President Gann escorted the Kuwaiti Foreign Minister to the Athenaeum on Monday, where he was awarded the College's 50th honorary degree.

Dr. Al-Sabah was on campus to receive an honorary doctor of laws. The minister was originally notified of the honor during President Gann’s trip to the Middle East in March, at which point they began coordinating a visit to campus for him to accept the degree.

Typically, honorary degrees are awarded by colleges and universities during commencement ceremonies each spring. But as Dr. Al-Sabah is unable to make CMC’s May 15 graduation, an Athenaeum luncheon was hosted instead.

At the lunch, Dr. Al-Sabah described his alma mater as having a special place in his heart. “Let your heart float and drift in the sea of passion,” he said. “There is no love but your first love.” The sheikh had turned down an invitation from Condeleeza Rice to speak at Stanford the same day, he noted, as his visit to California was for Claremont.

Dr. Al-Sabah, 55 years old, is the fiftieth person to receive an honorary degree in the College’s history. The dignitary has already earned a PhD from Harvard in economics in addition to his BA from CMC, which he earned cum laude in 1978.

In the past, honorary degrees have been given sparingly. Until 2002, only one or two individuals were awarded such degrees each year, if any were given at all. Ceremonies were traditionally separate from commencement, which was an unusual practice. While almost always doctor of laws degrees (LH D), CMC has occasionally awarded doctor of humane letters degrees, to figures such as Marian Miner Cook and George Van Tubergen. The Board of Trustees revised their honorary degree policy in 2003, and as a result, the number of degrees awarded annually has increased.

Dr. Al-Sabah will not be the only Kuwaiti awarded an honorary degree this year. Abdulatif Al-Hamad, Chairman of the Arab Fund for Economic and Social Development and another CMC alumnus and parent, has also been chosen to receive a doctor of law.

The main windows of Collins Dining Hall were painted over last night.

Late last night, “Fuck CMC” was painted on the main windows of Collins Dining Hall.

Pomona students are alleged to have committed the act, based on a continued graffiti trail back to the Sagehen campus. But Dean of Students Mary Spellman said there is no evidence to support this claim, and said that Campus Safety was continuing an investigation into the matter.

“I just received a report this morning,” Spellman said, adding she knew nothing else of the event.

The incident comes in light of a long history of similar episodes. CMC students infamously broke into Frary Dining Hall and defaced Prometheus years ago, and Pomona has damaged the Flamson Plaza fountain outside the Athenaeum in recent past.

The graffiti, which included phallic imagery along with the slur, was promptly cleaned up this morning. Today is one of two major on-campus days for prospective students.

During his visit to Claremont on April 15, Governor Mitt Romney sat down with the Forum for an exclusive interview. Romney was a guest of the Res Publica Society, speaking in Orange County to the college community over lunch before coming to campus in preparation for his speech at the Athenaeum.

Below is the full transcript of our interview with the former presidential candidate.

Michael Wilner: As you may know, Claremont McKenna has some of the strongest government and economics departments in the country. These two fields have come to shape the college, and your career alike.

When you were CEO of Bain, you were creating jobs across the nation and around the world. Many students here aspire to such a position of power and influence. How did you come to the conclusion that being governor of Massachusetts would do you more good?

Michael Wilner interviewed Mitt Romney in the residence of the Athenaeum during his visit to Claremont in April.

Mitt Romney: Actually, I participated in my career in the business world because I enjoyed it, but also because it made a living for me and for my family, and it turned out to be far more financially rewarding than I would’ve ever imagined. And when I had been successful in that endeavor, I was approached by the governor of Utah asking if I would come help organize the Olympic Winter Games in Salt Lake… they were in deep difficulty. The experience I had learned in the private sector to turn around troubled industries – or companies, rather – had given me some skills to be helpful there. And my view was I’ve reached a point where I could afford to leave my business, and the earnings of a private-sector job, and I could go serve. And really, running the Olympics, and then running for governor, and becoming elected – those things were about service, rather than about furthering a career interest of mine or something of that nature.

