Belén Yudess ’25
Copy Editor Intern
Cardinal red for CMC and yellow for Mudd, yet athletes see no Scripps green when repping CMS. Although the color scheme for Claremont-Mudd-Scripps (CMS) may unintentionally be leaving Scripps out of the equation, it is emblematic of the real gap that exists within the joint athletic program.
Out of the approximately 260 Athena athletes, only about 45 students — less than 20% — hail from Scripps. This evident disproportion had made a handful of Scripps student-athletes feel less institutional support on their respective teams. It is this sentiment that women’s volleyball players Ashley Murashige ’25 and Izzy Stolzoff ’25 and women’s soccer player Ivy Doran ’26 hope to change with the establishment of their Scripps Student-Athlete Club.
The idea for this club did not come to Murashige overnight. It formed as a result of the trend she noticed in the ratio between Scripps and Mudd/CMC student athletes throughout her three years as part of CMS.
“I originally proposed this idea to Izzy and Ivy because I think Scripps athletes are very much in the minority of CMS athletics,” she said. “I’m proud to represent, but I think at times it can feel very CMC-centric. I realized I didn’t really have a lot of opportunities to get to know the other Scripps athletes and so I wanted a way to be able to integrate the Scripps community and the CMS community together a little bit more.”
Stolzoff also voiced her desire to help foster a stronger community amongst Scripps Athenas, especially after the recent Scripps Athenas Dinner hosted by Vice President of Student Affairs, Dr. Sha Bradley. “When Ashley posed this idea, I just thought it was a really cool opportunity to create a space to get to know the other Scripps athletes,” Stolzoff said. “We recently attended the dinner at Dr. Sha’s, and a lot of us mentioned that it was the first time that we were able to see all of us in the same room.”
Although they are still working on leadership and logistics, Murashige notes that the team is actively brainstorming events. “The first event we want to have is a CMS athlete team dinner,” said Murashige. “We were talking about doing a beach volleyball or a pickleball tournament because as varsity athletes it’s hard to do a lot of the recreational sports. If we could all do that together, I feel like that can be a fun way to get to know each other.”
Aside from club-sponsored activities, the group hopes to offer insight into how Scripps administration can further assist in supporting its athletes. “Not a lot of Scripps students know about the games that are going on or the CMS events that are happening, so it’s hard for the two to overlap in a lot of ways,” Murashige said. “Advertising CMS athletics more at Tiernan or having an Instagram [or email] that shouts out the different teams and games going on that weekend that’s not just from Chris Spells could really help.”
Additionally, Stolzoff explained how the addition of a CMS hall or living arrangement could prove beneficial. “[For] the past three years, I’ve lived with athletes and a lot of us share similar schedules and … [the] idea of identifying a dorm that could be where athletes can live, not exclusively athletes, but a place that was designated as an athlete [dorm, could be nice].”
Although Murashige and Stolzoff have enjoyed their time as CMS student-athletes thus far, planning for this club and attending the dinner at Dr. Sha’s have allowed them to reflect on where communal feelings of isolation arise in the program.
“I think a lot of the time CMS and CMC start to feel synonymous, and I understand why because a majority are CMC-ers and it’s on their campus, but I’m proud to go to Scripps,” Murashige said. “That’s the reason for the club, so there are ways for [Scripps CMS athletes] to meet, come together, and be on the same team. I would like to think that this is the beginning of making our school more known for having athletes, especially being at a historically women’s college, because we can be athletes too.”
Stolzoff also mentioned how the recruiting process for many teams inherently reinforces Scripps’ position in CMS. “They try to recruit you to CMC or Mudd and then they say but here’s another option [referring to Scripps],” she said. “We don’t want to be the other option. We want to be just as known and appreciated as the other two schools. And I think that’s possible with some education and understanding of what we are and what we contribute to CMS.”
Murashige and Stolzoff hope that the Scripps student athlete club will become a welcoming and empowering environment for current athletes and future generations of Athenas. As the club continues to develop, Murashige and Stolzoff implore any Scripps CMS student-athletes interested in being a part of leadership or the club to reach out!
Photo Courtesy of Riley Zitar CMC ’26
