Pomona College View Book [pdf]

PomonaCollege 

my 

Pomona

In the desert landscape 

Ivy& 

Of 

PalmTrees 

AN INTRODUCTION TO POMONA COLLEGE 

that was the Inland Valley 

of Southern California in 1887, it took audacity to imagine “a college in a 

garden.” Yet far from the ivied halls of the Northeast, Pomona’s founders 

envisioned “a college of the New England type,” with small classes, close 

relationships between students and faculty, and a green jewel of a campus. 

From that audacious beginning, Pomona has grown to be one of the 

nation’s premier liberal arts colleges. Located in Claremont, California, on a 

campus where ivy and palm trees coexist under habitually sunny skies, 

Pomona offers an environment for intel lectual development and personal 

growth that is second to none. Founded by ambitious dreamers, Pomona 

College is still a place for people who are venturesome by choice, people who 

want to make a difference and are prepared to dream big and work hard in 

order to grow. ➣ 

“e East Coast has its Ivy League schools 

but the West Coast has its Pomona College.” 

www.pomona.edu/admissions 

—Edward B. Fiske, 

author of The Fiske 

Guide to Colleges 

I N S I D E 

6 

12 

BEST OF BOTH WORLDS 

14 HARD-WORKING & EASY-GOING 

(Work and fun are not mutually exclusive.) 

18 

A POMONA GLOSSARY 

20 

24 

26 

28 

30 THE FIELD & THE COMMUNITY 

32 

34 

38 

44 

46 

48 

52 

54 

58 

60 

64 

63 

THE RIGHT PLACE 

(This may be the world’s richest college setting.) 

(Big or small? Why should you have to choose?) 

(Terms and traditions you might need to know.) 

TEACHING AND LEARNING 

(Pomona’s faculty makes all the difference.) 

POMONA & THE LIBERAL ARTS 

(How to thrive in a rapidly changing world) 

INSIDE THE CLASSROOM 

(Pomona and the art of active learning.) 

BECOMING COLLEAGUES 

(How research turns students into colleagues.) 

(Taking it to the streets ... and the mountains.) 

PRACTICAL EXPERIENCE 

(Real challenges with real consequences.) 

AROUND THE WORLD 

(50 programs, 32 countries, 6 continents.) 

LIVING AND LEARNING 

(Work and play as part of a real community.) 

ATHLETICS & FITNESS 

(Sports for the serious and not-so-serious.) 

THE GREAT OUTDOORS 

(Taking advantage of an amazing location.) 

ORGANIZATIONS & ACTIVITIES 

(Why getting involved is so easy.) 

SUSTAINABLE POMONA 

(Building a sustainable campus and world.) 

BEYOND POMONA 

(An education for life—and for a career.) 

ACCOMPLISHED ALUMNI 

(A who’s-who sampler of Pomona alumni.) 

THE RIGHT MATCH 

(Are you and Pomona right for each other?) 

CAN YOU AFFORD POMONA? 

(The answer is yes.) 

A STANDING INVITATION 

(The best way to get to know us is to visit us.) 

1

➢ Today, Pomona offers its 1,550 students—evenly divided between men and 

women—a comprehensive curriculum in the arts, humanities, social sciences and 

natural sciences. With a student-faculty ratio of eight to one, students have the 

opportunity to work closely and collaboratively with professors who are also top 

scholars in their fields. Students and faculty challenge each other in laboratories, 

classrooms, and co-curricular activities, and 

everyone benefits from the energy generated by 

such an assemblage of sharp and eager minds. 

Friendships forged among Pomona faculty and 

students frequently endure far beyond the four 

years of college. 

Few institutions can match Pomona’s 

ability to combine such intimate qualities as an 

average class size of 15 with such large-scale 

resources as a two-million-volume library. The 

quality of Pomona’s facilities—from art studios 

to physics labs—often surprises visitors who 

expect that, as colleges go, smaller means 

“less.” As the founding member of The 

Claremont Colleges, a unique consortium of 

seven independent institutions on adjoining 

campuses, Pomona offers its students the best of both worlds—the richly personal 

experience of a small, academically superb liberal arts college and the breadth of 

resources normally associated with major universities. 

As a residential college, Pomona provides a rich social environment that deepens 

the intellectual life of the campus. Students challenge and learn from one another 

not only in the classroom but in daily life. On-campus housing is guaranteed, and 

few students choose to live anywhere else. The extraordinary ethnic and social 

diversity of its student body gives Pomona a broader mix of backgrounds than ➣ 

R A N K I N G S : 

You’ve seen the usual lists, which consistently place Pomona among the nation’s 

top liberal arts colleges, but here are a few you may have missed... 

Best College Values (Kiplinger 

Personal Finance Magazine): 

1 

“Most 

Accessible 

Professors” 

3 

“Happiest 

Students” 

9 

Ranking among liberal arts 

colleges for endowment per 

student: 

1 

Ranking by The Journal of 

Blacks in Higher Education for 

enrollment of Black students: 

2 

Ranking by Hispanic Magazine 

among top colleges for Latino 

students: 

7 

A few rankings from the Princeton Review, based on student surveys: 

“School 

Runs Like 

Butter” 

2 

A C A D E M I C S : 

Percentage of classes taught 

by student assistants: 

0% 

Approximate number of classes 

offered each year at Pomona College: 

650 

Approximate total of classes 

available to Pomona students 

each year through the Consortium: 

2,200 

Percentage of students who 

graduate within four years: 

90% 

Average class size: 

15 

Student-faculty ratio: 

8:1 

Percentage of students who go on 

to graduate or professional school 

within 10 years: 

80% 

www.pomona.edu/admissions 3

Located between north and south 

campus, the SMITH CAMPUS 

CENTER (left) is the hub of much 

that goes on at Pomona. In its 

lounges, cafés, courtyards, offices 

and other comfortble spaces, you 

can rehearse with an a cappella 

group, play pool, listen to a 

debate, watch a foreign movie, 

attend an art show, soak up the 

sun, check your mail, have a 

midnight snack, buy a Pomona 

souvenir for your parents or just 

hang out, all within the friendly 

confines of this modern and active 

campus center. 

➢ just about any comparable educational institution. 

Pomona empowers its students both in and out of the 

classroom, providing the tools and support they need 

in order to take advantage of the wide variety of 

opportunities before them. Often, it is the students 

themselves who are the catalysts for institutional 

change—the sparks that ignite new academic 

programs, clubs and activities. 

Our location—within an hour of the Pacific Ocean, the Mojave Desert, the San 

Gabriel Mountains and the city of Los Angeles—informs and shapes daily life at the 

College. There aren’t many places in the world where you can ski in the morning, 

play on the beach in the afternoon, and take in a major league baseball game or an 

opera at night (not to mention the simple joy of wearing flip-flops in the middle of 

February). But beyond the recreational and cultural possibilities, our location also 

adds another dimension to the learning experience, with unequalled opportunities 

for field study, community involvement and internships. 

In the end, Pomona College students typically complete their studies in the 

span of four years and go on to do remarkable things. In the sciences, in 

government, in theatre and film, in medicine, business, law, and education, in social 

movements and in the arts, Pomona graduates have a presence and an influence out 

of all proportion to their numbers. 

The College gate, built in 1914, bears an 

engraved inscription from Pomona’s fourth president, 

James A. Blaisdell: They only are loyal to this college 

who, departing, bear their added riches in trust for 

mankind. The College exists, the gate reminds us all, 

not only to enrich the lives of its students, but also to 

empower them to make a difference in the world. 

5

6 

E its 

Examine a Google 

TheRight 

Place 

WHERE WE ARE AND WHY IT MATTERS 

map of Pomona College and 

environs and the first thing you’ll notice is that its campus is nestled alongside 

those of several other institutions—the other members of The Claremont Colleges. 

Beyond those shared borders you’ll find the quiet, tree-lined streets of Claremont, 

California. Keep widening the view, and you’ll find roads winding into the San 

Gabriel Mountains just a few miles to the north, freeways and train-lines stretching 

into the metroplex of Los Angeles about 35 miles to the west, Pacific beaches about 

40 miles to the southwest, and the dry scrub of the Mojave Desert a like distance to 

the east. It is arguably the richest, most varied setting for a college to be found 

anyplace in the world. 

With 60 up-to-date buildings in a garden-like setting, the Pomona campus itself 

is an endless array of wonderful places to work and play, featuring a remarkable 

collection of educational resources. Classroom buildings are all new or recently 

renovated, ranging from venerable Pearsons Hall, where President Teddy Roosevelt 

once made a fiery speech, to such state-of-the-art structures as the Lincoln and 

Edmunds buildings, models of environ mentally friendly architecture dedicated ➣ 


➷ 

To Santa 

Barbara 

Getty 

Museum 

Santa 

Monica 

✈ 

Catalina 

Island 

Burbank 

Airport 

✈ 

Universal 

Studios 

Hollywood 

Bowl 

Los Angeles 

International 

Airport 

Los Angeles 

County 

Museum 

of Art 

Long 

Beach 

The 

Rose 

Bowl 

Pomona 

College 

✈ 

Pasadena 

Griffith Observatory 

Dodger Stadium 

Staples 

Center 

Music Center 

Long 

Beach 

Airport 

S A N G A B R I E L S A N B E R N A R D I N O 

M O U N T A I N S M O U N T A I N S 

Huntington 

Library and 

Gardens 

Knott’s Berry Farm 

Disneyland 

Newport 

Claremont 

Honda Center 

Angels Stadium 

Santa 

Ana 

P A C I F I C B E A C H E S 

Beach ✈ John 

Wayne 

Airport 

Mountain High 

Ski Resort 

✈ 

Mt. Baldy 

Ontario 

International 

Airport 

➷ 

Riverside 

To San Diego 

San 

Bernardino 

CLAREMONT 

VILLAGE 

VILLAGE 

WEST 

CLAREMONT 

GRADUATE 

UNIVERSITY 

CLAREMONT 

UNIVERSITY 

CENTER 


College 

Big Bear Lake 

C A L I F O R 

Southern 

California 

HARVEY MUDD COLLEGE 

SCRIPPS 

COLLEGE 

S A N J A C I N T O 

M O U N T A I N S 

N I A 

PITZER 

COLLEGE 

CLAREMONT 

MCKENNA 

COLLEGE 

Palm 

Springs 

Joshua Tree 

National Park

# 1Watch the sun set at 

Joshua Tree National Park. 

Students are, of course, 

free to venture out on their own, 

but the College makes it easy to explore 

Los Angeles. About 20 outings—based on the list of 47 Things Every 

Sagehen Should Do Before Leaving Pomona—are organized each year and 

include trips on the 25-passenger “SageCoach” to Palm Springs and San 

Diego, whale watching, concerts at the Hollywood Bowl and professional 

basketball, baseball and soccer games. Here are a few other examples: 

8 

More information about the 47-Things List 

is available at www.pomona.edu/47things 

# 7Take in some great music at 

Disney Concert Hall. 

# 12 Hit 

# 28 Find 

the slopes at 

a local ski resort. 

the five stars for Pomona College 

alumni in the Hollywood Walk of Fame 

(See page 74). 

# 13 Catch 

a wave at 

a nearby beach. 

➢ to the cognitive sciences, where students love to congregate in the many small 

lounges and to write on the erasable walls. 

It’s also a high-tech campus. Widespread wireless access means anyone with a 

laptop can do research (or just check your email) in any little courtyard on 

campus—one reason why Pomona was named one of the “Top 20 Wired 

Colleges” in the nation by PC Magazine and the Princeton Review. Also cited 

were the College’s free, gigabyte ethernet access in the dorms, 24-hour computer 

labs and the high percentage of classrooms with technology teaching stations. 

Beyond Pomona, the possibilities grow exponentially. Pomona’s campus has 

been called “elastic”—meaning you can make it as small as its 140-acre 

boundaries or take advantage of the oppor tunities offered by the consortium to 

make it much larger. With five undergraduate colleges nestled on contiguous 

campuses—putting as many as 150 public events per month within a 15-minute 

walk—some students almost never venture away, preferring to remain within 

what some call “the Claremont bubble.” But you’ll find it well worth the effort 

to break out of that bubble now and then. Starting with the charming residential 

community of Claremont, and continuing outward into Pasadena, Los Angeles 

and beyond—beaches, deserts, mountains and urban centers—the area around 

the Pomona campus provides a truly incomparable setting, uniquely rich in 

academic, cultural and recreational variety and opportunity. ➣ 

9

10 

Originally created by a group of sustainability-minded 

Pomona students on a piece of fallow campus land, the 

ORGANIC FARM (above) is now an official part of the 

College and plays a role in the curriculum of the 

Environmental Analysis program. 

The SKYSPACE (right) in the Draper Courtyard is many 

things. It’s a monumental work of art, titled “Dividing the 

Light,” by world-famous light and space artist James Turrell 

’65. It’s a a cool place to hang out or study. And twice a 

day, at sunrise and sunset, it’s an amazing light display that 

plays tricks on the eyes and makes the patch of sky framed 

by the overhead canopy look, by turns, bright green, red, 

purple, blue, turquoise, white, black and just about every 

other color you can imagine. It becomes all the more surreal 

when a bird or airplane strays into that weird sky. 

➢ Ranked #5 a few years ago on Money Magazine’s list of “Best Places 

to Live,” Claremont is known as the city of “trees and PhDs.” Just a block 

from campus, “The Village,” as the downtown area is known, offers an eclectic 

mix of shops and restaurants, ranging from a tapas bar to a sushi restaurant. 

Noted Money Magazine: “The downtown is a mix of hip boutiques and oldschool 

businesses. And the historic College Heights Lemon Packing House is 

now home to restaurants, a jazz bar and artists’ lofts.” The expanded Village 

also includes a new, five-screen movie theatre. 

If that isn’t enough, a 10-minute drive will take you to nearby commercial 

centers, where you’ll find a major mall, cinema complexes and practically every 

major commercial outlet imaginable. A few miles farther on by car or by train, 

you can draw upon all the resources of Los Angeles, the commercial and 

cultural capital of the Western United States, home to major museums, teams 

in almost every major 

professional sport and 

entertainment venues of every 

stripe. 

But Southern California not 

only offers a wide range of 

recreational and cultural 

opportunities; it also serves as 

a resource for internships and 

community service, research 

and field study. Geology 

students study deposits of 

volcanic rock in the local 

mountains; art history students go to L.A. to examine the work of Chicano 

muralists first hand; photography students go to the Jet Propulsion Laboratory 

in Pasadena to learn about satellite-imaging; and theatre classes can view major 

theatrical productions at will. The possibilities are limitless. 

The Flip-Flop Lifestyle 

At Pomona, flip-flops are more than just flimsy footwear—they are a way of life. 

I am from Sacramento, California, where there are plenty of roasting days 

when I want to uncover every body part that can legally be 

exposed. This includes my toes, but flip-flops were banned in 

my high school for safety reasons: if someone accidentally 

stepped on the open back of my shoe I could go tumbling 

down a flight of stairs. So, to avoid threatening glares from hall 

monitors, I stuck to sneakers and school-approved sandals. 

