The Student Life (abbreviated TSL) is a student newspaper covering the Claremont Colleges (7Cs, or 5Cs when referring only to the undergraduate colleges), a consortium of liberal arts colleges in Claremont, California. It is published weekly each Friday during the academic year, typically spans roughly ten pages per issue, and is primarily funded by the student governments of the colleges.

The paper is the oldest college newspaper in Southern California, having been published since 1889. It is also the largest and most widely distributed campus newspaper at the 5Cs, with a significant readership among students, staff, faculty, alumni, and members of the Claremont community. It maintains a staff of around 120 students, including writers, columnists, photographers, videographers, designers, copy specialists, business associates, and editors.

TSL operates out of Room 101 in Walker Hall on the northern portion of Pomona College's campus.

Operations TSL is primarily funded by the student governments of the colleges.

It is published weekly each Friday during the academic year.

History

TSL (historically abbreviated as "the SL") was founded in November 1889 (two years after the founding of Pomona College) as a four-page monthly called the Pomona Student. Initially an informal bulletin for campus happenings, it adopted its current name and moved to weekly publication in 1893.

By 1926, it was publishing five issues a week; many were filled largely with advertisements. In 1939, this was reduced to two issues per week to save money, and in 1944, these issues became only two pages long to conserve paper during World War II. After the war, it gradually expanded, and in 1956, it returned to weekly publication.

In 1965, it merged with other Claremont Colleges newspapers to form the Claremont Collegian, which covered all 5Cs, but it was revived two years later as a Pomona-only publication (except for a two-page weekly insert focusing on newly established Pitzer College).

Like other publications, TSL developed an increasingly robust digital presence in the 2000s and 2010s.

TSL used to be closely linked with the Associated Students of Pomona College, but moved to become increasingly independent. In 2008, it began shifting its focus to cover the entire consortium, and its coverage and staff makeup today reflect all 5Cs.

Sections

TSL has four primary sections that appear in each issue: News, Arts & Culture, Opinions, and Sports.

The News section appears at the front of the paper, and covers a range of campus politics, issues, and current events, and often includes investigative pieces. The content specifically focuses on the 5Cs and life on campus, and does not usually include coverage of national or international stories.

The Arts & Culture section includes feature stories on campus life, as well as a number of weekly or bi-weekly columns. TSL is well known for its sex column, which appears regularly and is credited to an anonymous author or pseudonym.

The Opinions section includes opinions pieces by columnists and guest columnists, as well as editorials. The content in this section reflects a broad range of the ideological views found at the 5Cs.

The Sports section covers the Pomona-Pitzer Sagehens and Claremont-Mudd-Scripps Stags and Athenas, as well as national sports.

Once a year, typically on the Friday nearest to April Fools' Day, TSL releases a mock edition of the newspaper with funny articles and satirical news stories.

Notable coverage

As the Claremont Colleges' paper of record, TSL has provided much of the original reporting for major events at the 5Cs throughout their history. In recent years, TSLs reporting has been frequently referenced by national media outlets reporting on campus controversies.

In November 2015, TSLs reporting on racial tensions at Claremont McKenna College that led to the resignation of a dean of students was widely cited by national media outlets covering the episode.

In March 2017, TSL leaked an internal Harvey Mudd College report which criticized the severe workload at the school. The leak triggered widespread protests which led the college to cancel classes for two days.

In April 2017, TSLs coverage of a blockade of a speech by conservative pundit Heather Mac Donald (as well as the sanctions subsequently imposed on some blockaders) was widely cited by national media outlets.

TSLs coverage has sometimes drawn criticism from conservative national media outlets, many of whom are fed stories by the conservative 5C Claremont Independent publication. Following the 2015 racial tensions protest, Fox News criticized TSL for providing a space specifically for students of color in an issue.

Staff

TSL maintains a staff of around 120 students, including writers, columnists, photographers, videographers, designers, copy specialists, business associates, and editors. The Claremont Colleges do not have a journalism major, so staff members come from a variety of academic backgrounds.

The newspaper's editorial board is composed of an editor-in-chief and two managing editors. All three positions have a semester term. The editor-in-chief is selected by a committee generally composed of senior staff members.

Many TSL alumni have gone on to have prominent journalism careers. Andrew Jaffe from Pomona's class of 1960, who traveled to Nashville to cover the sit-in movement for TSL, later became an executive at Adweek and oversaw the Clio Awards. Mary Schmich from Pomona's class of 1975, who co-edited the paper, won the 2012 Pulitzer Prize for commentary for her columns in the Chicago Tribune. Former New York Times executive editor and Pulitzer winner Bill Keller from Pomona's class of 1970 edited the Collegian when he was in college and maintains close ties with TSLs current staff.

Editors-in-chief

Name Term College year Claire WelchFall 2026Scripps2027Adam AkinsSpring 2026Pitzer2027Jada ShaversFall 2025Scripps2025June HsuSpring 2025Pomona2025Ansley WashburnFall 2024Scripps2026Ben LaurenSpring 2024Pitzer2025Maxine DaveyFall 2023Pomona2025Hannah WeaverSpring 2023Scripps2024Jenna McMurtryFall 2022Pomona2024 Jasper Davidoff Spring 2022 Pomona 2023 Kayla Alcorcha Fall 2021 Scripps 2024 Yasmin Elqutami Spring 2021 Pomona 2022 Maria Heeter Fall 2020 Scripps 2022 Hank Snowdon Spring 2020 2021 Meghan Bobrowsky Fall 2019 Scripps 2021 Kellen Browning Spring 2019 Pomona 2020 Ariel So Fall 2018 Scripps 2020 Meghan Joyce Spring 2018 Scripps 2020 Liam Brooks Fall 2017 Pitzer 2018 Lauren Ison Spring 2017 Pomona 2018 Alexa Strabuk Fall 2016 Pitzer 2017 Carlos Ballesteros Spring 2016 2016 Kevin Tidmarsh Fall 2015 Pomona 2016 Julia Thomas Spring 2015 Scripps 2017 Caroline Bowman Fall 2014 2014 Zoë Jameson Spring 2014 Pomona 2015 Paul Jay Fukushima 1970-1971 Pomona 1972 John McCumber 1967? Pomona Charles Jefferson Fall 1966 Pomona Alan Hayes 1965? Pomona Rob Cooley Spring 1965 Pomona Alice Higman Fall 1964 Pomona Lew Phelps Fall 1963–Spring 1964 Pomona Ann Walker Fall 1956–Spring 1957 Pomona 1957 Thomas E. Small Spring 1953 Pomona 1954 Elizabeth Letts Fall 1952 Pomona 1954 John Phillips 1941? Pomona Mark Ginsbourg Fall 1932–Spring 1933 Pomona 1933 William E. Gould Fall 1926–Spring 1927 Pomona Kenneth Williamson 1926? Pomona Margaret Martin 1924? Pomona Hoyt R. Curtiss 1922? Pomona Paul Davis 1913? Pomona Philip S. Bird 1909? Pomona 1909 Robert Clogher Owens Fall 1898–Spring 1899 Pomona David Prescott Barrows Spring 1894 Pomona 1894 Guenevere Metkiff Fall 1893 Pomona 1894 Carl Gould 1890? Pomona David Prescott Barrows 1889 Pomona 1894

See also KSPC Claremont Colleges' radio station other 7C news organizations Claremont Courier City of Claremont's newspaper of record (includes many TSL alums) List of college and university student newspapers in the United States

Notes

References

Bibliography

External links

Periodicals of the Claremont Colleges collection at the Claremont Colleges library