialising seems incredibly high stakes; casual interactions feel like they’ll make or break your delicate budding friendships. But in another way, I was lucky. I’m telling this story because it ended up saving me from a lot of anxiety, even though I didn’t know it at the time. Being sick for so long—unable to make friends or go to class—put me in survival mode. I was behind on readings, I had missed the first two weeks of classes and I didn’t have any friends. This late start, added to my status as an international student, created a lot of issues. I had no idea how to write a paper and I was doing terribly early on. I felt socially isolated, even though I probably wasn’t. The fact that I was in survival mode meant that when the applications for on-campus clubs and institutes started rolling out, one after another after another, I ignored them. I rarely opened those emails. Everyone around me seemed to be scrambling to finish the never-ending applications before deadlines and run between interviews, but I was too overwhelmed to even imagine adding another thing to my plate. The first extra-curricular I joined was in late November: Bryan Carlen’s first year class cabinet. That was my only real extracurricular involvement in my first year at CMC. Once I had settled in after winter break, I began to realise the frenzy that I had missed out on. Most of my friends had been hired by a research institute; all of them seemed to be involved at least one seemingly prestigious organisation on campus. It was not until my experience as a FYG sophomore year, though, that I truly noticed the ways in which the fall semester hiring process affects first years. After three years of being a FYG and witnessing the stress put on first years at this vulnerable time, I find this process to be one of the worst aspects of CMC culture. First years barely know their major before they’re hit with dozens of applications for highly competitive positions. Considering the stigma against quitting extracurriculars at CMC, first years are basically forced into making four year commitments in their first few weeks on campus. Not only that, but with fewer opportunities to get involved as a sophomore, the urgency first years feel is legitimate. It’s highly possible that first years won’t be hired as easily if they wait to apply until sophomore or junior year. However, most upperclassmen will argue that there’s a huge advantage in waiting and exploring your interests. Unsurprisingly, the hiring culture makes accomplished and intelligent students feel not only stupid, but ultimately worthless. First year culture is often defined by which campus organisation you get into, and all the ones you didn’t. The people who get in are much louder than the people that don’t, which reinforces the illusion that everyone is successful except for you. Imposter syndrome is already bad enough when you start college, any first years feeling this way don’t need to look far to be validated in the belief that they aren’t good enough to be at CMC. Not only that, but the hiring process is heavily elitist. By creating applications right at the start of the year that focus on resumes, cover letters, and interview skills, CMC unwittingly favors first years who were able to cultivate those skills during high school. This often means favoring students who went to elite private high schools or those who were able to do internships every summer. As we know, these experiences are not possible without socioeconomic privilege. The reason on-campus organisations exist should be to provide growing and learning opportunities to students. The current hiring process takes away from this mission. Getting into clubs and institutes takes precedence over the learning experience. Not only does this incentivise people who aren’t fully certain where there interests lie, but it also creates a culture of burnout. By the time you’re a senior, and at the peak time to pick up campus leadership positions, you’re tired. Everyone is exhausted. Right around the moment at which you have enough knowledge and wisdom to be a good leader, and make a real difference to campus culture, you simply do not have the drive. Most people begin to opt out of leadership positions in their Junior spring, arguing that they just “need a chill year.” And that’s a perfectly fair decision, considering they’ve likely been involved with multiple organisations on campus since their first month at CMC. The first year at CMC isn’t easy. I didn’t find it easy. My friends didn’t find it easy. The first years I’ve worked with as a FYG haven’t found it easy. I’ve seen countless first years crying over rejections: The Rose Institute, Model United Nations, Student Investment Fund, Source Nonprofit Consulting, Claremont Consulting Group. I’ve witnessed a first year drink heavily on a night out, later saying that it was an unhealthy way of dealing with getting rejected from an institute. I see sophomores and juniors stay involved in organisations that they don’t want to nor feel they ever should have gotten involved in, because they know people will judge them for quitting–perhaps they will even lose a social circle. I’ve seen first years given “exclusive offers” for an organisation, forced to quit a prior commitment to a similar on-campus organisation, because the two groups are in direct competition. I’ve listened to first years explain their reasonings for taking semesters off and for transferring, saying that they hate the competitive culture and the push to be involved in everything. I’ve read in The Forum, stories of two first years who both found themselves in coercive sexual relationships with on-campus organisation heads abusing their power imbalance. Obviously, this is not every first year’s experience. Many come out of their fall semester loving their involvements, but I think that there are enough horrible stories which show a culture issue