{"history":[],"article":{"id":"286ba50b-a9c4-4ac1-b8b3-5d22956964df","title":"Claremont Colleges","slug":"claremont-colleges","content":":::summary\n![Claremont Colleges](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b4/The///Claremont///Colleges///logo.png)\n**Name:** Claremont Colleges \n**Former Name:** Claremont University Consortium (until2017 ) \n**Type:** [Private](https://bliptext.com/articles/private-university) [consortium](https://bliptext.com/articles/college-consortium) \n**Established:** October 14, 1925 \n**Founder:** [James Blaisdell](https://bliptext.com/articles/james-blaisdell) \n**Endowment:** $27 million (2019) \n**Budget:** $47 million (2019) \n**Head Label:** [CEO](https://bliptext.com/articles/chief-executive-officer) \n**Head:** Stig Lanesskog \n**Students:** Approx. 8500 \n**City:** [Claremont](https://bliptext.com/articles/claremont-california) \n**State:** [California](https://bliptext.com/articles/california) \n**Country:** United States \n**Coordinates:** 34.1025°N, -117.7125°W \n**Campus:** [Suburban](https://bliptext.com/articles/suburban), 546 acre \n**Sports Nickname:** [Pomona-Pitzer Sagehens](https://bliptext.com/articles/pomona-pitzer-sagehens) [Claremont-Mudd-Scripps Stags and Athenas](https://bliptext.com/articles/claremont-mudd-scripps-stags-and-athenas) \n**Sporting Affiliations:** [NCAA](https://bliptext.com/articles/national-collegiate-athletic-association) [Division III](https://bliptext.com/articles/division-iii-ncaa) – [SCIAC](https://bliptext.com/articles/southern-california-intercollegiate-athletic-conference) \n**Website:** www.claremont.edu \n**Logo Upright:** 1.4 \n:::\n\n# \nThe **Claremont Colleges** (known colloquially as the **7Cs**) are a [consortium](https://bliptext.com/articles/consortium) of seven [private](https://bliptext.com/articles/private-university) institutions of [higher education](https://bliptext.com/articles/higher-education) located in [Claremont, California](https://bliptext.com/articles/claremont-california), United States.\nThey comprise five undergraduate colleges (the **5Cs**)—[Pomona College](https://bliptext.com/articles/pomona-college), [Scripps College](https://bliptext.com/articles/scripps-college), [Claremont McKenna College](https://bliptext.com/articles/claremont-mckenna-college) (CMC), [Harvey Mudd College](https://bliptext.com/articles/harvey-mudd-college), and [Pitzer College](https://bliptext.com/articles/pitzer-college)—and two graduate schools—[Claremont Graduate University](https://bliptext.com/articles/claremont-graduate-university) (CGU) and [Keck Graduate Institute](https://bliptext.com/articles/keck-graduate-institute) (KGI).\nAll the members except KGI have adjoining campuses, together covering roughly 1 mi2.\nThe consortium was founded in 1925 by Pomona College president [James A. Blaisdell](https://bliptext.com/articles/james-a-blaisdell), who proposed a [collegiate university](https://bliptext.com/articles/collegiate-university) design inspired by [Oxford University](https://bliptext.com/articles/oxford-university).\nHe sought to provide the specialization, flexibility, and personal attention commonly found in small colleges, but with the resources of a large university.\nThe consortium has since grown to roughly students and faculty and staff, and offers more than 2,000 courses every semester.\nThe colleges share a central [library](https://bliptext.com/articles/academic-library), [campus safety](https://bliptext.com/articles/campus-safety) services, [health services](https://bliptext.com/articles/college-health), and other resources, managed by The Claremont Colleges Services (TCCS).\nAmong the undergraduate schools, there is significant social interaction and academic cross-registration, but each college maintains a distinct identity.\nAdmission to the Claremont Colleges is considered highly selective.

