The Scripps Voice

By Lily Foss ‘13
Feminism Columnist

Okay, I know we’re all sick of that CMC Forum article by now. I was sick of it by the end of the day it came out. But among the points that Ms. Miller made in her article, there’s one that particularly irked me. Well, they all irked me, but I was especially frustrated by the tired argument that women who apply to a women’s college are doing so because they’re afraid to be “challenged” by a co-ed school. Ugh. Anyone who says that has no idea how challenging a women’s college actually is.

President Bettison-Varga replies to the question, “Why Scripps?”
Photo courtesy of SAS

For one thing, an environment that’s almost entirely female is a new experience for a lot of students. I know that some of you went to all-girls schools in the past, but for the rest of us, this is completely new. I’m the only girl in my family; before coming to Scripps, my experience living entirely with women was limited to a few summers at camp when I was in middle school (and I hated camp—I think I’m the least outdoorsy person in the entire state of New Hampshire). It wasn’t until the summer before college that I realized that Scripps would be unlike anywhere I had ever been. I had grown up with two brothers and no sisters. I had primarily male friends. To be honest, I was nervous about coming here.

You know what else is challenging? Being at a school that doesn’t expect less from me because I’m a woman. I’m certainly not saying that all coed school are inherently sexist. Before college, I had only attended co-ed public schools, and I encountered very little sexism. But statistically speaking, graduates of women’s colleges are twice as likely to earn a Ph.D, twice as likely to go on to medical school, and, “Are more likely to engage in higher order thinking activities and integrative activities that lead to deep learning” (stats and quote from the Scripps website). That’s a lot to live up to. If I was really afraid of a ‘challenge,’ why would I go to a school that expects so much from me?

But the most challenging thing? People who insult my school. People who tell me that I’m here because I’m too scared to go to a coed school. Screw you, people. How would you have any idea what going to a women’s college is like? Do you know how upsetting it is to have people tell you that you aren’t brave enough to go to a co-ed college? Do you know how frustrating it is to have to defend your school from people who attack it just because it’s a women’s college? Do you have any idea how demeaning it is to have people call you a man-hater, a slut, and a “Saturday night nightmare” just because of the school you chose? I went to a panel in the Hampton Room once about the future of single-sex education, and one of the women there, the headmaster of an all-girls high school, said that, “Nothing draws misogyny like a women’s institution.” She couldn’t be more right.

These are just a few challenges. I’m sure everyone here had struggles of their own when they decided to apply here. But I doubt that anyone chose to apply to a women’s college because they were afraid of a co-ed school. If I know Scripps students, there’s no way that any of us would back away from a challenge. After all, we’re confident, courageous, and hopeful.

Hosted by CMC’s SPEAR (Students Promoting Environmental Awareness and Responsibility), Trash on the Lawn day was held in front of Collins Dining hall. SPEAR officers said that the event was motivated by a discovery last year that 70% of trash at CMC is recyclable. SPEAR emptied trashcans from around campus and inside dorms out onto the lawn and proceeded to separate the “trash” into piles of Compost, Recycle, Corrugated Cardboard and Trash. SPEAR showed students things that could have been recycled if they had not been contaminated and many empty trash bags that SPEAR emptied into compost and recycle. Encouraging students to be more aware of what they actually put into “trash” bins, SPEAR stayed on the lawn in front of Collins for 5 hours. They raffled off an eco-friendly water bottle and gave out stickers saying, “I’m not down with trash.” Not only was this a highly informative event, but it was also inspiring to other colleges who should definitely get started in promoting more recycling and composting.

Halloween is just around the corner, and here at the 5Cs that means that there is a lot to look forward to. Whether the spooky holiday is something you anticipate every year, or if you just think of it as another day on the calendar, there will be something for everyone this Oct. 31. The annual Harwood Halloween party at Pomona’s ITS parking structure will be preceded by the much-anticipated Girl Talk concert featuring Daedelus. Tickets are available for purchase for just $5. Pomona students can buy their tickets, starting Oct. 26, at Frank, Frary and the ASPC Office. All other 5C students can buy their tickets starting Oct. 28. Tickets will be available at SARLO and at CMC in addition to the Pomona locations. The Girl Talk concert starts at 7:30 p.m., and the after-party will be free and open to all students starting at 10:15 p.m.

