Claremont McKenna College

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CMC's trademark Bauer Center.

One of the younger members of The Claremont Colleges, Claremont McKenna College opened in 1946 as Claremont Men's College. CMC is a liberal arts college, specializing in politics, economics, and public policy. It is consistently ranked as one of the country's top fifteen liberal arts colleges, according to U.S. News and World Report; it is ranked tenth as of 2005.

Campus Life

Dorms

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Flamson Plaza.

Claremont McKenna's dorms are divided into 3 regions: North Quad, Mid Quad, and South Quad. In addition, the Student Apartments sit on the East edge of campus, and are occupied primarily by seniors.

North Quad is comprised of Appleby, Boswell, Green and Wohlford dormitories. In the north quad dorms, every room opens to the outdoors instead of opening to an interior hallway. North quad rooms are all doubles grouped into suites of four rooms that share a bathroom. North Quad is the center of the drinking culture at CMC.

CMC's Mid Quad is home to Beckett, Berger and Phillips Halls, which feature long interior corridors, double and single rooms, large shared-bathroom facilities, and all-dorm lounge areas. Badgley Gardens, the green space just south of Beckett is where we hold commencement every year, but it's also a great place to catch a little sun. But catch it while you can, the little sun will become none with the new dorm in Badgley Gardens.

The tallest buildings in Claremont happen to be three of our residence halls: Auen, Fawcett, Marks and Stark Halls. Also known as "The Towers," these three dorms make up South Quad. Each building has seven floors with approximately twelve students per floor. Each floor has a common area and a large shared bathroom, and there is an all-dorm lounge area on the ground floor. Stark Hall, the newest of the South Quad dorms, is substance-free, meaning that no alcohol or drugs are allowed.

All dorm rooms are attended to by staff on a bi-weekly basis.

Marian Miner Cook Athenaeum

The Marian Miner Cook Athenaeum hosts more than one hundred dinner and lecture events with distinguished speakers each year, serving as the College's central intellectual and social hub. Students enjoy getting to know their professors at wine and cheese receptions and formal dinners preceding lectures by eminent visitors such as Archbishop Desmond Tutu of South Africa or filmmaker John Singleton. The Athenaeum also serves daily afternoon tea in its library, featuring chocolate-covered strawberries and pastries. Afternoon tea, like all Athenaeum meals and events, is free to students, faculty, and staff.

Rape allegations

Three Selected Excerpts

1. The Collage (9/24/92): "CMC president Jack Stark overturned a student court conviction and suspension of a CMC student accused of sexual assault… A person present at a trustee meeting earlier this fall said Stark told trustees that 'he originally thought the guy was guilty, but that the sentence was too harsh for the alleged crime... In the end he decided that the guy was not guilty.' Stark, however, denied ever having discussed the issue at a trustee meeting."

2. The Document Pond (4/24/98): "Last fall, a Scripps student charged a CMC acquaintance with raping her. The CMC student has withdrawn from the college, but is expected to return once his accuser graduates this semester. In a similar case four years ago, a student who graduated last year reportedly left on a Washington DC program after being accused by a fellow student of rape… According to sources, the student returned to CMC after his father used a connection to secure the financing of the newly constructed Wells Fitness Room."

3. The Claremont Port Side (Spring 2004): "Sexual assaults reported to campus security have increased from one in 2002-2003 to a record six thus far in 2003-2004… According to Dean of Students Jeff Huang, last semester, several women from CMC were tested for what are popularly known as date rape drugs."

Hate crime hoax (2004)

On the evening of March 9, 2004, after delivering a campus lecture on hate crimes, Visiting Assistant Professer of Psychology Kerri F. Dunn reported that her car had been vandalized and painted with with racist, sexist and anti-semitic slurs. In reponse the Claremont Colleges cancelled classes the next day, and a series of demonstrations, candle-light vigils and community meetings were called to address the threat posed by an alleged and previously unknown group of violently intolerant students.

Subsequent investigaton by the City of Claremont's police department and the FBI revealed that Dunn had, in fact, slashed her own tires and applied the insulting phrases to her own vehicle. She was subsequently found guilty of filing a false police report and attempted insurance fraud. She was sentenced to one year in prison and ordered to pay a fine of approximately $19,000 in restitution.

