Volume XXIX Issue 01

26 September, 2019

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Honnoldgate: Scripps’ Office of Marketing and Communications Procedure Attempts to Prohibit Direct Reporter-Faculty/Staff Contact

By Anna Liss-Roy ’20 and Priya Canzius ’20 Co-Editors-in-Chief

I

n our reporting, The Scripps Voice aims to continue Ellen Browning Scripps’ legacy of living “confidently, courageously, and hopefully,” as is engraved on Honnold Gate, the official entrance into Scripps College.

Perhaps “transparently” should have been explicitly included in Scripps’ statement.

According to the Society of Professional Journalists’ Code of Ethics, it is a journalist’s job to seek primary sources for their stories and to avoid undercover or other surreptitious methods of gathering information. Scripps Marketing and Communications, however, is obstructing the ability of publications to adhere to these duties through a procedure that attempts to prohibit direct contact between reporters and Scripps faculty and staff, characterizing itself as a mandated intermediary through which questions and responses must be sent.

This procedure was implemented in 2016, according to Scripps’ Office of Marketing and Communications. However, TSV was first notified of its existence in the fall of 2018. Furthermore, numerous faculty and staff have reported that they were unaware of it until this week.

“We met with Carolyn Robles [Executive Director of Marketing and Communications] and the rest of the MarComm team around the last week of September last year,” former TSV Editor-in-Chief Maureen Cowhey ’19 said. “There is no written document of the policy and we went over it only in person at the meeting. We said that we understood that it was difficult to get inquiries in on time and that we appreciated that they were reaching out to a bunch of people in order to get accurate info but that interviewing people was a crucial part of what we do as a newspaper and that we couldn’t write stories and get the full story without that face to face interview interaction.”

The Marketing and Communications team has also stated that reporters may be able to hold in-person interviews with faculty and staff members, but that these interviews may only occur if the meeting is set up by Marketing and Communications, and only if the team receives the reporters’ questions in advance.

Over the course of the past three weeks, including during a workshop designed to cover Scripps’ media “policies,” as stated in an email by News and Communications Strategic Specialist Rachel Warecki on Sept. 4, adherence to this procedure was communicated to be mandatory.

On Sept. 25, several days after the Office of Marketing and Communications was informed that TSV was publishing an article on the procedure, the language used to describe the procedure by Marketing and Communications appeared to be more relaxed. TSV held a meeting with Assistant Dean of Students Adriana di Bartolo and Warecki, during which di Bartolo and Warecki stated that the procedure communicates a “strong ask,” but not a requirement, because reporters have the ability to violate the procedure. They denied that this description was a departure from the way it had been previously communicated.

The way this procedure has been disclosed to on- and off-campus publications is a form of censorship and is raising concerns among faculty and staff. It is even considered illegal, according to a center focused on the law of gathering and disseminating news across all platforms and technologies.

“The danger is that journalists receive filtered comments and won’t be sure if they are getting the complete story,” said CMC Journalism instructor Terril Jones, who has formerly worked as a reporter and editor at Thomson Reuters, the Los Angeles Times, Forbes Magazine and the Associated Press. “While the intention of such a policy may be positive, such as to streamline the comment process or eliminate conjecture, it also raises questions about the narrative and facts if quotes go

through vetting first.”

According to Jones, news consumers who read that a statement was provided by a firm’s public affairs department may become skeptical of the newspapers’ integrity.

Robles explained the reasoning behind the procedure in an email to TSV on Sept.

21.

“The Office of Marketing and Communications is responsible for managing media relations on behalf of the College, which includes responding to reporter requests, ensuring that the College provides accurate and timely information to the media, and maintaining records of media inquiries,” Robles said.

According to Robles, the procedure includes “asking that all journalists, without exception, provide their questions in writing [to the Office of Marketing and Communications] … ensuring that the College provides accurate and timely information to the media, and maintaining records of media inquiries … and that the reporter’s ability to obtain responses within the short deadlines that accompany most media inquiries is enhanced.”

Jones is familiar with procedures such as this one.

“If carried out in a timely way, such policies can be helpful to all parties when reporters are seeking official, institutional comment about an issue,” said Jones. “What’s of concern is to have a third party such as a public affairs office or a PR company handle quotes and information reporters are seeking from primary sources.”

Jones also questioned the ability of such a procedure to increase efficiency and build trust.

“It raises questions of transparency and motive, and also slows down the newsgathering process, which can be a problem on deadline,” he said.

In an informal poll sent to Scripps faculty and staff by TSV on Sept. 23, 73.7 percent of respondents said that they either had not or could not recall being notified of this procedure and 89.5 percent said they do not approve of this procedure. 81.3 percent said they will not adhere to the procedure.

On Sept. 24, Robles sent an email to faculty and staff addressing the poll and sharing the full statement she had provided to TSV. In this email, Robles took issue with TSV’s description of the policy as “recent,” stating, “this is not a new policy, rather an ongoing practice that has been in place for at least four years.” However, this contradicts Robles’ previous statement that the procedure was implemented in 2016.

Moreover, Robles did not dispute TSV’s statement to faculty/staff that it was communicated to be a mandatory procedure.

From the poll and email interviews, TSV has gathered information which suggests that faculty and staff were largely unaware of this procedure before the poll was shared by TSV and that they overwhelmingly feel negatively toward it. Below are several faculty and staff statements about the procedure: “I don’t recall receiving any information about a revised communications policy,” Thomas Kim, associate professor of Politics, said in an email conducted independently of Marketing and Communications.

“It’s hard to imagine faculty actually following this policy. They might be completely unaware of it, or they might simply choose to ignore it.”

“As I know, the faculty have not been notified of this policy,” said Kim Drake, Chair of the Writing Department, in an email interview also conducted independently of Marketing and Communications. “From what I understand, it is trying to control student journalism and faculty contact with student journalists, which seems highly problematic, if not a violation of First Amendment rights.”

“Clearly, I won't have reporters submit written questions to the PR office instead of interviewing me directly,” said Rivka Weinberg, professor of Philosophy, in a response submitted through the poll. “What jurisdiction does the PR office have over faculty interviews with journalists or anyone else?”

“Neither questions nor responses should have to go through MarComm (Marketing and Communications). I will not submit my responses to MarComm,” said Rita Cano Alcalá, Associate Professor Hispanic Studies and Chicana/o - Latina/o Studies, in a response submitted through the poll. “It constitutes censorship. I question the legality of this policy I’d never heard of before. I challenge the ethics of it.

It feels like Big Brother.”

Out of some 30 opinions solicited for this story, only one respondent said they recalled the procedure being mentioned at a Scripps faculty meeting two years ago. This anonymous respondent stated that they “believe there are benefits [to the procedure, as]...MarComm has correctly identified me as an appropriate responder to some requests I would not otherwise have received.”

In addition to ethical concerns, this procedure could have negative repercussions for faculty members whose contact with news media is often time sensitive. “I've worked for many years with people who have no affiliation to Scripps College. They would've quit working with me if I told them that rather than responding to media requests, that I would refer media to a college intermediary,” Kim said.

“If you’re not available to respond right away, news media moves on quickly to the next available person. It’s inevitable that you will lose opportunities to speak to the media under this policy.”

Some faculty and staff members anonymously expressed hostility toward the procedure.

“It’s the most unusual and far-reaching policy in terms of PR I’ve ever heard of,” said one respondent. Other anonymous responses included, “I'll probably stop responding to reporters,” “The quality of PR related releases will likely decrease by adding an intermediary who is not an expert in the field,” and “I would never adhere to this policy.”

Several faculty and staff members responding to the poll voiced suspicion about the execution of the procedure.

“It would make me less likely to answer questions from anybody as I would assume that the Marketing and Communications would be keeping a list of ‘friendly’ faculty and that that information might be used against ‘unfriendly’ faculty in hiring, promotion, and salary decisions. I would boycott on principle,” another respondent said. “We should be free to ignore journalists without part of our College implicitly demanding that we deal with them. We also would have no knowledge of whether Marketing and Communications was censoring our responses to journalists' questions. If I said something ‘controversial’ that Marketing and Communications is afraid might hurt the reputation of the College, would they pass it along to the journalist in question? I doubt it.”

Moreover, Rachel Huang, adjunct professor in Music, questioned the reasoning behind the implementation of this procedure.

“At first glance, it looks both unethical and cumbersome,” Huang said, through the TSV poll. “The question is: what is MarComm doing with the responses, such that they cannot go directly to the reporter?”

No other 5C Marketing and Communications office uses comparable language to discourage direct faculty/staff-media contact. Like Scripps, neither Pitzer nor Harvey Mudd has a written procedure and both colleges request that reporters notify their respective Marketing and Communi-

cations offices when directly contacting faculty and staff, according to Anna L. Change, senior director of Communications & Media Relations at Pitzer College and Judy Augsburger, director of Public Relations and Communications and Marketing at Harvey Mudd College.

However, their procedures do allow for this direct contact to occur.

CMC’s Office of Public Affairs and Communications did not respond to two requests for comment.

Pomona’s procedure most closely resembles that of Scripps but does not restrict reporters from contacting faculty directly, making Scripps’ media procedure appear the strictest at the 5Cs. “When working with Pomona, if there is a story or a question that [a student publication] has that is strictly pertaining to a faculty members’ expertise, by all means reach out to them directly,” said Patricia Vest, Pomona’s Associate Director of News and Strategic Content. “If it’s a question or story more on the institution side … then we recommend coming through us.

We will find you [an appropriate interviewee] in a timely manner.”

TSV has not yet contacted faculty or staff from the other Claremont Colleges about their opinions on their respective campus’ policies.

