CMC In The News

Claremont McKenna College was mentioned in a Los Angeles Times story about financial aid needs in the midst of the COVID-19 crisis. CMC is hearing from more families apprehensive about college costs and remains committed to fully covering a student’s demonstrated financial need.

President Hiram Chodosh was featured in an in-depth Chronicle of Higher Education article that illustrated how four college presidents made decisions to close their campuses — and helped pave the way for the rest of the country to follow suit.

Claremont McKenna College was highlighted in a Los Angeles Times story about college students who petitioned to stay in campus housing during the pandemic. About 85 CMC students received approval to stay, including all international student applicants, who face potential health risks and visa problems if they leave the country, said Dianna Graves, assistant vice president and dean of students. “Our goal throughout this response has been to acknowledge the significant personal losses while offering support to get through this,” she said.

Claremont McKenna College was featured in a Los Angeles Times story on campus closures across the country. The story mentioned that all students would be required to return home or find another off-campus location by March 23 — with some exceptions. “We recognize that not everyone has a good or safe place to go,” President Hiram Chodosh said.

The Washington Post interviewed CMC President Hiram Chodosh about the role sports play in admissions to the nation’s most prestigious private colleges and universities.

Chodosh said that CMC, a Division III college, aspires to be “the go-to college for the scholar-leader-athlete.”

He acknowledged a concern, however, about all the money that affluent parents pour into athletic trainers, traveling clubs, sports camps and other activities—separate from high school sports teams—that give their children an edge in the recruiting chase.

Too often, he said, wealth and privilege determine “who becomes a competitive athlete in a world where we have structured sport and play to an extreme.” Those disparities, he continued, pose a challenge for the country and for colleges that want to level the playing field. “We have a lot more work to do there.”

The Los Angeles Times interviewed CMC President Hiram Chodosh in an article about the stereotypes of elite colleges being exclusively for wealthy families.

Access and affordability, Chodosh said, are rooted in the founding vision of the College, whose first students in 1946 were World War II veterans. He further detailed how the College “has stepped up its commitment” to low-income students, as well as students who are the first in their families to attend college.

“I’m concerned about a growing frustration with elite institutions generally, including higher education institutions, that becomes very corrosive and can serve to undermine the tremendous investment and success of our leading colleges and universities,” he said.

In a video interview with the Los Angeles Times, CMC President Hiram Chodosh discussed how higher education can help students “develop a full sense of home and belonging” while simultaneously committing “to notions of free and critical inquiry and speech.”

“These are not … mutually exclusive goals,” Chodosh said. “We need to do—and can do —both at the same time. And part of our process, part of our commitment here at Claremont McKenna College, is to commit to that process of building security and self-confidence and a sense of belonging in each and every one of our students. And to engage the whole community to think deeply about the problems of our country, the challenges of a pluralistic society, and to join together to build community and build that capacity.”