at the core. There are several campus groups that do an incredible job with applications. The College Programming Board works on a January to December year, and so their applications are in early November, rather than early September. The Center for Writing and Public Discourse hires in the Spring and does not discriminate on the basis of class year. Associated Students of Claremont McKenna College have applications and elections in February and March. Claremont Consulting Group also does hiring again in the Spring semester, even though their fall applications go out very early. Luckily these late fall/spring applications exist, filling a void of opportunities for applicants who would otherwise have to wait until the next fall to get involved. However, these opportunities are not well advertised to first years and applications still exist disproportionately early in the Fall. If people are rejected from these positions in the Spring, after not being involved in the Fall, it creates the impression that they’re failures, and not a “good CMCer” for deciding to join later. Some organisations will argue that they try their best to stagger their hiring by several days so it doesn’t overlap with other application due dates. Not only does this completely ignore the rigorous (and several weeks long) interview process many applicants must go through, but it also simply isn’t the point. Hiring should not happen in one’s first semester at CMC. Hiring should happen months later and hiring second and third year students should be far more normal. This change, in part, involves normalising quitting organisations. These organisations should exist as learning and growth opportunities. If you’re not learning and growing, leave. College is the last time that you have the chance to do whatever you want and explore your passions. The real world pressures of stability and consistency need not apply. I’m not trying to say that clubs and institutes don’t have very real and very legitimate reasons for their application schedules, I’m trying to say that organisations need to fundamentally rethink how they function, and prioritise healthy campus culture. This article is aimed at the Dean of the Faculty's office, who should take bigger and more substantial steps to regulate hiring in the fall, so that it is staggered and delayed. This article is aimed at the faculty that run institutes, who should know that they could be hiring more committed students later, and could be taking steps to improve the mental health of their students. This article is aimed at upperclassmen, to remind them how being a first year felt, and to use their positions of leadership to affect change in the way that the hiring process is managed. This article is aimed at first years, to let all of you know that it’s not as serious as it feels right now. These organisations are not going to have a lasting impact on your career. They exist for you to learn, and you’ll find a ton of opportunities to learn everywhere. I know I sound like a burnt out senior, but college is short. Find things that bring you joy, don’t invest in things that make you unhappy or even that you feel indifferent about. All the upperclassmen you speak to will tell you how the rejections helped them find better opportunities for themselves. Find friends you care about and trust, go to class, stay up late to have incredible discussions and have fun. Explore what you’re passionate about and don’t be worried if that changes every couple of months. That’s what college is there for. And, as our student body president, Dina Rosin, said, we wish you an unexpected journey here. 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.

For CMC to continue its mission of leadership and guidance in the face of climate change, it should shift the date of its carbon neutrality target from 2050 to 2030, a target that is common among similar institutions of higher education. In 2007, Claremont McKenna College (CMC) joined over 250 institutions of higher education in its decision to adopt a 2050 carbon neutrality target under the American College and University Presidents’ Climate Commitment (ACUPCC). An entity achieves carbon neutrality when its activities produce no net climate change-causing greenhouse gas emissions, which enables the entity to reduce emissions at offsite locations if it cannot eliminate all the emissions it produces. By committing to the ACUPCC, CMC recognized its “position among [its] institutional peers as well as the position its faculty, students, and staff have in[...] providing leadership and guidance to the local community when it comes to climate change.” Since 2007, a growing number of institutions of higher education, businesses, and governments have taken carbon neutrality pledges, with many pledging to become carbon neutral before 2050. Of institutions of higher education with carbon neutrality targets, 266 of the 533 have adopted targets earlier than 2034. Pomona College and a host of other elite institutions of higher education have 2030 carbon neutrality targets, and the University of California system has a 2025 carbon neutrality target. Phillips, Bank of America, and Carlsberg Group are among a number of multinational corporations that have committed to carbon neutrality targets before or by 2030. In September 2018, former California Governor Jerry Brown issued an executive order B-55-18, which augments California’s suite of ambitious climate and energy policies by committing California to economy-wide carbon neutrality by 2045. In light of these and other commitments, which illustrate the feasibility of achieving carbon neutrality far earlier than 2050, CMC’s rationale for originally adopting the 2050 carbon neutrality target— leadership and guidance in the face of climate change— is no longer legitimate. To ensure this rationale maintains legitimacy, two members of the Environmental Affairs