Trick-or-Drink, a Halloween tradition, will also be taking place this year at Harvey Mudd. Students at West Dorm on HMC’s campus will be serving a variety of beverages to those who stop by. Additionally, Claremont McKenna will be hosting a party featuring henna tattoos on Oct. 30. The event is open to all 5C students and will be held in the McKenna Auditorium.

Whichever of the many on-campus events you choose to attend, make sure to document your creative ensembles and send them to voice to be considered for our costume contest. Readers will vote on their favorites and a winner will be announced in the following issue. So get creative, dress up and take advantage of the fun events going on this year at the Claremont Colleges.

On Sept. 2, Patrick Atwater wrote an article for the CMC Forum entitled “ ‘Just Dance’ Announced as Scripps Anthem.” In it, Atwater critiqued the culture of Scripps for promoting eating disorders, unhealthy body image, hatred toward white men and a “femino-centric world view.” Atwater also took a few shots at voice itself, telling us that we all secretly aspire to be hosts of The View.
Enough has been said to Atwater in the comment section of the Forum, as well as in comments submitted below. We do not want to continue this debate, but rather advocate for a 5C writing community filled with less hatred and negative stereotypes. Let’s bring some class back to editorials, and tackle issues with the support of the greater 5C community. Because, let’s face it: there may be five different schools, but there are still underlying issues that affect women at all of them—issues that Atwater addressed, albeit inappropriately.

“This is poorly written and researched. It seems to be trying to get a reaction, so by reacting to it we are feeding the writer’s intentions. There is little validity in the author’s comments, and to engage in uninformed discourse would be not be productive.”
–Alena Rosen ’10

“Patrick Atwater seems to believe that all Scripps students identify as feminists in his opinion piece. Yet in my Core I class, when students were asked to raise their hand if they identified as feminists, only one girl raised her hand.”
–Justine Desmond ’13

“I was mainly just disappointed by what I read. There are so many valid approaches you can take when discussing eating disorders, critiquing a women’s college, or talking about feminism, but Patrick failed from the get-go to make any substantial argument about any of those subjects. Instead, he demonstrated to readers that he has no experience—academic or otherwise—forming sound arguments about these relevant and controversial topics. I just hope it’s willful ignorance (thereby an isolated incident) and not a failure of an entire institution responsible for providing critical thinking skills to thousands of students and future leaders.”
–Jane Farrell ’11 (now Emory ‘11)

“CMC students are drunken jocks, Pomona students are arrogant and Pitzer students are all stoners. Those are obviously idiotic stereotypes. Patrick Atwater took similar stereotypes about Scripps, masqueraded them as fact, and wrote an entire article based on nothing but dumb generalizations. Personally, I have never felt more empowered than I do at Scripps. As a recent cancer survivor, I have scars on my arms and chest, hair that came back completely different after chemotherapy and I am only now starting to lose my self-consciousness. I feel beautiful at Scripps because I am recognized for my mind, my talent and my strength. We support each other in a way that I haven’t found anywhere else: with humor and love. We eat the fresh-baked cookies in Malott every night, have ribs at Levitt on the Lawn and drink mochas at the Motley. Think about it: why would Scripps make such good food if the students weren’t going to eat it? I suggest that you, Mr. Atwater, actually talk to some Scripps women next time you want to write an article about us. And please, don’t call us girls, or people might get the idea that you’re talking down to women.”
–Rachel Bodansky ’13

“Tackling issues including feminism, eating disorders and white domination, Atwater critiques the culture at Scripps College in an article which is both unfocused and pretentious. When discussing eating disorders he drops overused phrases like ‘hiding the crouton’ for no apparent reason and claims that Zoe Larkins’ attempt to unveil this problem could fail because the feminist values at Scripps are so twisted. Call me crazy, but this does not seem like a very legitimate argument. And personally, I think Atwater’s attempt to draw an emotional connection between Larkins’ article and his own is quite abusive.”
–Josh Shapiro PO ’10