Our second "Story of Us" features My Fu ’25. She shares her experience growing up in a marginalized community, her family's struggle with food insecurity, and a chance encounter with a neighbor that taught her the power of human connection and inspired to pay her good fortune forward. Watch her talk via our bio link.

This past spring, the Kravis Lab for Social Impact hosted inspiring talks from CMC student women of color. The "Story of Us" Fellowship provides students with a reflective and insightful experience that will help them define their story, share their voice and create a call to action to cause positive change in the world. We are excited to introduce them this week! Listen to Katherine Almendarez ’22's inspiring story of how she fled Honduras as a young teen asylum seeker, was threatened with deportation, and successfully advocated to stay in the U.S. She is a recent graduate pursuing a law degree to become a legal advocate for asylum seekers from oppressed regions. Watch her talk via our bio link.

The Class of 2026 is getting to know the community at new students parties hosted by CMC alumni and families across the US. A big thank you to the Aldrich P’24 Family for welcoming the newest CMCers from Silicon Valley!

Breakthroughs in genomics, neuroscience, and renewable energy come with increasingly complex societal, economic, political, legal, and ethical implications. When everything is connected to science and big data, a siloed model of undergraduate education rooted in the 19th century no longer works. The key lies in integrated sciences. The recently announced Kravis Department of Integrated Sciences, designed for both science and non-science majors, is rooted in CMC’s foundational liberal arts and leadership mission, is unique in its approach to organizing science education around socio-scientific grand challenges, leveraging computation as a powerful vehicle for discovery and systematic solutions, and integrating CMC’s core strengths in the social sciences and humanities. Learn more via our bio link. #CMCResponsibleLeadership

To commemorate the 30th Anniversary of "The Watts Truce," a cease fire between rival gangs in Watts in 1992, the Justice Education Initiative and Intercollegiate Department of Africana Studies at the Claremont Colleges hosted a hybrid panel discussion featuring key participants in that pivotal moment in LA's social landscape. CMC Literature Prof. Derik Smith led the discussion with Kenny Butler PZ ’22 and Daude Sherrills. Sherrills and Butler, who participated in the Watts Gang Truce, "one of the most significant acts of grassroots activism and organizing in the history of California," shared their inspiring journeys from being former gang members to being leaders in grassroots activism through the transformational power of education. Butler, a former Watts gang member, is a founding member of Pitzer’s Inside-Out Pathway-to-BA program. He earned his BA through the program this year, and was also awarded the Napier Award for Creative Leadership and a Fulbright Award to be a US cultural ambassador and study the approach to incarceration and recidivism in Uganda. Read more about the Justice Education Initiative via our bio link.

Among the special events from Alumni Weekend was a 50th reunion for Wohlford Hall and Philosophy, Politics and Economics (PPE major) members. Hosted by Professor Ward Elliot (pictured left) at his home, these alumni shared an afternoon of memories with fellow residents and professors. Penn Fix ’72 (pictured seated) shared why the group identifies so strongly with this residence hall: "The dorm had an identity. We had a swagger. Wohlford Hall was an intentional community in that the upperclassmen chose to be there. During that 10-year time, it wasn't unusual to see these folks stay two, three and even four years at Wohlford. I stayed all four years with the same roommate, Carter Mullen ’72. "Ward Elliot understood the value of community and in particular the Wohlford community...Many of us took classes with Ward," he added, noting Prof. Ward's support.

As you pass through Mid Quad, you'll find tucked behind Beckett Hall a native plant garden cultivated by two CMCers and staked by CMC’s Sustainability Fund. After meeting on a hike, Zoe Carlson ’22 and Elmir Kouliev ’23 decided to apply for the funding as they both shared a love for Southern California’s wildlife and native plants, and a desire to see more of them on CMC’s campus. Their goal is to boost campus biodiversity while creating an additional space students can enjoy. “I’m hoping our work will propagate to other students,” Kouliev said with a smile. Read more via our bio link.

Meet Andrew Bradjan ’22, a recent graduate who dual majored in government and economics with a computer science sequence. As a student, he boosted sustainability efforts on campus. Propelled by a sense of urgency about climate change, Andrew earned CMC’s Building and Energy Management internship and a grant from the Sustainability Fund Committee to assess CMC’s greenhouse gas emissions. Tasked with collecting and analyzing data on utilities, study abroad air travel, fertilizer usage, and, what he described as “everything in between,” he said that the information he gathered is “vital” to setting the foundation for CMC’s Climate Action Plan to become carbon neutral by 2050. Read more about Andrew and #CMCSustainability via our bio link.

CMC Profs. Heather Ferguson and Jon Shields were recently named inaugural faculty co-directors of The Open Academy, a critical response to the educational imperative of our time: Overcoming what divides us to solve the world’s most challenging problems. “Heather and Jon exemplify and champion our Open Academy commitments in all ways,” said President Hiram E. Chodosh, “We are all moved by the enormous promise of their appointments and critical roles in the future of CMC, the academy, and our efforts to bolster the educational foundations of our democracy.” Read more about The Open Academy via our bio link. #CMCResponsibleLeadership