I brought three pairs of flip-flops to Pomona my freshman year, 

expecting to wear them in the late-August sizzle and then only on occasional trips 

to the beach. Then I realized that not only was I now past the age in which hall monitors 

substitute for personal responsibility, but also that I could do my homework on a beach towel on the 

quad. I started wearing flip-flops every day, only changing into close-toed shoes for sculpture class in case I 

dropped a jigsaw. Within two months, all three pairs of sandals broke from my constant use. “I’ll buy another 

pair in the spring,” I thought. 

Then I noticed that all around me, as midterms passed and mid-December finals loomed, students were 

still wearing flip-flops. Their popularity is not just because Pomona’s SoCal location makes flip-flops feasible 

year-round—although there is a certain glee in sporting them in February, glancing at my hot-pink painted 

toenails, and thinking of my East-Coast counterparts trudging to the library in snow boots. But more 

importantly, flip-flops reflect Pomona students’ attitude as much as the weather. We are smart and ambitious, 

but we don’t want to look like business economists or biochemical researchers just yet. We are at Pomona to 

prepare ourselves for the rest of our lives, but do not want to race through college with our eyes on the finish 

line and miss out on all the fun. The ease of flip-flops—two seconds to slip on or kick off, no sweaty socks or 

shoe-tying required—creates an air of relaxation even when we have a 15-page paper to turn in by noon and 

a problem set due at 5:00 p.m. Plus, it’s hard to run in flip-flops. 

So, one rainy day I bought another pair of flip-flops. Over the rest of freshman year I wore the thick foam 

soles down to the thinnest sliver before throwing them away. Some of my more sentimental friends can’t 

bring themselves to toss out their favorite flip-flops, and if 

holes develop in the soles they just slap on duct tape. 

Such devotion to a flimsy piece of footwear may seem 

silly, but at Pomona, wearing flip-flops year-round 

doesn’t just earn students bragging rights—it reminds 

us that a little laid-back attitude goes a long way 

toward enjoying our college experience. Here at 

Pomona, we know how to balance the books and 

the beach. 

—Anne Shulock 

Junior Media Studies Major 

11

The phrase “best 

Best of Both 

WORLDS 

THE COLLEGE AND THE CONSORTIUM 

of both worlds” has become a 

cliché, but at Pomona, it’s the simple truth. Our students have the advantages of a small school, 

where class size averages 15 and professors teach every class, along with the opportunities 

offered by a larger university setting of more than 

7,000 students. The founding member of The 

Claremont Colleges, Pomona is one of five 

undergraduate colleges and two graduate institutions 

that make up this unique consortium. Unlike other 

consortial arrangements, the campuses are contiguous, 

and a walk of only a few minutes will take you from one 

to another. Although each institution is autonomous, 

academic calendars and registration procedures are 

coordinated to make cross-enrollment easy. 

Pomona students may supplement the College’s 

already comprehensive curriculum by taking classes at 


any of The Claremont Colleges, including some courses at Claremont Graduate University. 

With more than 2,000 courses available to them, students may choose from more than 230 

English and literature courses, 140 mathematics courses or courses in any of 12 different 

languages. 

Intercollegiate majors are offered in Chicano/Latino, Black and Asian American studies. 

Though mathematics is not an intercollegiate area of study, the curriculum is coordinated by 

all of the colleges, giving students access to 60 mathematicians and 140 classes, including 100 

upper-division or graduate-level classes, in what may be the most comprehensive program 

available at any undergraduate college. 

In most cases, cross-enrollment in 

classes at another college is as simple as 

enrolling in classes at Pomona. 

Beginning with your second semester, 

until the end of your sophomore year, 

you can cross-enroll in one class per 

term. After that, you can take up to 

two courses per term at the other 

colleges, subject principally to the 

restrictions of your major. Because 

there is such a wealth of options at 

Pomona, students typically take only 

eight to 10 percent of their courses at the other colleges. 

But an expanded catalog of classes isn’t the only plus. A two-million volume library serves 

all of the campuses, and the broad range of speakers’ series, guest lecturers, art exhibits, plays 

and performances offered at the other colleges adds immeasurably to the academic 

possibilities. 

Joining Pomona as members of the Consortium are Claremont Graduate University, 

Claremont McKenna College, Harvey Mudd College, Keck Graduate Institute of Applied Life 

Sciences, Pitzer College and Scripps College. Other institutions that are located in Claremont 

and more loosely affiliated with the Consortium are the Claremont School of Theology, the 

Institute for Antiquity and Christianity and the Rancho Santa Ana Botanic Garden. 

Number of minutes of 

walking required to reach 

the farthest class at any of 

The Claremont Colleges: 

10 -15 

Number of volumes in the 

Honnold-Mudd Library: 

more 

than 

2 million 

13

14 

One of the most important things about college is 


Hard& -Working 

Easy-Going... 

POMONA COLLEGE STUDENTS 

the people you’ll meet. 

So who will you meet at Pomona? It’s difficult to generalize about 

Pomona students—they’re so varied and original that they resist easy 

categorization—but there are a few traits we can safely say are typical. 

Pomona students embrace new ideas, take initiative, ask questions and 

challenge the status quo. They are as academically capable a group as any 

college or university can claim, and they are interested in doing 

something important with their talents. It’s also safe to say that among 

them, you’re sure to find some of the most interesting and inspiring 

people you’ll ever encounter in your life. 

They also share a spirit of openness and collaboration. Our students are 

competitive but not cutthroat— that’s a very important distinction. They 

don’t mind working hard, but you won’t find them comparing grade 

point averages. Maybe it’s the weather or the palm trees or our proximity 

to the mountains and the beach. We tend to think it’s something more—a 

cooperation fostered by faculty in the lab and classroom. Professors ➣ 

A CLOSE NETWORK: 

Melissa Hanna 

Sophomore Public Policy Major 

from Tarzana, California 

Home: I grew up in the San Fernando Valley. My dad is from the 

Bahamas so I’ve spent some time there. My mom’s family is from 

New York. Some people say I’m a New Yorker at heart. 

Pomona: I competed in an ABC reality show, The Scholar, and 

won a full-ride scholarship (the top prize). The producers asked us to 

have an idea of where we wanted to go to college, knowing that 

winning the competition would open doors. When I won, I 

reevaluated all my options and decided that this was the best 

community for me. I went to a small high school and knew that it 

was important to me to be a part of a close network of faculty, staff 

and students. 

Interactions: One of the great things about Pomona is that 

I’ve been able to connect with faculty and staff outside the normal 

daily interactions. I’ve been invited over to their houses for dinner or 

to celebrate a holiday. I’m close enough that I can go to Los Angeles 

and be with my family, but it’s nice to have a second home here. It 

really grounds you in this community. 

Jumping in: I started my own live events production company 

when I was 15. I booked bands free of charge for several nonprofit 

organizations and also organized a few of my own charity events. 

Right after I got here, I organized an event to raise money for 

Hurricane Katrina relief. Because of that, I was invited to serve on 

the Committee for Campus Life and Activities. So, just three weeks 

into the school year, I got involved and started organizing events. 

Passions: 

Music—I play flute and saxophone. During my first year here I put 

together a 5C Hip Hop Orchestra. I called some friends and 

advertised and, by the end of the semester, had a group of 30 

classical and hip hop musicians, who were all interested in trying 

other genres. We had our debut concert after spring break. We’re on 

hiatus now but may start up again next year. 

The Visual Arts— I do a lot of mixed media, painting and collage. 

Roy Lichtenstein is my favorite artist and a lot of my style is 

influenced by pop art. You could also call what I do functional art. I 

like making furniture for people. I find something in a thrift store— 

I’m into mid-century modern—and remodel and repaint it. The 

student gallery in the Smith Campus Center is a great opportunity to 

display art work—I was in a couple of shows this year. 

Major: Public policy with a sociology concentration. Both 

departments are fantastic. My academic interests are in national 

welfare, especially public education. I want to try to figure out a 

way to channel my interest in event production into an academic 

path and a career working for nonprofit organizations. 

Favorites: Mudd-Blaisdell courtyard is beautiful; I live in the 

dorm right next to it. If I need thrift store furniture, I shop at The 

Salvation Army on Holt and at Antiques Row or the Arts Colony in 

Pomona. For music, I go to the Folk Music Store in Claremont, the 

Glass House in Pomona, and to several places in Hollywood and 

Fullerton, where there’s a really good jazz circuit. 

Friends: I have a great circle of friends who I’ve met through 

classes and different events. Some of us are musicians, but there’s 

no one single thing that connects us. A lot of my friends are mixed 

race, mixed culture, mixed religion, mixed ethnicity. I think that 

being exposed to people with a broad array of cultural backgrounds 

has been a great growing experience. Not everyone identifies with 

having a multicultural background, but the students here are open 

to it and will leave Pomona with that kind of experience. 

15

INTERDISCIPLINARY APPROACH: 

Why Pomona: I chose Pomona mostly because of the small school 

environment. A lot of the liberal arts colleges are on the east coast, and I 

wanted to be closer to home and not in the freezing cold. The sciences at 

Pomona are great, which was important because I knew I wanted to go to 

medical school. 

Interdisciplinary Focus: Chicano Studies is so multi-faceted. I can 

take courses in history, politics, art, philosophy, sociology, education. The 

classes I’ve taken in both Chicano 

and Black studies also have helped 

me gain a stronger political 

consciousness, especially in terms 

of critical thinking and analysis. 

Science: The sciences at 

Pomona are ideal for me. I got into 

some larger universities—they’re 

good schools, but I think it would 

be harder to pursue pre-med when 

you’re in classes with 300 or 500 

students. At Pomona, you have a 

more intimate learning space, 

where you can get to know the 

professors and get help whenever 

you need it. 

Pre-Med with a Twist: What I like about being a pre-med at 

Pomona is that you don’t have to major in science. I think there is a growing 

realization that having a background in something like philosophy or history 

or cultural studies is important, especially if you’re going to be in a medical 

practice where you’re working with people. I don’t think I could take my 

science classes without having courses to balance that out with peoplerelated 

perspectives, and I couldn’t just take social sciences without having 

some science and math-based classes. It’s my way of doing pre-med, but 

with a twist. 

Summer Research: I got a SURP last summer to do research in a 

neuroscience lab at the University of California, San Francisco. It was an 

amazing experience. I was working with a bunch of postdoctoral fellows 

who had PhDs and other students who were going into medical school. A 

student from Harvard and I were the only undergrads in a program that 

16 

Rico Chenyek 

Junior Chicano/Latino Studies Major and 

pre-med student from Berkeley, California 

involved doing some pretty 

serious research into alcohol 

and nicotine addiction. 

Dance: I’ve been 

performing with Bomber 

Bhangra, a 5C Indian hip 

hop dance team, which has been fun and a good break from academics. 

When you dance, you’re not concerned about other things—you’re just 

very active. Last year, I took a class on Pre-Columbian dance as part of my 

Chicano Studies requirement and was invited to join Danzantes del Sol. 

We’ve performed all over the area, in local museums, colleges and 

community centers. It’s has been very spiritual and community building and 

changed the way I spent last semester. For my final project in oral traditions, 

I wrote about the relationship of dance to physical and mental health and 

the role of Aztec dance as a form of political consciousness. 

Becoming a Doctor: As a pre-med student and Chicano Studies 

major, I try to tie together everything I learn. That’s the kind of doctor I 

hope to be. I want to work in communities of color, particularly with 

Chicanos and Latinos, and I want to build the tools I’ll need to fully engage 

in those communities. One of my professors says that’s what college is 

about—while you’re here, you’re gaining the tools you’ll need when you 

step out into the real world. 

➢ encourage collaboration, and many 

students continue working together after 

class, forming study groups that meet in the 

residence halls, in lounges and computer labs 

and over laptops and shakes at the Coop 

Fountain. 

Students come to Pomona from every 

state in the nation and from many other 

countries, from private and public schools, 

from large cities, suburbs and towns so small 

they don’t appear on most maps. Our 

student body is almost exactly half men, half 

women. More than one-third are students of 

color, and a substantial portion—across all 

ethnic backgrounds—are in the first 

generation of their families to attend a fouryear 

college or university. 

To maintain the remarkable strength and variety of 

Pomona’s student body, the College’s financial resources are 

critical. For U.S. citizens and permanent residents, admission 

decisions are made without consideration of a student’s 

financial circumstances. More than half of Pomona’s students 

receive financial aid from the College to support their study, 

and the College meets 100 percent of the demonstrated 

financial need of every enrolled student. Since 2008, all 

financial aid awards have been a combination of scholarships 

and grants. There are no loans to be repaid—ever. This practice 

of meeting full demonstrated need, without loans, ensures that 

the most capable students will always be able to enroll at 

Pomona regardless of their financial circumstances. 


As you’d imagine, the qualities that distinguish Pomona 

College students don’t go unnoticed in the outside world. 

Working with faculty, our students are regularly listed as coauthors 

in academic journals. They also routinely receive an 

array of competitive fellowships and awards, including 

Watsons, Rhodes, Marshalls, Trumans and Mellons. Pomona’s 

medical, law and other professional school placements 

consistently run far above the national average. 

But the true measure of Pomona College students is that 

they defy measure. Their potential is practically boundless, and 

so is the scope of their accomplishments —both here and in 

their lives after graduation. 

DIFFERENT PASSIONS: 

Meredith Course 

Sophomore Neuroscience Major 

from Olympia, Washington 

Research: I live and breathe it. When I first came here I knew I 

wanted to study neuroscience and do research. I started in Professor Karl 

Johnson’s lab during the summer of my freshman year, and I’ve worked 

with him since then. We’re studying specific genetic mutations in fruit flies. 

Professor Johnson is the quintessential Pomona professor. He’s an incredible 

mentor and has been a huge part of my experience here. 

The Lab: It’s a little sanctuary, a home away from home. We joke 

about living there. Our lab, where I work with five other students, is in the 

Seaver Biology Building and has a study room with a couch and a kitchen. I 

feel so lucky every time I walk into the building. It’s not only beautiful, but 

we have access to equipment that allows us to do a very high caliber of 

science. 

Music: There was a time when I thought I’d have to make a choice 

between a music conservatory and a liberal arts college. If I’d continued 

with music as a profession, I think it would have become one of those 

things you have to do. Instead it’s become my passion, my emotional 

conduit. There are so many incredible musicians at Pomona. You can always 

find someone to play with. I also have a second mentor in my cello teacher 

Robin Lebow. He knows I love music and wants to encourage that, but he 

also understands that I’m a science student. 

Language and Lunch: I live in the French Hall in Oldenborg. I 

took a lot of French before coming to Pomona, but because I don’t have 

time right now, I go to the language lunches and study events. It makes 

you speak a ton of French with other students, which has given me a lot 

more confidence in my language abilities. 

Novels: I’m taking British Novel I. I knew I really liked the 

authors, but what’s interesting about the course is that it’s 

about the emergence of the novel. I’d never really thought 

about the idea that the novel didn’t really exist at some point. 

We’re reading Roxana and Pamela and Tristram Shandy, which 

just might be my new favorite book. 

Working Out: Running and yoga keep me sane. I’m a 

member of the marathon club, which is really laid-back. I take 

a Bikrim yoga class off campus—which is really intense 

because you do it in 100 degree environment—and Kundalini 

yoga at Pomona. It’s a new kind of yoga for me, with more 

chanting and meditation. It’s very relaxing and would be a 

nice way to end the day if that were the end. But then I have 

to crack down and do some homework. 