Wilner: The last week of March, President Obama called you the “now presidential candidate” for 2012. Having traveled to Iowa and New Hampshire quite recently, do you see why he, and others, would suspect that you’re running?

Romney: Actually, I’ve traveled to 19 states as part of my book tour, and it is not surprising that would include states where I am relatively well known, like Iowa and New Hampshire. The other 17 states were not mentioned by those who follow politics, for obvious reasons. But I’m keeping the option open, as a number of people are doing. There are probably ten folks who might be considered as potential candidates for the Republican nomination. My guess is that some of the ten will run, and some of us won’t.  And that’s a decision you make at the moment you need to, which is probably after the November elections, and not before. But whether or not I’ll get in is a decision which my family and I haven’t made yet, but we’re keeping the door open.

Wilner: But yes or no – do you want to be president? I guess that’s a different question than whether you’ll run.

I don’t feel the same way he does. I feel differently than that. But I thought his was an amusing response. I think people who really want to be president, and want the trappings and benefits of president will perhaps best be disqualified, and that, instead, people who believe they have a contribution that would be critical at an essential time in American history would be the ones that you’d hope would actually run. I think that probably tends to be the case. And in my case, I’m not someone who’s pining after being president. The decision I made last time to run was based upon my belief that my backgrounds and skills in the private sector were very much in need in government. But that was then, and who knows what it’s going to feel like two or three years from now.

Wilner: Do you believe the GOP should try to completely embrace the Tea Party Movement, or try to keep its distance?

Romney: I think the Tea Party Movement is a citizen’s movement, focused on eliminating excessive taxation and reducing the interest of this government. That’s very similar to the message of my party – when it’s abiding by its principles. So it is different than the Republican Party, but it is consistent with our philosophy. And I think it augurs well for our prospects. So I embrace the fact that the silent majority is silent no more, and the tea partiers are expressing their views on issues that America cares very deeply about. I think it is a positive development and good for the country, and may well be good for our party.

Wilner: What would you say is the defining difference – the defining difference, if there were one – between your Massachusetts healthcare bill and Mr. Obama’s bill?

The former governor of Massachusetts told the Forum he expects to make a decision on whether to run for president after the November midterm elections.

Romney: Ours was a state solution to state problem, and his was a federal intrusion on the rights of states. His is a federal, one-size-fits-all plan. Ours was tailored to the needs of our citizens. And because ours was a state plan, we didn’t have to raise taxes. We didn’t have to cut benefits to seniors. We didn’t have to put in price controls. His plan does all those things, because it’s a federal plan, and that was the wrong way to approach an issue like healthcare.

Wilner: How would you have approached it otherwise?

Romney: My view, when I ran for office and since, has been that the federal government should let states receive the federal moneys they have been receiving that allow states to care for their poor – but to use those moneys to help people buy insurance so that you reduce the roles of the uninsured, letting each state craft their own plan, but receiving flexibility from the federal government in the use of federal funds.

Wilner: How would you fix California?

Romney: By electing Meg Whitman!

(Laughs)

I think she has the private sector experience to know what the right answers would be, and the backbone, and conviction, to actually do what’s necessary to get the job done. I happen to believe that California’s people are going to need to be part of this process – that it’s not something that even a great governor alone can accomplish. It’s going to need the people letting their legislators know what’s the right thing to do, maybe even voting for ballot initiatives that are necessary to get the state back on track. But frankly, California is teetering over the edge financially, and this is going to take a very effective leader who can communicate with the citizens of California how she and they, together, need to restructure California’s finances.

Wilner: But do you think there’s validity to the worry of many Californians that she was apolitical before? That she hadn’t registered before she decided to run?

Romney: I think it’s a testament to the fact that she’s not a politician. If Californians want a politician who has spent his entire life in politics, well that’s Jerry Brown. And if you think what we really need in California are more politicians running things then he’s your person. But if, instead, you think you want somebody who is not a politician, who has not been involved in politics, who has been leading in business, then Meg is your person.

Wilner: More than anything else, what did you learn from your run in 2008?

Romney: That it’s more fun to win than to lose?

