Scripps College

Scripps College is also the home of the Ruth Chandler Williamson Gallery,[24] which maintains Scripps College's permanent art collection of some 7,500 objects spanning 3,000 years of art history.[25] Objects are available for use in classes, displayed in campus exhibitions, and loaned to other exhibiting institutions. Among the holdings in the collection are works by American artists Andy Warhol, Winslow Homer, Childe Hassam, and John James Audubon, and an extensive collection of paintings by the California artist and Scripps Professor Emeritus Millard Sheets.

A view of the central pool, northern arcade and sculpture in the Margaret Fowler Garden at Scripps College.

Originally designed as a European medieval-style cloister garden to be located east of a proposed (but never built) chapel, the Margaret Fowler Garden is a walled garden located on the Scripps College Campus. The garden is laid out in two distinct sections: the western area contains a sculpture by Albert Stewart called "Eternal Primitive". The western area of the garden also contains a central pool and four walkways extending in the cardinal directions. The eastern end has a Mediterranean style tiled wall fountain and open flagstone area. Arcades run along the north and south sides of the garden.

On the south wall of the Margaret Fowler Garden are murals by Alfredo Ramos Martínez. The College commissioned Martinez in 1945 to paint a mural (entitled "The Flower Vendors" by Martínez) on the south wall of the Fowler garden. Martínez sketched in the entire composition on the plaster wall and began working on several panels before dying unexpectedly on November 8, 1946 at the age of 72, leaving the mural unfinished. In 1994, a grant from the Getty Endowment allowed the mural to be conserved.[26]

Balch Hall courtyard

Scripps College has several sustainability initiatives underway, from energy conservation to green building practices. On the conservation front, the college has seen monetary and energy savings through use of a new energy management system, and has designed water systems to cut down on waste. Turning "Alumnae Field" into a natural surface also helped in efforts to conserve water. Scripps has also downsized trash bins and made "to-go" containers recyclable, in order to divert more waste from landfills. On the emissions reductions front, maintenance staff use electric blowers and carts (as opposed to gas powered equipment), while a ride-sharing program is available for students, faculty and staff.[27]

For its practices regarding sustainability, Scripps earned a B- on the College Sustainability Report Card 2011, published by the Sustainable Endowments Institute. This grade reflects a quantitative analysis of the effectiveness of the institution's policies. The college received positive recognition for student involvement, on-campus transportation, its food and recycling programs, water programs, and LEED buildings, but fared poorly on the shareholder involvement evaluation category of the report.[28]

The 2020 annual ranking by U.S. News & World Report categorizes Scripps as 'more selective', and ranks it tied for 33rd best liberal arts college in the nation, 95th in "Best Value, and the third best women's college after Wellesley College and Smith College.[36] Forbes in 2019 rated it 60th in its "America's Top Colleges" ranking of 650 schools, which include military academies, national universities, and liberal arts colleges.[37] Kiplinger's Personal Finance places Scripps at 39th in its 2019 ranking of 149 best value liberal arts colleges in the United States.[38] Washington Monthly ranked Scripps 97th in 2019 among 214 liberal arts colleges in the U.S. based on its contribution to the public good, as measured by social mobility, research, and promoting public service.[39]

For the Class of 2023 (enrolling fall 2019), Scripps accepted 967 of the 3,022 applicants (32.0%).[40]

Scripps College does not require the SAT or ACT exams for students applying for admission.[45] For the Class of 2023, of the 62.2% of enrolled freshmen submitting SAT scores the middle 50% range was 673-740 for evidence-based reading and writing, 660-750 for math, while the ACT Composite middle 50% range was 30-33 for the 50.9% who submitted scores.[40] The average high school GPA of incoming freshmen was 4.20.[40]

A key part of the Scripps experience is the Core Curriculum in Interdisciplinary Studies, a sequence of three classes that encourage students to think critically and challenge ideas. Every first-year student takes Core I in the fall, which introduces students to major ideas that shape the modern world. Core II seminars focus on specific ideas introduced in Core I and are usually team-taught by two professors in different fields, such as physics and art. The concluding Core III classes encourage discussion and critical thinking for first-semester sophomores, culminating in individual projects that often lead to students' senior thesis or project.

Scripps College also maintains a robust study abroad program. The program, which more than 60% of students take advantage of, offers access to more than 120 approved programs in 86 cities in 47 countries (including domestic exchanges with Spelman College and George Washington University and internships in Silicon Valley and Washington, D.C.).

Browning and Dorsey residence halls

Scripps is a residential campus, with nine halls and on-campus apartments providing living arrangements for all four years of undergraduate study. In 2017, The Princeton Review included Scripps in several of their rankings, such as "Best College Dorms" (#5), "Most Beautiful Campus" (#12), and "Best Campus Food" (#13).[46]

All residence halls are mixed-class halls; first-year students, sophomores, juniors, and seniors live in one shared community. The number of residents in each hall ranges from 70 to 120, and each is governed by a Hall Council made up of five officers elected by the residents of that hall.

As of October 2014, an anonymous donor gifted Scripps College with $10 million to support the construction of a 10th residence hall[47] named Nan Elizabeth Walsh Schow Hall.[48]

There are a number of registered clubs and organizations (abbreviated CLORGs) at Scripps.[49] Scripps students also frequently participate in 5C clubs alongside students from the other Claremont Colleges.

A student-run feminist coffeehouse known as The Motley is a popular hangout spot and focal point for social life at the college.[50]

There are several media organizations at Scripps, including The Student Life, which covers all 5Cs, and The Scripps Voice.

According to the Division III Fall Learfield Director's Cup Standings for the 2016-2017 year, CMS ranks 12th among all Division III programs, and first among SCIAC colleges.[52] The CMS golf team ranked first among NCAA Division III teams according to Golf Digest, and 17th overall (including Division 1 schools). The rankings are based on the "Balanced" category which is "for students who place equal emphasis on school and sports".[53]

Axelrood Pool

Female Scripps athletes compete on the 11 CMS women's teams:[51]

• Basketball
• Cross Country
• Golf
• Lacrosse
• Soccer
• Softball
• Swimming and Diving
• Tennis
• Track and Field
• Volleyball
• Water Polo

There are also 10 CMS men's teams, but these have few if any Scripps athletes.

• Basketball and Volleyball — Roberts Pavilion
• Lacrosse — John Zinda Field
• Softball — Softball Field
• Soccer — John Pritzlaff Field
• Swimming and Diving — Matt M. Axelrood Pool
• Tennis — Biszantz Family Tennis Center
• Track and Field — Burns Track Complex[54]

The other sports combination of the Claremont Colleges, and CMS' primary rival, is the team made up of Pomona College and Pitzer College known as the Pomona-Pitzer Sagehens (P-P).