Committee (EAC), Andrew Bradjan ‘22 and I, Sam Becker ‘19, are working with CMC administrators, Facilities staff, and Master Plan architects to bump the target to 2030. Since creating EAC in fall 2015, the 12-member Committee and I have catalyzed institutional support for developing, funding, and implementing environmental initiatives, all of which has built momentum for establishing a more ambitious carbon neutrality target. When the Master Plan update was announced last semester, I saw an opportune moment for the 2030 push and recruited Andrew for the project. Andrew has consulted with administrators and staff from various CMC departments to create CMC’s first comprehensive greenhouse gas emissions inventory in nearly a decade. The inventory is an essential tool in charting pathways to carbon neutrality by 2030. Andrew and I are in the process of analyzing the inventory and later this month we will present our analysis to the Board of Trustees, who will decide whether to adopt the 2030 target. The following actions would increase the feasibility of achieving a 2030 carbon neutrality target at CMC. First, installing campus-wide smart meters, which are integral to monitoring energy demand, consumption, and return on energy efficiency investments. Facilities staff have already been working diligently to install these meters and will likely complete installation in the 2019/2020 academic year. Second, hiring a full-time sustainability coordinator to oversee the creation and implementation of an environmentally-comprehensive and economically-efficient Carbon Neutrality Scoping Plan, collect and manage emission data, write grants, and work on other objectives relevant to achieving the target. The Environmental Affairs Committee is currently working with administrators to create this position. Third, investing in the development of a large-scale solar array, which would offset emissions and provide a return on investment immediately or after a few years depending on the financing mechanism. Such an investment would stand in contrast to the purchase of renewable energy certificates or other emissions-offsetting instruments, which offset emissions but do not provide any return on investment. Fourth, establishing a committee of students, staff, faculty, and Master Plan architects that meets at least once per semester to assess progress with respect to the Carbon Neutrality Scoping Plan. Fifth, developing and maintaining knowledge-sharing partnerships with sustainability personnel at the 5Cs, other institutions of higher education, businesses, and government institutions. CMC has the opportunity to join a growing group of institutions of higher education, businesses, and governments that are proving climate change mitigation is a realistic endeavor. By adopting the 2030 target, CMC can regain its commitment to leadership and guidance in the face of climate change, a commitment that has never been more important. 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.

“Politics is about the free competition of ideas,” says the man wielding $20 million worth of Koch Brothers funding and the commencement speech microphone. Money talks, and it speaks loudly at Claremont McKenna College. It speaks at the Athenaeum, it speaks through a professor’s voice, it speaks over the loudspeaker at the $70 million Roberts Sports Pavilion. It purses its lips when students ask about mental health resources or a more diverse faculty. People surprised about the Arthur Brooks commencement decision must not hear the money speaking. Perhaps they wish they were involved in a different institution, one animated by something other than social, economic and racial power. Arthur Brooks’s nomination reeks like the breath of a toothless old man, so lost in his ramblings that your presence does not seem to matter. Arthur Brooks’s nomination smells like the cheap cologne the man applies too heavily to cover the smell of his deteriorating flesh. Arthur Brooks is that cologne to a conservative right, bent on selling neoliberalism as social justice. You might hear his feeble voice shouting for dialogue as people reject a racist pseudo-intellectual. With these attitudes, he will fit perfectly behind the CMC logo at graduation. That scent of cheap cologne betrays the vulnerability of the CMC administration–their fear of the students they have yet to subdue, the students challenging the college every day with their mere existence. In their organizing, they have uncovered the rottenness of the college’s priorities, demanding their needs and refusing to back down when the administration responds by inviting a white supremacist to its most prized speaking institution. These students hold no pretensions about the nature of the institution in which they deal. They have come to expect well-funded reactionary pundits, suspensions for challenging power, and millions of dollars towards programs of social engagement that refuse to stray from a free market ideology. When the administration coughs “free speech,” these students hear the money in its lungs. They know that if speech were free, students might have had a say in their own speaker. If free speech meant anything, these students might have gotten a response when they spoke time and again about supporting the needs of the very same students CMC touts in its diversity statistics. Free speech isn’t about the competition of ideas, it’s about the competition of power. In these moments, it might be easy to think that the reactionary position has won the day as it puts money, whiteness and neoliberalism atop the graduation podium. Those wiser can smell the fear and, with it, their moment of opportunity. They carry on struggles that are generations in the making. Taking control of these memories in this moment of danger, it remains to be seen whose voice will prove victorious. 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.

