Ella Young ’24 and Belén Yudess ’25
Staff Writer and Copy Editor Intern
Admitted students flocked to Scripps on April 12 for the annual Admitted Students Day. The event allowed admitted students and their families to explore the variety of academic, extracurricular, and career opportunities at Scripps through a series of events throughout the day. These included tours, mock classes, on-campus resource talks, and club fair.
Admission Ambassador Sam Clark ’24 appreciated the way Admitted Students Day allows Scripps to welcome new students into the community.
“I think Admitted Students Day really shows off one of the best parts of Scripps: the community,” she said. “During Admitted Students Day prospective students are able to interact with students from the community who do not work in admissions and to see some of Scripps in action.”
Clark further explained how her job allows her to witness the palpable joy prospective students experience as they participate in the day’s activities. “My favorite part of Admitted Students Day is interacting with the students and being able to see their excitement and also how they interact with each other,” she said. “I loved being able to interact with the students and hear how excited they were about going to college and what things they want to try in college and so much more!”
Incoming student Maya Moeller ’28, exemplified the enthusiasm Clark described and expressed her eagerness to begin her time at Scripps. “It feels a bit surreal because I’m so close to graduating and this [will] be where I’m living [in the Fall],” she said. “I love the campus, it’s so beautiful. And we had a panel talk about the core curriculum and that was incredible to hear about.”
Moeller also echoed Clark’s recognition of the power of the Scripps community and how it empowers her to continue her passion for feminism.
“I think being at a [historically] all women’s college [is an] environment that tries to leverage women in the workplace, and in general [to be] in classes where it’s appreciated when I speak up and raise my hand,” said Moeller. “That really excites me, being in a place where I feel like my opinions are appreciated and I’m not judged for being passionate about things. I’m president of the feminism club and I think I get a reputation for that, so I’m excited about being in an environment with other supportive women [and Scripps students], and being encouraged.”
Admitted Students Day also coincided with DIVE into Scripps, a three- day fly-in program for BIPOC and first- generation students to get an introduction to what life would be like as a student at Scripps. Because Scripps is a private predominantly white institution (PWI), DIVE was created to support students from these historically underrepresented groups.
DIVE facilitates a different set of programming than Admitted Students Day, such as a board game/movie night and additional student sessions. One of the most popular and looked-forward events though is SCORE after hours, in which BIPOC and first gen Scripps students are able to lead a panel for DIVE students without any adult administrators present.
“The [panel] was incredibly helpful to get the real side of social and academic life,” said DIVE participant and incoming student Piper Akridge ’28. “I think the student’s voices are incredibly powerful and they keep it real. This session was incredibly helpful, especially for someone who is like me and identifies like me and has my similar life experiences. There’s so much community and support by people who look like me and identify like me.”
This year was the first since the beginning of the pandemic that DIVE participants were able to stay on campus, rather than at a nearby hotel. Students stayed on cots in the living rooms of Clark and Toll Halls, which according to Associate Director of Admission Diversity and Access Initiatives at Scripps College in the Office of Admissions Lyanne Dominguez, was done since the off-campus housing impeded DIVE’s ability to give admitted students a full opportunity to experience Scripps.
“The DIVE 2023 and 2022 cohorts spent two nights at a local hotel, reducing their time on campus with current students by half,” she said. “For this year’s cohort, the Office of Admission collaborated with DOS/Residential Life over six months to return DIVE students to campus. The ideal overnight scenario, which is common at many other small colleges, is an overnight host for the two-night stay and would require 60+ student volunteers to house the DIVE students in individual rooms.”
As DIVE continues to return to its former capacity and size, Dominguez has high hopes for what the program will look like in upcoming years.
“After five years of necessary change, we’re looking forward to DIVE returning to its pre-pandemic stability,” she said. “For future iterations of DIVE, we hope to recruit enough current student volunteers to be able to house DIVE students with individual hosts for their two-night stay.”