Characterizations of the reputation of the Claremont Colleges:\n\n# Colleges\nThe five undergraduate colleges are:\nThe two graduate universities are:\nThe [Claremont School of Theology](https://bliptext.com/articles/claremont-school-of-theology) (founded 1885 ) (and thus [Claremont Lincoln University](https://bliptext.com/articles/claremont-lincoln-university)) is affiliated with the consortium but is not a member.\nIn January, 2024, after nearly a decade, the Claremont School of Theology finalized a deal to sell the 16 acres of prime Village real estate it has occupied since 1957 back to the Claremont College for $7.7 million.\n\n# History\nBefore the idea of the Claremont Colleges, [Pomona College](https://bliptext.com/articles/pomona-college) was founded in 1887.\nPomona began after a group of congregationalists envisioned a \"New England-type\" college on the West Coast.\nPomona College relocated to Claremont, California after the college acquired an unfinished hotel in Claremont.\nAnd 23 years later, [James A. Blaisdell](https://bliptext.com/articles/james-blaisdell) became president of Pomona.\nThough in 1923, Pomona College faced a problem.\nThe school's population was growing.\nThus, Pomona either had to go against their ideals of expanding or limit the amount of growth at the college.\n[James Blaisdell](https://bliptext.com/articles/james-blaisdell) developed a different option.\nHe advised the college chose to form a consortium of differentiated small colleges, modeled after [Oxford](https://bliptext.com/articles/university-of-oxford) and [Cambridge](https://bliptext.com/articles/university-of-cambridge).\nIn October 1923, President [James A. Blaisdell](https://bliptext.com/articles/james-a-blaisdell) of Pomona College wrote to [Ellen Browning Scripps](https://bliptext.com/articles/ellen-browning-scripps) describing a vision of educational excellence he had for the future Claremont Colleges:\n\"I cannot but believe that we shall need here in the South [of California] a suburban educational institution of the range of Stanford. My own very deep hope is that instead of one great undifferentiated university, we might have a group of institutions divided into small colleges—somewhat on the Oxford type—around a library and other utilities which they would use in common. In this way I should hope to preserve the inestimable personal values of the small college while securing the facilities of the great university. Such a development would be a new and wonderful contribution to American education. Now the thing which would assure this future institution to Southern California is land ... It is now or never. To save the needed land for educational use seems to me to guarantee to Southern California one of the great educational institutions of America. Other hands through the centuries will carry on the project and perfect it.\nBut never again can there come so fundamental a service as this.\"\nThe start of the Claremont Colleges came in 1925 with the addition of a graduate school, now known as [Claremont Graduate University](https://bliptext.com/articles/claremont-graduate-university).\nThe college was originally known as Claremont College and began to function in 1927.\nThe second addition came in 1926 when Ellen Browning Scripps founded [Scripps College](https://bliptext.com/articles/scripps-college).\nScripps College allowed Ellen Browning Scripps to put-forth her plan of a school which offered women access to a higher education, to better their professional careers and to better their personal lives.\nScripps College officially opened in 1927.\nThe novelty of the arrangement, combined with marketing that drew up the perception of the west coast as a novel frontier, led to nationwide interest in and praise for the colleges in the 1930s.\n[Paul Monroe](https://bliptext.com/articles/paul-monroe) of Harvard University, the foremost educational historian of the era, wrote that year that \"The torch of learning was borne aloft in the first century by Antioch and Athens; in the second century by Rome and Alexandria; by Padua and Paris in the twelfth; Oxford and Cambridge in the fifteenth; Harvard and Yale in the seventeenth; Columbia and Chicago in the nineteenth; the Claremont Colleges of the West in the twentieth.\"\nIn 1946, 86 students and 7 faculty members formed the fourth institution of the Claremont Colleges, known as [Claremont McKenna College](https://bliptext.com/articles/claremont-mckenna-college).\nCMC was formed as a fully male undergraduate school until women were admitted in 1976.\nIn 1955, [Harvey Mudd College](https://bliptext.com/articles/harvey-mudd-college) became the fifth institute in the consortium.\nHMC was founded by [Harvey Seeley Mudd](https://bliptext.com/articles/harvey-seeley-mudd), a former chairman of the Board of Fellows of Claremont College.\nHe envisioned an undergraduate college in the consortium that focused its education in science and engineering.\nIn 1963, [Pitzer College](https://bliptext.com/articles/pitzer-college) joined the Claremont Colleges.\nPitzer was founded as a college for woman focusing on the social sciences.\nLater in 1970, Pitzer enrolled 80 men.\nThe school was named after [Russell K. Pitzer](https://bliptext.com/articles/russell-k-pitzer), an important benefactor in the development of the institution.\nThe final and seventh college to join the consortium was [Keck Graduate Institute](https://bliptext.com/articles/keck-graduate-institute).\nKGI was founded in 1997 after a $50 million donation from [W.M. Keck Foundation](https://bliptext.com/articles/w-m-keck-foundation).\nThe graduate school focuses on post-graduate biomedical applications.\nInitially planned to be located on [Bernard Field Station](https://bliptext.com/articles/bernard-field-station) lands, protests forced the institute to relocate to a site southwest of the Claremont Village.