Newbies

Now that you are at the Claremont Colleges

Learn what the viewbooks do not tell you. On February 20, 2005, seven students from the Introduction to Asian American Studies class interviewed thirteen students from across the five Claremont Colleges. Below are listed the ten most common dynamics named by those students as well as by APA student publications from the various colleges.

The Model Minority Myth persists on the Claremont College campuses. In 2002, when students requested a shared, five-college APA resource center, the administration refused, claiming that, unlike blacks or Latinos who do possess five-college resource centers, APA students academically perform well enough on their own and thus do not need extra support. This follows the Model Minority Myth, which ignores marginalized groups within the APA community to praise all APAs for their supposed academic and financial successes. Dealing with the Claremont Colleges administrations can be difficult. Students profess they do not expect support from Claremont McKenna College. When the Five College Institutional Research group approached the Scripps College administration for data on race and campus climate, Scripps refused them the information. Without a common vocabulary, no one talks about race. Political-correctness, or the pressure to use non-offensive key words, discourages people from useful dialogue. Because the Claremont Colleges require no course on diversity, most students feel inadequate in conversations about such things as race. Afraid of offending others with politically incorrect terminology, students prefer silence. However, focus group students only request honest discussion. Not just high schoolers self-segregate. Students profess a heightened awareness of self-segregation, in which students separate along color lines. "It's not like I don't want to be friends with white people, it's just that it never really clicks," said one Scripps student. There is lack of diversity amongst APA students. Students claim most of their APA friends are rich. They also complain about a prevalence of "twinkies" or "bananas," who only look Asian but act white. Finally, they complain about a lack of South Asians. The Claremont College community does not seem to consider Asian Americans to be included as a minority group. Pomona College annually hosts four Minority Student Action Program weekends when the administration flies in minority students from across the country. However, the administration did not include Asian Pacific Americans in the weekends until April 2004, limiting the invitation to APA students from low-income families, a requirment only placed on the Asian American community. Students encounter racial insensitivity. One Pomona student recalled one class in which a professor asked her, the South Asian American student, to explain the history of India. Tension exists the dominant (white) students and the minority students. Occasionally, white students write letters to school publications that question the existence of mentor groups. One article in a Pomona publication suggested the Caucasian American Mentor Program, a spoof of the Asian American Mentor Program, stating, "Rather than forcing the students to interact with members of other races, we feel that it would be more beneficial if they were allowed to stay within the framework of their childhood/teen years, sheltered in a familiar world of Caucasian Americans." Focus group students attested to questionable treatment by professors. For example, one Scripps student complains that a professor accused her of plagiarism without reason or evidence Tension exists between races. Other letters claim that diversity divides the student body. One student from the focus group stated that "I noticed after that like that the Claremont Colleges are so racially tense and everybody groups off-like, the black people hang out with the black people, the Asian people with the Asian people, and the whites." Hate crimes do occasionally occur on campus.: In 2002, when students requested a shared, five-college APA resource center, the administration refused, claiming that, unlike blacks or Latinos who do possess five-college resource centers, APA students academically perform well enough on their own and thus do not need extra support. This follows the Model Minority Myth, which ignores marginalized groups within the APA community to praise all APAs for their supposed academic and financial successes.
