The Originalist Play + Discussion
culture  

The Originalist Play + Discussion

By Emily

This event counts a little as an on-campus and off-campus adventure. The Pasadena Playhouse, about a mile from campus, is currently running a play called “The Originalist,” about the late Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia. Scalia was a proponent of Originalism, a constitutional interpretation that rose in popularity while he was on the bench. The Caltech Center for Diversity (CCD) arranged 50 tickets for Caltech community members. Wouldn’t you know it, but the play on that night was followed by a discussion led by Caltech History professor Dr. Kousser, who is teaching the Supreme Court History class I am currently taking. What luck! :P

So, everyone in my class signed up to get tickets from the CCD and saw the show. The Playhouse is beautiful (I’d never been there before this show), and we hung around outside a little bit before and after the show. The play itself was interesting. It explored Scalia’s ideology by giving him a fictional liberal clerk who challenged him in chambers and worked on his opinions. The play didn’t delve much into her (the clerk’s) ideology, but it was a good method of teasing out Scalia’s ideas without preaching directly to the audience.

It also so happened that that day was “Give a Shirt Day” on campus. The CCD organizes free tshirts and tank tops every April to celebrate “Gaypril,” and we all wear the shirts on the same day to show support for the Caltech LGBTQ+ community.

It was a somewhat ironic show of support at a play about Justice Scalia, but whatever!

Recommended Articles

My Friday Nights
culture

My Friday Nights

It was the Friday night of midterms during my first year at Caltech, and I was alone in the library. That weekend (week five of term, if you’re keeping count) also happens to coincide with Halloween. But as a bright-eyed frosh trudging my way through Ma 1a lecture notes, I was just baffled that no one else was studying alongside me. Spoiler alert: not all Caltech students spend Friday night—or every night—studying or grinding sets, even during midterms. And especially on Halloween weekend.

By
caltech q and a
culture

caltech q and a

In order to get a good sense of the Caltech community, there is no better way than to talk to the students themselves. To give a little bit of an inside perspective of Caltech, I asked some students a variety of questions. Questions ranged from conspiracy theories to Caltech-specific takes and other random topics.

By
What's on my desk?
culture

What's on my desk?

I’d like to think that I keep a tidy desk, but hey— entropy prevails for everyone. Here’s a breakdown of all the items you could find on my desk, circa February 2023.

By
Searching for snow
culture

Searching for snow

My grandma always says that it rains whenever Dragonssuperior zodiac sign travel, and sure enough, it was raining when I landed at LAX for my last calendar year at Caltech. It’s officially my graduation year—but between leaving campus just before spring term in my freshman year and returning, twenty-one years old, as a junior, it really does feel like my time here has flown by.

By