\nAlongside the institutions, Claremont College Services was founded on July 1, 2000.\nThe Claremont College Services provides educational support to all the institutions in the consortium.\nSpecifically, TCCS aids in projects of group planning, establishment of new institutions into the consortium and hold expansion lands.\n# [An exterior view of Pomona College in 1907, featuring its two earliest buildings: Sumner Hall (right) and Holmes Hall (left) | upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/db/Exterior///view///of///Pomona///College%2C///Claremont%2C///1907///%28CHS-3857%29.jpg]\n# [Construction of Eleanor Joy Toll Hall at Scripps, c. 1927 | upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f7/Eleanor///Joy///Toll///Hall///construction///at///Scripps///College.jpg]\n# [View of the Claremont Colleges in 2018, looking north from the Smith Clock Tower | upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/93/Smith///Clock///Tower///view.jpg]\n\n# Organization and operation\nThe Claremont Colleges employ approximately 3,600 people.\nA report commissioned for the colleges estimated that the consortium had a regional economic impact of $706.8 million during the 2016–2017 academic year.\n\n# Reputation and rankings\nAdmission to the Claremont Colleges is considered highly selective.\nAccording to the [American Liberal Arts College](https://bliptext.com/articles/liberal-arts-colleges-in-the-united-states) rankings released by [U.S. News & World Report](https://bliptext.com/articles/u-s-news-world-report) in fall 2021, the \"5Cs\" were ranked among the top 35 liberal arts colleges in the United States: Pomona College (#3), Claremont McKenna College (#9), Harvey Mudd College (#29), Scripps College (#33), and Pitzer College (#33).\nAdditionally, all of the undergraduate colleges are categorized as \"Most Selective\".\n[Forbes](https://bliptext.com/articles/forbes) ranked the 5C's among the top 60 undergraduate colleges (including universities and military academies) in the nation and within the top 25 liberal arts colleges for its 2017 report: Pomona College (#10 overall, #1 LAC), Claremont McKenna College (#11 overall, #2 LAC), Harvey Mudd College (#18 overall, #5 LAC), Scripps College (#43 overall, #16 LAC), and Pitzer College (#59 overall, #23 LAC).\nNiche listed all of the undergraduate colleges within the top 30 small colleges in the United States as measured by surveys rating various components of the undergraduate experience: Pomona College (#2), Harvey Mudd College (#5), Claremont McKenna College (#10), Scripps College (#22), and Pitzer College (#29).\nU.S. News & World Report also releases individual graduate program rankings for the [Claremont Graduate University](https://bliptext.com/articles/claremont-graduate-university), with several of its programs ranking in the top tier of graduate programs nationwide.\n\n# Shared facilities, programs, and resources\nEach college is independent in that students receive their degrees from the one college in which they are enrolled, and administration and admissions departments are independent.\nThe seven-institution Claremont Colleges system is supported by **The Claremont Colleges Services** (**TCCS**), which provides centralized services, such as a library, student health, financial and human resources, telecommunications, risk management, real estate, physical plant maintenance, and other services, for those colleges.\n

The Claremont Colleges Library (also known as Honnold/Mudd Library) holds more than 2.7 million items, of which 1.1 million are physical and 1.7 million are digital.\n

\nOther shared facilities include Campus Safety, the Tranquada Student Services Center (which houses Baxter Medical Center, Monsour Counseling Center, and the Health Education Outreach), McAlister Center (home of the Office of the Chaplains and the Claremont Card Center), EmPOWER Center (which works to address sexual violence), the Huntley Bookstore, all dining facilities, and several sports facilities.\n

The Sontag Center for Collaborative Creativity, colloquially termed \"the Hive\", was established in 2015 to support creative learning.\n

The Claremont Colleges Library is an example of the level of cooperation in terms of support services.\nThe size of the library collection ranks third among the [private institutions in California](https://bliptext.com/articles/list-of-colleges-and-universities-in-california), behind only [Stanford](https://bliptext.com/articles/stanford-university) and [USC](https://bliptext.com/articles/university-of-southern-california).\nShared academic departments include the Intercollegiate [Women's Studies](https://bliptext.com/articles/women-s-studies) Center, the Intercollegiate Department of [Chicano Studies](https://bliptext.com/articles/chicano-studies), the Intercollegiate Department of [Asian American Studies](https://bliptext.com/articles/asian-american-studies), the Intercollegiate Department of [Africana Studies](https://bliptext.com/articles/africana-studies) (formerly Black Studies), the Intercollegiate Department of [Religious Studies](https://bliptext.com/articles/religious-studies), the Intercollegiate Department of [Media Studies](https://bliptext.com/articles/media-studies), and the Five-College Theater Department.\nIn January 2008, the Claremont Colleges also formed the Claremont Center for the Mathematical Sciences, which is led by the Claremont Graduate University and is a collaborative center for faculty members working in mathematics.\nShared intercollegiate programs include the [European Union](https://bliptext.com/articles/european-union) Center of California, the Chicano/[Latino](https://bliptext.com/articles/hispanic-and-latino-americans) Student Affairs Center, the Office of Black Student Affairs, the Office of the Chaplains, Hillel, and the Queer Resource Center.\nIn addition, three of the Claremont Colleges—Claremont McKenna College, Pitzer College, and Scripps College—share a single science program.