(Laughs)

But also that it’s important to define your message rather than letting the media, and your opposition, define who you are. And that means making sure that you focus your remarks on those issues you care most about. In my case, it’s about strengthening the foundation of America’s economy so that we can not only be prosperous, but we can protect our freedom.

Wilner: I’m going to ask – who is your favorite Democrat alive today?

Romney, Wilner, and Laura Sucheski, managing editor for news and opinion, after the interview. Photo credit: Carl Peaslee.

Romney: Who is my favorite Democrat? Let’s see – I just signed a book the other day to someone who I said, ‘you’re my favorite Democrat.’ You know, I have a number of Democrats who were supportive of me in my campaign, so I’m going to be hard-pressed to pick out a favorite Democrat. I’ve got a lot of Democrats who support me. I had during my administration as governor a number of Democrats who served – Doug Foy, who was my secretary of economic matters; Bob Pozen, who was another cabinet secretary of mine, he’s a Democrat. I have a number of Democratic friends who I consider good friends. But I’m not going to pick a current elected official, because – at this stage – I’m not going to endorse someone. It’s like the kiss of death.

Wilner: Fair enough. And how do you think Hillary Clinton is doing at the State Department?

Romney: I don’t know how much she is responsible for in terms of our new foreign policy, but I think our new foreign policy is badly misguided, and that the administration is making mistakes everywhere from Latin America to the Middle East. And I believe that the consequences of these mistakes are very severe. I don’t know if that’s Secretary Clinton’s responsibility or whether it’s been the president’s direction. My guess is, when the books are written and history unfolds, we’ll know where she stood and where he stood on these matters.

Wilner: Sarah Palin – I know you’ve addressed this a lot. She said she’d be happy to sit on the ticket with you, if you were to run. Would you be comfortable with such a ticket?

Romney: She’s a terrific powerhouse in the Republican Party. It would be presumptive of me to start talking about even my running, but I think the world of her and have respect for what she’s been able to do to help to generate enthusiasm and passion in our party.

Wilner: Would you say it’s presumptive of her to be talking about it?

Romney: I – I welcome, with some delight, her generous comments about me, and I feel the same way about her.

Wilner: Well governor, thank you so much for coming to Claremont. Welcome.

Romney: It’s great to be here, Michael.

For more information on this interview and Governor Romney’s visit, e-mail forum@ascmc.org.

Michael Wilner: You’ve been at Al Jazeera since 1998. Since you joined the network, two major wars have been waged by the United States and numerous conflicts have flared between Israel and Palestinian groups.

Coinciding with these changes, Al Jazeera has grown into a worldwide organization.

How would you say things have changed in Arab media, given all the geopolitical changes that have occurred since you arrived?

Michael Wilner sat down with Joumana Nammour at the Athenaeum. Nammour has been called the Katie Couric of Al Jazeera, and has become a celebrity in the Middle East as the network's first female daily news anchor.

Joumana Nammour: Things have changed a lot with the wars. But Al Jazeera brought a new type of coverage to the region, even before Bush. Before, the Arab world was not represented – its perspective was not shown. At the same time, we were the first network in the region to bring Israelis on the air. We covered areas that were not covered before.

Wilner: What would you say your audience is looking to hear about these conflicts?

Nammour: This is funny… “looking to hear.” What they look for and what they hear are often two different things. We show what is there, and what is undeniable truth – like when a photo is taken, or a video is taken, and there is something provable. Sometimes people are looking for their perspective only, and do not hear that from us. And we will cover what happens in under-developed nations, and the politics and conflicts, while the Western networks will not.

Wilner: Now, you say that Western networks don’t cover under-developed nations. But you certainly all cover major conflicts in the region. How would you contrast Al Jazeera’s coverage of these events from that of CNN, say, or the BBC?

Nammour: The wording. We will talk about a resistance, for instance, occurring in Afghanistan – men resisting against an occupier– when other networks will often call them terrorists. Other times we will simply report on things they ignore – like the killing of young children in a small town in Gaza. But we also have our correspondents be from the location they report from. We see this as important. The West calls this bias, but how many Arabs are reporting for CNN in Washington?

