Nine Claremont McKenna students (and one recent alumna) are practicing their smiles and waves over winter break, getting ready to take their places on Claremont McKenna’s Rose Parade float as it glides down Colorado Boulevard on January 2, 2023.
These exemplary CMCers will ride the float and represent Claremont McKenna, which celebrates its 75th Anniversary and “bright future” in line with the parade’s theme, “Turning the Corner.”
Meet float rider Josh Angle ’23 from Lake Oswego, Ore.
When Josh Angle ’23 shared the news with his mother that he was selected to ride on Claremont McKenna’s float in the Rose Parade, he said she was speechless at first.
Then, he recalled, “she quickly joked that we would need to practice my waving when I got home for winter break.” For Angle, home is Lake Oswego, Ore., where growing up he would casually tune in to watch the Rose Parade before the Rose Bowl game. It’s not surprising to discover that his favorite flower is the larkspur, a wildflower native to his home state.
Before coming to Claremont McKenna, Angle said one of his lifelong aspirations was to play college basketball, and he has lived out that dream, earning Academic All-America honors, and becoming the fourth Academic All-America selection in CMS men’s basketball history—the first to accomplish it as a junior.
Pursuing his degree in economics and finance, with a data science sequence and master’s in finance, Angle said he’s “proud to represent Claremont McKenna in the Rose Parade because the school provides incredible opportunities to its student body.”
“I am thankful for how Claremont McKenna has helped me develop as a student and as a person,” he said. “I’m very excited to represent CMC with my peers and have the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity of being in the Rose Parade. The event is truly a spectacle each year, so the chance to participate is an incredible honor.”
Favorite Flower: Larkspur, a wildflower native to his home state.
Favorite Campus Hangout: Roberts Pavilion. “I spend my time there as an athlete, of course, but I also love the various study rooms and modern feel of Roberts.”