Perfect Slice of Pizza: There’s an Italian restaurant 

on Indian Hill. It serves a pizza with Kalamata olives, Italian 

ham, artichokes, mushrooms and a crust that’s so good it 

melts in your mouth. 

The Sun: Coming from Washington, it’s innate to me 

that if it’s sunny, you have to drop everything and run 

outside. That’s another reason I like Seaver. There’s a big 

glass cube with a sunny room, where you’re surrounded by 

all this natural light. It’s great because I can be inside 

soaking up the sun, but still have a desk. I’ve never thought 

of myself as a beach girl, but there’s this beach I like to go to 

near Laguna that’s kind of out of the way. There’s something 

to be said for just lying in the sand near the water. 

17

18 

Pomona glossary 

L ike most American colleges, Pomona has its unique traditions and its distinctive jargon—all of those interlocking, mysterious bits of 

inside information that separate the initiated from the outsider. To give you a head start on feeling right at home in the midst of a 

typical Pomona conversation, here’s a glossary of special Pomona terms and traditions you might need to know. 

5C As the founding member of The Claremont Colleges, Pomona is 

the oldest and largest of the five undergraduate colleges that sit 

on interlocking campuses in Claremont. Known as the 

“5Cs” (a term that ignores the two graduate institutions that are 

also part of the mix), these five campuses multiply the on-campus 

social climate and provide the opportunity to take classes at 

other colleges, eat in a different dining hall each day, join clubs that 

span the campuses, and benefit in many other ways from 

this unique consortium. Used as an adjective, “5C” signifies 

a program or club involving students from all five colleges. 

ASPC The Associated Students of Pomona College 

(ASPC) is the elected student government that coordinates 

student activities and allocates funds from student fees. 

Beach Pomona is only an hour away from the Pacific 

beaches, but when Pomona students refer to Walker 

Beach or Wig Beach, they’re talking about 

something much closer at hand. These two large, grassy 

recreational areas of the campus—each including, among 

other things, a sand volleyball pit—are where lots of 

Pomona students hang out on those warm, sunny 

afternoons in September or April—or for that matter, 

January or February. 

Borg You may remember the Borg of TV fame—the 

swarming, half-cybernetic zombies from reruns of Star 

Trek: The Next Generation. Well, Pomona, too, has its Borg, 

and the two may well be related. (See Star Trek, below.) 

At Pomona, “the Borg” is short for Oldenborg Center 

for Modern Languages and International Relations—which includes, 

among other things, a residence hall where students live and work in 

one of six foreign languages. If you visit Oldenborg, you may be 

struck by its warrens of maze-like hallways, reminiscent— 

some say—of those of the TV Borg, but don’t expect to see any 

zombies unless you visit during finals week. 

Coop “The Coop” has long been the nickname of the student-run 

snack-bar and campus store operated by ASPC. Located in the Smith 

Campus Center, the Kinsmith Coop Fountain serves a menu of 

sandwiches and salads, not to mention some of the world’s best 

shakes, and offers a congenial place to meet friends, play a game of 

pool, or zap some aliens in a video game. The Coop Store sells 

Pomona logo items, school supplies, and sundries. 

47 

As the Pomona Student Handbook 

once put it, “To the uninitiated, 47 is a mystery. To 

knowledgeable Pomona Sagehens, 47 is dogma. To 

sociologists, 47 is a prime example of a minor piece of 

whimsy that somehow developed into a legend of mythical 

proportions...” In 1964, a tongue-in-cheek student research 

project designed to “prove” that the number 47 appears 

more often in nature than other random numbers turned into a wholesale 47 hunt that 

has continued to this day. Since then, Sagehens have discovered this quintessential 

random number in the most unexpected places. Pomona College is located at Exit 

47 of the San Bernardino Freeway; the pipe organ in the Thatcher Music Building has 

47 pipes visible in its top row; and in the film, Towering Inferno, actor Richard 

Chamberlain ’56 was the 47th person in line to be saved. On a more historic scale, the 

Declaration of Independence has 47 sentences and the tropics of Cancer and Capricorn 

are 47 degrees apart. See how it works? Next time you encounter a 47 on a road sign 

or in a textbook, you’ll notice—and probably think of Pomona. Alumni have not only 

found their magic number all over the world; they’ve planted it in popular movies 

and TV shows for others to find. (See Star Trek, next page.) 

Farm Walk south from Seaver Theatre and you’ll find yourself in an 

unexpected, pastoral world known to students as the Organic 

Farm, or simply, “the Farm.” Created by a group of sustainabilityminded 

students on a piece of fallow campus land, the Organic Farm 

has now been officially adopted by the College and built into the 

curriculum of the Environmental Analysis program. 

J-Tree Sometimes called “Pomona’s backyard,” Joshua 

Tree National Park (or more familiarly, “J-Tree”) is an expanse of 

gloriously desolate high desert, home to the arthritically beautiful 

joshua tree made famous by Tom Wolfe in his book, The Right 

Stuff. Located about an hour from campus, the park is a favorite 

place for students to camp, hike and catch a fiery sunset. 

OTL Short for “On the Loose,” OTL is a 5C (see above) 

outdoor club that sponsors more than 150 organized outings 

each year, from backpacking and rock-climbing to sailing and 

skiing. In addition, OTL’s equipment loan program 

equips students for countless informal weekend and day trips 

to nearby beaches, mountains and deserts. 

Prometheus Where can you go to eat breakfast 

beneath a priceless work of art? Frary Dining Hall, home of 

the famous Prometheus fresco by José Clemente 

Orozco—one of “los tres grandes,” the three great 

Mexican muralists. Finished in 1930, the work represents the 

Greek myth of the Titan who stole fire from the gods 

and gave it to humankind. 

Quad At the center of Pomona’s campus is a garden called 

Marston Quadrangle—known to students as “the Quad.” 

Developed in 1923, this beautiful, 4¾-acre green space 

and formal garden contains 101 trees, ranging from 

sycamores to redwoods. Its award-winning landscaping is 

largely responsible for Pomona’s reputation as “a college 

in a garden.” 

Sagehen Pomona traces its distinctive mascot back to 

World War I, when its original mascot—the Huns—became 

unpopular. Legend has it that to save money, the teams changed the 

“u” on their uniforms to an “e,” exchanging a dreaded nomadic 

raider for a bird that reputedly runs in circles when threatened. 


Clockwise from top: The mural Prometheus in Frary Dining Hall; 

students backpacking on an OTL trip; students gather around for 

late-night pancakes during Snack; a warm winter’s day on Marston 

Quad; and Cecil the Sagehen. 

Snack Pomona students’ most prized perk might be the latenight 

provender they get four evenings a week from 10:30 to 

11:30 p.m. at Frary Dining Hall. Food choices vary night to night, 

ranging from nachos to corndogs, meatballs to muffins. The 

Sunday-through-Wednesday ritual is a chance to socialize while 

procrastinating just a tad on that looming research paper. 

Sponsor Group A special part of the Pomona 

experience, sponsor groups are designed to help students 

make the transition from home to dorm life. These co-ed groups of 

10-20 first-years live in adjacent rooms in the residence halls, along 

with two student sponsors who help them learn the ropes of 

campus life. (For more information, see page 44.) 

Star Trek As writer and co-producer of three series of 

Star Trek sequels (The Next Generation, Deep Space Nine and 

Voyager), Joe Menosky ’79 made Pomona’s magic number part of 

pop culture. Over the years, viewers noticed the number in episode 

after episode. The crew stops at Sub-space Relay Station 

47. Data is unconscious for 47 seconds. A character shrinks to 47 

centimeters. Even after Menosky left the shows, the 47 tease was 

continued by other writers and spread to other shows. Menosky has 

never confirmed or denied the rumor that the villainous Borg 

was named for his old dorm. (See Borg, above.) 

Village The downtown area of Claremont—known as “the 

Village”—is only a block away from campus. Offering a range of 

shops and restaurants, the Village was recently expanded with the 

newly constructed “Village West,” including a range of new 

eateries and a five-screen art cinema. 

Walker Wall Once a flood break, this five-foot 

cinderblock wall now serves as a free-speech forum where 

Pomona students can paint birthday greetings, advertise parties, or 

scrawl humorous reflections. Messages range from the profound to 

the trivial, from simple to poetic. 

Wash East of the Sontag Greek Theatre and south of 

Pomona’s athletic facilities, Pomona’s campus takes a turn for the 

rustic—with paths crisscrossing acres of native live oaks 

and desert scrub. 

19

Among the most 

& Teaching 

Learning 

POMONA COLLEGE FACULTY 

AND THE ACADEMIC PROGRAM 

important relationships 

you’ll make at Pomona are the ones you’ll form with your professors. 

These extraordinary teachers and scholars have chosen Pomona—and 

Pomona has chosen them—because they have a talent and a passion for 

teaching bright undergraduate students, combined with a sophisticated 

command of their disciplines. Their involvement in research, writing 

and creative expression translates into fresh, lively instruction in the 

classroom and laboratory. And by sharing the excitement—and the 

occasional humility—of their own scholarly pursuits with their students, 

Pomona professors encourage them to become not passive recipients of 

knowledge, but active co-learners. 

With a student-faculty ratio of 8:1 and an average class size of 15, 

Pomona students get to know their teachers very well. About 85 

percent of our faculty members live within five miles of the College, so 

their time on campus isn’t limited to office hours. Discussions that 

begin in the classroom often continue in hallways or over sandwiches at 

the Sagehen Café, and sometimes lead both professor and student in 

unexpected directions. “One of my students lent me her favorite B ➣

22 

F A C U L T Y 

Acclaimed author 

Jonathan 

Lethem is the 

Disney Professor of 

Creative Writing. He has 

written eight novels and 

five short story collections, 

as well as a collection of 

essays, a comic and a novella. In 2009, The 

New York Times named his novel Chronic City 

one of the 10 best books of the year. 

Cynthia Selassie, Professor of Chemistry, is one of 

the pioneers of a technique that was born at Pomona College and is 

pushing back the frontiers of modern drug design. The brainchild of 

Selassie’s mentor, Pomona College Professor Emeritus Corwin 

Hansch, the statistical technique known as QSAR permits chemists to 

use computers to predict the biological activity of new molecules, 

even if they have never been synthesized. 

Susana Chávez-Silverman, 

Professor of Romance Languages, is the author of Killer 

Crónicas: Bilingual Memories, a groundbreaking book 

that has been called“...a refreshing turning point in 

Latino literature, maybe even the truly bilingual 

literary voice that Gloria Anzaldúa called for.” 

(Los Angeles Times) 

Thomas Leabhart, Resident Artist and Professor of 

Theatre, conducts summer workshops on mime at the Seahorse 

Project in Paris. An internationally acclaimed teacher, author and 

performer, Leabhart is the author of the authoritative Modern and 

Post-Modern Mime and editor of the national Mime Journal. 

Percentage of faculty who 

shared a meal with students 

at least six times last year: 

72% 

Percentage of faculty who 

invited students to their homes 

at least once last year: 

68% 

Percentage of faculty currently 

working with one or more students 

on research projects: 

64% 

Percentage of faculty who are 

still in contact with one or more 

former students: 

98% 

Bobby Bradford, Lecturer 

in Music and Director of the Jazz Ensemble, was a 

side man with the Ornette Coleman Quartet and has been described as 

“one of the best trumpeters to emerge from the avante-garde” by critic 

Scott Yanow. 

Deborah Burke, Professor of Psychology, is one of the 

nation’s leading researchers in the field of memory and aging— 

particularly in understanding the mental process behind “tip of the 

tongue” experiences and other word-finding problems. 

David Tanenbaum, Associate 

Professor of Physics, and junior physics major 

Ian Frank were part of a research team that 

was the first to create a micro-mechanical 

device with a thickness of a single atom. Their 

work was described in the January 26, 2007, 

issue of Science Magazine. 

Heather Williams, Associate Professor of Politics, 

recently received a Mellon Foundation New Directions Fellowship to 

begin a research project examining the links between environmental 

change, political activism and urban migration in the areas of Peru and 

Bolivia around Lake Titicaca, becoming the fourth Pomona professor to 

receive this coveted research award in recent years. 

George Gorse, Professor of Art History and an expert in 

medieval and Renaissance art, became—reluctantly—one of 

academia’s leading debunkers of Dan Brown’s The Da Vinci Code and 

the movie made from it. ”The play on the line between fiction and 

nonfiction is very insidious,” says Gorse. 

Steve Erickson, Professor of Philosophy, occasionally gets 

together with comedian John Cleese to talk about philosophical 

questions. In the late ’90s, the two unlikely friends took their show on 

the road, holding a series of public conversational duets across the 

country, titled “Time and Garbage.” 


➢ movie, a parody of summer camp,” says Politics Professor Susan McWilliams. “After I’d 

watched it, we talked about the appeal of summer camp stories. Something clicked, and now 

this student is going to spend the summer as my research assistant, focusing on the broader 

themes of storytelling, popular culture and politics.” 

You’ll find professors and students in every discipline working side by side on research 

projects. You’ll also find them interacting in many other settings. Physics Professor Alma Zook 

’72 plays in a woodwind quintet 

with three students and a recent 

alumnus. Astronomy Professor 

Bryan Penprase was one of three 

faculty members joining a recent On 

the Loose trip to the Anza Borrego 

desert, bringing along telescopes so 

students could look at the night sky. 

It’s common to see professors 

cheering on students at football 

games or applauding their 

performance with the Glee Club or 

in a play. Most professors regularly 

invite individual students or whole classes to their homes to share a meal or a holiday or—in the 

case of Biology Professor Andre Cavalcanti—to watch Brazil compete in the World Cup. (The 

Brazilian native also hosted a barbecue and pick-up soccer game.) 

Because Pomona is an entirely undergraduate institution, there are no graduate students 

competing for faculty attention. Even in your first year at the College, you may be part of a class 

taught by senior faculty members. Professor Gary Smith, whose seven economics textbooks have 

been adopted at such institutions as Harvard and MIT, frequently teaches introductory classes. 

Professor Tom Moore, whose physics texts are used by more than 50 colleges nationwide, 

regularly teaches General Physics. Every year, some of the College’s most distinguished faculty 

teach freshman seminars, and many of our senior science faculty teach introductory lab sessions. 

23

24 

Pomona & the 

Liberal Arts 

THE POMONA COLLEGE CURRICULUM 

The body of information 

we call “knowledge” 

is ever-changing, but the most important intellectual skills—those needed to acquire 

and evaluate knowledge, to put it into a meaningful context and to synthesize new 

ideas and solve new problems—are not. The main purpose of a Pomona education is 

to ensure that students develop the intellectual capacities and resilience to engage 

learning over a lifetime and to thrive in a changing world. Pomona’s curriculum 

provides a balance between the breadth of a traditional liberal arts education and the 

depth necessary for advancement in a specific field. Pomona students find great 

educational rigor, but also the freedom to pursue their individual interests. 

Classes are demanding, ensuring that students’ intellectual capabilities are 

stretched. Readings are intensive; projects often require new ways of thinking and 

innovative methods of analysis. Part of the intellectual experience involves listening to 

others and considering different points of view. Journalist Walter Lippmann said, 

“Where all think alike, no one thinks very much.” At Pomona, bright, intellectually 

active students learn from one another in an environment that encourages collegiality, 

not competition. 


