May 13, 2025

My reign of terror is over, and my era as ASCIT President has come to its end. Through this opportunity, Caltech and its community have taught me countless lessons that I wouldn’t be able to learn in any classroom, and I thank each and every one of you for the faith you’ve put in me as the ASCIT President and the ways you’ve helped me grow. As some small return to the confidence you’ve put in me, I’d like to offer one final piece of unsolicited perspective I’ve gained over my past three and a h

![Protestors from the Caltech (UAW 2478) and USC (UAW 872) contingents march through Downtown Los Angele

Caltech jointly sued a third federal agency last Monday over another 15% cap on indirect cost rates–this time at the National Science Foundation (NSF). The lawsuit comes amid growing uncertainty about the agency’s future, as NSF has terminated over 1,400 grants in the past month and has reportedly halted all funding actions for the time being. The action aga

On April 12th, as part of Make-A-Difference (MAD) Day with the Caltech Y, seven other Caltech community members and I joined Lila Rodriguez-Aceves at the Chief Ya’anna Regenerative Learning Village—12 acres of unceded land in El Sereno, ab

At Caltech, student-athletes aren’t just competing—they are redefining what it means to balance intensity in both sports and academics. They exhibit not only commitment but a certain kind of mental toughness and passionate energy to their teams and to the Caltech community. Here’s the latest from Caltech Athletics, highlighting the records, rivalries, and relentless drive that define our teams. With the spring quarter underway, our Caltech athletics have achieved like never before. Let’s dive in

If you stroll past the Olive Walk on a sunny Pasadena day, you might see something magical in the air. Is it the scent of freshly pranked upperclassmen? The echo of the Fleming cannon? Or perhaps it’s just the spirit of Caltech’s brand of wizardry—a house system that would make even J.K. Rowling jealous. At Caltech, the hallowed tradition of “houses” isn’t just about where you sleep; it’s about forging family, engineering pranks, and unleashing a level of creativity that would make even Dumbledo

As I lean over my desk, slumped between piles of textbooks and scrawled notes, the weight of my schoolwork drags down my mind. The pressure to excel academically and carve out a niche in the competitive university environment sometimes becomes overwhelming. Yet amidst the chaos of deadlines and exams, an old song unexpectedly pierces the drudgery. The rich, sweeping sounds of “Belle” from Beauty and the Beast sweep me, in the blink of an eye, from the chill of my dorm room to one of wonder and m

The proposed 47% single-year cut to NASA’s science budget eviscerates our nation’s leadership in space science: ending missions already in space, halting those in build, and defunding telescopes and instruments of the future. President Trump’s first administration was strong on space exploration, so this incomprehensible, loser strategy from the Office of Management and Budget doesn’t even seem to match the President’s stated aims. It burns down in months U.S. capabilities that have taken decad

At the Kill the Cuts rally on April 8th, I gave the following speech to Caltech and USC contingents in front of the 300 North Los Angeles Federal Building. I hope its words resonate with the current scientific/political/cultural moment. They represent my truest feelings, the joyous

It’s 2:17 a.m., and here, time—so rigid during daylight, dictated by the unyielding rhythm of schedules and the steady ticking of laboratory clocks—has become fluid, expanding and contracting with the beat of my thoughts. I sit cross-legged on the windowsill of my Caltech dorm, my knees pressed against the cold glass, staring out at a city that sparkles with flickering lights and unformed aspirations. In the stillness of these early hours, with a mug of tea cooling beside me, the world falls qui

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Some call them cute furry fairies; others regard them as rats with bushy tails. Love them or not, fox squirrels are there, every day on the Caltech campus. Among the mammals of Caltech, they’re arguably the happiest and freest. While Homo sapiens are burdened with homework and deadlines, and coyotes stick to moonlit hours to avoid the crowd, the fox squirrels roam wherever their paws take them. Stroll across campus and you’re guaranteed to spot one: foraging randomly in the grass (no, they do

Watching William Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night is always a delve into the delig

Last Monday, in celebration of Cinco de Mayo, a special dinner in Br

Hello everyone, my name is Camilla Fezzi and you probably know me, always running around time, without any free time, and I am kind of recognizable because of my Italian (fashion style) 😜 I’m a freshman at Caltech, with the goal of double majoring in biology and chemistry and dreaming, one day, of becoming a doctor and researcher in the oncology|neuroscience field. But before I am any of those things, I am Italian—a daughter, a sister, a friend. I grew up beneath the Verona sun, in a place where