Now, the right response to the grandeur of the world is wonder, awe, and—dare I say it—humility. Now I know a word like that is hard to hear on a day like today. You’ve worked so hard and learned so much, and yet—in the last analysis, your paltry human wisdom amounts to nothing. Socrates said something like this—so did St. Paul—and they both got killed. Some will argue that the best response to the vastness of the unknown is to be larger than life, to be greedy, to grab what you can. If you’re larger than life, you’ll always be squinting to see.
Being small allows you to appreciate life in full detail. Life is best accepted as a gift, not seized as a trophy. You can’t truly partake in life’s joys unless you receive it like a child. You must be poor in spirit to recognize the riches on offer. You should forever be taken aback by the oddity of your own existence. The universe is bigger and stranger than you could possibly imagine.
Henry Long 2025 Class-Elected Commencement Speech
This year’s findings also noted that, nationally, 71% of students believe that it is acceptable to shout down a speaker and 53% believe the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is too sensitive for open discussion. In response to such concerns, Mark Huber, Professor of Mathematics and Statistics, explained that CMC is intentionally constructing the data science major to distinguish it from the computer science major. However, there are areas of overlap, such as the requirement to complete clinic. Ideally, students majoring in data science and computer science will participate together in clinic projects during their junior year.
FIRE’s 2026 Free Speech Rankings: How the Claremont Colleges Fared
As your FOB president—Funniest On Ballot, Freshest On Board, or Free Office Boba—you’ll get humor, energy, and inclusiveness. Even if you don’t rank me #1, I’ll always be here to hear you out—whether it’s ranting about classes, policies, dining hall food, or the meaning of life. But without the strange correspondence between our minds and reality, none of this research would be possible. Science would be defunct, education would be a farce, and this College as we know it wouldn’t exist. Moreover, CMC is said to have “deplatformed” commencement speaker Salman Rushdie as its singular controversy, when the motivation behind Rushdie’s withdrawal remains unknown. These discrepancies may suggest that FIRE strongly weighs subjective student experience, or at the very least, receives much of its information from the FIRE-College Pulse surveys.
Don’t let the drudgery of your office job, the mundanity of your daily routine, the intensity of your political loyalties, or the vapidity of your Instagram feed distract you from the enchantment of the world. There may also be significant oversights in FIRE’s 5C rankings. For instance, Scripps is said to have experienced “0 controversies” in 2025, which neglects prolonged debate and controversy over the Motley’s closure in October 2024. Pomona is also said to have had “0 controversies,” despite the occupation of Carnegie Hall, also in October 2024.
FIRE’s 2026 Free Speech Rankings: How the Claremont Colleges Fared
But beyond that, I want to use funding EXACTLY how our class wants me to. To accomplish this, there’d be survey links at every function to get immediate feedback for improvement. I want to set up “office hours” or fireside chats at Beckett’s Fireplace on a weekly basis where I can talk individually with any of my classmates.
- As your FOB president—Funniest On Ballot, Freshest On Board, or Free Office Boba—you’ll get humor, energy, and inclusiveness.
- You should be deeply dissatisfied with how little you know.
- College needs to be more than a set of classes, preprofessional network-maxxing, and building up a resume for the future.
- I’m running for FYCP because I can actually bring this class together—not just as a slogan, but as action.
These incidents, if considered, could have dropped the colleges’ points in FIRE’s subcriteria. According to FIRE’s featured section on CMC, the college now ranks in the top ten in self-survey components for “Comfort Expressing Ideas,” “Openness,” and “Self-Censorship,” among others. However, CMC’s score only rounds up to a “B-” letter grade. Claremont McKenna College claimed first place in the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression’s 2026 Free Speech Rankings on Tuesday, while Pomona College clocked in at 247th of 257 colleges. The other Claremont Colleges’ placements spanned between the two, with all but CMC earning an “F” grade.
This article is not a call for partisanship or an end to institutional neutrality. In 2018, George Roberts ‘66 P’93 donated $25 million to expand data science education and computing education. With plans to hire new professors specializing in data science, CMC currently has the faculty and resources needed to launch a data science major. “The data science major will allow students to be a player, an expert in data science,” said Peter Uvin, Vice President of Academic Affairs and Dean of Faculty, to stress the distinctive purposes the data science major would serve. CMC students deem the new data science major as “very admirable and a necessary step for CMC to remain a leading national liberal arts college,” according to David Roman ‘22, a current public policy major with a data science sequence. CMC’s grade of 79.86 is the highest score of any of the colleges rated by FIRE.