\nThese three colleges pool their resources to create the largest academic department in Claremont, the Joint Science Department.\nMany research projects and courses use the [Robert J. Bernard Field Station](https://bliptext.com/articles/robert-j-bernard-field-station), an 86 acre natural area which consists principally of the rare Coastal Sage Scrub [ecosystem](https://bliptext.com/articles/ecosystem).\nThe Claremont Colleges have been praised by higher education experts for their high level of cooperation and the overall success of their model, although the colleges' differing financial resources have led to occasional tensions.\nThey have influenced the operations of other consortia and collegiate universities, but their model remains unique with few other institutions operating comparably.\n# [Honnold Library | upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/ef/Honnold///Library///of///the///Claremont///Colleges.jpg]\n# [The Tranquada Student Services Center | upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/24/Tranquada///Student///Services///Center///in///April///2023.jpg]\n# [Bernard Field Station, with the San Gabriel Mountains in the background | upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/60/Snowy///mountain///seen///from///Bernard///Field///Station.jpg]\n\n## Clubs and organizations\nSome extracurricular organizations on campus are specific to an individual college, whereas others are open to students at all 5Cs or 7Cs.\nIn total, there are nearly 300 clubs and organizations across the 5Cs.\n

There are several media organizations at the Claremont Colleges, the largest of which is [The Student Life](https://bliptext.com/articles/the-student-life), the oldest [college newspaper](https://bliptext.com/articles/student-publication) in Southern California.\nIt publishes a weekly print edition as well as online content.\nPomona also has a [student-run radio](https://bliptext.com/articles/campus-radio) station, [KSPC](https://bliptext.com/articles/kspc).\nThe Claremont Independent, a conservative magazine, has produced articles about the 5Cs' political culture that have been picked up by national [conservative media outlets](https://bliptext.com/articles/alternative-media-u-s-political-right) and drawn criticism from many students.\nThe Golden Antlers publishes satirical content.\n

\n[On the Loose](https://bliptext.com/articles/on-the-loose-outing-club) (OTL), the [outing club](https://bliptext.com/articles/outing-club) of the 5Cs, sponsors trips to outdoors destinations.\nIts flagship event, an annual hike up [Mount Baldy](https://bliptext.com/articles/mount-san-antonio) in swimwear or goofy costumes, can draw more than 100 participants.\nIt is affiliated with the Outdoor Education Center of Pomona College (OEC), which lends equipment to students for free and provides outdoor leadership training.\n

There are several dance groups on campus, including the Claremont Colleges Ballroom Dance Company (CCBDC), which has more than 130 dancers, making it the third-largest collegiate program in the U.S. It has won multiple national championships.\nThe Pomona College Theater Department produces four mainstage productions and a dance concert each year, and there are several smaller student-run productions as well.\nThe 5Cs have two improv groups, Without a Box and Underground Theatrical Institution (UTI).\n

There are eight [a cappella](https://bliptext.com/articles/a-cappella) groups on campus.\nOne, the Claremont Shades, hosts the annual SCAMFest concert, which draws singers from other Southern California colleges.\n

\n# [An On the Loose hike descends from the summit of Mount Baldy toward the Devil's Backbone ridge in the San Gabriel Mountains north of campus. | upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/41/Mt.///Baldy///OTL///hike.jpg]\n\n# Comparison of undergraduate colleges\n\n# People\nMany notable people have been affiliated with the colleges as alumni, faculty, staff, and administrators.\nCoverage of them is divided into articles by college:\nThe CEO of The Claremont Colleges Services is Stig Lanesskog.\n# [James Blaisdell, founder of the Claremont Colleges | upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/6d/James///A.///Blaisdell///portrait.jpg]\n\n# Athletics\n[Pomona College](https://bliptext.com/articles/pomona-college) and [Pitzer College](https://bliptext.com/articles/pitzer-college) compete together as the [Pomona-Pitzer (PP) Sagehens](https://bliptext.com/articles/pomona-pitzer-sagehens).\n[Claremont McKenna College](https://bliptext.com/articles/claremont-mckenna-college), [Harvey Mudd College](https://bliptext.com/articles/harvey-mudd-college) and [Scripps College](https://bliptext.com/articles/scripps-college) also compete together as the [Claremont-Mudd-Scripps](https://bliptext.com/articles/claremont-mudd-scripps-stags-and-athenas) (CMS) Stags (for male teams) and Athenas (for female teams).\nThe teams participate in [NCAA Division III](https://bliptext.com/articles/ncaa-division-iii) in the [Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference](https://bliptext.com/articles/southern-california-intercollegiate-athletic-conference) (SCIAC).\nIn the Division III Final Standings for the 2016-2017 academic year, Claremont-Mudd-Scripps ranked fourth nationally, while Pomona-Pitzer ranked 29th; they were the top two performers in the SCIAC.\nCulturally, the Claremont Colleges place less emphasis on sports than many other institutions.\n# [A Pomona-Pitzer football game | upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a0/Merritt///Field%2C///Pomona///College.jpg]\n\n## Club and intramural sports\nIn addition to the varsity teams, there are several 5C club sports teams.\nThe [roller hockey](https://bliptext.com/articles/roller-hockey) club, the Claremont Centaurs, won the Division 3 Championship of the West Coast Roller Hockey League in 2009–2010, 2010–2011, and 2011–2012.