atmosphere of Claremont?

Student615
Sat, 14 Apr 2007 03:14:08 +0000

I came from a conservative, catholic girls school. I had a bit of culture shock coming from the school environment that I did, mostly because my high school was very one-sided in its beliefs, and Claremont is so diverse. It just required some getting used to (the culture of debate was new to me)!

Also, religion is alive and well on the campuses…lots of groups, lots of events, lots of support. But there are also professors and students who are strongly unreligious (as in NOT religious…NOT as in anti-religion), and can sometimes unintentionally make offensive-ish (presumptuous is perhaps a better word) comments (I’ve also known this to work the other direction, though less often). It’s not the norm and it’s not intended negatively or personally, but it’s caught me off guard a few times. Basically, don’t ever expect to be disrespected, but don’t expect your beliefs (religions, political, or anything else) to be “catered to,” either.

I’m having a little trouble phrasing this in a way that I’m happy with. I hope it doesn’t sound harsher than I intend, because that’s really not a fair depiction of the campuses. I guess another easy way of putting it is that many people on the 5Cs–conservative, liberal, religious, or otherwise–are very strong in and passionate about their beliefs, and sometimes they speak with the assumption that those around them feel similarly.

You’ll never have to change your beliefs or way of life to fit in, but California in itself is a very different place, and it might require some adjustment :)