On March 3, 2019, The Forum published an article titled “I’m Dating My FYG, and that’s OK.” I question how much the rest of our community can learn from this example. While I cannot speak to the dynamics of the author’s relationship—only she knows her own truth—it would be a disservice to the community not to acknowledge the other side of the story: power-imbalanced relationships that have made my peers’ and my experience at CMC worse. The author’s relationship is the exception, not the rule. Readers who became more sympathetic to power-imbalanced relationships after reading the article should consider other examples. While those provided below are not FYG-FYGlet relationships, the author’s concession that “FYGs truthfully do hold a certain amount of power over their FYGlets” indicates a need to explore the dynamics of power-imbalanced relationships more broadly. During her freshman fall, my friend was secretly involved with a senior. He was a leader of a club she had joined. Her experiences, and our discussions about them, have informed my understanding of this issue. Having begun the relationship the day the club began to meet, she felt she could not bond with any other members for fear of them discovering their secret. Even when the relationship ended, she felt uncomfortable and isolated in the club. She considered quitting even though she wanted to stay for every other reason. Every time he made a decision that affected her she wondered whether it was targeted. She could never be sure that he was or wasn’t abusing his power over her. She could not go to other club leaders. She could not ask that decisions about her role in the club be made without his input; asking for assurance of fair treatment would require an explanation of such an inappropriate relationship. She feared the reaction of people who had the power to fire her, not knowing whether they actually would be malicious enough to do so. Even if my friend’s former partner “never held his position [...] over” her, as the author says of her boyfriend, the mere threat that he could was paralyzing. Power-imbalanced relationships do not require villains in order to harm those lacking power. She was hurt by a power imbalance that could be used against her even if it wasn’t. She is not the only one. I was also involved with a senior in my freshman year. She held influential positions in multiple on-campus organizations that I was and am a part of, and she even hired me to a club she founded within the same week we started dating. Despite the obvious age and professional imbalances in our relationship, no one thought twice about it. No one wondered whether the assumed, cute image of getting to know each other over long nights at club meetings might have actually meant using power to hasten a flirtatious attraction into a long-term relationship. No one wondered whether my excitement to work under her at these organizations was motivated by my fear of her simultaneous control over my professional and romantic life. Few asked why I started to see my other friends less; fewer still reached out about whether I was OK; none found out that she was verbally and emotionally abusing me. Every time I have told another CMCer about my ex-girlfriend, I have noticed myself couching my language in external validation: “A psychologist said she was abusive.” This statement, while factually true, should not be necessary. Her actions were wrong because of how they affected me, not because of how an expert described them. Yet, I know that in our community, an organization leader dating an inferior is considered par for the course, a mindset that a title such as “I’m Dating My FYG, and That’s OK” reinforces. And so, when I express that I was in a similar relationship that was anything but OK, I always implicitly pled, “believe me, not because our community tends to believe people in my position, but because a psychologist said my feelings were real.” These stories—our stories—are not told as often or as publicly as ones about cute relationships. But that does not make them less important. Normalizing power-imbalanced relationships is dangerous to those who someday might be in one. Editor’s Note: We decided to run this op-ed anonymously due to its private and personal nature. We hope that it fosters genuine discussion of relationship health on college campuses.