As Scripps faculty and staff concerns continue to rise, broader legal concerns have also emerged. On Aug. 20, The Scripps Voice was contacted by Frank LoMonte, director of The Brechner Center for Freedom of Information at the University of Florida, who had flagged the Scripps media policy as a “‘gag’ policy” and found it worthy of investigation.

LoMonte expressed concern about the procedure’s legality in an email on Sept.

23.

“Because Scripps College is a private institution, the standards for employees' rights are set by the National Labor Relations Act, which applies to private-sector employers that engage in interstate business,” Le Monte said. “... Even though it is increasingly common for employers to filter all interviews through a public-relations office, the fact that it is common doesn't make it legal. It just means lots of highered institutions are breaking the law.”

The process of writing this article illustrated the harms that come with a mandatory intermediary, let alone one that is an administration-aligned Marketing and Communications department. Because the seemingly mandatory intermediary is the subject of this article, following the procedure in this case would have risked hesitation by faculty and staff members to express their unfiltered opinion as they would be sending their response directly to the subject about which they would be speaking. In the beginning stages of researching this story, TSV contacted multiple Scripps faculty and staff members without using MarComm as an intermediary, in explicit violation of their stated procedure, as these emails contained sensitive questions and would require honest responses. TSV’s privacy of communications was lost in the beginning stages of researching this story when an assistant dean cc’d Marketing and Communications on their response, in line with their stated protocol.

While staff members may have little choice but to follow the procedure, adherence by faculty members and on-campus publications seems unlikely. “If a policy says you must contact XYZ office, journalists may do so, but as always they will continue to try to get to primary sources for their stories. That’s their job,” Jones said.

Scripps College’s founder and namesake, Ellen Browning Scripps, was herself a journalist during the 1860s and 1870s and a defender of ethical journalism. Any procedure blocking the direct and open exchange of dialogue on Scripps campus is at odds with the very values that Scripps was founded to uphold, including leadership and integrity, according to the college’s own website. If only Ms. Scripps could see us now.

1030 Columbia Avenue | Claremont, CA 91711 | Box 839 | scrippsvoice@gmail.com | Volume XXIX | Issue One

2 • News

“Malott got good?”

Cookies, Kombucha, and other Changes to the Scripps Dining Hall

By Kendall Lowry ’22 Copy Editor

W

hether you’ve caught a whiff of some freshly baked cookies, snacked on a specialty tossed salad or had the good fortune to stumble upon the kombucha and cold brew on tap, it’s clear that change is afoot at Malott this semester. But along with these new improvements have come countless questions ranging from the pasta line procedure to whether or not the rumors are true that “Malott got good.” Thus, I took it upon myself to ask Malott’s new General Manager, Garrick Hisamoto, a few questions about the new modifications to the Scripps dining hall.

Though this is Hisamoto’s first year as General Manager, he has served students at the dining hall as a chef for seven years and has stepped into his new role with a clear mission to maximize the resources at Malott’s disposal.

“I wanted to bring some ideas and changes to the dining hall to showcase the talent that Scripps has here in dining services,” Hisamoto said. “I have been here as the chef for the past seven years and have been able to bring many ideas and flavors to Malott… Now, with the help of our new chef Francisco Ramirez and our new Sous Chef Jeannine Nava, along with our awesome management team of Steve Rosenburg, Rebecca Mejia, Cruz Leyva— and of course we can’t forget Beth Garvin, our new administrative assistant (formerly Scripps’ favorite

cashier)—we are in a position to make even bigger changes and take the dining hall to new heights.”

You’ve probably heard the buzz around the 5Cs about some of these shifts (namely, those focused around fresh-baked-cookie consumption strategies), but the planned revamp for this year includes much more than Malott’s food.

“A few things coming are Friday game nights featuring games like cornhole, giant Jenga, giant Connect Four, spike ball, bingo/loteria night on Wednesdays, weigh the waste events, low carbon meals, food drives, and more,” Hisamoto said.

Along with the planned event additions, the staff has plans for significant changes to the dining menu as well. “We have also started making smoothies at breakfast, revamped our bunch menu to include our new ‘Power Bowls,’ which are grain bowls that guests can customize with featured mix-ins, and items such as avocado toast and breakfast bowls

will be rotated in on the menu,” said Hisamoto.

Unfortunately, I’m not able to shed much light on the enigma that is the kombucha and cold brew schedule; however, Hisamoto noted efforts to increase the drinks’ availability.

“We try to put the drinks out two to three times per week, and they will be available on the weekends.

We’re still figuring out the usage, so there may be times that they’re not available due to shortages.

We’re working on reducing downtime as much as possible,” Hisamoto said.

I suppose we’ll have to navigate the changes as they come--but here’s to hoping that we can successfully navigate the lines that come with them.

If you want information first hand on upcoming events and kombucha appearances, you can check out Malott’s Instagram @malottdining or text “scrippseats” to 82257 for updates.

Scripps Scrapps is Far from Scraping By Annie Wu ’23 Staff Writer

W

hen my roommates and I first entered Scripps, one of our first questions was: “what should each of us bring to our dorm?”

We had discussed reaching out to graduate friends, looking online, waiting for back-toschool shopping deals— all in an attempt to find a constructive way to stock up for college.

Then, we heard about Scripps Scrapps.

Scripps Scrapps is a campus-wide initiative in which salvageable items that students leave behind or donate are sold at the start of the fall semester to first-years and returners alike.

We were excited by this concept of using and reusing items that need not be thrown away.

Instead of discussing how we would split the price for expensive furniture and who would buy which item, our conversation transitioned into: “how about we invest in a mini fridge here?” and “there are enough hangers for all three of us!”

This year, there were two separate sales, one for first-years on Aug. 28 and another for returning students on Sept. 1. The majority of

profit came from selling to first-years, but the appeal of the event held true for everyone.

According to Anne Shalamoff ’20, the most popular items sold include mini fridges, dorm decor (throw pillows, string lights, etc.), electronics (extension cords, table lamps, etc.), school supplies, and kitchen items. The least popular, however, were textbooks. Scripps Scrapps receives lots of books, including those from CORE. Fortunately, books that are not sold are donated to The Claremont Forum, a non-profit organization that serves Claremont and its neighboring cities through education programs, including the nationwide Prison Library Project that sends books to inmates nationwide. Besides books, the rest of the remaining items are donated to local organizations such as Crossroads and House of Ruth.

Scripps Scrapps is gaining more traction and has earned both respect and interest from administration, but this initiative still has a long way to go. Scripps Scrapps is currently seeking a Sustainability Coordinator, who would be

a full-time employee tasked with promoting and creating sustainability projects at Scripps.

“It’s amazing to see all of the work my fellow Scrippsies have put into keeping this program afloat, but having administrative support and representation is so incredibly important,” said Shalamoff, an environmental analysis major who has been working for the initiative for two years now.

Along with having another Sustainability Coordinator to oversee Scripps Scrapps, this program could be expanded by receiving the funding for additional storage containers, as numbers of items requiring storage over the summer increase. They also hope to develop a system to become better informed of supply and demand in order to develop a more accurate sense of the appropriate number of students to hire on each shift, as well as how to price each item. They are currently working on establishing a Sustainability Coalition that allows the various environmental groups at Scripps to work together towards a common goal: reusing items and reducing waste.

It may be years to come, but Scripps Scrapps has an ambitious goal to one day establish a year-round system for students to donate or trade items in usable condition between one another.

Overall, Scripps Scrapps is one of the major student-run environmental efforts happening on campus— and its future lies in the hands of our campus community. Scripps Scrapps’ vision is to create a distinguished culture of low waste and mindful consumption, one that we can all contribute towards. They may only be two years in, but this program has taken a huge step towards promoting sustainability in the long-run.

Graphics courtesy of Scripps Scrapps and Kiss Clipart

26 September, 2019 • The Scripps Voice • Volume XXIX • Issue One

Politics @Scripps • 3 Drop it like it’s the Prison Industrial Complex: Drop Sodexo 2020

By Kendall Lowery ’22 Copy Editor

A

s the 2020 contract deadline deciding which dining service will be responsible for feeding Scripps students draws nearer, I reconnected with Sophie Peters ’20 and Niyati Narang ’20, two of the organizers of the movement to Drop Sodexo. Students within the movement have determined that Scripps’ current dining contract with Sodexo runs counter to the college’s core principles and are determined to shift the administration’s attitude towards the food it supplies to its students. This culminated in a protest last spring calling for administrative action; however, following a vague response from President Tiedens, Peters and Narang are gearing up for another year of advocacy for food justice. I talked with them about their experience within the movement, what has happened since President Tiedens’ response to the most recent protest and upcoming plans for Drop Sodexo.

Kendall Lowery (TSV): In your own words, why should students want to Drop Sodexo?

Sophie Peters ’20 (SP): Some of the main reasons why we think that we should Drop Sodexo are its ties to big food industry, its past ownership and current operation of prisons around the world, its lack of sustainable and ethical sourcing, lack of labor rights, labor abuses, anti-union standpoints and environmental destruction around the world. So we think that as an institution that supposedly cares so much about a lot of these topics and teaches students about them… that we should be practicing what we preach and that our dining hall should reflect what the student body wants to see within a lot of these shared values.

TSV: Revisiting last semester’s protest, how do you feel that it affected the momentum of the movement?

SP: I think that we’ve been steadily building momentum!

For the past few years, the amount of engagement has increased— I walk around campus and I hear people talking about Drop Sodexo who I have never met in my life. For the [SAS] elections last spring, nearly all the candidates mentioned Drop Sodexo because it’s an issue that has continually been talked about by Scripps students.