\nThe men's and women's [rugby union](https://bliptext.com/articles/rugby-union) both attended [Division II](https://bliptext.com/articles/ncaa-division-ii) Nationals in 2004 and 2006, and the men's team (Claremont Colleges Lions) won the [Division II](https://bliptext.com/articles/ncaa-division-ii) national championship in 2010 and the [National Small College](https://bliptext.com/articles/nscro-champions-cup) championship in 2017 and 2019.\nThe women's [ultimate](https://bliptext.com/articles/ultimate-sport) team reached Nationals in 2004, 2011, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, and won the tournament in 2012, and the men's [ultimate](https://bliptext.com/articles/ultimate-sport) frisbee were 2008 Southern California Sectional champions and 2011 Division III National champions.\nOther club sports offered at the 5Cs include men's [lacrosse](https://bliptext.com/articles/lacrosse-sport), [field hockey](https://bliptext.com/articles/field-hockey), crew, and cycling.","current_revision":null,"created_by":"kACnuQmH5k9Nr5VNVEpVeg7XpvUmMctD","created_at":"2025-01-25T18:28:35.767Z","updated_at":"2025-01-25T18:28:35.767Z","search_vector":"'claremont':1 'colleg':2","search_content":" \n \n**Name:** Claremont Colleges \n**Former Name:** Claremont University Consortium (until2017 ) \n**Type:** [Private](https://bliptext.com/articles/private-university) [consortium](https://bliptext.com/articles/college-consortium) \n**Established:** October 14, 1925 \n**Founder:** [James Blaisdell](https://bliptext.com/articles/james-blaisdell) \n**Endowment:** $27 million (2019) \n**Budget:** $47 million (2019) \n**Head Label:** [CEO](https://bliptext.com/articles/chief-executive-officer) \n**Head:** Stig Lanesskog \n**Students:** Approx. 8500 \n**City:** [Claremont](https://bliptext.com/articles/claremont-california) \n**State:** [California](https://bliptext.com/articles/california) \n**Country:** United States \n**Coordinates:** 34.1025°N, -117.7125°W \n**Campus:** [Suburban](https://bliptext.com/articles/suburban), 546 acre \n**Sports Nickname:** [Pomona-Pitzer Sagehens](https://bliptext.com/articles/pomona-pitzer-sagehens) [Claremont-Mudd-Scripps Stags and Athenas](https://bliptext.com/articles/claremont-mudd-scripps-stags-and-athenas) \n**Sporting Affiliations:** [NCAA](https://bliptext.com/articles/national-collegiate-athletic-association) [Division III](https://bliptext.com/articles/division-iii-ncaa) – [SCIAC](https://bliptext.com/articles/southern-california-intercollegiate-athletic-conference) \n**Website:** www.claremont.edu \n**Logo Upright:** 1.4 \n \n\n# \nThe **Claremont Colleges** (known colloquially as the **7Cs**) are a [consortium](https://bliptext.com/articles/consortium) of seven [private](https://bliptext.com/articles/private-university) institutions of [higher education](https://bliptext.com/articles/higher-education) located in [Claremont, California](https://bliptext.com/articles/claremont-california), United States.\nThey comprise five undergraduate colleges (the **5Cs**)—[Pomona College](https://bliptext.com/articles/pomona-college), [Scripps College](https://bliptext.com/articles/scripps-college), [Claremont McKenna College](https://bliptext.com/articles/claremont-mckenna-college) (CMC), [Harvey Mudd College](https://bliptext.com/articles/harvey-mudd-college), and [Pitzer College](https://bliptext.com/articles/pitzer-college)—and two graduate schools—[Claremont Graduate University](https://bliptext.com/articles/claremont-graduate-university) (CGU) and [Keck Graduate Institute](https://bliptext.com/articles/keck-graduate-institute) (KGI).\nAll the members except KGI have adjoining campuses, together covering roughly 1 mi2.\nThe consortium was founded in 1925 by Pomona College president [James A. Blaisdell](https://bliptext.com/articles/james-a-blaisdell), who proposed a [collegiate university](https://bliptext.com/articles/collegiate-university) design inspired by [Oxford University](https://bliptext.com/articles/oxford-university).\nHe sought to provide the specialization, flexibility, and personal attention commonly found in small colleges, but with the resources of a large university.\nThe consortium has since grown to roughly students and faculty and staff, and offers more than 2,000 courses every semester.\nThe colleges share a central [library](https://bliptext.com/articles/academic-library), [campus safety](https://bliptext.com/articles/campus-safety) services, [health services](https://bliptext.com/articles/college-health), and other resources, managed by The Claremont Colleges Services (TCCS).\nAmong the undergraduate schools, there is significant social interaction and academic cross-registration, but each college maintains a distinct identity.\nAdmission to the Claremont Colleges is considered highly selective. Characterizations of the reputation of the Claremont Colleges:\n\n# Colleges\nThe five undergraduate colleges are:\nThe two graduate universities are:\nThe [Claremont School of Theology](https://bliptext.com/articles/claremont-school-of-theology) (founded 1885 ) (and thus [Claremont Lincoln University](https://bliptext.com/articles/claremont-lincoln-university)) is affiliated with the consortium but is not a member.\nIn January, 2024, after nearly a decade, the Claremont School of Theology finalized a deal to sell the 16 acres of prime Village real estate it has occupied since 1957 back to the Claremont College for $7.7 million.\n\n# History\nBefore the idea of the Claremont Colleges, [Pomona College](https://bliptext.com/articles/pomona-college) was founded in 1887.\nPomona began after a group of congregationalists envisioned a \"New England-type\" college on the West Coast.\nPomona College relocated to Claremont, California after the college acquired an unfinished hotel in Claremont.\nAnd 23 years later, [James A. Blaisdell](https://bliptext.com/articles/james-blaisdell) became president of Pomona.