Academic program

General education requirements

Although its specialty is public policy and economics, Claremont McKenna College does hold to the idea of a liberal education by requiring student to add breadth to their knowledge through the completion of course in natural and social sciences, humanities, and foreign language.

First year requirements

Literature 10 - Composition and Literary Analysis

Unless waived for a transfer student, every student must take in their first year at the college. This introductory literature class covers all the major literary genres and is designed to improve each students critical thinking and writing skills. The specific works studied and course format varies depending on professor.

Civilization 10 - Questions of Civilization

Question of Civilization was designed provide a unifying experience of Claremont McKenna students while fostering the exploration of universal thoughts and ideas. Directed by Prof. Robert J. Valenza, each year a core set of text is chosen for all section of Civilization 10, with each professor free and challenged to add his/her own insights or works to the course. Although not common in all sections, Prof. Valenza encourages the Civ faculty to provide interaction through discussion. Many students, though far from most, find this one of their most cherished CMC experiences.

Nevertheless, the course is not without its critics. Some students have complained that the course attempts to do too much and ends up teaching nothing. The course is designed to be a combination of literature, philosophy, and religious studies, though it too often ends up as none of the above. The class has been called, by both students and professors, "pointless".

Majors

• American studies
• Asian studies
• Biology
• Biology-Chemistry
• Chemistry
• Computer Science
• Economics
• Econ-Accounting
• Environment, Economics, and Politics
• Environmental Science
• French
• Gender studies
• German
• Government
• History
• International Relations
• Literature
• Management-Engineering
• Mathematics
• Neuroscience
• Philosophy
• Philosophy and Public Affairs
• Philosophy, Politics and Economics
• Physics
• Practicum
• Psychology
• Religious studies
• Science and Management
• Spanish

Sequences

Claremont McKenna College does not offer the traditional minor (although it does offer "dual majors," in which each of two subjects are studied with reduced requirements). Instead, CMC offers a group of sequences which are group of course on a particular interdisciplinary theme.

CMC's Sequences include

• Asian-American
• Computer Science
• Ethics
• Financial Economics
• Gender Studies
• Human Rights, Genocide, and Holocaust Studies
• Leadership

Research institutes

CMC sponsors 11 different on-campus research institutes and centers. They seek to produce new research and publications while involving undergraduate students in rigorous academic work. Many are named in honor of the college's donors.

• The Berger Institute for Work, Family and Children
• The Financial Economics Institute
• The Family of Benjamin Z. Gould Center for Humanistic Studies
• The Center for the Study of the Holocaust, Genocide, and Human Rights
• The Keck Center for International and Strategic Studies
• The Kravis Leadership Institute
• The Lowe Institute of Political Economy
• The Reed Institute for Applied Statistics
• The Roberts Environmental Center
• The Rose Institute of State and Local Government
• The Salvatori Center for the Study of Individual Freedom in the Modern World

Presidents

• George C.S. Benson, founding president (1946-1969)
• Howard R. Neville (1969-1970)
• Jack L. Stark (1970-1999)
• Pamela Gann (1999-current)

Alumni

• John Anderson '84 - co-founder of Woodhouse Chocolate in Napa Valley
• Joel Appel '87 - President & CEO of Orange Glo International, makers of cleaning products Oxiclean, Orange Clean, Orange Glo, and Kaboom
• David Dreier '75 - California Congressman and Chairman of the House Rules Committee
• Michael Grindon '86 - President of Sony Pictures Television International
• Michael Jeffries - Chairman & CEO of Abercrombie & Fitch Co.
• Jon Kirchner '89 - President and CEO of Digital Theater Systems
• Randy Steven Kraft '67 - Convicted murderer
• Henry Kravis '67
• Robert Nakasone '69 - former CEO of Toys 'R' Us
• Donald McKenna (honorary) - Founding Trustee
• Richard E. Morrison, Jr. '99 - Director of Media Relations, Competitive Enterprise Institute
• George R. Roberts '66 P'93
• Jack L. Stark '57 - former CMC president

Dropouts

• Blake Gottesman, Personal Aide to the President of the United States
• Robin Williams, actor and comedian
• Tyra Banks, Victoria's Secret Model and host of popular television show, America's Next Top Model

External links

• Claremont McKenna College-- The Official College Website
• CMCStudents.COM-- The Internet Voice of Some CMC Students (by no means does it represent all students' views)
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