Niyati Narang ’20 (NN): I would agree with that— I

We should be practicing what we preach... our dining hall should reflect what the student body wants to see. -Sophie Peters ‘20

wasn’t there for the protest last semester, but in terms of general momentum I do feel like the conversation is very much a part of the headspace of the Scripps community, especially for returning students. I think that seeing the Drop Sodexo stickers on seniors’ grad caps at last year’s commencement showed that this is something that alumni, professors and the whole community cares about. Over the years, that has definitely grown and that’s really exciting.

SP: We even had family support during family weekend. We were flying outside of some events, and so many parents came up to us and supported us thinking that we had dropped Sodexo years ago; they hadn’t realized that the movement had continued, but they were excited about it.

TSV: Has the administration responded in any specific way besides confirmation of their continual deliberation about the 2020 contract change?

NN: We’re in general conversations with the administration about where in the process they are and about opening up opportunities for students to be made aware of what’s going on in that process. It’s a continuing dialogue, so we do what we can to gain as much access to that conversation as possible.

TSV: Niyati, with a new position as SAS President how have you and how are you planning to use your platform as a proponent of Drop Sodexo?

NN: Drop Sodexo is the first thing I talk about in every [monthly] meeting I have with President Tiedens… I also talked about Drop Sodexo in my welcome speech to the new students because that’s something I wanted them to be aware of. More than anything I think it’s just about using the platform I have to educate new students about what’s going on, to encourage people to come out to events that we’re having and to continue discussions that I have with Administration and particularly President Tiedens.

TSV: Have you had any contact with representatives from the actual corporate body of Sodexo?

SP: None, other than folks who work at Malott. Many of the people who work at Malott are actually employed

by Scripps, and we love them a lot. We really appreciate them and we hope that if management were to switch that everyone would continue to work here and be part of the community.

NN: First semester last year we had a worker appreciation potluck as well— professors and students and faculty brought in food and we had time to just chat with everyone in the Margaret Fowler Garden.

SP: And as a movement we’ve always communicated any actions before they’ve been held to anyone who works in Malott beforehand.

TSV: For people who read this article and potentially

aren’t already involved in the movement, are there specific first steps that you recommend for people who want to get involved?

SP: Yeah, so right now we are finally in the proposal part of the process, so the Request For Proposal (RFP) was released and several proposals have already submitted, but we are not allowed to see them, nor are we allowed to see the RFP. We know that the Dining Services and Advisory Committee has access to them, but they are not currently being released to the public and so we will be calling upon the administration for a release of those documents. Even if they don’t include the names of the competing corporations, we’re requesting that they include some of the answers to some questions, specifically concerning how these companies feel about prison involvement, ethical sourcing, labor rights, union rights, all of these things; we want to hear about those aspects before a decision is made.

NN: We’re also hoping that the administration will create community forums in which they will discuss what contracts are on the table. The proposals will come in by October 3rd, and the finalists will be selected

by November, so we’re hoping for at least one to two community forums before November or one or two in November. So we encourage Scripps community members to show up to those if or when they happen, and to have questions and concerns ready to be expressed to administration. Also if anyone is interested in doing any art for us, email dropsodexo@gmail.com!

SP: The official transition to the new contract will take place between the end of spring semester and the beginning of Summer of 2020, so it’ll be decided by then for sure. Community engagement is so important in this step of the process— it’s been wonderful to see the growing momentum over the years, but we need to keep that up and put pressure on the administration for transparency around this process and also for what we want to see within our dining hall.

NN: If students feel strongly about this, we encourage them to ask whatever administration they have conversations with to open up access in this way just because we think that this dialogue is really important at this stage.

Want to get involved?

Follow Drop Sodexo on Facebook at facebook.com/dropsodexo/ or join their contact list by emailing dropsodexo@gmail.com

Student organizers bring #StandwithKashmir to Claremont

By Sahana Mehta ’20 and Noor Dhingra PO ’20 Guest Contributers

O

n Walker Wall, a message reads, “Free Kashmir!

Free Palestine! Right to Self Determination.” Less than ten feet away, at the Pomona Women’s Union, a documentary shows the Kashmir valley flooded with military personnel.

On Thursday, Sept. 19, a group of over 50 students and faculty members at the Claremont Colleges crowded into Pomona’s Women’s Union for Stand with Kashmir: Claremont, an event focused on raising awareness about the current military siege in Kashmir. The event was organized by Noor Dhingra PO ’20, Sahana Mehta ’20, and Priya Prabhakar ’20, who also hosted “Claremont Says No To War and the Occupation of Kashmir,” an event at Scripps in Spring 2019.

On Aug. 5, the Indian government deployed thousands of additional troops to the widely disputed and highly militarized region of Kashmir, which is currently controlled by three nuclear powers: India, Pakistan, and China. Since the creation of the Indian and Pakistani nation-states in 1947, Kashmiris have struggled to reclaim their autonomy. At the time of Partition, Kashmiris were promised an advisory referendum to self-determine whether they would join India, Pakistan, or create their own autonomous state. The referendum was never held. However, certain basic rights were upheld until the repeal of Article 370, a law which gave the Kashmiris a degree of autonomy. One of the most significant aspects of Article 370 was that it banned non-Kashmiris from owning land in Kashmir, therefore allowing indigenous Kashmiris to remain on their land without being pushed out by those eager to buy land in

the famously beautiful region. Since Aug. 5, the region has been under complete blackout—including cellular services, landlines and internet. Journalists have been imprisoned for trying to accurately cover Kashmir. The valley is categorically under siege. The abrogation of Article 370 was the last straw on the camel’s back for Kashmiris, and hopefully, for the international community as well.

Since Aug. 5, the transnational “Stand with Kashmir” movement has taken off. The main organizers of this movement are diasporic Kashmiris. Despite the diasporic Kashmiri population being rather small, their impact has been significant. In cities all across the world, protests, teach-ins and other events have been held in solidarity with the Stand with Kashmir movement. To educate our peers and demonstrate solidarity with Kashmir, we decided to host an event for students at the Claremont Colleges to learn more about, and take action against, the occupation and siege in Kashmir.

During the event, the group watched two short documentaries that provided basic history about Kashmir and revealed the on-the-ground realities: closed roads, deserted mosques on Eid, abandoned schools.

After watching the documentaries, the group was able to chat electronically with two Kashmiri activists who have been involved in Kashmir’s struggle for liberation.

Muzzammil Ayyub Thakur, Director of the Justice Foundation—Kashmir Institute of International Affairs, spoke first. Thakur spoke with attendees about his work to support Kashmir in international arenas, as well as his experiences and observations during his trips to Kashmir. Thakur told the audience a heart-wrenching story about a young girl he met who was rendered mute due to the trauma she endured at the hands of Indian

soldiers. Before logging off, Thakur left us to consider that the world said “never again,” after the Holocaust, and again after the Rwandan Genocide. It is now time for us to recognize the signs of genocide and speak up about Kashmir. He urged the group to use our new knowledge and join in the Kashmiri struggle.

Anqa Khan, the second speaker, is a New York Citybased activist and researcher. Khan spoke with us about the Stand with Kashmir movement, with a specific focus on the campaign to demand that the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation rescind their Global Goals Award from Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi. While the award claims to honor those who “tackle the issues contributing to global inequity,” Modi has been a fierce proponent of Hindu Nationalism for decades and was even been banned from the United States for his actions against Muslims in the Indian state of Gujarat. Khan pushed the group to think critically about how the philanthropic world remains complicit in Hindutva, or Hindu nationalism, as demonstrated by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation leadership turning a blind eye to the violence Modi has enabled.

Following Khan’s talk, the group reconvened to discuss action items it can pursue going forward, even from the so-called “Claremont bubble.” Action items included pushing for journalistic attention on Kashmir, calling the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation to request they rescind PM Modi’s award, and participating in social media campaigns on Kashmir.

After two information-packed hours, attendees left knowing more about the occupation of Kashmir and equipped with new strategies to affect change in the region. If you’re reading this, we urge you to #StandWithKashmir.

26 September, 2019 • The Scripps Voice • Volume XXIX • Issue One

4 • Features

Meet the Mentorship Programs: Affinity groups at Scripps

By Aditi Garg ‘22 and Jackie Loh ‘22 Staff Writers

T

ransitioning from high school to college can be a scary time. For some, this is their first experience away from home in a new environment. For marginalized students, coming to Scripps can be especially daunting.

Arriving on move-in day and entering Orientation events seeing little to no representation of oneself can feel especially isolating for students of color and/or of LGBTQ+ identities arriving to Claremont. When this translates into a classroom setting, it can be difficult to have to separate your identity from the topics discussed in class, especially when class content, oddly enough, often treats rights for marginalized populations as a point of contention.

Many marginalized students struggle with their identity and trying to fit in, an internal struggle that is intensified by the microaggressions and overt acts of discrimination many marginalized students face. All of these experiences can culminate in feelings of isolation and helplessness, which can have serious implications for students’ mental health. For example, LGBTQ+ youth are four times more likely to attempt suicide or engage in self-harm, according to Mental Health America.

At a predominantly white institution like the Claremont Colleges, students of color can feel especially isolated in and out of the classroom. Specifically at Scripps, as reported by the institution itself, 39.9 percent of the student body consists of students of color, which is starkly disproportionate to the number of white students on campus. A study from the University of Texas at Austin found that Black, Latino and Asian students, although performing on par with white students, felt intense imposter syndrome, and reported varying levels of anxiety and depression. Similarly, a study from the National Center for Health Statistics found that Asian American women “constituted the highest risk race–gender group for suicide for reasons ranging from alienation and depression to racism and sexism.”

