Ishita Jayadev ’26, Ellen Wang ’25, and Belén Yudess ’25
Editors-and-Chief and Copy Editor
Members of the Scripps community have come together in the past two months since wildfires devastated Los Angeles County at the end of winter break.
Beginning on Jan. 7, a series of eight wildfires ravaged over 50,000 acres of land, with the Eaton Fire in Altadena and the Palisades Fire in the Pacific Palisades causing the most destruction. Although the fires have since been contained, the damage left behind by these disasters continue to affect both residents and wildlife.
Community members both directly and indirectly impacted by the fires reflected on both the physical and emotional turmoil they have experienced as they continue to recover.
“A large portion of my childhood and the place I call home [the Pacific Palisades] are gone — my brother’s high school, my favorite hiking trails, homes of my closest friends, restaurants, and my favorite places to go are completely burnt to the ground,” Quincy Solomon ’25 said.
Erin Curtis, director of the Ruth Chandler Williamson Gallery, talked about her own experience evacuating from the Eaton Fire. While her daughter’s preschool burnt down, she expressed gratitude that her apartment had survived.
“One of the things that struck me about this was how quickly it happened,” she said. “I had put my daughter to bed. My husband and I were sitting down to dinner. [And] we heard a neighbor in our apartment complex saying that she’s about to leave … And we looked off our back balcony and the fire was right in the hills, [so] we decided to pack right then and go. And when we came back to our apartment, there was still food that we had left out on the table.”
On Jan. 9, a message from President Amy Marcus-Newhall was published to the Scripps website affirming the college’s mission to support those most affected by the wildfires and listing resources made available through both public and institutional means.
“Whether you have lost your home, had to evacuate, experienced power outages, are hosting displaced family and friends, and/or worried about what’s happening around us – this is an incredibly difficult time,” Marcus-Newhall said in her written statement. “Your well-being and safety are our absolute highest priority. Please take care of yourself, your family, and your loved ones first and do what you need to stay safe.”
In a Jan. 14 email from the Chair of the Board of Trustees Laura Hockett ’85 and Marcus-Newhall, the college announced the creation of the Scripps College Emergency Fund, established “to provide dedicated emergency aid to help the College’s students, faculty, and staff assist with costs incurred by disasters such as the devastating wildfires.”
The Board of Trustees made initial donations with Scripps families, students, alumni, faculty, and staff following suit. According to a statement published by the college on Jan. 30, $200,000 has been raised.
Student initiatives have also led to an outpouring of additional financial and emotional support. Some of these grassroots projects include the Scripps Associated Students (SAS) Winter Art Market, a Scripps Dance benefit concert, the creation of Clean Air Claremont, and the 5C Environmental Justice (EJ) Club donation drive.
The SAS Winter Art Market, a collaboration with the Pomona first year class and local nonprofit It’s Bigger Than Us, hosted an array of student artwork for sale along with henna, tarot card readings, and a clothing swap. The event raised $597 for It’s Bigger Than Us to support wildfire recovery and students also had the chance to donate directly to GoFundMe pages.
“Not only were we able to raise funds for those impacted by the LA fires, we were also able to support student artists and firefighters,” Kimai McPhee ’25, Co-Student Organizations Commissioner (SOC) and event co-organizer, said.
McPhee highlighted the way the market represented unity in the face of crises.
“However, what was special about the art market were the various members of our community we were able to engage — whether a vendor, community partner, alumni, student, or even a store in the Village,” McPhee said.
The 5C EJ club also mobilized the community while advocating for the importance of environmental awareness during natural disasters. The club ran a weeks-long donation drive featuring various drop-off spots around the 5Cs where students could donate emergency items such as clothing and toiletries.
“Environmental justice is not just about pollution and policy change, it’s also about meeting people’s immediate needs,” said a representative for 5C EJ. “After climate crisis fueled natural disasters, we all need to be ready to come together as a community and help each other out.”
Another effort geared towards the environmental ramifications of the fires is Clean Air Claremont. Founded by Samson Zhang PO ’25 and a Pomona professor, the organization raises funds and gathers parts to build air purifiers for those in affected communities.
“[This project] was not as intentional at the start, because there was this immediate need, but now there are people that are like ‘I’m so glad that there’s a clean air club now in the Inland Empire,’” they said.
Zhang also emphasized the need for Clean Air Claremont to continue as a long term project beyond the Eaton and Palisades fires as the conditions leading to wildfires continue to worsen.
“There’s going to be more wildfires [and] urban areas burning down and things are not really going to get better soon in terms of global warming and in terms of drought,” they said. “The state is not investing resources into protecting a lot of communities, particularly working class communities of color, [so] it’s on us to be protecting ourselves and each other and so this is one front.”
Solomon also noted how events such as these should act as a rallying call to combat climate change.
“We always had fires growing up, but they were never so residential to the point where entire communities disappeared,” Solomon said. “Every single house in the alphabet streets of the Palisades burnt down, and it breaks my heart to know that it could have been prevented.”
Curtis additionally raised the alarm on the environmental concerns continuing to affect the 5C community and the significance of grassroots support networks.
“It may feel like fires aren’t necessarily going to come to the 5Cs, but … as the result of climate change, there’s a very good possibility that we can be affected by these kinds of disasters at any time,” she said. “It’s made me realize the importance of all of this community care work that we do more broadly, [it] has a ripple effect of shoring people up and helping them get through these acute situations.”
Photo Courtesy of Etienne Laurent from AP Photo