Wilner: On wording: during the Israeli campaign in Lebanon in 2006, your network kept a “martyr count.” Don’t you feel this reflects a bias in coverage?

Nammour: I find this strange, because I was in Lebanon at the time. They were asking me: why do you call the Palestinians martyrs, but you do not call us martyrs? So I find it strange that we kept a martyr count then.

Wilner: Well then let’s talk about the word “martyr.” Why is it used to describe all Palestinian deaths?

Nammour: This is one cause that unites the Arabs. It is the Arab cause.

Wilner: But if this is a cause that all Arabs are united behind, doesn’t that mean it is also Al Jazeera’s cause? And what are the implications of that?

Nammour: That is the central question, which I address in my remarks tonight. We ultimately tell the story – we tell what is happening, the truth. But there is also a perspective here. People want to hear… they want them together. Objectivity is relative. Is anyone ever really objective? Is any organization?

Wilner: Okay. And how would you describe Al Jazeera’s portrayal of Israel and the Jewish people?

Photo Credit: Carl Peaslee

Nammour: We report on what the Israeli Army does by looking at the facts. We see children being killed and we will report on it – the worst, when children are dying. Journalism is about reporting death counts, really. Or we find out – with hard facts – that it is using white phosphorus in Gaza. But I cannot think, in my twelve years, of a time when Al Jazeera said anything general about the Israeli people, specifically.

Wilner: You speak of the Gaza campaign, but I was wondering more generally. Did Al Jazeera portray Israel any differently before 2009?

Nammour: No, because before that there was Lebanon, and there were others before that.

Wilner: Okay. And if there was one thing you have learned from covering the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, what would that be?

Nammour: Bloodshed only leads to more bloodshed. We cannot solve the conflict by fighting through it. But I know Arab governments who have put deals on the table, and their people have yelled, “take that deal back!” And they haven’t. And those deals are still sitting there; they have not been picked up.

Wilner: You have covered the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan extensively. What would say are some of the challenges covering two campaigns that are viewed so unfavorably in the region?

Nammour: Well the bombing of our bureaus, in both countries. I remember talking to a close coworker who was on a rooftop reporting, very proud – wearing all the gear. Just a few hours later, he was killed. The office was very affected by that – it was personal. But we were all working very hard, and it was difficult, with the circumstances.

Wilner: There clearly was a change of atmosphere at Al Jazeera’s headquarters after the wars began. But how about during 9/11, and in the immediate aftermath?

Nammour: Bush made this very difficult, because he made things very black and white. Suddenly we were either with his decisions or against them. We were put in black and white. And it made things difficult, even before the invasion.

Wilner: Well thank you for joining us, Ms. Nammour, and welcome to Claremont.

Nammour: Thank you.

For more information on this interview and Ms. Nammour’s visit, e-mail forum@ascmc.org.

Claremont McKenna ranked #1 in the Daily Beast survey on happiness.

No surprise. The Daily Beast released its ranking yesterday of the “100 Happiest Colleges in America,” and Claremont McKenna came out on the very top. CMC was followed by Harvard, Pomona and Rice.

The blog’s methodology measures the quality of student life using a mix of data from College Prowler, a popular college review series, and U.S. News & World Report College Rankings, the premiere college ranking source. Between the two, the Daily Beast rankings take into account campus housing, dining and nightlife, student indebtedness and retention rate, the number of clubs on campus, and the weather climate.

Take a look at the full rankings here, as well as the most stressed out colleges in the country here.

Professor Bassam Frangieh, director of CMC’s Arabic programs, believes the new venture is a natural progression for the College after the Arabic program demonstrated such success over the past year. “You cannot teach the language alone,” Frangieh said. “You have to teach the culture, as well. Both are interconnected. And now the students want to do more. They are eager to go to the Middle East to study Arabic and to do internships in Arab countries.”

Currently, over one hundred students have enrolled in Arabic courses at CMC. The current program was founded just a year ago.

Gann & Wenger visited Abu Dhabi, Ad Doha, Kuwait City and Amman. Pictured Above: Streets of Amman, Jordan.