To rectify the difficulties faced by marginalized students, there are a plethora of clubs and organizations on campus to offer extra support to those who need it most. Scripps’ Communities of Resources and Engagement provides a space for various affinity groups that offer support to the student body. In doing so, these groups serve a crucial role in developing a sense of

community among students who share similar identities and difficulties, especially in the context of being on a college campus.

Watu Weusi at Scripps is an organization that supports students that identify as being of black or African descent. In the past, Watu Weusi holds weekly meetings, in addition to hosting the Black Arts Festival and various movie screenings. With meetings and discussions centering black identity, Watu Weusi offers black students at Scripps a space to express themselves and explore their identity and heritage. Similarly, Café Con Leche (CCL) seeks to support and empower students of Latinx descent. They aim to raise awareness of the need for intersectionality and to critically analyze social, political and economic issues that affect Latinx womxn.

CCL hosts events such as Chincax/Latinx Shabbat, Game Board and Karaoke Night and a Latinx Open Mic Night.

For first-year students of Asian descent, AASP (Asian American Sponsor Program) is crucial for forming strong relationships. Asian-American first years are paired with two sponsors who support and guide them through their transition to college life. AASP also hosts off-campus outings, snack breaks and an annual retreat to promote bonding between its sponsors and sponsees.

Honing in more specifically on South Asian identity, SAMP (South Asian Mentorship Program) focuses on building strong mentor-mentee relations among all South Asian-identifying students at the 5Cs, hosting cultural events and workshops that help maintain ties to South Asian identity. The Asian American Student Union takes an active role in advocating on behalf of the Asian American-Pacific Islander community. AASU often hosts workshops discussing various topics that impact the API community, such as healthy relationships and representation.

Another noteworthy organization on campus is the Scripps International Community (SIC). SIC works to support all international students, including foreign passport holders, visa holding students, US passportholders, permanent residents and green card-holders.

There are four co-mentor pairs that are assigned six to eight international freshman students, which then plan study sessions or meals together.

“It’s difficult to learn what our identities mean within the US, think about how this affects our identity in a global context, and also remember what is important to us in discussions about identity in our home countries,” said the three heads of SIC, Anisha Soin ’21, Kirtana Sendyl

’21 and Shringi Vikram ’20 in a joint statement. “We try and remind first-years that they shouldn’t feel bad about not knowing things, or feel like they need to hide their cultural backgrounds, while also helping them acquaint themselves with what is important here.”

In addition, QQMP (Queer & Questioning Mentor Program) is a 7C organization that creates an environment of acceptance for students who identify as LGBTQIA+.

Through mentor-mentee pairings, students learn how to navigate their identities surrounding gender identity and sexual orientation, as well as their corresponding intersections with race, religion, culture, and class.

Maintaining a strong presence on campus, Questbridge occupies a niche position as a form of support for students from low-income backgrounds.

By sharing resources and experiences, and employing a system of “accountability buddies” to encourage each other, Questbridge members strive to directly address the needs of their community.

This mission “has allowed first-years, in our experience, to feel empowered and know that their lived experiences are just as valuable as academia,” according to Questbridge President Aileen Villa ’22. “Sometimes, what our community needs are workshops on professionalism or financial aid, sometimes it’s an outing that otherwise would not have been possible for us to pay on our own, and sometimes it’s just time to socialize and vent to one another. Our goal is to be able to provide a balance of all of these to low-income students at Scripps (regardless of official affiliation with Questbridge).”

With each incoming class, there is a greater need for these affinity groups to exist at Scripps. They put in a great amount of work to support their members and promote the kinds of inclusive conversations that are normally inaccessible in a classroom setting. The importance of such organizations is unquestionable, especially for first-years who are finding their place in college while navigating their identities. These students are Scripps’ claim to diversity, but that doesn’t mean they should be made to feel like anomalies on their own college campus. That’s why students in a position of privilege can truly help by being supportive, unwavering allies, through listening to what marginalized students have to say, uplifting and supporting their message and putting marginalized students’ needs at the forefront of any activism.

Graphics Courtesy of SIC, Questbridge, QRC of the Claremont Colleges, AASP, SAMP, AASU

26 September, 2019 • The Scripps Voice • Volume XXIX • Issue One

Features • 5

Celebrate Bi+ Visibility— Sept. 23 and Beyond

By Madison Yardumian ’21 Copy Editor

T

his Sept. 23 marked the 20th annual Celebrate Bi+ Visibility Day, a day meant to celebrate the rich history and community people who identify as being attracted to multiple genders. This includes people who identify as bi, pan, queer, fluid, or just straight up not monosexual. The use of bi+ is not meant to erase or collapse the various labels people choose to identify with. Rather, in this article I use it in the hopes of inviting people of various nonmonosexual identities to feel included in a history and community of which there is a great deal of shared history and common ground.

Celebrate Bi+ Visibility Day came into being at the International Lesbian and Gay Association Conference in Johannesnberg South Africa. Bisexual organizers Wendy Curry, Gigi Raven Wilbur, and Michael Page from the nonprofit BiNet USA hoped that the day would heighten visibility around bisexuality, which is so often erased or treated as a “stepping stone” to other sexualities, or a means of seeking attention.

The month of September was selected because it aligned with Freddie Mercury’s birthday, a wink to Freddie Mercury’s powerful influence on the bisexual community.

As articles about biseuxality are apt to note, the B in LGBTQ+ accounts for half of the queer community, and is more often than not a silent majority. To me, celebrating bisexuality is about recognizing the specific hurdles bisexual people face, as well as celebrating the fluidity such an identity entails.

As the percentage of youth identifying as bisexual continues to grow, research surrounding bisexual youth is somewhat difficult to find. But what research has told us is distressing. The Trevor Project found that bisexual youth were at the highest risk for self suicide ideation, suicide attempts, and being victims

of bullying and coercive sex as compared to their heterosexual, gay, and lesbian-identified peers.

The Trevor Project site also notes that research on LGBTQ+ youth “often fail[s] to capture the unique stressors faced by bisexual youth and in doing so, further alienate an already vulnerable population.”

The Center for Disease Control and Prevention found that 44 percent of lesbians and 61 percent of bisexual women experience rape, physical violence, or stalking by an intimate partner, compared to 35 percent of heterosexual women. The study also shed light on an even grimmer statistic: 46 percent of bisexual women have experienced rape, as compared to the 13 percent of lesbians and 17 percent of heterosexual women. The study further found that 26 percent of gay men and 37 percent of bisexual men experience rape, physical violence, or stalking by an intimate partner, compared to 29 percent of heterosexual men. Overall, these studies illuminate the alarming rates at which bisexual people face sexual violence--particularly bisexual women. Hypersexualization and stigmatization of bisexual people are often cited as explanations for these alarming statistics, as well as studies from The Journal of Bisexuality which note heightened rates of substance abuse among bisexual people.

Beyond shared struggles, inherent within bisexuality is a shared history of community spirit, activism and inclusion. While many are quick to note the prefix “bi” as reinforcing the gender binary, there is a spirit of inclusivity in the bi+ community that directly counters such rhetoric. Contrary to representations of bisexuality which center white women, bisexual people are actually more likely to identify as people of color, disabled, and/or trans as compared to gay or straight-identified persons. There has been a powerful legacy of bi+ and trans allyship (as well as many trans activists who also identify as bisexual).

As early as 1990, the Bay Area Bisexual Network published a Bisexual Manifesto which proudly refutes

binaries of thought and gender. “Bisexuality is a whole, fluid identity,” according to the Network. “Do not assume that bisexuality is binary or duogamous in nature: that we have ‘two’ sides or that we must be involved simultaneously with both genders to be fulfilled human beings. In fact, don’t assume that there are only two genders. Do not mistake our fluidity for confusion, irresponsibility, or an inability to commit.

Do not equate promiscuity, infidelity, or unsafe sexual behavior with bisexuality. Those are human traits that cross all sexual orientations.”

Celebrate Bisexuality Day is celebrated in a multiplicity of ways--from poetry readings and community organizing to spreading awareness about bi+ issues. Scripps’ queer-allied student union FAMILY marked the occassion with an event with cupcakes, ice cream and sticker making in SCORE. BiNet celebrated this year’s Celebrate Bisexuality Day by promoting a People of Color Bisexual Pride Flag. This version of the flag, inspired by the Philly Pride Flag, or the LGBT People of Color Pride flag, includes black and brown stripes to make bi people of color visible. This version of the flag was created by thefayth, president of BiNet. The original Bisexual Pride flag was also created by a BiNet organizer, Michael Page, one of the organizers who also worked toward creating Celebrate Bisexuality Day. From the boomingly bisexual chorus of Chanel by Frank Ocean to poetry (check out “Houses Made Only of Entrance” by Abe Louise Young!), there has never been a better time for bi visibility. More celebrities than ever before are claiming bi+ identities: Miley Cyrus (identifies as pansexual), Kehlani (identifies as pansexual), Keiynan Lonsdale (identifies as queer), Angelina Jolie, Lady Gaga, Frank Ocean, Janelle Monae (identifies as pansexual), Tessa Thompson, and more.

In light of such representation, there is the space for bi+ activism and community resilience like never before.

Hichman Bou Nassif: On Lebanon, ISIS and THe Drive to terror

By Theresa Aronson ’20 Staff Writer

H

ichman Bou Nassif, Assistant Professor of Government at Claremont McKenna College, approached his interviews in Tripoli, Lebanon this past summer with one main question in mind: what are the main factors driving young Lebanese men to join a terrorist group and fight the al-Assad regime in Syria?