No specific course in the Pomona curriculum is prescribed for graduation. Even 

the first-year seminars called Critical Inquiry courses offer students a wide array of 

choices among classes with such titles as War and Art, Stages of Conscience, and 

Living with Our Genes. Likewise, in place of specific course requirements, Pomona’s 

Breadth of Study Requirements are designed to encourage exploration while 

providing significant freedom of choice. Students take at least one course in each of 

five areas: Creative 

Expression; Social 

Institutions and Human 

Behavior; History, Values, 

Ethics and Cultural Studies; 

Physical and Biological 

Sciences; and Mathematical 

Reasoning. There are also 

broadly defined requirements 

for foreign language 

proficiency and physical 

education. Whatever their 

field of study, Pomona 

students explore widely among a range of disciplines, not only to inform their choice 

of a major, but also to expose them to the analytical methods of a variety of fields, 

hone their communication skills and put their eventual field of specialization into the 

broadest academic context. 

For in-depth study, Pomona offers a choice of 45 majors, including all of the 

traditional disciplines of the humanities, fine arts, social sciences and natural sciences, 

as well as a variety of interdisciplinary fields. Majors at Pomona are not designed 

primarily to prepare students for specific careers, but rather to sharpen their ability to 

think critically and in depth using the analytical methods of the discipline. As part of 

the overall Pomona education, however, all majors have been shown to provide an 

outstanding foundation for success in whatever follows graduation—whether it be 

further study or the immediate start of a career. 

Requirements for Graduation: 

• Total of 32 courses, including all other requirements 

• 1 Critical Inquiry Seminar (first year) 

• 5 Breadth of Study courses—one in each of five areas: creative 

expression; social insti tutions and human behavior; history, values, 

ethics and cultural studies; physical and biological sciences; and 

mathematical reasoning 

• All requirements for a major field 

• Proficiency in 1 foreign language (test or coursework) 

• 1 semester of physical education 

25

26 

One of the few 

Inside the 

Classroom 

THE ART OF ACTIVE LEARNING 

things we know with some 

certainty about the future is that it will reward people who are intellectually resilient— 

people who can think critically and express themselves clearly; people who are skilled 

at solving problems and identifying opportunities; people who have learned to 

embrace life creatively and thoughtfully, whatever circumstances may confront them. 

Developing and nurturing these abilities is the main point of what goes on inside 

Pomona College classrooms and laboratories. 

With an average size of 15, most classes here are taught as seminars, in which the 

professor serves not as the source of all knowledge, but as a participant in a common 

search for understanding. In the lively discussions that are the heart of these classes, 

you will be free to draw your own conclusions and express and defend your own ideas. 

Even those rare classes that do number more than 30 students typically have smaller 

discussion sections or laboratory components. And all classes are taught by faculty 

members—not by graduate students. As senior English major Molly Berman puts it, 

“At Pomona it’s not about regurgitating facts; it’s about synthesizing knowledge. I 

probably won’t remember all the facts I’ve memorized for tests, but I think I’ll always 


remember the interactions I’ve had here in my seminars.” 

Indeed, those interactions will begin during your very first 

semester at Pomona with the Critical Inquiry seminar. As a firstyear 

student, you will choose from a list of 25 to 30 inter - 

disciplinary courses on such varied topics as “The Heart of a 

Doctor,” “Nanotechnology in Science and Fiction,” “Race, 

Confidence Men and the Eye of Providence,” and 

“‘Flashpoints’ in Rock & Roll History.” Enrollment is limited 

to 15, giving you a chance to work closely with faculty and 

peers. 

If you already know what you want to study, you’ll receive 

plenty of encouragement and support. By the time you begin 

your senior exercise, however, you may find that your academic 

path has taken some unexpected twists and turns. About 80 

percent of our students end up doing something other than the 

probable majors they listed on their applications. You may 

discover your life’s passion in a conversation with a professor, or 

while taking an elective to fulfill the College’s General 

Education requirements, or while spending a semester abroad in 

one of our globe-spanning study-abroad programs, or while 

taking advantage of one of the countless other opportunities 

Pomona will put in your path. 

Whatever you choose to study, you’ll work closely with 

academic advisors who will take the time to get to know you 

and to help you find not the path of least resistance, but the 

path that leads where you really want to go. 

27

28 

If you want 

Becoming 

Colleagues Summer Sampler 

REAL-WORLD CHALLENGES, PART 1 

to try your hand 

at research, you won’t have to wait long before getting 

your feet wet at Pomona. A number of our students 

are already immersed in projects in their first year, 

tackling sophisticated research in nanotechnology, 

DNA and aging, and dwarf planetary rotation. The 

College offers extensive opportunities in all disciplines, 

from creating digital biographies in media studies to 

studying thermophilic organisms at Coso Hot Springs 

in chemistry. Students work side-by-side with 

professors in the classroom and the lab as part of the 

regular curriculum and on year-round and summer 

research projects. Seniors also work extensively with 

faculty on their final research projects and theses. 

Conducting research as an undergraduate not only 

gives students an advantage when applying for 

fellowships or graduate school; it also gives them a 

chance to tackle real-world problems and to find out 

what it’s like to be treated as colleagues by their 

professors, many of whom are among the leading 

experts in their fields. 

The Summer Undergraduate Research Program (SURP) enables students to 

conduct extended, focused research in close cooperation with a Pomona 

faculty member. Research projects, funded by Pomona and by public and 

private foundations, take place both on campus and in the field. Although 

the natural sciences account for the largest number of projects, the 

humanities, social sciences and interdisciplinary disciplines are also well 

represented. An average of 120 students work on research projects each 

summer. Below is a sampling of some recent projects. 

Art and Art History 

Here, Now and Why: Place-Specific 

Contemporary Southern California Art 

in Context 

Asian Studies 

Asian Exceptionalism? Continuing the 

Asian Values Debate 

Astronomy 

Berkeley 87: Stellar Variability of a 

Young Star Cluster 

Biology 

Mutation-Selection Balance in Ciliates 

Chemistry 

Development of a Method for 

Analyzing Biodiesel using High 

Performance Liquid Chromatography 

Computer Science 

The Implementation of Object- 

Oriented Languages in Pedagogical 

Programming Environments 

Economics 

What Happens to Children When 

Their Families Fail? 

English 

Alienation and Paranoia in Urban 

Environments 

Environmental Analysis 

The Impacts of Fish Farming in the 

Peruvian Amazon 

Geology 

The Influence of Normal Fault 

Geometry on Porous Sandstone 

Deformation: Insights from 

Mechanical Models 

History 

The Japanese-American’s Struggle 

with Identity in World War II 

Linguistics and Cognitive Science 

A Purloined Letter: Why Do We Miss 

Things Right Before Our Eyes? 

Mathematics 

The Yang-Baxter Equation and 

Integrable Systems 

Media Studies 

An Experiential Study In Live 

Music Culture 

Molecular Biology 

Studies into the Origins of the 

Adaptive Immune System 

Neuroscience 

Group Differences in Stress, EEG 

Prefrontal Asymmetry and Health 

Physics 

Caging Atoms with Light: The 

Magneto-Optical Trap 

Politics 

Human Trafficking in Argentina 

Psychology 

The Effect of Verbal and Nonverbal 

Interventions on TOT Resolution 

Religious Studies 

Theology of Inculturation in 

Northern Peru 

Sociology 

Who Gets Designated a Terrorist and 

Why? A Comparative Cross-Sectional 

Analysis of Government Terrorist Lists 


A Journey to the Arctic 

Nina Karnovsky, an associate 

professor of biology, has been traveling to the 

Arctic since 1997 to study seabirds. For the past 

two summers, she has taken a Pomona student 

along on her summer research expeditions. 

Background 

Bailey: I grew up in Livermore, home to a nuclear lab, wine grapes and 

cowboys. My dad, who is a high school biology teacher, got me interested in 

the natural world by taking me hiking and on camping trips to Yosemite. I 

also had an excellent AP bio teacher in high school. 

Karnovsky: I was not at all interested in science and even petitioned out of 

my science classes when I was at Wesleyan. My epiphany came after I 

graduated, when I came to California and got at job at Point Reyes Bird 

Observatory teaching kids about birds. I fell in love with research and started 

taking seasonal jobs, 

studying Goshawks in the 

Grand Canyon, elephant 

seals on the Farallon 

Islands and sea turtles in 

Hawaii. Ten years ago, I 

started working in the 

Arctic, which is where I did 

the research for my Ph.D. 

B: I grew up hearing 

about the close 

relationships that my 

grandparents (professors 

at Scripps and Pomona) 

had with their students— 

enjoying discussions, 

having dinners for students 

at their house, keeping in contact with their advisees after graduation. I 

came here because I wanted to have that same kind of academic interaction. 

After my sophomore year, I spent part of the summer studying birds in the 

Eastern Sierras with Professor Levin [Rachel Levin, associate professor of 

biology]. Then I took a vertebrate biology course from Professor Karnovsky 

before heading to South Africa for my semester abroad. I was in South 

Africa, sitting in this little Internet café in the heat of the summer, when I got 

an email from her asking me to be her research assistant. I was ecstatic. I 

didn’t have to think twice about accepting the job. 

K: I could see Allison had the qualities I look for in a field assistant. She was 

enthusiastic, easy to get along with, and good at designing projects—I have 

students in all my classes design their own fieldwork and carry it out. I 

thought she’d be a great candidate and I was right. 

The Research Project: Currents of Change: How will the Feeding 

Ecology of the Little Auk (Alle Alle) Change with Global Climate Change 

The Location: The Polish Polar Station, Polar Bear Bay, Hornsund 

Fjord, Spitsbergen Island, Norway 

The Research 

K: When I went to the Antarctic in 1992 I realized how any 

change in the food web is quickly transmitted to birds. They’re 

responsive to changes in ice conditions and warming, and that 

changes their behavior, which is something we can measure. 

B: Because little auks eat plankton, they’re good indicators of 

what’s happening in the ocean. What’s cool about the place 

where we were is that there are two currents. In addition to 

being different temperatures, they have different types of 

plankton. When there’s a lot of warm water and just a slice of 

cold, the little auks mostly feed on the small plankton. When 

the cold current dominates, you get a lot of energy-rich prey. 

We have data for several years on where the currents are, 

where the zooplankton are and what the currents are doing. 

K: With such a short-term study we haven’t measured huge 

declines in productivity, but one of the things we’re doing is 

comparing our colony, which has a lot of warm water around 

it, to another colony in Greenland—same species of bird— 

surrounded by a lot of cold water. 

Getting There 

K: We flew from California to Newark to Oslo to the northern tip of Norway. Then it was on 

to Longyearbyen and a two-day boat trip down to the Polish Polar Station. 

B: There are about 25 people at the station in the summer, 10 in the winter. While we 

were there, people were coming and going – scientists from Belgium and Norway, Spanish 

glaciologists. Most of the researchers are from Poland. 

K: One of the things I love about polar research is that it’s so international. That’s another 

reason I chose Allison because I knew she would enjoy the social part of the experience 

because she was making the most of her study abroad experience in South Africa. 

B: Capturing the chicks and adult birds for measurements 

doesn’t require any special techniques. The chicks nest in rock 

crevices and you have to just reach in and grab them. The 

adults, which look like small penguins but can fly, require 

a net. 

K: It’s daylight all the time when we’re there so we have to 

keep working because the birds don’t stop. A lot of people 

have a romanticized idea of what field research will be like. It 

takes a lot of perseverance – conditions can be really 

uncomfortable and animals don’t behave like you think they 

might. Having this experience while you’re an undergraduate 

helps when you need to make a decision about whether to go 

to grad school in an area that involves field work. 

B: We also spent three days on a large three-masted sailboat 

that took us out to sea to collect samples in the currents of 

cold and warm water where the auks find their food. You can 

be sitting on the deck counting birds...nothing, one, nothing, 

nothing…3,400! 

Allison Bailey, a senior majoring in 

biology, was the latest field assistant to spend four 

weeks at the Polish Polar Station. 

Back to Pomona 

K: I’m happy I can give my students an opportunity to experience all levels 

of a project. Allison was in the field for the data collection and has been 

helping with the analyses and doing her own analysis for her senior thesis. 

She wrote a poster and presented it at the Pacific Seabird Group meeting, 

where she got an honorable mention. A few people asked when she was 

going to get her Ph.D. I told them she was just graduating from college. 

B: It’s been very cool. In addition to learning about biology, it’s been 

interesting to make the connection between climate and predators. I’ve 

also appreciated having a role model 

like Professor Karnovsky. To have strong 

women scientists in this department, 

who can do so many different things, 

is awesome. 

The “Arctic Flu” 

Allison was awarded a Fulbright to return 

to the Arctic to study at the university in 

Longyearbyen, where she’ll look at the 

relationship between migrating geese and 

plants of the tundra and how they are 

affected by climate change. She’ll 

probably cross paths with Laurel 

McFadden ‘06, who also spent a summer 

as a research assistant for Karnovsky and 

was awarded a Watson Fellowship to 

photograph people north of the Arctic 

Circle. Karnovsky will also go back, this 

time with three students from Pomona. 

They will all be there for the International 

Polar Year, a collaborative international 

effort to study the polar regions that 

takes place every 50 years. 

K: Every student I bring to the Arctic gets 

the “Arctic flu.” You catch the bug and 

you have to go back. It becomes a part of 

you. One of the things I love about it 

that’s different from the Antarctic is that 

there are all these wildflowers and land 

mammals, in addition to the huge 

number of seabirds. It’s extraordinarily 

beautiful – harsh, stark, but full of color. 

29

30 

Sometimes, if you 

have to go to the mountains. If you want to understand how human behavior 

affects grunion, there’s no better way to find out than to spend a night at the 

beach. Maybe you want to know more about child psychology or health care 

or Chicano muralists. There’s a lot you can learn in the classroom and the lab, 

but if you want a hands-on experience or a different perspective, you have to 

go out in the field. The Los Angeles area offers rich and diverse possibilities 

for students in every discipline. Anchored by a vital, evolving city with 

opportunities for community-based research and internships in areas that 

include health care, economics, public policy, arts and media, the region also 

offers vast natural resources—from deserts to mountains to beaches. 

Intellectually and politically, California is at the center of discussions (and 

action) about issues like the environment, globalization, diversity, 

immigration and technology. Our students don’t want to wait until graduate 

school to tackle those challenges—and at Pomona they don’t have to. 

Pomona students at the 126-foot Lower 

Calf Creek Falls at Grand Staircase- 

Escalante National Monument in Utah. 

& 

The Field 

the Community 


want to study rocks, you 


The Draper Center 

for Community Partnerships 

“We have a wealth of resources at Pomona College and partnering 

with the community is one way to share them,” says Maria Tucker, 

director of the Draper Center for Community Partnerships. Communitybased 

research and learning, educational outreach and other types of 

community engagement are supported by the Center through a range 

of programs. 

“The Draper Center aims to create academically grounded 

opportunities for students to experience mutually beneficial exchange 

with community members and organizations,” says Tomás Summers 

Sandoval, faculty coordinator for the Center and assistant professor of 

history and Chicano/Latino Studies. “It’s about civics: learning what 

it means to be a responsible, educated citizen in the world.” 