\nThough in 1923, Pomona College faced a problem.\nThe school's population was growing.\nThus, Pomona either had to go against their ideals of expanding or limit the amount of growth at the college.\n[James Blaisdell](https://bliptext.com/articles/james-blaisdell) developed a different option.\nHe advised the college chose to form a consortium of differentiated small colleges, modeled after [Oxford](https://bliptext.com/articles/university-of-oxford) and [Cambridge](https://bliptext.com/articles/university-of-cambridge).\nIn October 1923, President [James A. Blaisdell](https://bliptext.com/articles/james-a-blaisdell) of Pomona College wrote to [Ellen Browning Scripps](https://bliptext.com/articles/ellen-browning-scripps) describing a vision of educational excellence he had for the future Claremont Colleges:\n\"I cannot but believe that we shall need here in the South [of California] a suburban educational institution of the range of Stanford. My own very deep hope is that instead of one great undifferentiated university, we might have a group of institutions divided into small colleges—somewhat on the Oxford type—around a library and other utilities which they would use in common. In this way I should hope to preserve the inestimable personal values of the small college while securing the facilities of the great university. Such a development would be a new and wonderful contribution to American education. Now the thing which would assure this future institution to Southern California is land ... It is now or never. To save the needed land for educational use seems to me to guarantee to Southern California one of the great educational institutions of America. Other hands through the centuries will carry on the project and perfect it.\nBut never again can there come so fundamental a service as this.\"\nThe start of the Claremont Colleges came in 1925 with the addition of a graduate school, now known as [Claremont Graduate University](https://bliptext.com/articles/claremont-graduate-university).\nThe college was originally known as Claremont College and began to function in 1927.\nThe second addition came in 1926 when Ellen Browning Scripps founded [Scripps College](https://bliptext.com/articles/scripps-college).\nScripps College allowed Ellen Browning Scripps to put-forth her plan of a school which offered women access to a higher education, to better their professional careers and to better their personal lives.\nScripps College officially opened in 1927.\nThe novelty of the arrangement, combined with marketing that drew up the perception of the west coast as a novel frontier, led to nationwide interest in and praise for the colleges in the 1930s.\n[Paul Monroe](https://bliptext.com/articles/paul-monroe) of Harvard University, the foremost educational historian of the era, wrote that year that \"The torch of learning was borne aloft in the first century by Antioch and Athens; in the second century by Rome and Alexandria; by Padua and Paris in the twelfth; Oxford and Cambridge in the fifteenth; Harvard and Yale in the seventeenth; Columbia and Chicago in the nineteenth; the Claremont Colleges of the West in the twentieth.\"\nIn 1946, 86 students and 7 faculty members formed the fourth institution of the Claremont Colleges, known as [Claremont McKenna College](https://bliptext.com/articles/claremont-mckenna-college).\nCMC was formed as a fully male undergraduate school until women were admitted in 1976.\nIn 1955, [Harvey Mudd College](https://bliptext.com/articles/harvey-mudd-college) became the fifth institute in the consortium.\nHMC was founded by [Harvey Seeley Mudd](https://bliptext.com/articles/harvey-seeley-mudd), a former chairman of the Board of Fellows of Claremont College.\nHe envisioned an undergraduate college in the consortium that focused its education in science and engineering.\nIn 1963, [Pitzer College](https://bliptext.com/articles/pitzer-college) joined the Claremont Colleges.\nPitzer was founded as a college for woman focusing on the social sciences.\nLater in 1970, Pitzer enrolled 80 men.\nThe school was named after [Russell K. Pitzer](https://bliptext.com/articles/russell-k-pitzer), an important benefactor in the development of the institution.\nThe final and seventh college to join the consortium was [Keck Graduate Institute](https://bliptext.com/articles/keck-graduate-institute).\nKGI was founded in 1997 after a $50 million donation from [W.M. Keck Foundation](https://bliptext.com/articles/w-m-keck-foundation).\nThe graduate school focuses on post-graduate biomedical applications.\nInitially planned to be located on [Bernard Field Station](https://bliptext.com/articles/bernard-field-station) lands, protests forced the institute to relocate to a site southwest of the Claremont Village.\nAlongside the institutions, Claremont College Services was founded on July 1, 2000.\nThe Claremont College Services provides educational support to all the institutions in the consortium.\nSpecifically, TCCS aids in projects of group planning, establishment of new institutions into the consortium and hold expansion lands.\n# [An exterior view of Pomona College in 1907, featuring its two earliest buildings: Sumner Hall (right) and Holmes Hall (left) | upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/db/Exterior///view///of///Pomona///College%2C///Claremont%2C///1907///%28CHS-3857%29.jpg]\n# [Construction of Eleanor Joy Toll Hall at Scripps, c. 1927 | upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f7/Eleanor///Joy///Toll///Hall///construction///at///Scripps///College.jpg]\n# [View of the Claremont Colleges in 2018, looking north from the Smith Clock Tower | upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/93/Smith///Clock///Tower///view.jpg]\n\n# Organization and operation\nThe Claremont Colleges employ approximately 3,600 people.