A First Year Guide has the potential to be one of the most important sources of mentorship for a CMC first year student. They lead first years throughout their Week of Orientation Adventures (WOA) trips, and then continue to serve as mentors in the year to come. Within that capacity, a FYG should provide a non-threatening and open environment for first years. A FYG should be a confidant for a first year, someone they trust without question. So what happens if this mentor-mentee relationship turns romantic? Well, a number of things can take place, but controversy will always be at the center. I’m not going to kid myself and pretend that dating my FYG, who I have been with for over a year now, didn’t cause waves of gossiping across campus or anything of that matter. In the grand scheme of CMC, my relationship is very insignificant. However, it is of course quite significant to me. A large portion of our relationship in my freshman year centered around Nick being my FYG. As a first year student, I was still meeting an abundance of new faces throughout my first semester at CMC. If that first conversation happened to move to a story involving Nick, I was oftentimes met with a surprised, “Oh, you’re dating Nick Pibl? Wait, was he your FYG? I was wondering who the FYG-FYGlet couple was!” While this reaction always brought a smile (and usually a blush) to my face, it also confused me. Was it really being circulated that there was a FYG-FYGlet couple? Why was the most defining aspect of my relationship a four day long trip to the beach? Now don’t get me wrong, orientation and being a FYG entails much more than just a WOA trip, something I now know well as a FYG myself. But people seemed to assume that Nick being my FYG comprised a central component of our relationship. To me, it couldn’t be less important. While I understand the scandal of a FYG dating a FYGlet, Nick was only my FYG in my mind for maybe two weeks, if that. Then he was the nice sophomore who walked me to class on my first day. Soon after he was my weekly study partner before our Thursday quizzes. Eventually he was the cute guy I ate breakfast with on Thursdays before class, and finally, he was my boyfriend. After months of getting to know him, orientation felt like it happened a million years ago, and he was just Nick, no FYG title in sight. Even so, I remember when we first started dating, I wondered if I should tell people or not. My WOAmies ended up finding out slowly over time, and while some of them seemed genuinely happy for us, others seemed understandably weirded out. We didn’t start dating until after the socially mandatory Fall Break mark, but it still was a hard pill to swallow for some of our WOA group. I didn’t really understand why until becoming a FYG myself. When I now imagine one of my co-FYGs dating one of my FYGlets, it’s a little bit uncomfortable. Even though I no longer see them as brand new students in need of guidance, I still feel a certain level of protectiveness over my FYGlets. The idea of someone with an arguable position of power over them then dating them makes me a little bit uneasy. FYGs are the first faces that first years see when they arrive on campus; they shape the first years’ expectations and can either alleviate or exacerbate their fears. To this day I hear friends of mine complain about having a bad FYG, so the lasting impact a FYG can have is clear. But it isn’t a FYG’s job to be that go-to person for every one of their FYGlets. Usually a FYGlet will closely bond with only one FYG. Nick wasn’t that go-to person for me as a first year. He is now, but I ended up asking my other FYG about which Calc professor they recommended during my first year. Even though Nick and I worked out, I still would recommend caution before jumping into a relationship with your FYG or FYGlet. I would also recommend caution to people watching their friends forming one of these relationships. This is because there is good reason to be skeptical in these situations. First year students could easily be exploited because the first year— and especially first semester— of college is a vulnerable time for people in which FYGlets are encouraged to trust their FYGs. This trust gives room for exploitation, and while I’d like to think none of CMC’s FYGs would ever take advantage of their FYGlets, a little caution never hurt anyone. Signs to look out for in these relationships would include the FYG being embarrassed to have a relationship with the FYGlet. Reluctance to make the relationship public reinforces an unbalanced power dynamic and also indicates there is something to hide. Another sign might be the first year increasingly pulling away from their friends, especially when asked about the relationship. The first year of college is especially important for building friendships, so the relationship taking precedence could indicate an unhealthy power dynamic that could become increasingly problematic. These relationships can look similar to those between seniors and first year students, where the difference in age and maturity can make people uncomfortable. This discomfort can also extend even further in FYG/FYGlet relationships between upperclassmen and first years. These situations can be avoided through knowing without a shadow of a doubt the intentions of a FYG before getting into a relationship with them. So what about the power dynamic between Nick and me? FYGs truthfully do hold a certain amount of power over their FYGlets. There’s a possibility for this power to be abused— but that isn’t always the case. Never once did I feel like the lure of an older boy in a position of authority led me to want to be with him. If anything, it annoyed me that it added a supposed layer of complexity to us dating. I have never felt like we were anything other than equals. He never held his position as my FYG over me, but even so I questioned if it should be public knowledge or not. I hesitated to answer when my family members asked how we met, and I definitely wondered whether or not to tell my own FYGlets. I didn’t want them to think that I didn’t take my role as their FYG seriously. I’m grateful Nick was my FYG. It allowed me to hear an honest perspective about what being a FYG is like, and to decide for myself that yes, it would be worth it. But we’re not together because he was my FYG: it feels more like I’m dating him despite the fact he was my FYG. The stigma surrounding FYG-FYGlet relationships on CMC’s campus can definitely complicate the first few months of a relationship. Part of me is glad people squirm a bit at the idea of a FYG and FYGlet dating because it attests to the fact that CMC takes the FYG role very seriously, as we should. But I also ask that CMCers keep in mind that these couples are real people. Despite all the confusion, there is not an official rule against FYGs and FYGlets dating; and thank goodness, because I definitely would’ve broken it.