Dealing with the Claremont Colleges administrations can be difficult. Students profess they do not expect support from Claremont McKenna College. When the Five College Institutional Research group approached the Scripps College administration for data on race and campus climate, Scripps refused them the information. Without a common vocabulary, no one talks about race. Political-correctness, or the pressure to use non-offensive key words, discourages people from useful dialogue. Because the Claremont Colleges require no course on diversity, most students feel inadequate in conversations about such things as race. Afraid of offending others with politically incorrect terminology, students prefer silence. However, focus group students only request honest discussion. Not just high schoolers self-segregate. Students profess a heightened awareness of self-segregation, in which students separate along color lines. "It's not like I don't want to be friends with white people, it's just that it never really clicks," said one Scripps student. There is lack of diversity amongst APA students. Students claim most of their APA friends are rich. They also complain about a prevalence of "twinkies" or "bananas," who only look Asian but act white. Finally, they complain about a lack of South Asians. The Claremont College community does not seem to consider Asian Americans to be included as a minority group. Pomona College annually hosts four Minority Student Action Program weekends when the administration flies in minority students from across the country. However, the administration did not include Asian Pacific Americans in the weekends until April 2004, limiting the invitation to APA students from low-income families, a requirment only placed on the Asian American community. Students encounter racial insensitivity. One Pomona student recalled one class in which a professor asked her, the South Asian American student, to explain the history of India. Tension exists the dominant (white) students and the minority students. Occasionally, white students write letters to school publications that question the existence of mentor groups. One article in a Pomona publication suggested the Caucasian American Mentor Program, a spoof of the Asian American Mentor Program, stating, "Rather than forcing the students to interact with members of other races, we feel that it would be more beneficial if they were allowed to stay within the framework of their childhood/teen years, sheltered in a familiar world of Caucasian Americans." Focus group students attested to questionable treatment by professors. For example, one Scripps student complains that a professor accused her of plagiarism without reason or evidence Tension exists between races. Other letters claim that diversity divides the student body. One student from the focus group stated that "I noticed after that like that the Claremont Colleges are so racially tense and everybody groups off-like, the black people hang out with the black people, the Asian people with the Asian people, and the whites." Hate crimes do occasionally occur on campus.: Students profess they do not expect support from Claremont McKenna College. When the Five College Institutional Research group approached the Scripps College administration for data on race and campus climate, Scripps refused them the information.
Without a common vocabulary, no one talks about race. Political-correctness, or the pressure to use non-offensive key words, discourages people from useful dialogue. Because the Claremont Colleges require no course on diversity, most students feel inadequate in conversations about such things as race. Afraid of offending others with politically incorrect terminology, students prefer silence. However, focus group students only request honest discussion. Not just high schoolers self-segregate. Students profess a heightened awareness of self-segregation, in which students separate along color lines. "It's not like I don't want to be friends with white people, it's just that it never really clicks," said one Scripps student. There is lack of diversity amongst APA students. Students claim most of their APA friends are rich. They also complain about a prevalence of "twinkies" or "bananas," who only look Asian but act white. Finally, they complain about a lack of South Asians. The Claremont College community does not seem to consider Asian Americans to be included as a minority group. Pomona College annually hosts four Minority Student Action Program weekends when the administration flies in minority students from across the country. However, the administration did not include Asian Pacific Americans in the weekends until April 2004, limiting the invitation to APA students from low-income families, a requirment only placed on the Asian American community. Students encounter racial insensitivity. One Pomona student recalled one class in which a professor asked her, the South Asian American student, to explain the history of India. Tension exists the dominant (white) students and the minority students. Occasionally, white students write letters to school publications that question the existence of mentor groups. One article in a Pomona publication suggested the Caucasian American Mentor Program, a spoof of the Asian American Mentor Program, stating, "Rather than forcing the students to interact with members of other races, we feel that it would be more beneficial if they were allowed to stay within the framework of their childhood/teen years, sheltered in a familiar world of Caucasian Americans." Focus group students attested to questionable treatment by professors. For example, one Scripps student complains that a professor accused her of plagiarism without reason or evidence Tension exists between races. Other letters claim that diversity divides the student body. One student from the focus group stated that "I noticed after that like that the Claremont Colleges are so racially tense and everybody groups off-like, the black people hang out with the black people, the Asian people with the Asian people, and the whites." Hate crimes do occasionally occur on campus.: Because the Claremont Colleges require no course on diversity, most students feel inadequate in conversations about such things as race. Afraid of offending others with politically incorrect terminology, students prefer silence. However, focus group students only request honest discussion.
