CMC 2012 Facebook Group: Response to Jules

Quick background: The CMC Admissions Office created a Official Facebook Class of 2012 Group and denied Claremont students access to view or join the group. This is unlike the Class of 2011 group last year, created by our very own Ben Casnocha. Casnocha's initiative led to a group of 242 members, a little short of the 269 (approximately) that enrolled. Without any 'Official' interference, we had an incredible 131 discussion topics, 938 wall posts and 19 student posted photos. I would compare these statistics with the 2012 group, but we can't view the group.

Jules Dormady '08 responded to CJ's original post. He gave two reasons for censorship: 1) Answer questions that accepted students have about the school. 2) Provide a place where freshmen can meet each other.

Here's my response:

1) If students have questions, then why are we stopping current CMC students, you know- the people who go here, from answering them? Its a clear contradiction. More voices and more answers should only benefit the incoming freshmen. After all, diversity in opinion is equally, if not more important than superficial diversity. How are handpicked students any better than the entire student population at responding to queries?

Jules, why was the student-created group insufficient last year? Shouldn't CMC pride the initiative of students such as Casnocha. Blocking off the community to a regulated discussion does not benefit existing or incoming students.

You stated that the group was not meant for, "[CMC Students to] share their views about the college or other topics." So how does your talented VSAC committee answer student queries?

There was a thread on the CMC website last year. If its still active, the most common questions were about student perception regarding academics, social life, career, dorms, alcohol to name a few. I joined these groups partly to know existing CMC students and hear what they have to say.

2) Again, why was last year's group insufficient? I think the 938 wall posts and 131 discussion topics (got pretty intense in those forums) are proof of our extensive interaction. I recall a student even commenting on the degree of student involvement, from existing and incoming students, weighing into his final decision. I fail to see how freshmen can 'meet' by our exclusion.

Now, for the admitted students website.

I was one of the first students to create a post on that forum. I was excited and couldn't wait to meet more CMCers. We had a few people respond initially, but within a month, the forum was inactive.

The reason- It was really, really bad. It was difficult to access, the threads could not be nested and we couldn't communicate easily. There were only a few CMC students to speak with and you couldn't see anyone's profile. The Facebook group was created in reaction so that we could do more, meet more people and learn more about each other.

Here are the links for the other 5C's and their open groups:

Pomona College
Scripps College
Harvey Mudd College
Pitzer College

Congratulations to all admitted students. Hope you make the right choice. If you see this page, make a request to the Admins. Ask them if you can join the CMC community.