A recent collaboration between the Theatre and Dance 

Department and Fremont Middle School led to the creation of The 

Theatre for Young Audiences, a year-long course culminating in a 

production at Pomona in the spring. College students are involved in 

every aspect of the program, from designing the curriculum to 

working with middle school students on the final production. 

Politics, mathematics, environmental science and Chicano/Latino 

Studies are among other departments that offer courses with 

community-based research components. Students in Politics of 

Environmental Justice, a course taught by Professor of Politics Rick 

Worthington, conduct collaborative projects with groups in the Los 

Angeles area, such as the Center for Community Action and 

Environmental Justice. 

Pomona students also participate in educational outreach to local 

schools through America Reads, Pomona Partners, College Bound, and 

in the four-week long Pomona Academy for Youth Success (PAYS), a 

free summer college prep program for local high school students. 

Community engagement initiatives include connecting students to 

one-time volunteer activities and organizing spring and fall 

Alternabreaks, opportunities for community service during mid-term 

breaks. “The students not only came up with the idea for 

Alternabreak, but figured out how to make it work,” says Tucker. 

“That’s a hallmark of Pomona, and what we love about our 

students—they take initiative, they’re smart, and they’re 

independent.” 

31

32 

Jana Sims 

Senior Economics Major 

from Los Angeles, California 

“Carbon markets are 

Home: Los Angeles—I went to a private boarding school in Claremont 

near Pomona College. 

Pomona: I came and visited and loved it. It was beautiful and very 

similar to the academic environment I’d become comfortable with. Being 

able to find a college like Pomona on the West Coast was great, because I 

don’t do cold very well. 

Major and Minor: I wasn’t set on an economics major when I 

came here, but I’ve really liked the courses and have had some 

outstanding professors who’ve taught me how to think on my feet. It was 

tough at first, but I’ve really pushed myself and can’t believe I’m the same 

person who started here. Black studies was something I fell into—so 

many classes have interested me, and now I’ve taken enough of them to 

fulfill the requirement for a minor. 

Internships: I worked at the Career Development Office in the 

summer after my freshman year and started doing some research on 

different career possibilities. I tried to figure out what it is I really enjoy and 

decided that one big thing is sports, especially basketball. I’m also a 

people person. There are so many careers out there, but I wanted one that 

would give me a chance to be part of the sports industry and interact with 

people. PCIP [Pomona College Internship Program] didn’t have anything 

like that on its list of internships, but they worked with me on two that I 

found—one with the Los Angeles Avengers and a second one this year 

with the Clippers. Both internships were unpaid, so the PCIP subsidy made 

it easier to take advantage of those opportunities. It also was a fairly long 

commute to the Staples Center, and they reimbursed me for some of my 

travel time. 

Clippers: I was one of five communications interns and we rotated 

jobs, basically dealing with the media at home games and making sure 

things ran smoothly—getting them credentials, supplying broadcasters 

with stats and going to the press conferences or locker rooms to get quotes 

from coaches and players after the games. I’m not a basketball groupie, 

but it was fun to get quotes from the opposing team and to talk to players 

like Gilbert Arenas and Kobe Bryant. 

Career: It was great to get the experience for my resume but, even 

more important, were the connections I made. I came in contact with a lot 

of people from the media and the sports industry. The internship also gave 

me a chance to figure out some things about myself and what I want to 

focus on. I’ve had a chance to assess the industry while I’m still in college 

and can decide whether or not this is what I really want to do as a career. 

On Campus: I’ve always been a dancer and have taken classes at 

Pomona in jazz, ballet and African Dance and have been in three concerts. 

I also helped start the Hip-Hop Dance team and performed with them 

through my sophomore year. When I’m not dancing or working, I’m 

usually in the fireplace lounge at the Smith Campus Center, studying or 

watching TV. I also like spending time at the Motley—their chai tea is 10 

times better than Starbucks. 

Off Campus: I go to the open-mic poetry readings at A Mic and Dim 

Lights in downtown Pomona. The host is BessKepp, who has been on Def 

Poetry Jam. I love taking the train to Los Angeles and being in a different 

environment, seeing how people exist outside the imaginary gates of 

Pomona. It’s not that it’s new to me, because I grew up in L.A., but it’s 

something I’ve been removed from for awhile. I like to go to the Ladera 

Center in Los Angeles. It’s a real relaxing environment with people sitting 

outside playing chess or listening to music or just hanging out. 

The Answer: When I’m asked what stands out for me about 

Pomona, there is one thing I always mention. If you have a little initiative 

and there’s something you want to get done, you can always get it done 

here. When I wanted to take some special public relations writing classes 

at UCLA I was able to get funding from the Dean of Students’ Office. If you 

put it out there, there are people here who will help you out. 

Practical 

Experience 


really exciting,” says 

senior Samuel Meehan, an intern for EcoSecurities in 

Claremont, a leading company in the business of developing 

and trading carbon credits throughout the world. “It’s a 

window into green financing, which is going to be one of my 

generation’s callings. It’s also a cutting-edge financial market 

that I wanted to get involved with. EcoSecurities has three 

interns from Pomona and has hired a couple of graduates.” 

Researching carbon credits, staffing community health 

clinics and getting post-game locker room quotes from the 

Clippers are just a few of the remarkable experiences of the 

many students who participate annually in the Pomona 

College Internship Program (PCIP). Taking full advantage 

of Pomona’s location, the College makes internships 

available during the academic year in a wide range of nonprofit, 

for-profit and public settings, some of them right at 

the College’s doorstep, others at places like the Santa Monica 

Pier Aquarium, the Museum of Tolerance, Bravo Television, 

The Trust for Public Land and City of Hope Cancer Center. 

Because so many internships are unpaid positions, Pomona 

pays an hourly wage to all PCIP participants, so that every 

interested student can afford to take part. 


A Sampling 

of Recent PCIP 

Internships 

Ability First 

American Museum of Ceramic Art 

Asian Pacific Family Health Care Venture 

Blank Theatre Company 

Brave New Foundation 

Bravo Television 

Center for Community Action and 

Environmental Justice 

Children’s Defense Fund 

Coalition for Clean Air 

Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights of Los 

Angeles 

City of Hope 

Di Novi Pictures 

EcoSecurities 

Gould Asset Management 

Fashionable Earth 

Helping Out Pets Everyday 

Inland Valley Justice Center 

International Trade Education Program 

John Tulac Law Offices 

Los Angeles County Bicycle Coalition 

Los Angeles and San Gabriel Rivers Watershed 

Council 

Machine Project (Art Gallery) 

Mt. Baldy Visitor Center 

Museum of Tolerance 

New Wave Entertainment 

Pomona Economic Opportunity Center 

Pomona Valley Hospital Medical Center 

Portable Wellness Clinic 

Prison Library Project 

Rosen-Obst Productions 

San Antonio High School 

Santa Monica Pier Aquarium 

Shoes that Fit 

Stone’s Throw Records 

The Trust for Public Land 

Waddell & Reed 

Whereabouts Press 

Public Policy Internships 

Public policy analysis majors have a chance to put theory into practice by 

participating in an internship program, in which they spend about 16 hours 

a week working in courtrooms, health clinics, community organizations and 

other private and public settings that have a link to public policy. 

“The internship is the capstone of our program,” says David Menefee- 

Libey, professor of politics and coordinator of the program in public policy 

analysis. “It gives students an opportunity to try out a professional job and 

to see how that experience is related to what they’ve learned in the 

classroom.” 

Some students discover new interests, while others find that the 

experience solidifies their plans for careers or graduate school. David 

McDevitt, who interned with the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s 

Office in Pomona, gathered data on prosecution patterns that he also used 

for his thesis. Other students have worked for public schools, advocacy 

groups, consulting firms and even in Washington, D.C., where Nora Becker 

interned full time in the office of then -U.S. Senator Barack Obama. 

33

34 

Would you like to 

Around the 

World 


study tropical biology near 

the Great Barrier Reef in Australia? Take an intensive language program in 

China? Conduct independent research in Nepal? Study environmental science 

in South Africa? Or take one-on-one tutorials with professors at Cambridge 

or Oxford? 

A leader in international education, Pomona College offers one of the 

most comprehensive, well-organized study abroad programs in the nation. 

Students may choose from 49 programs in 32 countries, and every continent 

except Antarctica. All programs carry academic credit and no extra cost for 

tuition or room and board. In fact, students receive an extra stipend for 

travel. Those who receive financial aid may apply the full amount to any 

Pomona study abroad program. Nearly all majors—including the sciences and 

mathematics—enable students to incorporate study abroad and other international 

components into their programs. 

To prepare you for international study, Pomona’s foreign language and 

international studies programs are exceptional in their variety and depth. Pomona 

offers full programs in Chinese, French, German, Japanese, Russian and Spanish. 

Through courses at the other Claremont Colleges, our students may also study 

Italian, Arabic and Korean. Pomona is also a leader in such interdisciplinary 

programs as Asian Studies, Latin American Studies, Eastern European Studies and 

International Relations. 


Number of countries in which Pomona 

offers study abroad programs: 

32 

Percentage of Pomona College 

students who study abroad: 

52% 

Study 

Abroad 

Plus... 

Pomona students are as creative 

and industrious in making the most 

of their study abroad opportunities 

as they are about everything else in 

their lives. Students have studied 

boxing in Chile, taken salsa lessons 

in Ecuador, practiced broad sword 

routines and calligraphy in Beijing, 

played rugby at Cambridge, joined 

Wadaiko (drumming clubs) in 

Tokyo, gone tramping in New 

Zealand, and tried surfing in 

Australia, Cape Town and almost 

anywhere else there are waves. 

Lily Muldoon 

Senior Public Policy Analysis Major 

from Denver, Colorado 

Why Pomona: I wanted to go to a small school 

because of the professor student interaction and the 

opportunities to get involved. The reason for coming to 

California? I hate being cold. 

First course: My critical inquiry seminar was 

“Blood and Belonging: Ethnicity in International 

Politics.” It was cool to write a paper, have a professor 

read it and then be able to go in and discuss it during 

office hours. I learned right away that professors at 

Pomona really want to hear what you have to say. 

Soccer: We were 0 and 16 and last in the 

conference in my freshman year. In my junior year, we 

won the conference and went to the national 

tournament in Texas. We have a great coach who really 

helped us get on a roll and figure out how to win. I 

spent so many hours with my teammates and got really 

close—especially to the players from my class because 

we went through all those losses and victories together. 

Real Change: In the second semester of my 

freshman year, I started a local chapter of Student 

Movement for Real Change with a friend from my 

sponsor group. Our first project was to build a school in 

South Africa, and we raised money through bake sales, 

book drives and volleyball tournaments. 

Study Abroad: I originally planned to go to South 

Africa to see the school we built, but decided on Kenya 

because I wanted to live with a family so I could get a 

better understanding of the culture. I hadn’t heard a 

word of Swahili until I got on the airplane from London 

to Nairobi and was told in Swahili to fasten my seatbelt. 

During the first three weeks, I lived on a little island on 

the equator and took intensive Swahili classes. During 

the last month of the program I was on my own doing 

an independent research project. 

Water: I’d done some research about Kenya’s 15year-old 

drought and wanted to find a community that 

had a severe water problem and was also receptive to 

outside help. I found that in the Kayafungo region, a 

community of subsistence farmers. As soon as I got 

there, they took me to a dam—really more of a muddy 

puddle—where women were collecting dirty brown 

water, swimming with parasites. The told me that in the 

dry season they would walk for six hours to get water, 

carrying 20-liter buckets on their heads. 

Pipeline: I worked with local officials and 

community leaders to develop a proposal for a 15kilometer 

pipeline that would bring water directly to 10 

schools, the local health clinic and about 35,000 

people. I brought the proposal back to the U.S. and 

have been using it to apply for funding. Our local 

Student Movement club is raising money, along with 

chapters across the country, and is also organizing 

projects to raise awareness about the pipeline. Our 

application to Engineers without Borders was accepted, 

and a group of Washington State University engineers 

has agreed to take on the project. It’s exciting because 

now we’re talking about real things like the size of the 

pipes and how much water will go through them. 

Support: The opportunity to go abroad is incredible. 

It absolutely changed my life. Pomona has also helped 

me out financially with the pipeline project by paying for 

my airline tickets so I could meet potential donors and 

attend a conference on international health at Stanford. 

And I was awarded a Fulbright to continue working on 

the pipeline project. When I complete the fellowship, 

I’d like to get a master’s in public health and a medical 

degree and then go back to East Africa. My experience 

in Kenya solidified my feelings about wanting to do 

international work. 

35

36 

Pomona offers international study programs on six continents. (Sorry, nothing in Antarctica...) 

FRANCE 

Paris, Montpellier 

ITALY 

Florence, Rome 

SPAIN 

Madrid, Salamanca 

DOMINICAN 

REPUBLIC 

Santo Domingo 

MEXICO 

Merida 

CUBA 

Havana 

COSTA RICA 

Monteverde (Biology) 

ECUADOR 

Quito (Culture, Ecology) 

BRAZIL 

Fortaleza 

ARGENTINA 

Buenos Aires 

IRELAND 

Cork 

CHILE 

Santiago 

ENGLAND 

Cambridge, London (Drama, 

Molecular Biology, 

Neuroscience) 

SENEGAL 

Dakar 

SCOTLAND 

Edinburgh 

MOROCCO 

Rabat 

GERMANY 

Berlin, Freiburg 

CAMEROON 

Yaoundé 

CZECH 

REPUBLIC 

Prague 

SOUTH 

AFRICA 

Cape Town 


HUNGARY 

Budapest 

KENYA 

Mombasa 

RUSSIA 

Moscow, St. Petersburg, 

Vladimir 

GREECE 

Athens 

CHINA 

Beijing, Hangzhou, 

Hong Kong 

JAPAN 

Kyoto, Tokyo 

TAIWAN 

Taipei 

NEPAL 

Kathmandu 

ISRAEL 

Jerusalem 

JORDAN 

Amman 

AUSTRALIA 

Townsville (Tropical 

Biology), Melbourne 

NEW ZEALAND 

Auckland, Christchurch 

TheBorg 

INTERNATIONAL LIVING 

Satellite televisions broadcast news from stations around the 

world. A poster of Run, Lola, Run (in German), a set of lucky 

ceramic kittens from China, Russian magazines and other foreign 

books, photos and collectibles line hallway walls and bookcases in 

the lounges. And, if it’s Tuesday, it must be Farsi. The Oldenborg 

Center for Modern Languages and International Relations not only 

has six language halls, but also hosts about 300 activities each 

year, including daily language lunch tables, an international 

speaker series and a model Arab League. The Center also offers 

free language tutoring and travel grants for Pomona students to do 

international research for a senior thesis or project. 

Each hall has a language resident—a native speaker who 

lives with and mentors the students and organizes study breaks, 

cultural activities and other programming. “The residents try to 

come up with ways to immerse students in the language,” says 

Director Rita Bashaw. “It might be making Mexican treats for Day 

of the Dead, playing Pictionary in French or going to the Japanese 

Museum in Los Angeles.” 