Not just high schoolers self-segregate. Students profess a heightened awareness of self-segregation, in which students separate along color lines. "It's not like I don't want to be friends with white people, it's just that it never really clicks," said one Scripps student. There is lack of diversity amongst APA students. Students claim most of their APA friends are rich. They also complain about a prevalence of "twinkies" or "bananas," who only look Asian but act white. Finally, they complain about a lack of South Asians. The Claremont College community does not seem to consider Asian Americans to be included as a minority group. Pomona College annually hosts four Minority Student Action Program weekends when the administration flies in minority students from across the country. However, the administration did not include Asian Pacific Americans in the weekends until April 2004, limiting the invitation to APA students from low-income families, a requirment only placed on the Asian American community. Students encounter racial insensitivity. One Pomona student recalled one class in which a professor asked her, the South Asian American student, to explain the history of India. Tension exists the dominant (white) students and the minority students. Occasionally, white students write letters to school publications that question the existence of mentor groups. One article in a Pomona publication suggested the Caucasian American Mentor Program, a spoof of the Asian American Mentor Program, stating, "Rather than forcing the students to interact with members of other races, we feel that it would be more beneficial if they were allowed to stay within the framework of their childhood/teen years, sheltered in a familiar world of Caucasian Americans." Focus group students attested to questionable treatment by professors. For example, one Scripps student complains that a professor accused her of plagiarism without reason or evidence Tension exists between races. Other letters claim that diversity divides the student body. One student from the focus group stated that "I noticed after that like that the Claremont Colleges are so racially tense and everybody groups off-like, the black people hang out with the black people, the Asian people with the Asian people, and the whites." Hate crimes do occasionally occur on campus.: Students profess a heightened awareness of self-segregation, in which students separate along color lines. "It's not like I don't want to be friends with white people, it's just that it never really clicks," said one Scripps student.
There is lack of diversity amongst APA students. Students claim most of their APA friends are rich. They also complain about a prevalence of "twinkies" or "bananas," who only look Asian but act white. Finally, they complain about a lack of South Asians. The Claremont College community does not seem to consider Asian Americans to be included as a minority group. Pomona College annually hosts four Minority Student Action Program weekends when the administration flies in minority students from across the country. However, the administration did not include Asian Pacific Americans in the weekends until April 2004, limiting the invitation to APA students from low-income families, a requirment only placed on the Asian American community. Students encounter racial insensitivity. One Pomona student recalled one class in which a professor asked her, the South Asian American student, to explain the history of India. Tension exists the dominant (white) students and the minority students. Occasionally, white students write letters to school publications that question the existence of mentor groups. One article in a Pomona publication suggested the Caucasian American Mentor Program, a spoof of the Asian American Mentor Program, stating, "Rather than forcing the students to interact with members of other races, we feel that it would be more beneficial if they were allowed to stay within the framework of their childhood/teen years, sheltered in a familiar world of Caucasian Americans." Focus group students attested to questionable treatment by professors. For example, one Scripps student complains that a professor accused her of plagiarism without reason or evidence Tension exists between races. Other letters claim that diversity divides the student body. One student from the focus group stated that "I noticed after that like that the Claremont Colleges are so racially tense and everybody groups off-like, the black people hang out with the black people, the Asian people with the Asian people, and the whites." Hate crimes do occasionally occur on campus.: Students claim most of their APA friends are rich. They also complain about a prevalence of "twinkies" or "bananas," who only look Asian but act white. Finally, they complain about a lack of South Asians.