The answer, like many questions pertaining to Middle Eastern conflict, lies in the intersection of political and religious motivations.

Shia and Sunni Islam, the two major denominations of Islam that split after the death of the Islamic prophet Muhammad in 632, have become an unprecedented political cleavage in the past century.

In this century occurred the Syrian Civil War that led to the Syrian Refugee Crisis.

“The Sunni majority had a reaction to the Shia and Alawi-dominated regime of the al-Assad dynasty Syria, and that is where the story begins with that,” Bou Nassif said. Bou Nassif found that vulnerable Lebanese Sunni men as young as 18 or 19 are becoming active opponents of Sunni oppression, often joining Islamist terrorist groups like ISIS and al-Qaeda, whose rhetoric highlights defeating the opposition and reclaiming Sunni domination.

Bou Nassif entered Tripoli with a list of names of

former terrorist members obtained from a Syrian census, which had documented the deaths in the Syrian civil war. With these names in hand, Bou Nassif was able to conduct 71 interviews with the family members and friends of deceased ISIS fights in Syria and Iraq, which could last from half an hour to three hours, over the course of four months.

When meeting with family members and friends of the deceased, Bou Nassif discovered the extent to which political and religion was a factor for the men in their decision to join a terrorist organization.

“In reaction to the suffering of the Sunni communities in the Middle East, Lebanese men joined the fight against the Iran-back factions, especially the al-Assad regime and Hezbollah, whom they blamed for Sunni suffering in the region,” Bou Nassif said.

With Iran-backed Shia factions crushing Sunni aspirations, and Shia sitting at the top of the power struggle hierarchy, those who felt compelled and outraged enough, fled to Syria to join the fight.

Bou Nassif’s conception before interviewing family and friends was that those who joined a terrorist organization were religious prior, or had been raised in religious households. While meeting with the interviewees, however, Bou Nassif discovered something else.

“Many of these men were not religious until the outbreak of the Syrian Civil War,” Bou Nassif said. “They became religious after targeted propaganda released

depicting graphics of suffering and bloodshed coming from al-Assad regime in Syria was all over the news.

That’s when these young men sought out large terrorist organizations like ISIS and al-Qaeda that, supposedly, were fighting against the Shia regime.”

Notably, many of the men interviewed had never been involved in local criminal organizations. Family members often described the young boys as “calm, level-headed, and generally respectful” during their youth, according to Bou Nassif.

When Shia propaganda began infiltrating every community within arms lank, people were outraged and wanted to take action. It was not before long that Imams start getting pressure from terrorist groups to recruit as many impressionable Sunni men as they could to fight the al-Assad regime; which accounts for how and why Sunni men from far and wide, throughout the Middle East, poured into Syria during a raging civil war, eagerly looking to join the opposition.

Most Imams were not easily corrupted, but the few that were either manipulated or forced by terrorist groups to spread, had a lethal effect on those who looked to them as role models.

Imams were influence on these men who looked up to them for guidance.

“So once they had their blessing to join the terrorist group, they genuinely believed that this was their destiny, and what they had been manifested for,” Bou Nassif said.

26 September, 2019 • The Scripps Voice • Volume XXIX • Issue One

8 • Opinion

He Told Me I Was Wearing Porn Star Shoes The Truth About Sexual Harassement in Tech

By Faith McDermott ‘20 Staff Writer

W

hen I first started writing this article I thought I knew what it would be.

I wanted to create a patchwork quilt of sorts; an interwoven narrative of creepy comments, longing leers and inappropriate advances made by tech bros to women half their age, in hopes of illuminating the ongoing problem of sexual harassment in tech. However, that story has been told. It’s been written by journalists with leagues more talent, experience, and grace than I could have possibly accumulated in my twentyone years. So, as I read the anonymous responses to a Google Forum I posted late one night while drunk on writer’s adrenaline and wine Wednesday, I came to a realization: these women may have volunteered snapshots of their experience, but I will never have their full story. They are not mine to tell. Instead, I will tell you my own.

I remember when the official panic set in. Somewhere between Valentine’s day and my birthday, in March, I came to the realization that I had zero plans for the upcoming summer. Previously I had folded sweaters and sold overpriced candles at Anthropologie, as well as nannied for several families who had enough disposable income to pay me twenty bucks an hour to relax on their couch while their kids sat at day camp creating refrigerator art. Needless to say, my corporate experience was nonexistent, and the mere thought of not having an internship the summer before senior year inflamed my middle school girl insecurities all over again.

I eventually found a paid internship that also targeted towards my interests. In other words, I thought I’d hit the jackpot.

About two weeks in I was starting to see cracks. The workload was becoming light to nonexistent, and I started having off-putting encounters with a man named Wyatt*.

While I originally thought he was awkward and weird, Wyatt’s behavior never crossed the line, until I sat in a glass conference room with him and three other interns.

“You’re dressed inappropriately.”

When I didn’t respond for a few seconds he decided to repeat himself.

“If you were anywhere else, they’d ask you to go home and change.”

Not that I should have to defend myself, but I know there will be naysayers and so I’ll do it anyways. I was wearing a blazer, jeans and a white shirt. The office was casual and the man questioning the appropriateness of my dress was in cargo shorts and flip flops. While I knew his comment was sexist, I was both

shocked and embarrassed. And so I sat silently. My face turned the color of raw hamburger meat and while I was avoiding eye contact at all costs I couldn’t help but notice he seemed quite pleased with himself.

For a while, things seemed to simmer down and everything had gone back to normal, or as normal as a slowly failing startup can be. However, a few weeks before the end of the summer, another incident happened. I was sitting in an office with one of my recently acquired work friends brainstorming ideas for a marketing campaign. With my lack of experience I needed a good reference from this company and so the pressure to perform was on. Hindsight is 20/20 and while I now recognize Wyatt’s first comment as the start of some incredibly problematic behavior, he hadn’t done anything since and I like to give people the benefit of the doubt. I also really needed a marketing guru to bounce ideas off of.

The culmination of these factors

At the end of the day, it wasn’t about me or my actions

shot of pink stilettos that were captured from the knee down. Holy shit.

At this point in the summer, investors had been pulling out due to poor management. Layoffs were happening left and right, and after one of the interns told the CEO that he had been paying a dozen college kids to sit around and do virtually nothing the past few weeks, Wyatt and a few other higher ups were verbally reprimanded.

As a result of his own job being on the line, Wyatt threatened to fire us all, a piece of information I didn’t have until I was about to walk into the conference room with him. With all this in mind, I felt ambushed by the porn star remark and so I blurted, “No, I’m not,” as if this were a debate. He smirked and said, “Yes, you are”, while commenting on the redness of my cheeks.

The harassment I experienced in tech was minor compared to most. While I wanted the money and experience, and Wyatt certainly capitalized on that, I was living at home and this wasn’t a long-term gig. If it came down to it, I could have quit; while I’d have to do damage control on my resume, I wouldn’t be destitute. For many women that isn’t the case. Their jobs are their livelihoods and in situations where sexual harassment occurs, they’re stuck.

I used to reflect on my encounters with Wyatt and wonder what could have provoked him. Did I smile too much? Was my sense of humor too flirtatious? Did I somehow cross a line? However, I have to stop myself, because at the end of the day it wasn’t about me or my actions.

Sexual harassment is a power play that often times leaves women defenseless.

I’ve come to the conclusion that Wyatt’s main objective was not to sleep with me.

It was to make me feel small, and if for whatever reason we ended up fornicating that would be a bonus. Sexual harassment may be fueled by sexual desire, but what most men get out of it is a power trip.

Wyatt knew he could say these things to me with no consequences and he was right. In those moments I couldn’t muster the courage to call him out, and when I finally did complain to HR, he got a slap on the wrist and then life continued on as normal for him. Sexual harassment is the epitome of straight cis male privilege.

While I’ve about had enough of it, I’m not quite sure where to go from here.

lead me to Slack message him “I need your marketing wisdom,” to which he responded, “Ms. McDermott are you trying to hit on me I’m a married man...”

Looking back I think I actually shrieked “Ewww” out loud.

Not only was Wyatt my superior, he was in his late thirties, married, and had a second baby on the way. However, in his eyes, none of that seemed to matter.

For whatever reason, he thought his response was not only appropriate but was welcome. Spoiler alert: it wasn’t.

In the weeks after I tried to keep a low profile. I didn’t spend much time in common spaces and whenever I passed him in the office I avoided eye contact.

However, one Friday while we were alone in a conference room he decided for whatever reason that it was a good idea to try again.

“You’re wearing pornstar shoes,” he *Name has been changed to protect the privacy said.

I completely froze. Wyatt had decided of the individual to pull up my Instagram page and scroll through it. The picture in question was a

26 September, 2019 • The Scripps Voice • Volume XXIX • Issue One

Spotlight • 9

False Dichotomies: Islam, Sufism, and Human Rights

By Milo Kremer PO ’21 Guest Contributer

M

y semester abroad in Dakar, Senegal, shed light on the embarrassing number of false preconceptions I’d internalized in regards to Islam. My host family, the Diongues, strictly followed the Sharia, praying five times a day, sometimes for an hour at a time. My 27 year-old host-sister was the principal bread-winner and would immediately don a black hijab upon coming home from her banking job. I never saw my father without prayer beads, his chapelets, in hand.

Living for four months with this deeply religious Sufi family made for daily lessons in the tradition of Islam and its Sharia, particularly in the Sufi tradition.