According to Frangieh and Gann, the program would be similar in structure to CMC’s DC Program, with internships attended during the daytime and courses instructed in the evenings. But the program would only be offered during the summer, for now. “We believe the success for the CMC model is to take students who have already studied Arabic here and have a way to project ourselves there,” Gann said. “We would provide housing, courses and internship opportunities” – resources hard to come by in the region without established assistance.

The president visited Abu Dhabi, Kuwait City, Ad Doha and Amman. “I think, on balance, Amman, Jordan will come out as the best location,” Gann explained. “Arabic is the main language there and the culture is more obvious than in the other cities we visited. They speak a lot of English in these other cities. And I believe it will have the best internship opportunities.”

She added: “We also have alumni support there, which I feel is very important. I’d be less excited about going into a country where we have absolutely no alumni. The other issue in the gulf is that, frankly, it’s very hot in the summer.”

Ideally, the program would start in the summer of 2011. But it remains unclear how it would be funded. “We would have to charge tuition for it, because it would be for credit,” she said. Details are to be worked out with Dean Hess in the coming months.

As a CMC program, the College would be able to hire all of its instructors, which would give it much more control over the content of courses and allow for the classes to count for credit. It would be difficult to award such credit, and nearly impossible to coordinate quality internships, if the courses were outsourced to another program or university. “We certainly can do it better and more effectively,” Frangieh noted, adding that he would be willing to go with the students to shepherd them and establish the program. “Creating a strong CMC presence abroad is not only necessary but also a requirement. This is the time to do it.”

While there, Gann traveled with Aleta Wenger, the Executive Director of International Programs and Professor Frangieh’s wife. Together they met with dozens of officials, including the U.S. ambassador to Kuwait, Her Majesty’s staff in Jordan and members of the Brookings Institution’s Middle East Bureau in Qatar.

The trip came in light of increased globalization efforts made by the College on various fronts. Dean of Admissions Richard Vos recently came off a recruitment trip in the Middle East himself, and a trip to Singapore and Hong Kong took place over Spring Break for the Robert Day School. But Gann was clear to differentiate our interests in the Middle East from Claremont’s plans in Asia. “We’re looking at something far simpler in the Middle East than we were in Singapore,” she said, referring to consortium plans to found a sixth college abroad. “We don’t want any bricks and mortar; we just want to organize it as an extension of what we do here.”

Multiple parties share responsibility in the policy shift. Fundamentally, students – and uninvited visitors – have been making a mess of the college’s dorms and quads. Out of $20,000 in damages quoted by Story House over the past year, 65% has been the byproduct of TNCs. “It doesn’t make sense for us to continue this pattern,” Dean of Students Mary Spellman said. “We’re not opposed to the event, but things need to be managed differently.”

Spellman added: “There’s reasonable damage and there’s throwing a chair at a window.”

Jim Nauls, Assistant Dean of Students, expressed strong feelings that the event had grown out of control. “Unless we do something about this, something drastic could happen,” Nauls lamented. “This kid that got his face beat in last week… it could have been a lot worse. It was a product of people not paying attention.”

The problem is twofold. Though big parties are often apt to cause damage, TNCs are usually hosted in spaces unsuitable for big parties. The result is overcrowding, impossible enforcement, and spillage into a secondary party outside the dorm. “The people congregating outside are just going to have to stay at home,” Nauls said.

Thursday Night Club, or TNC, was established only four years ago, originally as a small party revolving around a keg.

After informing them of TNC’s immediate suspension, DOS approached the new ASCMC administration with broad demands. In order to continue, the parties must be more tightly controlled, guests must be more strictly monitored, and damages that persist must actually be paid for.

Indeed, one major issue for the Dean of Students has been the debt ASCMC has accrued. Each year for the past four years, the student government has built up a massive Story House bill, putting off receipts until the end of their term – and often dumping them onto the next government, which is forced to pay a bill they don’t fully understand. The new ASCMC administration cannot then appeal the damage receipts, as most of them are from parties months past. “There’s also the issue of whether there’s downward pressure to meet your damages when you’re not going to pay for it – you’re just going to dump it,” said Vice President for Student Affairs Jefferson Huang. “Hansell inherited a bill; Isayas inherited one; Tammy is now inheriting one. It’s everyone’s problem.”