We could talk about policy, the food at Collins, or even just do homework in silence. Finally, I want every single meeting related to my presidency to be open-doors. The words of my classmates matter, and I want them to not only be heard but also implemented in the impact I make for my class. As the semester ramps up and the Class of 2029 settles into college life, a familiar fleet of banners hang outside Appleby Hall. The First-Year Class President campaigns are in full swing, and six eager candidates are vying for the opportunity to represent the newest cohort cmc markets review of CMC students, promising events, food, community, and memories. CMC’s neutrality on recent government interference in higher education is a far cry from the responsible leadership we preach.
What You Need to Know About the Soon-to-be-Launched Data Science Major
I want every student to feel represented, connected, and included. With so many passions and perspectives at CMC, we deserve a leader who can bring us together, not divide us. As you walk the stage, remember that you join in a tradition that spans nine decades here at CMC and ten centuries around the world. Today’s ceremony inaugurates rather than culminates your intellectual journey, and Claremont is a mere Route-66 pit stop on your path towards truth. Your education has led you out, graduation is just a step, and this commencement is just the beginning.
- The universe follows patterns, which our minds can recognize.
- Claremont McKenna College claimed first place in the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression’s 2026 Free Speech Rankings on Tuesday, while Pomona College clocked in at 247th of 257 colleges.
- Standing with our fellow institutions of higher education is not a declaration of partisanship.
- It’s your job to humble yourself, learn from the world, and serve others.
The 18th century Romantics called this concept “the sublime.” They found it in the splendor of nature and the vastness of the unknown. From time to time instances will arise in which the society, or segments of it, threaten the very mission of the university and its values of free inquiry. In such a crisis, it becomes the obligation of the university as an institution to oppose such measures and actively to defend its interests and its values.
I’m running for FYCP because I can actually bring this class together—not just as a slogan, but as action. Second, diversity of thought is more than a phrase—it’s who I am. I bring the perspective of an Italian-American who has lived abroad and seen how different ideas strengthen a community. I will work to ensure every student feels comfortable voicing their views.
Henry Long 2025 Class-Elected Commencement Speech
This breath, however shallow it may be, inspires a hunger for the heavenly, a thirst for the transcendent, and a recognition of our incompleteness and ignorance. Despite criticisms of FIRE’s methodology, the organization’s broad reach and coverage have been celebrated for providing insights upon which to build better speech climates at American colleges. On the policy front, CMC earns a Green Light, particularly for its adoption of the Chicago Principles and commitment to institutional neutrality as far back as 2018. These are stances that the other Claremont Colleges have not yet taken. After landing 73rd in the 2024 report following accusations of professors’ classroom speech being punished, CMC climbed to sixth place in the 2025 ranking. Second, I already know many of you—not just names, but your halls, teams, classes, interests, and backgrounds.
Standing with our fellow institutions of higher education is not a declaration of partisanship. It is a reaffirmation of our principles, values, and unyielding dedication to academic freedom. Staying silent while the Trump Administration lays siege to higher education will not protect us.
The FYCP manages a budget of $3,000, which they can use to plan events and foster community within their class and across CMC’s student body. This semester, Batta is also one of four instructors of the Data Science’s capstone requirement — DS180 CM — Advanced Projects in Data Science. In the capstone, teams of four students engage in a data-analysis project for organizations in the public and private sectors. But don’t just settle for a vague, “vibesy” sense of enchantment either. You should be deeply dissatisfied with how little you know.
A quick glance at CMC’s FAQ’s on Institutional Statements reveals that CMC does not issue institutional statements due to a 2023 Board of Trustees decision to adopt the principles highlighted in the University of Chicago’s Kalven Report. Among these principles are the belief that universities must commit to individual freedom, open inquiry, and serve as a forum for diverse ideas. The Kalven Committee argued that universities that did not maintain neutrality endangered these principles. Many CMC students were hoping that the data science major would provide more access to computer science courses, which have become increasingly difficult to enroll in at Harvey Mudd College. Because of this, there are some concerns about the major’s emphasis on math and statistics and lack of offerings in computer science. 166 of the 257 schools surveyed received an “F” for their speech climate, and only 11 schools received a speech climate grade of “C” or higher.