Mention “Sharia” in Western democracies, and you’ll probably be hit with a wave of critiques from politicians, newscasters, and rank-and-file voters alike. On both sides of the Atlantic, Islam and its divine law are seen as a menace to societies that enshrine democracy, secularism, and universal human rights.

Recently, this divide has been playing out on the juridical level – the most incriminating of these indictments being levied against the Sharia.

Following the election of Rashida Tlaib and Ilhan Omar, the first Muslim women in Congress, to the House of Representatives, Fox News host Jeanine Pirro warned that the Sharia is “antithetical” to the United States Constitution. The UK’s nationalist-inchief Nigel Farage has claimed that 80 Sharia “courts” in the UK operate in defiance of British law. Even the European Court of Human Rights judges the Sharia as fundamentally incompatible with Western democracy.

Mouth pieces for Western democracy in the media, legislatures, and courts all warn that the Sharia is an existential threat.

This kind of fear-mongering puts the West in a bind. After all, a pluralistic democracy must be able to

absorb the political and cultural needs of its minorities – especially those that are as large as the Muslim population in the US, UK and France. By condemning Islam’s divine law in such unequivocal terms, critics of the Sharia are undermining the very Western ideals that they claim to defend; their critiques become self-inflicted wounds. This failure could be due to a misunderstanding of what the Sharia actually entails.

It would be in the West’s best interest, therefore, to better understand and relate to Sharia principles in order to achieve a more perfect union. Especially in Sufi traditions, the Sharia can inspire a robust framework to protect the kinds of human rights and privileges that we associate with the Western ideals.

To define the Sharia as “Islamic law” is misleading.

While most Western democracies maintain a codified collection of rules and regulations that we understand as “law”, the Sharia refers to an overarching ideal that God has imagined – as manifested in the Quran and Sunnah – for an ideal muslim community. This image is to be decoded by Muslims themselves. If this sounds nebulous, that’s because it is. Therein lies the built-in dynamism of a Sharia that is often, and incorrectly, viewed as a single code, outdated and rigid.

When Fox News, Nigel Farage, or the European Court of Human Rights disparage the entire Sharia, they fairly allude to hudduds, or punishments, such as stoning and forced amputation for certain kinds of criminals. Unfairly, this narrow definition comes at the expense of the rest of the Sharia, which provides each Muslim with both the freedom and the obligation to understand how God’s image should be realised through personal study and reflection. These hudduds are the results of some scholars’ understandings from more than a millennium ago. The upshot: mainstream reformer scholars such as Tariq Ramadan are pushing for, and achieving, reinterpretations and erasures of cruel hudduds.

In a Sufi tradition, the Sharia can also be a powerful tool to ground the kinds of human rights and privileges desirable in the West in an Islamic logic. Sufism, rarely politicized and often marginalised in Western reflections on Islam, can inspire a robust framework for these rights and privileges.

Broadly, Sufism is a spiritual branch of Islam whose followers seek an individual connection with God through internal meditation combined with practices of asceticism or ecstatism. These internal mediations are guided by two main principles: Tawhid and Ijtihad.

The notion of Tawhid, or God’s omniscient presence, guides Sufis to view all humans as small physical manifestations of God’s total and intangible existence.

Therefore, the universal dignity of all humans is inherent in a Sufi understanding of Tawhid.

Ijtihad empowers each Sufi to independently understand God’s truth – part of which being found the Sharia – through a logical reflection and study of holy texts. Therefore, interpretation of the Sharia becomes democratized; each follower is to construct their own understanding of the Sharia –– one that, by default, has to respect human dignity (Tawhid) and individual freedom of thought (Ijtihad). Ijtihad protects against the top-down, heavy-handed impositions that define the kind of Sharia that colors the views of many Western commentators.

While Tawhid and Ijtihad are inherent protections of above-mentioned fundamental rights, Sufi logic can also avoid the outdated and rigid rules of millenia-old Sharia interpretations.

It is possible (and preferable) to ground the protection of universal human rights in the Sharia, with Sufism providing a fitting framework to do so. As Islam continues to be assaulted by Western commentators, Sufism is a strong counterpoint to those who see the Sharia as incompatible with Western democracies.

AFFORDABLE HOUSING AND Inclusive ClaremonT

By Eve Kaufman ’20 Architecture Columnist

T

he Los Angeles housing crisis isn’t going to go away anytime soon, and certainly not on its own.

It is reflective of a much wider problem that spans multiple states, resulting from rises in gentrification and homelessness. Many people from the 5Cs have seen similar housing crises play out in their own hometowns, and it’s rework- potentially an issue that is relevant even in the small City of Claremont. After much turmoil from different city representatives from throughout the region, the Southern California Association of Governments (SCAG) released its official Regional Housing Needs Assessment (RHNA) this past summer. This report illustrates the magnitude and relevance of the crisis, and formalizes the deep inadequacies the current housing market presents. Problems thought to be unique and situational- the struggle to find housing- are validated by the report, as it emphasizes the instability many face is growing in normalcy.

One of the most pertinent conclusions that the RHNA conveys is that 1.3 million new units of housing would need to be built within Southern California in order to allay the swell of the crisis. Very high percentages of those developments would need to be available to low-income renters, or at least somewhere along the spectrum of affordable housing. Los Angeles county sprawls nearly 50 miles out of its downtown, and this massive size is paralleled by its necessary role in combating the disaster in each of its suburbs, including Claremont.

Currently, Claremont is zoned for affordable housing, but primarily in one location: a golf course owned by the Claremont Colleges (TCCS). This zoning was done on the part of the city without conferring with TCCS, and this lack of communication and the rezoning of private property fed the tension between the 5Cs and the city. The fact remains that even if this property was successfully developed to serve the dearth of housing, Claremont would still fall short.

It is for this reason that local grassroots organizations have begun to take action. Inclusive Claremont (IC), a community-student based coalition, has recently formed to begin advocating for the importance and construction of affordable housing within Claremont and to address community issues from multiple angles. Using the added power of student work, coupled with centering the voices of community members, educational campaigns, policy recommendations and personal stories are expressed.

IC works to hold Claremont accountable in its promise of zoning, building what was already told Los Angeles County, as the act of zoning alone unfortunately does not guarantee or accelerate affordable housing’s development. developing community within this project.

Statistics illustrate the truth to this: despite consistent urging of experts to spend “no more than 30% of your monthly gross income” on rent, people in Claremont are spending considerably more than this. Residents have reported spending up to three-quarters of their income sharing an apartmentthis 30 percent recommendation.

That means an unhealthy and unsustainable amount of people’s l a b o r g o e s to living expenses, regardless of their circumstances.

An unrecognized huge population is represented b y t h e s e classifications, and that does not begin to include those who work but do not live

within the city limits. There is a perception that the only serves a specific group of people. That said, beyond the village it is a socioeconomically and racially diverse city of over 36,000 people. Claremont’s constituency is underrepresented in the politics of the city, yet its developments and infrastructure do not encourage the breadth of identities and representation that the city deserves.

Inclusive Claremont now works to find those underrepresented voices and act as the liaison between renters’ lived experiences and the government.

Connections are constantly being made through consistent “deep-canvassing”, where activists not only canvass and survey, but develop meaningful relationships with those who answer the door on unsuspecting Saturday mornings.

More grassroots organizations have been sprouting up around the Southern Californian region. With various social ailments on the rise, it is clear that organizations like Inclusive Claremont have a need, along with a place in a good crowd. Claremont has the opportunity to be a catalyst in finding solutions for these problems, be it sustainability oriented, socialjustice oriented, or even just acknowledging housing as a human right.

Claremont is at an incredible nexus point, the crossroads of which can determine much of Los Angeles’ future.

Photo by Eve Kaufman

26 September, 2019 • The Scripps Voice • Volume XXIX • Issue One

10 • Arts & Entertainment

We're Here, We're Queer: How Reality TV Dating Caught Up This Summer

By Abby Sorkin ’20 TV/Film Columnist

W

hen people think about reality TV dating shows, the image that dominates is of beautiful men and women running around an absolutely gorgeous place, making out with each other. It’s one of the few places left on television that is reserved exclusively for heterosexual individuals.

Until this summer.

The recently concluded seasons of ABC’s Bachelor in Paradise and MTV’s Are You The One? signify a possible turning point in the reality TV dating competitions and LGBT+ representation MTV’s Are You The One? is a dating competition in which 16 contestants are given a “perfect match” by love experts and sent to live in a house in Hawaii together. The only problem: they have no idea who their perfect match is. The show centers around the contestants’ pursuit of their perfect matches and of the 1 million dollar cash prize they receive if everyone finds their match. For the show’s past eight seasons, its matches have been heterosexual. However, this season, every single contestant was sexually fluid, meaning any person in the house could be their match.

At the same time as this show started airing, Bachelor in Paradise introduced a potential game changer of its own. Previews for the upcoming season established that Demi Burnett, a nearly universally beloved member of the Bachelor franchise, was queer and had been dating a woman before leaving for Paradise. The franchise is not known for its representation -- its very premise, which in women and men competing for the affections of a member of the opposite sex for drama and TV ratings continges upon contestants’ heterosexuality. Additionally, it was only in 2017 that the first black Bachelorette, Rachel Lindsey was cast.

There have been no Bachelors or Bachelorettes of color in the seasons since.

The goal of both of these shows is to encourage people to find a happy ending, something rare in this chaotic world of ours, either by finding a perfect match or getting engaged. This idea is even rarer in queer

representations, across all forms of media.

This summer, each of these shows demonstrated how easy it is to treat the ups and down of queer relationships in the same way one would treat a heterosexual relationship.