'Gesamtkunstwerk,' a term inspired by the German philosopher Arthur Schopenhauer, refers to the total embodiment of dynamic human experience in a singular body of art. While applying to all mediums, including architecture and film, the term is predominantly associated with classical music. Richard Wagner, an influential proponent of this theory, espoused the virtues of traditional composition; to him, music represented the highest form of emotional expression. However, the role of classical composition in everyday life has dramatically shifted since the 19th century. Today, enthusiastic consumption of classical music is often associated with a niche artistic elitism. With the advent and subsequent popularization of modern genres such as the blues and rock and roll, cultural emphasis on classical musical has markedly subsided; how often do we turn on Tchaikovsky at a social gathering? Due to both a lack of lyrics and a perceived no-fuss simplicity, classical music is often relegated to stimulating study and/or sleep habits. While we extol its health benefits, including lower blood pressure and boosted levels of creativity, most people passively listen to classical music, if at all (as I write this article, Tchaikovsky is stirring quietly in the background). I say this in part because I am guilty of this myself; I claim to love classical music but seldom go out of my way to actively incorporate it into my everyday life. When I saw that Pomona College Department of Music was hosting a classical music showcase, I knew that I had my chance to shift courses. The concert, held on a Friday night, tested my commitment to change; could I forego a Friday night of socializing for the solitary experience of sitting still and listening to two instruments for an hour and forty-five minutes? As I walked into Bridges Hall of Music, I couldn’t help but notice that I was one out of a small handful of concert-goers under the age of 40. Willful suspension of disbelief in play, I contentedly took my seat and admired the traditional yet grandiose architecture of the theater in anticipation. I couldn’t help but become affixed by the stage’s bareness, save for a beautiful Steinway & Sons piano and a lone music stand; it was as if all else inside my mind dissipated into the air like a lost tune. Featuring three Sonatas of Beethoven, Lekeu, and Brahms, the selections were performed by violinist Jonathan Wright, a Pomona College biology professor, and pianist Stephan Moss, a Pomona College IT specialist. If I had any inkling about the ephemeral elements of classical music that Wagner so admired becoming obsolete, the first piece, Beethoven’s Sonata No. 3 in E-flat, Op. 12, no. 3, stripped me of my conscious thinking and demanded my full fixation. The violin, with a domineering personality of its own, crooned with a forceful vigor of melancholic urgency. The piano, quietly intertwining in the background, dripped through the melody like a soft spring rain. I drifted into a make-believe vignette of sprawling emerald meadows and youthful lust, the music my mind’s montage. The air felt palpable with the musical tension between gentility and longing. I could feel myself falling in love- with what, who knows. Before I knew it, half an hour passed; had I really listened to the same song, staring off into space, for that long? The second piece, Guillaume LeBeau's Sonata for Piano and Violin in G Major, left me just as entranced. Having characterized his score as “savage and untamable,” the piece commands an undeniable force. The violin weaved effortlessly between a swooning, almost romantic demeanor and a dramatic temperament of anguish, sounding almost like the soul had been transcribed for composition. If the violin represented human life, then the piano almost certainly mirrored the dynamism of the natural world, its chords falling and soaring like shooting stars. The interplay between these two elements was vastly overwhelming yet somehow inexplicably liberating. It’s difficult, and maybe even naive, to attempt to provide a critically analyzed musical review that can be generalized into a one-size-fits-all package. The perceived quality of musical experience is highly subjective simply due to our own personal preferences. As much as I try, I will never truly take a positive review of country music to heart because I’m just naturally averse to the genre (except for you, Johnny Cash; you have my heart). That being said, I noticed an almost universal pattern of behavior throughout the audience. The lack of theatrics surrounding classical music concerts draws the listener into a more intimate experience. With no surround sound speakers, FX effects, or visual accompaniment, the only element of entertainment that is retained is your mind’s reaction to the music itself. Looking around the theater, I