Another opportunity for language immersion takes place at 

lunch at the language tables, where—depending on demand— 

25 to 30 different languages, ranging from Hebrew to Swahili and 

Greek, are spoken. No English is allowed, but Wednesdays have 

special tables for beginners. 

“We don’t ever have hamburgers,” says Bashaw. “There’s 

always a little twist. If we have a speaker that day we might try to 

serve something related—a Persian dessert or a Korean cucumber 

salad. The menu for a lunch during Ramadan was very traditional. 

We consulted with a few people and went out to find special spices 

and bought 30 cans of mango puree and 50 lbs. of halal chicken. 

People lined up for that one.” 

With its rambling hallways, Oldenborg—sometimes known 

as “the Borg”—is rumored to have been the inspiration for the 

maze-like Borg vessels on Star Trek: The Next Generation (it’s not 

too far-fetched—one of the producers lived in an Oldenborg 

language hall as a sophomore). 

A Recent Oldenborg 

Language Table Schedule 

Mon. 

Chinese 

French 

German 

Japanese 

Russian 

Spanish 

Arabic 

Armenian 

Hungarian 

Tues. 

Chinese 

French 

German 

Japanese 

Russian 

Spanish 

Hindi/Urdu 

Persian 

Polish 

Wed. 

Chinese 

French 

German 

Japanese 

Russian 

Spanish 

Italian 

Dutch 

Swedish 

Beginner 

tables 

in the 

6 main 

languages 

Thurs. 

Chinese 

French 

German 

Japanese 

Russian 

Spanish 

Vietnamese 

Italian 

Portuguese 

Thai 

Cantonese 

Fri. 

Chinese 

French 

German 

Japanese 

Russian 

Spanish 

Korean 

Swedish 

Indonesian 

Intermed. 

Chinese 

Hebrew 

Turkish 

37

38 

Pomona takes pride in being 

& 

Living 

Learning 

CAMPUS LIFE AT POMONA 

a residential college 

where the line between living and learning is practically nonexistent. 

The quality of what you will learn here outside the 

classroom, simply from living, working and playing as a member 

of such a closely knit, energetic and amazingly talented 

community, cannot be overstated. Pomona offers countless ways 

to get involved in campus life—to become a part of the many 

smaller communities that help shape a college experience —and 

the inclusive, supportive nature of the community makes it easy 

to join in. You may choose to be part of the Glee Club, to live 

in a language hall or to become an On the Loose outdoor club 

guide. There are myriad opportunities to get involved in dance, 

theatre and music productions, art shows, clubs that appeal to 

almost every interest and athletics that range from varsity teams 

to intramural ping pong tournaments. ➣ 


Current students at Pomona College represent: 

49 26 

States Countries 

Dining halls available to 

Pomona students: 

7 

(Three at Pomona and one 

at each of the other colleges) 

Other dining venues on 

the five campuses where 

students can use their 

dining credit: 

11 

Percentage of students 

who choose to live on 

campus: 

98 % 

Percentage of rooms in 

Pomona College residence 

halls that are singles: 

69 % 

A Recent Sampling of Pomona and 5-College Clubs and Organizations 

Pomona Organizations 

Campus Climate Challenge 

Cheese Club 

College Bowl 

Cooking in Your Dorm Club 

Empowered Latinos in Action 

Folksingin’, Fire, Friends 

Green Bikes 

International Student Mentor Program 

Intervarsity Christian Fellowship 

Investment Club 

Math Club 

Meat and Greet Club 

Medical Sciences Society 

Men’s Blue & White 

Mock Trial 

Musicians Coalition 

National Society of Collegiate Scholars 

Organic Farm 

P.C. Sailing Club 

Party Fowl 

SAJE 

Pomona Lawn Sports 

Club 

Pomona Valley Low 

Income Services 

Pomona Veritas Club 

Responsible Endowment 

Coalition 

Quiz Bowl 

Students of Color Alliance 

(SOCA) Symposium 

Today’s Issues, 

Tomorrow’s Solutions 

Vietnamese Student 

Association 

Women’s Blue and White 

Workers Support 

Committee 

5-College 

Organizations 

5-C Fencing 

5-C Handbell Choir 

5-C Lindy Hop Club 

Adventure Racing Club 

Asian-American Student Alliance 

Aspiring Economist’s Club 

Bahai Club 

Ballet Folklorico el Quinto Sol 

Campus Community United for Justice 

Capoeria 

C.C. Badminton Club 

C.C. Ballroom Dance Team 

C.C. Democrats 

C.C. Men’s Lacrosse 

C.C. Men’s Rugby 

C.C. Triathlon Club 

C.C. Women’s Rugby 

ACLU club 

After School Specials 

Change 

Chiapas Support Committee 

Chijnaya Club 

Chinese Student Association 

Circle K 

Claremont American Sign Language Club 

Claremont Biodiesal Initiative 

Claremont Buddhists 

Claremont Consulting Club 

Claremont Consulting Network 

Claremont DREAM Act Coalition 

Claremont Entrepreneurial Society 

Claremont Epicurean Society 

Claremont Intercollegiate Speech 

(Forensics) 

Claremont Men’s Volleyball 

Claremont Philosophy Club 

Claremont Political Action Network 

Claremont Roller Hockey Club 

Claremont Students for Israel 

Climbing Club 

Colleges 

Committee 

Number of active clubs 

and organizations: 

220 

and counting... 

Community Justice Network 

Croquet Society 

Cycling Team 

Druids 

Ekta 

Equestrian Team 

Figure Drawing Club 

Filmmaking Team (RAFT) 

Free Culture 5C 

Get Your Nerd On 

Global China Connection Claremont 

Habitat for Humanity 

Hamagshimim 

Hillel Knesset 

Hindu Society 

Hindu Society 

Hip Hop Dance Team 

Hui Lualea 

International Club 

International Festival 

Italian Club 

Itihad 

Jewish Mentor Program 

Jewish Student Union 

Joint Science Premedical Club 

Korean American Students Assoc 

Kosher Chords 

Lego Club 

Libertarians 

LINK (Students for NKHR) 

Male Dissent 

Mariachi Serreno 

Massage for Charity and Love 

Men’s Ultimate Frisbee/Braineaters 

Microfinance Society 

Midnight Echo 

Mood Swing 

Muslim Students Association 

Neuroscience Society 

On Tap 

On the Loose 

Pan-African Student 

Association 

Passwords 

Pathfinder Christian 

Fellowship 

Peace & Justice Coalition 

Phi Beta Lamda Society 

Pomona Ceramics 

Collective 

Pomona Students for a 

Just Campus 

QQA Mentoring Program 

Queer Resource Center 

Quest Scholars of the 

Claremont Colleges 

Really Ambitious 

Reform 

Republicans of the 

Claremont 

Roosevelt Institution 

Rotoract Club 

Runners for Responsible 

Satya 

Scuba Divers 

Shades 

SHARE Low Income Housing 

Sketchy Comedy 

Ski Club 

Stay Wild 

Student Movement for Real 

Student Solidarity 

Students for Bernard Field Station 

Surf Club 

Taiko Club (Psycho Taiko) 

The Claremont Progressive 

The Undecided 

The Uprising College Ministry 

Vagina Monologues 

Vegan-Vegetarian Association 

Vox: Voices for Planned Parenthood 

V-Week 

Without A Box 

Women in Science 

Women’s Ultimate Frisbee 

39

40 

Sponsor 

Groups 

Year the Sponsor 

Program originated: 

1927 

(Beginning in women’s residence 

halls, it was expanded to include 

men’s dorms in 1950.) 

Average percentage of 

first-year students who 

apply for the 60 sponsor 

positions available for 

the following year: 

35 % 

Ask any senior on campus what he or she remembers most about his or her first year on campus 

and you’ll probably hear about something called a sponsor group. 

A part of the Pomona experience since 1927, sponsor groups are designed to help students make 

the transition from home to dorm life. The groups are coed and consist of 10 to 20 first-year 

students who live in adjacent rooms in the residence halls, along with 

two sophomore sponsors who help them learn the ropes of campus 

life—from joining a club and buying books to finding out where to 

get the best pizza in Claremont or how to get into Los Angeles 

without driving (it can be done). 

“A sponsor is someone you can rely on,” says junior Tiamaht 

Erickson from Portland, Oregon, one of the three head sponsors 

who supervise the program. “For some students, we can be a big 

brother or sister; for others, a friend. It’s different for everyone. I 

come from a really big family, so the idea of having a kind of built-in 

family was one of the things that attracted me to Pomona. My 

sponsor group was my home base. I’d go to class, work out with the 

track team and come back and know there were people at the dorm I 

could have a meal with or just hang out with and relax.” 

Members of your sponsor group may become some of your closest 

friends. We know of connections that have lasted long after 

graduation, with sponsor groups getting together at alumni 

reunions. That doesn’t happen for everyone, but for most, the firstyear 

program provides a built-in support group—people with whom 

to talk, to procrastinate, to plan, to let off steam, to share a latenight 

snack. 

“We have a range of interests—pre-med, econ, media studies,” says 

first-year Dante Benson of Camden, New Jersey. “Some of us play 

sports, one of us is president of the freshman class. We sometimes eat 

lunch and dinner together, but we always gather from 11 to 3 in the morning to talk, and usually end 

up ordering a pizza or some Thai food. I guess you could say we’re the laid-back, late-night group.” 

Sponsors undergo intensive training and work closely with the resident advisors, as well as 

members of other Pomona College support groups including five mentor programs—Asian American 

Mentor Program (AAMP), Chicano/Latino Student Affairs (CLSA), Ujima (run by the Office of 

Black Student Affairs), Queer, Questioning and Allied Mentoring Program (QQAMP) and the 

Jewish Mentor Program (JMP). 


➢ As the Princeton Review said recently, “Students at Pomona have got a 

good thing going, and they know it. In fact, residential life at Pomona is so 

amazing that some of the administrators ‘even live in the dorms!’ Surrounded 

by ‘the mountains, the beach,’ and other ‘natural locales’ at Pomona, you can 

‘spend time at the beach and go skiing in the mountains on the same day.’” 

The publication has also consistently listed Pomona among the nation’s 

top colleges in the category evocatively titled “Dorms Like Palaces.” Though 

that phrase may be a bit of 

an exaggeration, our 

residence halls must be 

doing something right. 

On-campus housing is 

guaranteed to any student 

who requests it, and about 

98 percent of Pomona 

students choose to live 

there. Pomona’s 14 

residence halls range in size 

from about 60 to 300 

students, with most 

housing 120-150. All are 

coed, and more than twothirds 

of the rooms are 

singles. Each building has one or more resident advisors—students who live 

in the hall and serve as administrative liaisons. 

First-year students are grouped into small sponsor groups, each mentored 

by two sophomores, and housed in six residential halls on South Campus. 

Oldenborg Center is home to 140 students—most in their second year— 

including those who live in its six language halls. North Campus has housing 

for sophomores, juniors and seniors.➣ 

41

42 

SOCA Means Inclusive 

The Students of Color Alliance (SOCA) prides itself on its inclusiveness. With a roster of events 

ranging from roundtable discussions to a comedy night, cosponsored by the Queer Resource 

Center, Women’s Union, Empowered Latinos in Action and other groups, SOCA is a club that can’t 

be easily pigeonholed. And that’s just fine with Nina Jacinto. 

“Students who may not identify as one ethnicity or race have the opportunity to build 

coalitions with students of color, which is a more general but powerful umbrella term,” says Nina, 

a member of the SOCA staff. “SOCA encourages you to look at multidimensional aspects of 

identity, because that’s what identity is. One of the ways we’ve tried to do that is by working with 

other student groups on jointly programmed events. We want a lot of cross-pollenation.” 

An English major from Berkeley, California, Nina joined the student-run organization as a 

sophomore. “I wasn’t that interested in issues of social change or justice when I first came here 

but had an eye-opening experience during sponsor training, where we talked a lot about diversity. 

I started taking classes in gender and women’s studies and contemporary race relations, which 

dovetailed with my involvement in SOCA and the Asian American Mentor Program.” 

The spacious SOCA lounge, downstairs in the basement of Clark V residence hall, is open 

during the week and is the center for many of the club’s activities, including discussion panels, 

socials and potluck dinners. Larger events, such as the comedy show, which drew a packed house, 

and a student art exhibit, “Beyond Identity,” have been held in Doms Lounge and the Pomona 

Student Art Gallery in the Smith Campus Center. 

“Our goal,” says Nina, “is to literally and metaphorically give students a space where they 

feel comfortable talking about anything.” 

➢ Our residence halls are more than just places to study and sleep. Halls frequently 

host their own activities through RAs or sponsor groups. In Walker Hall, home to 111 

students, you can hear a speaker at a Women’s Union lunch (second floor), file a story at 

the weekly newspaper, The Student Life (first floor, south side) or have your bike repaired 

by Green Bikes (basement). And if you drop by in the afternoon, you can join a pick-up 

volleyball game on the sand court in the courtyard (known as Walker Beach). It’s also a 

place where students gather to play Frisbee, hold barbecues and study (laptops connect to 

the Internet in many outdoor areas). Even garage 

bands (nine at last count) have their own 

basement rehearsal space equipped with a piano 

and drum kit. 

When you come here for a campus tour, your 

guide will probably show you a Pomona ID and 

tell you it’s your passport to almost everything on 

campus—and to a few off-campus destinations. It 

not only allows access to dorms, libraries, the 

computer center and academic facilities; it also 

can be used at Pomona’s three main dining halls, 

where you’ll find everything from burger bars to 

vegan specialties, and at those of the other four 

undergraduate colleges a few minutes’ walk to the 

north. The “board plus” option can be used at a 

number of other venues, including the Coop Fountain and the Sagehen Café. 

Students quickly learn the specialties of dining halls on all five college campuses, with 

favorites marked on their calendars. Taco Tuesday at Frank is at the top of a lot of lists, and 

some students can’t get through the day without a smoothie from Frary. The dining plan 

also includes a late-evening study break at Frary known as “Snack,” where as many as 400 

students gather at 10:30 p.m. to socialize and refuel on such tidbits as quesadillas, cereal 

and soft pretzels. 


43

44 

If the goal of a liberal 

Athletics 

Fitness 

&ATHLETIC 

PROGRAMS AND OPPORTUNITIES 

arts college is to educate the 

whole person, then athletics and physical fitness are an important part of that 

larger picture. About 20 percent of our students play on 

varsity teams, with hundreds more participating in 

intramural and club sports. 

Pomona combines forces with Pitzer College to field 

a range of varsity teams—10 for men, 11 for women— 

that compete in Division III NCAA athletics and as 

members of the Southern California Intercollegiate 

Athletic Conference (SCIAC). Our coaches are faculty 

members, our facilities among the best, and our weather 

ideal for year-round outdoor activities. Sagehen baseball 

players don’t have to wait for the snow to melt to start 

their seasons, and our tennis players can hit the courts all year round. 

The coaches not only bring knowledge and experience, they understand that 

their players are students first and that academics are a priority. Our varsity 


players are here not because of athletic scholarships or the promise of a pro career, 

but because they love the game. They participate because athletics provides an 

important balance to academics. That doesn’t mean that the level of competition 

isn’t intense, especially when Pomona-Pitzer plays its cross-campus rivals, Claremont 

McKenna-Mudd-Scripps (known as CMS). But because of our unique relationship 

to the other four Claremont Colleges, the same players who butted heads during 

football season might play side-by-side on the 5C rugby team. 