Story House has grown frustrated with the system, and has pushed the Dean of Students Office to press ASCMC on payments on an immediate basis.

“The expectation has been changed, and we’ll meet them on their expectations,” ASCMC Vice President Chris Jones said. “In the very least, we’re meeting the level that’s been met by past administrations. And if they change expectations, they should expect some adjustment time.”

Currently, the new ASCMC administration has been given a bill of $13,000 in damages for TNC parties.

“It’s not just because there’s a large debt owed. That in and of itself wouldn’t be enough for us to cancel [TNC],” Spellman added. “It’s just that, every week, more and more, there’s damage. And there’s a building attitude of, when the party ends, people can just leave garbage sitting. It’s getting worse.”

Jones and ASCMC President Tammy Phan would not rule out contesting portions of the $13,000 bill. But they were more concerned with taking preventative measures throughout their term, which started this week.

“The real problem is not the fact that the bills haven’t been paid,” Phan noted. “It’s the fact that we, as students, have caused thousands of dollars in damage over the course of a year. It’s that they have to be paid in the first place.”

Phan said, “We’re leaning towards any effort that will allow us to have TNCs, period.”

Jones went on to push back against the method of charging from Story House. “We’ve been mis-assigned charges very frequently,” he said. “It’s checking your rental car before you take it out of the lot. A lot of this is not ours.

Alexander Reichert, Dorm Activities Chair, has drafted a proposal that DOS has accepted as adequate. In response, DOS has lifted the ban on the assumption that his plan will succeed. But the implication is that ASCMC now holds full responsibility of what happens, and that the future of Thursday parties rests on their ability to curtail assault and vandalism.

“The first step is to increase security,” said Reichert. “The second step is to be more stringent on who we allow into our parties.” Reichert noted that TNCs would be smaller, and strictly CMC-only, with a possibility of a guest list for friends of CMCers from the other four colleges. But one goal is to avoid “Pitzer students coming in, and drinking the alcohol they never paid for,” he said. “We are open to making these 5C parties, but the other colleges will have to contribute.”

All TNCs will now card at the door for CMC identification, and will be fenced off. “Fencing sets a precedent,” Reichert added. “These parties can’t just be open and sprawling.” ASCMC will also be hiring security other than Campus Security, which has proven ineffective.

While Nauls, Spellman and Huang were originally in disagreement over whether to truly cancel Thursday Night Club for good, they have agreed to work towards a revised version of the event – knowing that parties will occur every Thursday, anyway.

“We were ready to actually pull the plug on TNCs to say stop,” said Huang. “It really came to a boil for us shortly before the ASCMC elections. I told Jim I thought doing that now would enter us into the issue of candidates, so we waited until after the elections were over.”

The improvement plan can be seen in three steps: the immediate, short, and long term.

Within the week, students will see flat-screen televisions in the Hub with HD Direct TV. The administration is also looking to replace the tables to create a more cohesive study environment.

Prior to Kravis Center construction, the space currently occupied by Faculty Support West served as the Frazee Room– a multipurpose room that was significantly underutilized. Vice President for Student Affairs Dean Huang shared, “It has been my plan to return the Frazee Room to a student lounge when the Faculty Support Center leaves in 2011.” Faculty Support will be moving to a room underneath the “glass cube” and the current space will become vacant.

One of the three rooms will become a lounge and meeting room for the Robert Day School, which has requested a space for its scholars; the other two will become study lounges, stocked with tables and whiteboards. The space will be open late-night. It will be one of many additional study spaces, as the Kravis Center is slated to have quite a few as well.

“I think that’s really what we’re most lacking on campus,” Kraus said. “We need more study space.”

In theory, this reshuffling will extract the study-lounge function of the Hub and allow it to excel purely as a lounge. The space will then see more significant renovations.