noticed that everyone seemed to be experiencing their own montage of sorts. An older man in the front row wearing a zany purple sweater smiled blithely with closed eyes as he swayed his body; a younger college-aged boy sitting in the balcony gazed longingly towards the stage, resting his crossed arms and outstretched head on the railing; a woman in front of me quietly tapped her fingers against her leg, trailing behind the piano’s lead while letting out an occasional whispered exclamation to her husband about the beauty of a particular moment. While lacking the obvious connotational power of words, the transient nature of classical music represents a more abstract, yet intense manifestation of emotion. You may not always be able to explain it logically, but you feel it viscerally. As students at a college stigmatized for its intense focus on pre-professionalism, our lives are often defined in quantifiable measures, so much so that taking time out of your overbooked schedule to immerse yourself in classical music seems like a laughable luxury. Without it, however, we risk becoming out of touch with ourselves. While finding the perfect resume building summer internship is an important component of life at Claremont McKenna, our ability to appreciate beauty for the sake of itself is just as consequential for success.

When the reading assignments pile up, or when Roberts Pavilion seems like too much of a trek, what can you possibly do to make sure that those numbers on the scale don’t skyrocket? As with most things, maintaining personal health depends on sustaining a balanced lifestyle, rather than depending on one grand workout. Here are five simple tips to help you avoid gaining the "Freshman 15" (or the Sophomore 16): 1. Don’t go for seconds (or thirds). Buffets create a sense of illusion that your stomach can conquer everything in the world. Even if you tell yourself that you are only getting “a little bit” of food from each section of the dining halls, “a little” more often than not, becomes “a lot." Highly impulsive cravings trick your brain to act on the “wants” instead of the “needs.” Before going for a second burrito or another bowl of chicken wings, ask yourself: “do I really need that?” 2. Desserts are treats for a reason. The dessert selection at Pitzer seems to call out your name, and understandably so. Who wouldn’t be enticed by the wide array of goodies that are laid out every day? By forgetting what goes into a single cookie (such as butter, sugar, flour, chocolate chips, etc.) we fall into the trap of lying to ourselves that it’s “just one” cookie. Frequent Ath-goers, in particular, should beware, because the desserts prepared at the Ath are always something unique. A way to discipline yourself against desserts is to remind yourself that those desserts are not going anywhere; if you do not eat a cookie or a brownie or a lemon tart today, you will have the opportunity to do so the next day. 3. Stairs are the enemy, but “thou must love thy enemy.” Wherever there are stairs, take them going up. You may not feel that cardio (or maybe you do) but stairs work your body more than simply walking because you are lifting yourself against gravity. Not only does climbing stairs improve your blood flow, but it also allows you to work the elasticity of your joints and ligaments. Keeping your heart pumping also helps send a rush of oxygen and adrenaline to your brain, which will ultimately keep you more focused and mentally awake. 4. Follow dining hall meal schedule, not the Hub. Late night cravings, especially during nights out, tempt you to grab more food at ungodly hours. Maintaining a healthy lifestyle is not only about the quantity of food but also the timing of your meals. Unless you are eating small amounts of food during shorter time intervals, or unless you are an athlete, it is usually not a very good idea to eat normal portion meals too frequently in a day. You would be overworking your body’s digestion capability when there is no need for it. 5. Increase your daily number of steps. Understandably, if you had a class that ended at 8:50 AM in Pomona and you had to catch a 9 AM at Mudd, you would definitely want to get on some wheeled vehicle to make sure you arrive on time. But for every other case, walking really helps to maintain your energy levels throughout the day. Essentially, the key is to maintain your metabolic activity. Small changes in your daily habits can contribute to your lifestyle, but to actually accomplish that you need a sense of discipline and self-control. Of course, you should also treat yourself once in a while. Suppressing your cravings will eventually cause a crash in your healthy lifestyle. It is easy to get carried away by the obsession of “eating healthy,” so you should also remind yourself to keep negative self-perceptions at bay.