Varsity athletics is only one piece of the physical education 

program. P.E. classes, intramural and club sports and recreational 

opportunities round out a program that has something that will 

appeal to almost everyone—from students interested in swordplay 

and foosball to sprinters and midfielders. Students also gather 

informally to work out in the weight room or play a game of 

racquetball at the Rains Center. 

Our athletic program benefits from the larger college consortium 

setting. In addition to varsity sports, intramural athletics draw 

students from both Pomona and Pitzer and club teams field players 

from all five colleges. Schedules, court and field time are arranged by 

two coordinators, one for Pomona-Pitzer, the other for CMS. 

About 800 students participate each semester in intramural 

sports, ranging from the traditional—soccer, basketball and flag 

football—to the increasingly popular inner tube water polo and dodgeball. Even 

foosball, air hockey and pool qualify for IM status. 

More than 60 physical education courses are offered every semester. Many 

students, after completing their one-semester requirement for graduation, keep 

taking courses during all four years—just for the fun of it. 

Classes are taught by members of our coaching staff and by specialists in 

fencing, martial arts and other activities. You could find yourself in a weighttraining 

class with varsity football coach Roger Caron, taking beginning golf from 

athletic director and basketball coach Charles Katsiaficas or learning Pilates from 

volleyball coach Valerie Cowan. 

Varsity Sports 

Men 

Baseball 

Basketball 

Cross Country 

Football 

Golf 

Soccer 

Swimming & Diving 

Tennis 

Track & Field 

Water Polo 

Women 

Basketball 

Cross Country 

Golf 

Lacrosse 

Soccer 

Softball 

Swimming & Diving 

Tennis 

Track & Field 

Volleyball 

Water Polo 

5-College Club Sports 

Men 

Lacrosse 

Rugby 

Roller Hockey 

Ultimate Frisbee 

Volleyball 

Women 

Rugby 

Ultimate Frisbee 

Volleyball 

Men and Women 

Cycling 

Equestrian 

Fencing 

Racquetball 

45

Even before you 

Outdoor 

Education 

THE OUTDOOR EDUCATION CENTER 

pick up a book at Pomona, 

you’ll spend your first days here getting acquainted—both with your fellow students 

and with this amazing corner of the world. As a part of the Orientation Adventure 

program, all first-year students participate in one of about 35 four-day trips, ranging 

from hardcore backpacking in the California mountains to more leisurely hikes 

through Yosemite Valley to surfing and kayaking in the Pacific. For students who 

would rather do their camping in dorm rooms, there are also Southern California 

Adventures—some with opportunities for community service—that also include 

trips to theme parks, museums and the beach. The OA is a great way to meet people 

and to get a sense of the amazing variety of recreational opportunities within reach 

of campus. 

OA will serve as your introduction to Pomona’s Outdoor Education Center, one 

of the premier outdoor education programs in the country. The outdoor program 

provides hands-on opportunities for all students in outdoor recreation and education, 

promotes the preservation and conservation of the natural environment, and develops 


student leadership skills. In addition to offering a wide range of outdoor equipment— 

from surfboards and snorkel masks to sleeping bags and snowshoes—the OEC offers 

training in outdoor skills and leadership, hosts speakers and organizes educational trips. 

The OEC also works closely with the five-college outdoor activities club, On-The- 

Loose—or OTL for short—which boasts one of the largest and most active 

memberships of any club in The Claremont Colleges. Each year, OTL sponsors more 

than 150 trips, with more than 500 students taking part. Many more enjoy weekend or 

day trips to nearby beaches, mountains and deserts. In fact, the desert is such a popular 

destination that Joshua Tree National Park is referred to simply as “J-Tree” or 

“Pomona’s backyard.” OTL trips can be as close as the local trails at Lytle Creek and 

Icehouse Canyon or as far away as Mt. Rainier and Baja, Mexico. The club also trains 

and certifies more than 100 students each year as trip leaders, provides free rental gear 

to any member of The Claremont Colleges and maintains an online guide and a library 

of outdoor books. 

For more on OA: www.pomona.edu/students/orientation-adventure 

For more on OTL: www.on-the-loose.org 

Why Science: I came here hating science. I 

figured it was a waste of time, and that I should be 

studying history. I took an Intro to Geology class 

because I liked hiking around the mountains and 

wanted to know what I was looking at. My classes 

are great, and I’ve also loved being part of an 

active learning environment. I took a field trip this 

fall to Utah with Bob Gaines, which was probably 

the best week I’ve had here. 

The Outdoors: I’d done some backpacking a 

couple of times with my dad in the Cascades. It 

was something I liked to do, but I had no idea it 

would become such a driving force in my life. A few 

weeks after I came here, I heard about the On the 

Loose leadership training at Joshua Tree and 

decided to try it out. All the OTL trips are led by 

staff or student leaders who’ve gone through a 

training program—you learn how to use a 

backcountry stove, how to perform basic first aid, 

what kind of food to pack and how to cook it. My 

first trip as a student leader was to Big Sur. I’ve 

absolutely found my niche here with OTL and 

geology. 

On the Loose: Everyone wants to try new 

things in college—and this is the perfect resource 

for that. It’s safe, it’s easy, and it’s a great way to 

meet students from the other colleges. You can 

wake up on Thursday, decide to go backpacking on 

the weekend, rig up a trip and head out, which I 

don’t think would be possible at most schools. The 

Hal Wershow 

Senior Geology Major 

from Seattle, Washington 

outdoor community here thrives on interaction. We 

have meetings called Shindigs, where we just get 

together to plan trips and talk about the cool places 

we’ve been and where we want to go. 

Southern California: I can’t imagine a 

school that is better located geographically for doing 

a variety of outdoor activities. If you go west there 

is the ocean and coastal regions to explore. South is 

Mexico and Baja, which are spectacular. North are 

the Sierras and going east you immediately run into 

deserts—Joshua Tree, Anza Borrego, among the 

best in the U.S., with incredible rock climbing. 

Favorite trips: I did a spring break 

backpacking trip at the Grand Canyon my 

sophomore year, and I would not hesitate to say it 

was the best backpacking trip I’ve ever taken. 

Best camping meal: Backcountry chili. 

You can toss anything in. I mix in a bag of Fritos at 

the end to add crunch. 

Books: Anything by Wallace Stegner, Edward 

Abbey, Aldo Leopold, John McPhee. I call it 

wilderness philosophy—a nice highbrow term. I 

spent last summer reading Desert Solitaire 100 

miles from where Abbey wrote it—experiencing 

the same monsoons, the same heat, seeing the 

same animals and rock formations. Reading a book 

in the setting where the author was makes you feel 

the writing so much more powerfully. 

47

At Pomona, the 

& Organizations 

INVOLVEMENT MADE EASY 

Activities 

opportunities to get involved 

outside the classroom are practically limitless. In addition to college sports and 

outdoor activities, you can express yourself through theatre productions, music 

ensembles, dance groups, art shows or student publications; attend a wide array 

of performances, lectures or athletic contests; or join any of the more than 220 

clubs and organizations among the Claremont Colleges. It’s important to 

remember that any list of students organizations available to Pomona students is 

really only a snapshot. New interest groups and organizations are founded and 

funded every semester. Some, like the Mortar Board Society and Kappa Delta 

fraternity, have been around for decades; others are created in response to 

emerging issues; still others vanish and are reborn as student interests reshape the 

times. If you see a void, consider it an invitation to start something new—that’s 

the Pomona spirit. Even first-year students have found the support they need to 

get a club up and running. Evan Stalker and Ian Carr received seed money to 

revive Studio 47, a film and production studio, and in their first year sponsored 

two film festivals, set up a rental service for students and supplied VJ equipment 

for campus parties (see page 52). Julie Tate began researching the possibility of 

starting a 5C equestrian team during spring semester of her first year and by the 

next fall was attending regional horse shows with 19 active members. 


Public Events: Film 

series, speakers, lectures, trips 

and parties are organized by 

student government and 

individual clubs, by residence 

halls and sponsor groups. The 

College, academic 

departments and student 

groups invite performing 

artists and guest speakers in every field to campus. Many visitors stay several 

days, lecturing, conducting workshops or master classes and meeting 

informally with students. A sampling of recent speakers on the Pomona 

campus includes noted public figures (Microsoft founder and philanthropist 

Bill Gates [above], former President Bill Clinton, retired Justice Sandra Day 

O’Connor, U.S. Senators John Edwards, Dianne Feinstein and Bob Graham, 

activist Angela Davis, former Army Chief of Staff Eric Shinseki); Nobel 

laureates (Desmond Tutu, Bono, Gerald M. Edelman, Robert H. Grubbs, K. 

Barry Sharpless, Herbert Simon); noted journalists (Walter Cronkite, Haynes 

Johnson, New York Times Executive Editor Bill Keller ’70, Michael Moore); 

literary figures (Edward Jones, Maya Angelou, Carlos Fuentes, bell hooks, 

Garrison Keillor); social scientists (political theorist Benjamin Barber, Mexican 

scholar Carlos Montemayor and feminist theologian Judith Plaskow); and 

performing artists (Ludacris, Ladysmith Black Mambazo, Margaret Cho, The 

Indigo Girls, Willie Nelson, Itzhak Perlman). 

Student Media: Pomona’s weekly The Student Life, the oldest 

student newspaper in Southern California, is written, edited and managed 

entirely by Pomona students. Other publications at Pomona and the 5C 

campuses include: The Claremont Student, a 5C newspaper; Harmony, a 

multicultural newspaper; Metate, the Pomona yearbook; Passwords, a literary 

magazine; and The Re-View, a feminist newspaper. 

Known as “The Space,” KSPC-FM (88.7 and www.kspc.org), has been 

broadcasting music, news, sports, talk shows and public affairs programming 

for more than 50 years, earning a reputation as one of the area’s best sources 

for alternative music. Over 100 students from all five undergraduate colleges 

help operate the station as producers, engineers, business managers and in 

various on-air positions. Located in the basement of Thatcher Music Building, 

the KSPC offices include two sound studios. 

Theatre and Dance: 

Dance and theatre productions feature 

student artists in performances of 

classic and contemporary plays, kabuki, 

musicals and original works. Majors 

and non-majors alike have the 

opportunity to perform onstage and 

work behind the scenes in every aspect 

of theatre—direction, playwriting, 

lighting, sound, set construction and costume design. Recent productions 

include: Shakespeare’s Hamlet, Sondheim’s Into the Woods, Sarah Ruhl’s 

Melancholy Play, Ibsen’s The Master Builder, Anouilh’s Waltz of the Toreadors 

and Tom Stoppard’s Arcadia. 

Visual Arts: The fine art collections of Pomona College are housed in 

the Pomona College Museum of Art. Among its holdings—selections of 

which are displayed on a rotating basis—are all four of Francisco de Goya’s 

etching series and more than 5,000 examples of Pre-Columbian to 20thcentury 

Native American art and artifacts. The museum also brings to campus 

each year a wide range of exhibits, both historical and contemporary, designed 

to complement the College’s curricula. The Pomona Student Art Gallery in 

the Smith Campus Center is dedicated to the display of student photography, 

painting, ceramics, sculpture, mixed media and electronic works. The Pomona 

College Museum of Art also hosts several student exhibitions each year.➣ 

49

50 

Taking an Active Role 

First-year students Evan Stalker and Ian Carr have both been making movies since high school. Evan, 

an amateur filmmaker from Alabama, was a regular participant in the Birmingham Sidewalk Film 

Festival, and Ian started his own production company with a neighbor and friend in San Francisco. 

Meeting at Pomona, they became friends and joined forces to revive the dormant Studio 47, a film 

and video production club that had faded when its former leaders graduated. 

“Evan was already a few steps ahead of me when I started to look into the possibility of restarting 

the club,” says Ian. “It’s a good thing we decided to work together because it’s become bigger than 

anything we could have done on our own.” 

In just a few months, Evan and Ian have rounded up new members, organized student film 

screenings and video parties, purchased additional equipment, reinstated office hours and rentals, and 

provided equipment and VJs for other campus events. The next step is to make Studio 47 a 5C club. 

“There’s a vibrant community out there,” says Evan. “We want to make sure that everyone with the 

slightest inclination to make a movie gets the tools they need.” 

Even though they’ve been busy, the two filmmakers have found time for their own projects— 

as contestants in the My Pomona Video Contest and crewmembers on a music video shot at the 

Doms Lounge. 

“I was the second AD on the music video, which was an amazing experience,” says Ian. “My goal 

for freshman year was to establish myself as a filmmaker on campus. I didn’t expect I would be on a 

super 16, a 35 and an HD film shoot with semiprofessionals, be one of the heads of a filmmaking club 

and have made my own film.” 

“Unlike a lot of large universities, Pomona makes it easy to pursue what you’re interested in and 

to take an active role in campus life,” says Evan. “And that’s a pretty big plus.” 

➢ Music: Whatever type of music you’re interested in, you’ll find it here. 

From rock-’n’-roll garage band performances in the residence halls to symphony 

concerts in Little Bridges, Pomona 

offers something for every musical 

taste—for both performers and fans. 

If you want to hone your opera 

singing skills, there are private classes 

with professional instructors; if you 

like a cappella, there are several 

groups for both men and women; or, 

if you want to just sit back and listen 

to a concert, the College has a full 

and varied schedule of performances 

by visiting artists. Each year about 

300 students participate in music ensembles, which draw their membership 

from The Claremont Colleges and the local community. The groups include 

choir, glee club, orchestra, concert band, jazz ensemble, gospel choir, various 

chamber groups, Balinese Gamelan, and a second non-Western music ensemble, 

which changes its emphasis from year to year. 

Religious Services: Dedicated to empowering and enhancing 

spiritual life at The Claremont Colleges, the Interfaith Office of the Chaplains 

directs the programs of the McAlister Center for Religious Activities. Assisting 

students in making contact with members of their community of belief, the 

chaplains – a Protestant minister, a Catholic priest, and a Jewish rabbi – 

coordinate a wide range of events, programs, and provide pastoral counseling 

for the Jewish, Catholic, Protestant, Muslim, Zen, Latter-Day Saints, Christian 

Science, Unitarian, and other communities. The chaplains also direct The 

Claremont Colleges Community Service Center, which provides diverse 

volunteer opportunities in the local area. 


Events scheduled at the 

Campus Center in one year: 

2,892 

Total attendance at those events: 

145,133 

Film showings in Rose 

Hills Theatre: 

72 

Number of discount 

tickets to Disneyland, 

SeaWorld and other 

attractions: 

3,971 

The Smith 

Campus Center 

With its lounges, cafés, courtyards and 

offices, Smith Campus Center is located 

between north and south campus, and is 

the hub of much of the activity that takes 

place at Pomona. You can apply for an 

internship, rehearse with an a cappella 

group, play pool, listen to a debate, 

watch a movie (before it’s out on DVD), 

attend an art show, soak up the sun, 

check your mail, have a midnight snack 

and buy a Pomona souvenir for your 

parents all within the confines of the 

newly redesigned campus center. 