Season Eight of Are You the One? explores the complications of sexual fluidity, documenting the contestants’ experiences as they pursue their first relationships with members of the same sex. The show also captures the simultaneous anxiety and possibility that come from knowing that anyone in the house could be right for anyone. And to win the one million, all relationships had to be explored. Refreshingly, all of the relationships, breakups, and hookups were treated exactly the same, irrespective of the involved contestants’ gender.

Ultimately, it was the concept of the show that was new, not necessarily the content. Having sexually fluid contestants meant the typical tropes that define reality TV were challenged.

The house’s resident playboy, a lothario stereotype typical of most dating shows, is a transmasculine nonbinary person who gets so overwhelmed by people being attracted to him post-transition that he keeps forgetting to consider their actual feelings when floating from one to the next. Conversations about love are common on these types of TV shows, but the queer cast of Are You The One? grants these conversations a new dimension.

One shy man talks about hesitating all his life to embrace his queerness for fear of getting hurt; a woman reveals that she’s wary of dating men again thanks to previous traumatic experiences; another admits she’s tried to date more men to please her conservative family before plunging into a tumultuous romance with the woman she had her eye on from the beginning.

Burnett’s story in Bachelor in Paradise does not seemingly differ from previous love stories within the Bachelor world: she finds love and fights for it, including the mandatory tears that occur along the way.

However, this love story does differ in content. When Burnett enters Paradise, she finds a connection with a

fellow contestant but realizes that she can’t shake her feelings for the woman she left behind in Los Angeles.

In nearly any other scenario, the audience would expect that Burnett would be leaving the beach. However, the producers grant us the incredible experience of watching a love story between two women on the primetime reality television when they decide to bring Kristian Haggerty, the mysterious woman, to the beach.

The moment Burnett sees Haggerty, Burnett knows that she is the one for her. Their reunion feels almost fictional in its honesty and sincerity. I forgot while watching that it was reality TV program, so used to only seeing that type of emotional affection between queer relationships on drama or comedic shows. All this does is underscore how rare unadulterated LGBTQ+ representation is.

These two women are treated exactly the same as any other couple, their story blending in with the others, and during the rose ceremonies, normally gendered with male contestants and female contestants switching off who does the rose giving each week, Burnett and Haggerty simply alternate giving their respective roses to one another.

The audience views the content of the show being altered by its contestant’s queerness. While most contestants on the show cry over rejection, Burnett cries for different reasons: she feels uncomfortable walking down the street and being subject to stares for holding a woman’s hand and about not being able to give Haggerty, her now fiancee, the type of PDA she desires.

While most women are proposed to on the show, Burnett herself drops to one knee and pulls out a ring.

As a bisexual woman, seeing myself in these television shows represents the beginning of a new era of LGBTQ+ representation, in which it does not merely exist on television, but is granted substance, subtleties and major roles. For the first time, I didn’t have to box myself in in order to see myself in a sweeping, albeit manufactured, romance. For the first time, I was able to relate to the experiences discussed by the contestants: their fears and their hopes.

I only hope it lasts beyond the summer.

A Love Letter to Lana Del Rey The often criticized and misunderstood songwriter proves her greatness with one of the most incredible pop releases in recent memory

By Mirabella Miller ’23 Music Columnist

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ike the artist who serves as the namesake of her album “Norman F-cking Rockwell!” Lana Del Rey specializes in creating idyllic portraits of American life. She describes and dissects elements of it that most of us cannot quite put a finger on, drawing on themes of money, power, excess, glory, loss, freedom, transformation, and idealism to illustrate her songs.

Simultaneously, she reflects an America in flux, ditching the blue-jeans-and-Springsteen representations of patriotism that characterized her earlier work for aching ballads inspired by gun violence tragedies and raging California wildfires, and no longer performs in front of the American flag, calling it “inappropriate.”

“Norman F-cking Rockwell!” (NFR) is a slight departure from her other work, yet feels monumentally stride hitting. She leaves the trap-pop and feature-heavy experimental feel of her previous album behind, trading it for stunning, stripped down folk songs with minimalist piano backdrops by acclaimed pop producer Jack Antonoff. This simplicity allows her famously wavering voice to shine brighter than it ever has, and brings the listener’s focus to the awe-inspiring poetry of her lyrics.

Del Rey almost didn’t make it this far. Trapped by her early persona as the internet’s quintessential sad girl singer, she was confined to a relatively small pool of

themes and emotions to work with. Following a shaky introduction to mainstream audiences via Saturday Night Live performance in 2012, critics took aim, calling her a blip on the radar of bedroom pop. Nothing special.

Seven years later, Pitchfork described her as one of America’s greatest living songwriters. “Mariner’s Apartment Complex”, the second track on the album, opens with lines that seem to respond to a romantic partner, but could also apply to her critics. “You took my sadness out of context, at the Mariner’s Apartment Complex / I ain’t no candle in the wind.” Del Rey contends that criticism by people who fundamentally misunderstand her will not put out her flame, portraying an unflappable artist secure in herself and her talent.

“The Greatest”, which comes later in the album, concludes on a cathartic and resigned note. “If this is it, I’m signing off / Miss doing nothing, the most of all / Hawaii just missed that fireball / L.A. is in flames, it’s getting hot / Kanye West is blond and gone / “Life on Mars” ain’t just a song / Oh, the live stream’s almost on.” In this final verse of musings, she captures the apathy often embodied by our generation. However, resignation and acceptance are not always equivalent, and Del Rey also identifies spaces where societal change should happen and is happening in addition to mourning cultural change and loss.

An example of an area with the potential for societal change highlighted by Del Rey are gendered expectations in hetrosexual relationships. The lyrics

that open the entire album are “God damn, man child”, delivered with a bit of an exasperated sigh. It is not hard to picture Del Rey shaking her head slightly in the studio while delivering this line. This bridges to the chorus, where she sings “You’re just a man, it’s just what you do / Your head in your hands as you color me blue.”

Though loving someone and simultaneously being exasperated by them is not a gendered experience, these lines echo and affirm the experiences of many women in heterosexual relationships who have spent too much precious time catering to men who, for whatever reason, lack the emotional tools to navigate their lives themselves.

Del Rey never needed acceptance from critics or mainstream audiences, but as a longtime fan of hers, watching this woman who has done so much for pop finally receive credit for her talent and influence is gratifying. In many ways, her earlier work laid the foundation for younger artists like Billie Eilish, Clairo, and Lorde, as she occupies the “cool aunt” role for a new generation of female pop stars.

Because Del Rey is a complex and unpredictable figure, her next album could very well be even more spectacular than “NFR.” Despite this uncertainty, this album is an immense feat within itself, powerful in its own right. Throwing around the title of “magnum opus” when Del Rey is seemingly still in the midst of her career may be premature, but I’d put money on “NFR” being hers.

26 September , 2019 • The Scripps Voice • Volume XXIX • Issue One

Entertainment & Lifestyle • 11

Murder, she Reviewed: Thrills and Chills in Literary Horror Amelie Lee ’23 Copy Editor Intern

A

s my friends perused positive self-help books and picturesque romances over their summer break, I chose to spend my time invested in something a little less wholesome: murder. While I personally have no interest in engaging in such activity, I’m absolutely obsessed with reading thriller novels: psychological horrors complete with twisted motives and uncertainty.

Amid my book induced haze, I realized that there seems to be an unfair offset of ratio of bone-chilling thrillers and predictable slowmoving bores in the world of thriller literature.

More often than not, books that I hoped would stimulate my innate need to be terrified ended up losing their thrill as I dragged my feet through yet another mediocre storyline. Per my thorough analysis, here’s what sets good psychological thrillers apart from those who fall flat.

Crisp writing style: While he might be the most accredited horror author in the literary world, Stephen King isn’t my cup of tea. That might cause me to lose some credibility, but I’ve read enough of his droning novels to know that I’m not a fan of his long-winded writing style. When it

comes to thrillers, snappier language allows me to pick up on details that help me solve the mystery or understand the characters. King does better when he writes with more brevity, with his short story “The Long Walk” being one of his only pieces I thoroughly enjoy.

It might help to set the ambiance of a story, but overly complex prose tends to take away from the shock factor of horror, distracting from the gore and excitement of the plot.

Authors Gillian Flynn and Paula Hawkins do this particularly well, with crisp styles in “Gone Girl” and “A Girl on a Train” striking readers with every chapter.

Realistic twist: Psychological horror wouldn’t mess with readers’ minds quite so effectively without a terrifying plot-twist near the end. However, far too often, authors take this theory to heart by overcompensating, basing the entire book’s success on an epic twist at the end. By focusing on a dramatic twist over a plot that stands on its own, often an author undermines previously carefully crafted details of the world, contradicting what the reader thought they knew about character traits or story plot.

Recent dramatic thrillers “A Stranger in the

Messy Rooms are OKAY! Claire Dwyer PO ’20 Staff Writer

W

hen I started my first year of college, I never really bought dorm decorations.

It just seemed a bit silly to me. I very much enjoyed seeing the little havens everyone else made for themselves: I found the coordination impressive, the perfectly placed stuffed animals charming, the strings of pictures on the wall to contain just the appropriate amount of nostalgia. But here I am, a senior, still never having even made the smallest attempt to make my room look like anything remotely “cool.” Of course, paintings of medieval saints slaying dragons are cool to me, as is my little bandana that says Pomona College from that one time I volunteered on an admitted students’ day. So are the scattered random post cards that are pasted in various places on the wall, the medieval Iberian camel painting, the Pomona calendar with

all my appointments and homework furiously scribbled all over it in my mostly illegible handwriting. I suppose the part of my current dorm “decorations” of which I am most proud is the sizable percentage of the books I managed to transport from home.