Lack of diversity negatively impacts everyone, not just underrepresented communities. Exposing people to multiple perspectives, backgrounds, and narratives is the centerpiece of higher education, yet there is only one Black professor at CMC. Taken directly from the Diversity and Inclusion page of CMC’s website, the faculty and Board of Trustees promised in 2007: The value that we place on diversity at Claremont McKenna College - in our student body, in our faculty and staff, and in our curriculum - derives directly from our mission to prepare our students for thoughtful and productive lives and responsible leadership in business, government, and the professions. In helping students to acquire the vision, skills, and values they will need to lead society, we must ensure that they are able to succeed in the current social, political, and economic environments, which are increasingly diverse and globally-oriented. To execute our mission, then, it is crucial that we seek to enroll a diverse student body, to recruit a diverse faculty and staff, and to place great value on respect for differences. Two things: first, ten years have passed — so, why is lack of diversity among the professorial body still an issue? Second, the phrasing of the declaration grants a significant amount of leeway to the institution. If you only seek “to enroll a diverse student body,” seek “to recruit a diverse faculty and staff,” and seek “to place great value on respect for differences,” then CMC is only responsible for seeking these outcomes, not fulfilling the end goal of diversifying the student body and faculty. Instead, CMC should just promise to address the issue of diversity forthrightly by setting clear goals and timetables. This would create benchmarks by which the success of the diversity efforts could be objectively measured. Obviously, the promise of diversity made in 2007 has not been kept as there is only one Black professor here at CMC: Professor of Modern Languages and Literature Marie-Denise Shelton. Professor Shelton argues that “faculty from diverse backgrounds bring a special perspective to the disciplines that they teach, and it seems like the college is denying students access to these different perspectives by not hiring a diverse faculty,” as promised in 2007. In spite of this, Professor Shelton remains optimistic because “the administration is trying to remedy the gross lack of diversity among the faculty.” Some of the good news includes the opening of a full-time Africana Studies position with a concentration in philosophy, effective July 2018. Now I understand that the hiring process is complicated: a vacancy or new position must arise, the Dean of Faculty authorizes a search, the department advertises the position and accepts applications, and the designated search committee (usually three or four members of the department) narrows down the applicant pool. At this point, decision-making is extended to the full department, eventually leading to a vote after the finalists visit the campus. The campus visit for each finalist normally consists of interviews with faculty and college administrators, meetings with students, a job talk, and a class demonstration. This is only what happens once a position becomes available: it does not account for the time it can take for positions to open. Even given this elaborate process, I still have trouble excusing the current lack of Black professors, especially when the Diversity and Inclusion Board and other student-led affinity groups feel they have to spearhead many of the diversity initiatives with minimal support. According to the Chair of the Diversity and Inclusion Board, Maya Love ‘20, “it's tricky because the process of hiring more teachers requires a lot of resources and organization behind the scenes. I think where we can improve as a community is linking the dialogue between what administration and what students want to see. Having students in the conversation for hiring and the courses offered on campus can only add to the success of a new or evolving program.” More dialogue between students, faculty, and administration would improve transparency and allow students to stay informed and provide their opinions on the recruiting process every step of the way. For example, just like the Queer Resource Center notified students via email about its efforts in hiring a new director, so too should CMC inform students about the new Africana Studies position. This model of engagement could easily be accomplished or at least initiated through a brief email announcement. There are numerous smart, competent, and sagacious Black intellectuals and scholars in the world. Unfortunately, the current system has minimized their presence in the academic space. CMC has a responsibility to hire a diverse faculty if it wants to uphold the promise it made back in 2007. Make it happen.