The Claremont College community does not seem to consider Asian Americans to be included as a minority group. Pomona College annually hosts four Minority Student Action Program weekends when the administration flies in minority students from across the country. However, the administration did not include Asian Pacific Americans in the weekends until April 2004, limiting the invitation to APA students from low-income families, a requirment only placed on the Asian American community. Students encounter racial insensitivity. One Pomona student recalled one class in which a professor asked her, the South Asian American student, to explain the history of India. Tension exists the dominant (white) students and the minority students. Occasionally, white students write letters to school publications that question the existence of mentor groups. One article in a Pomona publication suggested the Caucasian American Mentor Program, a spoof of the Asian American Mentor Program, stating, "Rather than forcing the students to interact with members of other races, we feel that it would be more beneficial if they were allowed to stay within the framework of their childhood/teen years, sheltered in a familiar world of Caucasian Americans." Focus group students attested to questionable treatment by professors. For example, one Scripps student complains that a professor accused her of plagiarism without reason or evidence Tension exists between races. Other letters claim that diversity divides the student body. One student from the focus group stated that "I noticed after that like that the Claremont Colleges are so racially tense and everybody groups off-like, the black people hang out with the black people, the Asian people with the Asian people, and the whites." Hate crimes do occasionally occur on campus.: Pomona College annually hosts four Minority Student Action Program weekends when the administration flies in minority students from across the country. However, the administration did not include Asian Pacific Americans in the weekends until April 2004, limiting the invitation to APA students from low-income families, a requirment only placed on the Asian American community.
Students encounter racial insensitivity. One Pomona student recalled one class in which a professor asked her, the South Asian American student, to explain the history of India. Tension exists the dominant (white) students and the minority students. Occasionally, white students write letters to school publications that question the existence of mentor groups. One article in a Pomona publication suggested the Caucasian American Mentor Program, a spoof of the Asian American Mentor Program, stating, "Rather than forcing the students to interact with members of other races, we feel that it would be more beneficial if they were allowed to stay within the framework of their childhood/teen years, sheltered in a familiar world of Caucasian Americans." Focus group students attested to questionable treatment by professors. For example, one Scripps student complains that a professor accused her of plagiarism without reason or evidence Tension exists between races. Other letters claim that diversity divides the student body. One student from the focus group stated that "I noticed after that like that the Claremont Colleges are so racially tense and everybody groups off-like, the black people hang out with the black people, the Asian people with the Asian people, and the whites." Hate crimes do occasionally occur on campus.: One Pomona student recalled one class in which a professor asked her, the South Asian American student, to explain the history of India.
Tension exists the dominant (white) students and the minority students. Occasionally, white students write letters to school publications that question the existence of mentor groups. One article in a Pomona publication suggested the Caucasian American Mentor Program, a spoof of the Asian American Mentor Program, stating, "Rather than forcing the students to interact with members of other races, we feel that it would be more beneficial if they were allowed to stay within the framework of their childhood/teen years, sheltered in a familiar world of Caucasian Americans." Focus group students attested to questionable treatment by professors. For example, one Scripps student complains that a professor accused her of plagiarism without reason or evidence Tension exists between races. Other letters claim that diversity divides the student body. One student from the focus group stated that "I noticed after that like that the Claremont Colleges are so racially tense and everybody groups off-like, the black people hang out with the black people, the Asian people with the Asian people, and the whites." Hate crimes do occasionally occur on campus.: Occasionally, white students write letters to school publications that question the existence of mentor groups. One article in a Pomona publication suggested the Caucasian American Mentor Program, a spoof of the Asian American Mentor Program, stating, "Rather than forcing the students to interact with members of other races, we feel that it would be more beneficial if they were allowed to stay within the framework of their childhood/teen years, sheltered in a familiar world of Caucasian Americans." Focus group students attested to questionable treatment by professors. For example, one Scripps student complains that a professor accused her of plagiarism without reason or evidence
Tension exists between races. Other letters claim that diversity divides the student body. One student from the focus group stated that "I noticed after that like that the Claremont Colleges are so racially tense and everybody groups off-like, the black people hang out with the black people, the Asian people with the Asian people, and the whites." Hate crimes do occasionally occur on campus.

For more information on the dynamics of race, class, gender and sexuality, check out the Conclusions pages.