\nA report commissioned for the colleges estimated that the consortium had a regional economic impact of $706.8 million during the 2016–2017 academic year.\n\n# Reputation and rankings\nAdmission to the Claremont Colleges is considered highly selective.\nAccording to the [American Liberal Arts College](https://bliptext.com/articles/liberal-arts-colleges-in-the-united-states) rankings released by [U.S. News & World Report](https://bliptext.com/articles/u-s-news-world-report) in fall 2021, the \"5Cs\" were ranked among the top 35 liberal arts colleges in the United States: Pomona College (#3), Claremont McKenna College (#9), Harvey Mudd College (#29), Scripps College (#33), and Pitzer College (#33).\nAdditionally, all of the undergraduate colleges are categorized as \"Most Selective\".\n[Forbes](https://bliptext.com/articles/forbes) ranked the 5C's among the top 60 undergraduate colleges (including universities and military academies) in the nation and within the top 25 liberal arts colleges for its 2017 report: Pomona College (#10 overall, #1 LAC), Claremont McKenna College (#11 overall, #2 LAC), Harvey Mudd College (#18 overall, #5 LAC), Scripps College (#43 overall, #16 LAC), and Pitzer College (#59 overall, #23 LAC).\nNiche listed all of the undergraduate colleges within the top 30 small colleges in the United States as measured by surveys rating various components of the undergraduate experience: Pomona College (#2), Harvey Mudd College (#5), Claremont McKenna College (#10), Scripps College (#22), and Pitzer College (#29).\nU.S. News & World Report also releases individual graduate program rankings for the [Claremont Graduate University](https://bliptext.com/articles/claremont-graduate-university), with several of its programs ranking in the top tier of graduate programs nationwide.\n\n# Shared facilities, programs, and resources\nEach college is independent in that students receive their degrees from the one college in which they are enrolled, and administration and admissions departments are independent.\nThe seven-institution Claremont Colleges system is supported by **The Claremont Colleges Services** (**TCCS**), which provides centralized services, such as a library, student health, financial and human resources, telecommunications, risk management, real estate, physical plant maintenance, and other services, for those colleges.\n The Claremont Colleges Library (also known as Honnold/Mudd Library) holds more than 2.7 million items, of which 1.1 million are physical and 1.7 million are digital.\n \nOther shared facilities include Campus Safety, the Tranquada Student Services Center (which houses Baxter Medical Center, Monsour Counseling Center, and the Health Education Outreach), McAlister Center (home of the Office of the Chaplains and the Claremont Card Center), EmPOWER Center (which works to address sexual violence), the Huntley Bookstore, all dining facilities, and several sports facilities.\n The Sontag Center for Collaborative Creativity, colloquially termed \"the Hive\", was established in 2015 to support creative learning.\n The Claremont Colleges Library is an example of the level of cooperation in terms of support services.\nThe size of the library collection ranks third among the [private institutions in California](https://bliptext.com/articles/list-of-colleges-and-universities-in-california), behind only [Stanford](https://bliptext.com/articles/stanford-university) and [USC](https://bliptext.com/articles/university-of-southern-california).\nShared academic departments include the Intercollegiate [Women's Studies](https://bliptext.com/articles/women-s-studies) Center, the Intercollegiate Department of [Chicano Studies](https://bliptext.com/articles/chicano-studies), the Intercollegiate Department of [Asian American Studies](https://bliptext.com/articles/asian-american-studies), the Intercollegiate Department of [Africana Studies](https://bliptext.com/articles/africana-studies) (formerly Black Studies), the Intercollegiate Department of [Religious Studies](https://bliptext.com/articles/religious-studies), the Intercollegiate Department of [Media Studies](https://bliptext.com/articles/media-studies), and the Five-College Theater Department.\nIn January 2008, the Claremont Colleges also formed the Claremont Center for the Mathematical Sciences, which is led by the Claremont Graduate University and is a collaborative center for faculty members working in mathematics.\nShared intercollegiate programs include the [European Union](https://bliptext.com/articles/european-union) Center of California, the Chicano/[Latino](https://bliptext.com/articles/hispanic-and-latino-americans) Student Affairs Center, the Office of Black Student Affairs, the Office of the Chaplains, Hillel, and the Queer Resource Center.\nIn addition, three of the Claremont Colleges—Claremont McKenna College, Pitzer College, and Scripps College—share a single science program.\nThese three colleges pool their resources to create the largest academic department in Claremont, the Joint Science Department.\nMany research projects and courses use the [Robert J. Bernard Field Station](https://bliptext.com/articles/robert-j-bernard-field-station), an 86 acre natural area which consists principally of the rare Coastal Sage Scrub [ecosystem](https://bliptext.com/articles/ecosystem).\nThe Claremont Colleges have been praised by higher education experts for their high level of cooperation and the overall success of their model, although the colleges' differing financial resources have led to occasional tensions.\nThey have influenced the operations of other consortia and collegiate universities, but their model remains unique with few other institutions operating comparably.