Further down the line, CMC’s Master Plan, recently approved unanimously by the Board of Trustees, suggests the complete demolition of Emett, as well as McKenna Auditorium and Bauer Center. An academic building will replace the space across from the Athenaeum. And in Bauer’s place, a more fitting and extraordinary building will become our student center.

The plan would increase the student body by 150 students – without building a single new dormitory – and the administration projects that it would bring in roughly $1 million in added net revenue per year for CMC.

CMC wouldn’t necessarily copy the D-Plan’s every detail. For example, CMC may only allow students to choose between one of their two semesters of junior year to withdraw. The idea was originally posed by Gordon Bjork, a founder of the PPE program at CMC and a graduate of Dartmouth himself. Yet conversation within the CMC community has only just started, and the plan is being taken more seriously than ever. Hess and CMC Registrar Elizabeth Morgan have spoken to the Dean of the College at Dartmouth at length to get a grasp of the plan’s details, and Gann has informed the Council of Presidents of CMC’s exploratory review.

Many faculty members are already raising concerns that the plan would do more harm than good. Without students consistently on campus during the two central years of their college careers, many believe that academic opportunities and essentials – including the completion of one’s major – may become hurdles. In addition, those majoring off-campus or those who want to take electives at another college would run into difficulty, finding that the breadth of coursework usually offered is not available during the summer. Scripps and Pitzer may not want to fund the Joint Science Department for a summer term, and their support would be necessary for the plan to move forward. Additional faculty would be needed as well. “The faculty are interested in doing this if there’s a really good academic reason for doing so,” says Hess. Furthermore, applications for admission to Claremont McKenna, now at an all-time high, may decrease due to the new, unorthodox structure. When asked about the plan, CMC Dean of Admissions Richard Vos raised numerous concerns. “Not enough of the details of the CMC version of the Dartmouth Plan have been worked out,” he said.

Those details will be worked out over the rest of the calendar year. Hess expects much of the work to be done over the summer, with a more detailed report released by December. The report will be read closely by all of the Claremont College presidents, some of which are considering joining the plan themselves. Both Gann and Hess have spoken of deep interest from at least two other colleges, but neither identified which.

Proponents of the plan say the schedule structure offers unique opportunities to both students and faculty. Students would get to choose which of the four terms they take off, and making them candidates for internships that aren’t typical for college students. Faculty would be able to organize programs lasting three consecutive semesters without a stop. And it allows science majors to conduct experiments during the summer that wouldn’t normally be available during a classic academic year. “The central question this plan raises is: why don’t you run your college all year long?” Hess says. “Why do you need a period for things to lay fallow? It’s not like the campus needs to regenerate itself.”

It is difficult to determine whether or not adopting of the Dartmouth Plan would change the character of the school. The cohesive nature of a class may be jeopardized by its dispersion over sophomore and junior years, but Dartmouth insists that, on the contrary, it is strengthened by a unique bonding experience over the summer term. “I would not see any consideration of such a change at CMC to be a ‘change in character,’” Gann states. “Rather, we should do this only if we think that on balance it is done in such a way as to provide significant added value.”

Ultimately these questions will be fleshed out. But it may come down to a simple problem: Claremont, unfortunately, is no Hanover in summertime.

“We’re assuming a 30% drop,” Gann stated. “This really starts effecting your budget two years from now, rather than right this minute. But because of the way our spending rule works, it smooths out bad quarters over twelve total quarters. It gives you time to put everything in motion to absorb such a big loss.”

Such motions were generally outlined in Gann’s November report, which included the suspension of certain faculty searches. While no current building projects will be directly effected– the Kravis Center is on schedule, the tennis center will open and the Eastern lands will be purchased– the administration doesn’t plan on embarking on any new projects in the near future.

The Campaign for Claremont McKenna will likely have a slow year, with many donors saying they will pledge at the end of the campaign, which is four years from now. The campaign’s major gifts from Day, Kravis, Crown and Roberts will all be paid out as planned.

Colleges and universities across the board have witnessed similar misfortunes, with losses in fiscal year 2008 averaging between 25-30%.