It looks like a messy little library.

My room, in all its chaos, makes me proud every time I set foot inside it. I have worked hard to get to where I am today.

I’ve learned a few languages since starting college. I am in the process of applying to graduate school in medieval history. I have

House” and “The Wife Between Us” fall into this category, featuring massive plot twists that feel inconsistent to the characters and storyline. After pages of fluctuating motives and logic that changes on a whim, erratic plot twists leave readers more confused than scared. Stories that follow a natural progression, like Flynn’s “Sharp Objects,” create a more compelling plot that readers can believe and invest in.

Humor: By far, my favorite thrillers are ones that don’t take themselves too seriously. Heavy topics like kidnapping and torture often pair well with sarcasm, and books that lean into this create a vivid and engaging world of terror and irony.

Horror authors often write about heavy storylines with a proportionally heavy tone, with books like “The Perfect Nanny” by Leïla Slimani filled with somber tones and serious scenes. Instead of overdramatizing every violent act and spoon-feeding emotion to the readers, humor allows for people to contemplate the consequences of the story themselves.

thrown myself into my work. And sometimes, there’s a half-eaten bag of chips still on the ground when I get back from class. In my first years of college, that sort of thing would have made me feel bad. Why is my room so messy when all of my friends have perfect strings of lights across their windows, large tapestries and a kind of magical ability to keep their rooms always smelling nice? I questioned myself about it a lot until I realized—potato chips on the ground? You can be proud of them. They symbolize the fact that you motivated yourself to go above and beyond in finishing your work last night…and you did! They symbolize the strength that you embody every day, in studying, in working hard, in showing up to class and managing to never take yourself too seriously.

We as students can take joy in our mess. We do not always have dorm rooms that look as Pottery Barn intended--for whatever reason, whatever challenge we are facing in our lives that makes keeping a perfect room an insurmountable difficulty. We are not all Good Housekeeping ready. And that’s okay.

“My room, in all its

chaos, makes me proud every time I set foot inside it.”

26, September 2019 • The Scripps Voice • Volume XXIX • Issue One

Opinion • 12

To My First-Year Self:

By Sarah Nunez ’22 Staff Writer

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ell. You did it. You shattered all the expectations of your extended family and are now a college student.

May was a month of firsts, ending in a drunken after-prom group cry with friends as you apologized for being teenagers and all the drama that you had ever caused and vowed to always keep in touch, only to find that as soon as you clawed your way off the graduation stage, you never really liked most of those assholes.

So you spent the summer nervously awaiting the next chapter, hoping that the brochure didn’t lie. Maybe you got a new piercing, dyed your hair or completely replaced all your shoes with Birkenstocks and Doc Martens. You vowed that from now on, you would be an adult. Your life would start anew, because Incipit Vita Nova was all over the crap you bought after receiving the acceptance letter.

On move-in day you fought with one of your parents, cried in the bathroom, stared at the blank walls and the small space and wondered, “What the fuck am I doing here?” You worry about roommates and pray that it is more of a Friends

situation, but secretly know that it is more likely to be a goddamn mess. This thought is exacerbated by one of your roommates pulling out her sage, threatening to light the place on fire. You hate Core, because everyone hates Core. You gain fifteen pounds because now you have an endless supply of cookies, mac-and-cheese and pizza at your fingertips. And at the dining hall, you are scared to eat alone so you starve yourself, waiting until a friend is out of class to grab lunch.

You love your friends and you meet new people every day. It terrifies and thrills you to be around so many people who get you. You can talk about French philosophy and sex and love and your parents and traveling and politics. You go out, drink and smoke all the things your health teacher warned you about. You talk to boys who wear vintage shirts and like The Smiths and who smoke clove cigarettes while talking about where they came from. Atlanta never seemed like a sexy place until you met that guy from Pomona. You romanticize things. You cry after being ghosted.

You threaten to burn his dorm to the ground.

You take naps in the middle of the goddamn day, like an adult.

You fight with friends, make new ones. You flake on dinners and parties and find yourself knowing more people than you ever did in high school,

but sometimes feeling so alone you feel like your suffocating.

Friendships fall apart and come back together— the important ones at least. Some never really had any right making it past October. You have long talks at 2 AM, lying on the floor of your dorm, smelling like pot and spilled beer, talking about marriage and kids and all the secret fears you had never expressed to anyone before.

You are the same as you were in highschool, although you insist that things are completely different. And yes, to a certain extent, they are.

You are bolder, more adventurous and more sure of yourself than you ever thought possible.

Go to class, read the Core books and don’t worry about your major (yet). Don’t be afraid to be alone and be even braver when it comes to letting people into your life. Call your parents. Limit yourself to boxed mac-and-cheese two times a month. Be nice to your roommates, for they can make your life a living hell if they so choose. You will cry on the plane when you leave in May and will cry even harder when you come back the next year.

These intense emotions will make you angry and confused, but allow yourself to express them.

Reminder: Tequila makes you sloppy, vodka makes you sad and wine makes you want to dance naked in the streets.

Graphic by Vivian Monteiro

26, September 2019 • The Scripps Voice • Volume XXIX • Issue One

SPOTLIGHT

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7

Taking Mattresses into their Own Hands: Scripps Students React to New Furniture Policy

By Riley Harmon ‘22 Staff Writer

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tarting in May 2019, Scripps College implemented a new furniture policy that prohibits furniture removal from rooms in residential halls. Students received an email from the Scripps Office of Residential Life (Res-Life) in March 2019 stating that all rooms would be furnished with a “bed, desk, desk chair, dresser, floor lamp and wardrobe/closet,” none of which may be removed.

Life under the new policy began in the 2019-2020 academic year, accompanied by two additional emails from ResLife reiterating the new policy sent out to students on Aug. 27, 2019 and on Sept. 8, 2019.

These emails cited a lack of oncampus storage space, minimizing pest contamination and eliminating furniture that is not fire safe as motivation for the new policy. This email included threat of a financial penalty for those who disobeyed the policy.

This new policy is a stark change from the 2018-2019 academic year, during which furniture could be removed

Have you deconstructed furniture in your room?

Have you removed furniture from your Scripps room?

through requests submitted by the end of the previous academic year or through work orders submitted during the school year. However, at the end of the 2018 fall semester, work orders were no longer being filled because of a lack of storage

Yes

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Yes

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No

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No

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Graphic by Eloise Magoncelli

space. They continued to be filled through January 2019.

T h i s m o n t h , T h e S c r i p p s Vo i c e (TSV) circulated an anonymous poll investigating the ways that students were responding to the new policy.

Seventy-five students responded in both multiple choice and short answer responses.

According to TSV’s poll, 61% of the 73 respondees have independently removed beds, chairs, and lamps for a variety of reasons. They have moved them to residential hall common spaces, suite common spaces, other student’s rooms, and off-campus storage.

“I had bought a full size bed for my room this year, moved the Scripps provided twin to another secure storage space and was told that I needed to remove my bed and return the Scripps provided one” one anonymous Scripps student wrote.

“I can’t sleep with my ESA in a small bed,” another anonymous Scripps student wrote, referring to their emotional support animal and twin xl bed provided

by Scripps. “I have had a big bed for two years legally and this new policy would mean I would have to pay to store it.”

According to the poll, students have also deconstructed a number of items in their room, including beds, a chair, and a bookshelf, storing furniture pieces in their own rooms and other student’s

rooms.

On deconstructing Scripps provided twin xl beds, one anonymous Scripps student wrote, “Having to stack random parts of a bed in random places definitely creates a hazard. The metal frame is pretty sharp, and I kept kicking it accidentally because there was no place to put it and got cut decently badly one time. I know people have leaned the metal frames on the wall, which could fall and be dangerous, or at the very least cause some wall damage.”

A number of students have attempted to get furniture removed officially Scripps Facilities and ResLife. Some students did not receive responses, while others were successful in getting both quick and slow responses.

“They took my armchair through a maintenance request,” an anonymous Scripps student wrote.

“It has taken them three weeks to come get the wardrobe that I have been storing under my bed this entire time,” another anonymous student wrote.

“It took over a month of emailing accommodations and ResLife about removing my bed due to a condition I have and following up with them three times after they stopped responding or avoided my questions,” another Scripps student wrote anonymously.

The TSV poll also included a general comments section asking if students

26 September, 2019 • The Scripps Voice • Volume XXIX • Issue One

had any other experience with removing or attempting to remove furniture this year.

“This is really unpleasant for all Scripps students. It’s taking up spaces all over the residence halls; I’ve seen so many beds in common spaces and it just

Infographics by Annika Ragnartz

feels messy,” an anonymous Scripps student wrote.

“This impacted a significant portion of the senior class who had previously purchased larger beds last year when this furniture policy didn’t exist,” another anonymous Scripps student wrote.

“I just think they should have phased it out and then discouraged first years from buying beds,” a Scripps student wrote anonymously. “Some students already have them and it doesn’t make financial sense to get rid of them. Now you’re bringing first years into an environment where seniors/ juniors are sharing tips on how to get around the rule instead of where no removing furniture would have been the new norm after you had phased it out. A lot of people are frustrated and simply don’t care anymore (getting storage pods for example). While it’s understandable to not put this strain on maintenance, punishing those who remove the furniture and store it themselves with fines is unfair.”

Students are taking matters into their own hands to make their spaces work for them. As students make these changes in their rooms, ResLife has taken no steps to alter the policy.

Have you tried to have furniture removed officially by reslife/maintenance?

Yes

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No

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