\n# [Honnold Library | upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/ef/Honnold///Library///of///the///Claremont///Colleges.jpg]\n# [The Tranquada Student Services Center | upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/24/Tranquada///Student///Services///Center///in///April///2023.jpg]\n# [Bernard Field Station, with the San Gabriel Mountains in the background | upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/60/Snowy///mountain///seen///from///Bernard///Field///Station.jpg]\n\n## Clubs and organizations\nSome extracurricular organizations on campus are specific to an individual college, whereas others are open to students at all 5Cs or 7Cs.\nIn total, there are nearly 300 clubs and organizations across the 5Cs.\n There are several media organizations at the Claremont Colleges, the largest of which is [The Student Life](https://bliptext.com/articles/the-student-life), the oldest [college newspaper](https://bliptext.com/articles/student-publication) in Southern California.\nIt publishes a weekly print edition as well as online content.\nPomona also has a [student-run radio](https://bliptext.com/articles/campus-radio) station, [KSPC](https://bliptext.com/articles/kspc).\nThe Claremont Independent, a conservative magazine, has produced articles about the 5Cs' political culture that have been picked up by national [conservative media outlets](https://bliptext.com/articles/alternative-media-u-s-political-right) and drawn criticism from many students.\nThe Golden Antlers publishes satirical content.\n \n \n[On the Loose](https://bliptext.com/articles/on-the-loose-outing-club) (OTL), the [outing club](https://bliptext.com/articles/outing-club) of the 5Cs, sponsors trips to outdoors destinations.\nIts flagship event, an annual hike up [Mount Baldy](https://bliptext.com/articles/mount-san-antonio) in swimwear or goofy costumes, can draw more than 100 participants.\nIt is affiliated with the Outdoor Education Center of Pomona College (OEC), which lends equipment to students for free and provides outdoor leadership training.\n \n There are several dance groups on campus, including the Claremont Colleges Ballroom Dance Company (CCBDC), which has more than 130 dancers, making it the third-largest collegiate program in the U.S. It has won multiple national championships.\nThe Pomona College Theater Department produces four mainstage productions and a dance concert each year, and there are several smaller student-run productions as well.\nThe 5Cs have two improv groups, Without a Box and Underground Theatrical Institution (UTI).\n \n There are eight [a cappella](https://bliptext.com/articles/a-cappella) groups on campus.\nOne, the Claremont Shades, hosts the annual SCAMFest concert, which draws singers from other Southern California colleges.\n \n# [An On the Loose hike descends from the summit of Mount Baldy toward the Devil's Backbone ridge in the San Gabriel Mountains north of campus. | upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/41/Mt.///Baldy///OTL///hike.jpg]\n\n# Comparison of undergraduate colleges\n\n# People\nMany notable people have been affiliated with the colleges as alumni, faculty, staff, and administrators.\nCoverage of them is divided into articles by college:\nThe CEO of The Claremont Colleges Services is Stig Lanesskog.\n# [James Blaisdell, founder of the Claremont Colleges | upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/6d/James///A.///Blaisdell///portrait.jpg]\n\n# Athletics\n[Pomona College](https://bliptext.com/articles/pomona-college) and [Pitzer College](https://bliptext.com/articles/pitzer-college) compete together as the [Pomona-Pitzer (PP) Sagehens](https://bliptext.com/articles/pomona-pitzer-sagehens).\n[Claremont McKenna College](https://bliptext.com/articles/claremont-mckenna-college), [Harvey Mudd College](https://bliptext.com/articles/harvey-mudd-college) and [Scripps College](https://bliptext.com/articles/scripps-college) also compete together as the [Claremont-Mudd-Scripps](https://bliptext.com/articles/claremont-mudd-scripps-stags-and-athenas) (CMS) Stags (for male teams) and Athenas (for female teams).\nThe teams participate in [NCAA Division III](https://bliptext.com/articles/ncaa-division-iii) in the [Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference](https://bliptext.com/articles/southern-california-intercollegiate-athletic-conference) (SCIAC).\nIn the Division III Final Standings for the 2016-2017 academic year, Claremont-Mudd-Scripps ranked fourth nationally, while Pomona-Pitzer ranked 29th; they were the top two performers in the SCIAC.\nCulturally, the Claremont Colleges place less emphasis on sports than many other institutions.\n# [A Pomona-Pitzer football game | upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a0/Merritt///Field%2C///Pomona///College.jpg]\n\n## Club and intramural sports\nIn addition to the varsity teams, there are several 5C club sports teams.\nThe [roller hockey](https://bliptext.com/articles/roller-hockey) club, the Claremont Centaurs, won the Division 3 Championship of the West Coast Roller Hockey League in 2009–2010, 2010–2011, and 2011–2012.\nThe men's and women's [rugby union](https://bliptext.com/articles/rugby-union) both attended [Division II](https://bliptext.com/articles/ncaa-division-ii) Nationals in 2004 and 2006, and the men's team (Claremont Colleges Lions) won the [Division II](https://bliptext.com/articles/ncaa-division-ii) national championship in 2010 and the [National Small College](https://bliptext.com/articles/nscro-champions-cup) championship in 2017 and 2019.\nThe women's [ultimate](https://bliptext.com/articles/ultimate-sport) team reached Nationals in 2004, 2011, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, and won the tournament in 2012, and the men's [ultimate](https://bliptext.com/articles/ultimate-sport) frisbee were 2008 Southern California Sectional champions and 2011 Division III National champions.\nOther club sports offered at the 5Cs include men's [lacrosse](https://bliptext.com/articles/lacrosse-sport), [field hockey](https://bliptext.com/articles/field-hockey), crew, and cycling.","revisionCount":0},"hasMore":false,"nextCursor":null}