Number of orders of 

French fries served at 

the Coop Fountain: 

26,160 

Number of bottles of 

Naked Juice purchased 

at the Coop Store: 

12,844 

51

Students at Pomona 

Sustainable 


IMPROVING THE ENVIRONMENT 

have consistently taken the 

lead on issues of climate change and sustainability, initiating a far-reaching study of 

the College’s impact on the environment and continuing to improve and expand 

the student-run Organic Farm. “Our students haven’t thrown up their hands but 

have actively taken on the issue of climate change,” says President David Oxtoby. 

“They’ve analyzed the College’s practices and proposed specific strategies to reduce 

our carbon footprint and laid the groundwork for other critical steps, ranging from 

reducing water consumption to cutting the number of cars on campus.” 

The College has taken its own steps toward sustainability by constructing its five 

most recent buildings according to gold, silver and platinum LEED (Leadership in 

Energy and Environmental Design) Green Building standards. Pomona also has 

hired a sustainability coordinator, as well as establishing a Sustainability Integration 

Office and the President’s Sustainability Committee, which created a $15,000 fund 

for student projects. Drying racks for the laundry rooms and a program to replace 

incandescent bulbs with fluorescent bulbs are examples of recent student initiatives. 

“The College is finding ways to work with students who are interested in 

moving toward sustainability,” says Richard Hazlett, professor of geology and 

environmental analysis. “A student who wants to get involved in improving the 

environment has some real support and opportunities to thrive here.” 


Down on the 

(Organic)Farm: 

When a group of students started 

an organic garden in a wooded corner of campus, they probably 

didn’t imagine that in only 10 years it would become an official 

part of the College curriculum. Known as “the Farm,” it’s an 

example of how a grassroots project, created and nurtured by 

Pomona students, has grown to involve the larger community. 

A section of the organic farm became part of the Environmental Analysis Program 

in 2006. It serves as a laboratory for the Farms and Gardens course, which focuses on 

the study of agroecology—producing food with minimum impact on the environment. 

Students learn about soil chemistry and identification, plant and insect classification, 

traditional versus industrial forms of farming, erosion control, tool use and safety and 

human nutrition. The Farm’s environmental education also extends beyond campus to 

local public schools, with a long-standing program of workshops, tours and visits. 

The almost one-acre garden continues to evolve. Cared for by a manager and 

dozens of student and community volunteers, it now has an orchard of about 60 trees, 

as well as plantings of perennial shrubs, berries, herbs, flowers and annual vegetables. 

Recent improvements include an intricately-carved door for the adobe Earth Dome at 

the center of the farm, and a solar rover that is used as a portable power station. 

Praween Dayananda 

Senior Economics Major 

from Kathmandu, Nepal 

Ada Aroneanu 

Senior Politics Major 

from Ridgewood, New Jersey 

The Climate Challenge 

Praween: I lived in the countryside in Nepal. It was a beautiful place to grow up. I’d been reading about 

deforestation, flooding and glacial melting there, but it was only last summer that I got seriously involved in 

environmental issues. I was working as an intern for a firm in West L.A., where I did an inventory to try to 

figure out how the company could become carbon neutral. I started to think—why not try to do something at 

Pomona while I’m still here. Ada and I started to talk over the summer about what we could do. 

Ada: We’ve known each other since freshman year when we lived in the same dorm, and we’d both taken a 

lot of environmental analysis classes. I was interested in doing something about the environment from a social 

justice point of view and had spent the summer working for a group concerned about global warming. Praween 

and I talked about starting a club and, when we got back to school in the fall, we met with some of our friends 

and with Professors Hazlett and Elderkin. We decided to start a Campus Climate Challenge group. It’s part of a 

worldwide campaign, but our focus is on Pomona. 

P: The first thing we did was start an independent study class that had five students, with Professor Elderkin as 

the advisor. We did an inventory of emissions to figure out how we were impacting the environment, looking at 

energy use for things like buildings, transportation and treating solid waste. We ended up with a 90-page report 

on greenhouse gas emissions, along with recommendations for reducing our climate footprint, which we 

submitted to the President’s Sustainability Committee. 

A: We also organized a Dorm Green Cup Challenge in the fall. We offered a prize to the dorm that saved the 

most energy and President Oxtoby agreed to buy carbon offsets if we reduced consumption by five percent. The 

students beat that target and reached an eight percent reduction, and the College purchased renewable energy 

credits. 

P: We’ve tried to involve as many students as possible and have had about 15 who regularly attend meetings, 

with about 30 involved on the ground. We’ve also worked with a fraternity to set up the first campus carbon 

neutral party and organized an environmental awareness weekend called “Step It Up on Global Warming.” 

A: If you put your mind to something you can get it done really fast here. Our group was doing things by our 

second meeting. Pomona really is a good community. People hang out and talk to one another, which makes it 

easy to spread the word about something like Climate Challenge. 

53

54 

In a world where 

Beyond 


ACHIEVEMENT AND LEADERSHIP 

careers and the skills they 

require are continually changing, Pomona’s focus on multiple, adaptable ways of 

thinking provides the best possible training for a lifetime of meaningful and rewarding 

work. At the same time, the quality and rigor of Pomona’s major programs ensure that 

graduates leave Pomona with well-developed abilities in their areas of interest. 

The best evidence of the soundness of this educational philosophy is the success of 

our graduates in nearly every field imaginable. Pomona alumni have served in positions 

of leadership in practically every field of human endeavor—from medicine, public policy, 

and the arts to scientific research, journalism, business, and the law, as well as almost 

every field of academic research and teaching. 

Pomona alumni frequently attribute much of their success to the professors who 

taught and encouraged them. For faculty who have worked closely with their students 

for four years in small seminars and research settings, witnessing their students’ 

frustrations and triumphs, even writing reference letters becomes a labor of love. That 

may be one reason why Pomona graduates are welcomed, even prized, in America’s best 

graduate and professional schools. The percentage of Pomona graduates accepted into 

medical school is more than twice the national average, and in the number of graduates 

who go on to earn doctoral degrees, Pomona consistently ranks in the top tier. 


mypath 

Cuc Vu ’92 

Major: Art History and 

Public Policy Analysis 

Before college, Cuc Vu picked straw berries 

two summers to earn extra money for school 

clothes. “It was back-breaking. We earned 

about $3 for every ‘flat’ that we picked.” 

She came to Pomona with a love of soccer and an interest in public policy. 

Professors Sam Yamashita (history) and Frances Pohl (art) helped guide 

her to her eventual major. By the end of her first year, she had decided 

that her interest was in the intersection between art and politics. 

It was at Pomona that Cuc came out as lesbian. “I had my epiphany 

toward the end of my first year and never looked back.” 

“My roommate, a budding policy wonk, encouraged me in my junior year 

to apply for a semester in Washington, D.C. I turned into a political junkie 

and went from a quiet, reflective observer to a young woman who found 

her voice and her passion while she was debating the Gulf War and current 

events with Republican students.” 

The Rodney King verdict during her senior year solidified her activism. 

“With three other friends, all white, we drove into Southeast L.A. to the 

AME church where community leaders had gathered. We were the only 

non-Black participants. On the way back, we could see complete chaos on 

the streets. When we got back to campus, we joined up with a group of 

students who had organized a march through the campuses.” 

“After Pomona, I went to grad school at Columbia University to study 

policy. The professors I had at Pomona were teaching policy at a case study 

and theoretical level while the professors in grad school were teaching us 

how to write memos. I couldn’t wait to start work in ‘the real world.’” 

Cuc spent 10 years working in the labor movement. “I encourage young 

people not to limit themselves and to pursue whatever is deep in their 

hearts. The important thing is to pursue work that is personally meaningful 

and relates to the values that you have about what kind of world you want 

to live in and what kind of person you want to be in that world.” 

Today, she is the chief diversity officer for the Human Rights Campaign, 

the nation’s largest civil rights organization working to ensure equality for 

GLBT people. “I knew my path would lead me back to D.C. And here I 

am—now into my 13th year as a D.C. resident. I love my job. It’s 

perfectly suited for my vision of the way the world should be—united 

across communities, joining our strength to win equality for all.” 

Seth Kadish ’06 

Major: Geology 

Minor: Environmental Analysis 

Seth Kadish was raised in an 

environmentally conscious household in 

Portland, Oregon, and entered Pomona 

expecting to major in astronomy. 

“I joined Men’s Blue and White, a great a cappella group, which was the 

most rewarding non-academic activity I did at Pomona. It allowed me to 

meet students in other concentrations and from other graduating classes.” 

As a sophomore, Seth took the planetary-focused Intro to Geology class 

taught by Professor Eric Grosfils and a class titled Land Use and Abuse, 

taught by Professor Rick Hazlett. “I came to realize, during that semester, 

that there was more than one avenue for studying space science. That’s also 

when I rediscovered my passion for environmental science.” 

He took several electives with Professor of Religious Studies Jerry Irish and 

struck up a friendship. Irish became a mentor. “I stayed after class many 

times to discuss a comment or a passage in the reading. Jerry is such a 

thoughtful, intelligent, tolerant man that I always left feeling like he’d heard 

my perspective and that I understood the topic better.” 

Hazlett became a catalyst for Seth’s course of study: “If I had to pick one 

moment where I knew I wanted to do environmental science, it was a field 

trip to Joshua Tree with Rick and some other students. We camped under 

the stars, and I remember waking up to the feeling of being dragged 

around in my sleeping bag by Rick as he growled like a bear. Really, it was 

quite an awakening. We took a hike the next morning—Rick sets a fast 

pace—and I was amazed by how much he knew about both the geology 

and the ecology of the area. I’d already read his book about Joshua Tree, 

but there’s nothing like seeing and hearing it when you’re there. So in part, 

I was attracted to EA by the scientific issues, but it might not have 

happened if it weren’t for Rick’s passion, knowledge and teaching ability.” 

He interned at Northern Arizona University the summer after his junior year, 

studying pedestal crater formation on Mars. That was the final element that 

convinced him to stay in planetary geology. He continued the project for his 

senior thesis under the guidance of Pomona Professor Robert Gaines. 

“When it came time to choose a graduate school, I went to Jerry (Irish) for 

advice. Stanford has the best graduate program in geology in the nation, 

but Brown has a great planetary geology program, which is what I was 

most interested in. Jerry said he couldn’t tell me which school to choose, 

but that I should go where I was doing what I wanted to do—that being 

happy with my research, and ultimately being happy in life, is what’s most 

important. I got that advice from other people too, but Jerry’s stuck with 

me in a way that really stood out and compelled me to go to Brown.” 

After graduate school, he plans to do environmental work as a 

hydrogeologist or doing geothermal research for alternative energy means. 

Stephanie 

Papillon ’04 

Major: Neuroscience 

A Chicago native, Stephanie 

Papillon always knew she wanted 

to be a doctor. She chose Pomona 

partly because of its high medical 

school acceptance rates. 

“I definitely wanted to be at a smaller school, partly because of my 

personality. I tend to be a bit quieter and thought I needed to be in a 

smaller setting where there weren’t 100 students in one class.” 

“When I started college, I assumed I would be a biology major because I 

didn’t know any other possibilities.” She took a range of classes her first 

year, including an African history course from Professor Sidney Lemelle. “It 

was something that I’d never been exposed to. Most of the courses I’d 

taken were about American or European history. I really enjoyed the class, 

and I took other courses in African American history and literature.” 

In her sophomore year, she lived at Multicultural Hall and became involved 

in SMAC (Sagehen Multicultural Awareness Committee), a club that 

organized events and discussions on issues of race, gender, class and sexual 

orientation. “We set up a lot of social events at Multicultural Hall, including 

a talent show and discussions about cultural and racial issues. Those are 

things I’ve always been interested in.” Stephanie also helped revive the 

Students of Color in Science organization in her senior year. 

She considered majoring in Black studies or psychology. An introductory 

course in neuroscience with Professor Nicole Weekes, however, led her in a 

different direction. “Professor Weekes is a great teacher, and the course 

gave me a good overview of the different fields of neuroscience. I liked the 

flexibility and the way I could combine biology and psychology. I also 

realized that I would be able to major in neuroscience and still get the core 

courses I needed to apply to medical school.” 

In her senior year, Stephanie found a way to link her interests in science and 

in issues of race. Working with Weekes, she wrote a thesis about studies 

that suggested individuals are better at recognizing members of their own 

race. “I was interested in learning about the neurophysiology in the process 

of facial recognition, and I proposed a study to determine whether 

recognizing faces of the same race is something that is learned or innate.” 

Wanting to return home to Chicago, Stephanie applied to several medical 

schools in the area. After taking a year off to volunteer at a hospital and 

work with her aunt, who is a physician, she enrolled at Pritzker School of 

Medicine at the University of Chicago. Now in her third year, she is 

beginning rotations and thinking about specializing in surgery. “There are 

so many different areas of medicine that I’m still learning about. I’m glad I 

don’t have to choose a specialty until the end of the third year.” 

55

mypath Richard 

Greg Vinson ’95 

Major: Anthropology 

A Texas native, Gregory “Toast” Vinson 

followed in his parents’ footsteps to 

Claremont, where they attended Scripps 

and Claremont McKenna Colleges. 

56 

“When I got to Pomona, I decided to follow my heart. I had been pretty 

sure I wanted to major in philosophy but after taking a few classes, decided 

it wasn’t my cup of tea. I had a hunch I also would get involved in volunteer 

work and community service, but I didn’t know where that would lead.” 

One of his sponsors encouraged him to try anthropology and Greg signed up 

for an introductory course. “I tried a lot of things in the first year and took 

more anthropology courses as a sophomore. There was an anthropology 

professor who really stood out for me and became my advisor.” 

“I got involved in the Recycling Action Committee (RAC) my first year. 

When I was a sophomore, we started a composting program and I spent 

the next three years gathering 300 gallons of organic food waste from the 

dining halls every day. Our composting area was in the Wash, where the 

Farm is now located. It’s nice to see it’s turned into a garden.” 

Greg also volunteered twice a week at Ability First. “I have diabetes and 

have always had a soft spot in my heart for children with disabilities.” 

When asked to pledge money to employees running the L.A. Marathon, he 

decided instead to enter the race. Since then, he’s run in 14 marathons, 

raising money for various causes he believes in. 

After spending a semester abroad in Australia, he approached a professor 

with a thesis proposal based on his studies. “He said, ‘Toast, this is way too 

big,’” and asked me what it was I really wanted to do. I was shocked at 

the freedom he was giving me. I said I wanted to write about the activities 

and procedures of the RAC, which up to then had been passed down orally. 

So he said, ‘Do it,’ and I wrote a 220-page paper.” 

Greg went to work for the Uptown Recycling Center in Chicago after 

graduating and spent a year with the program. “I was able to find what I 

wanted to do and a way to do it. The Career Development Office helped 

me arrange for interviews at a consortium in Chicago in my senior year.” 

When a friend told him about an opening at the Outdoor Education Center 

near Trinity, Texas, Greg applied and started working there in 1996. He 

received his Texas teaching certificate at Stephen F. Austin State University 

in 2004. As a teacher specialist, he spends the school year teaching groups 

of fifth graders about the outdoors. Greg, who still goes by his high school 

nickname, says his students call him “Mr. Toast.” 

Ann Brower ’94 

Major: Politics & French 

Ann Brower came to Pomona in 

1990 uncertain about her major. 

Physics and French literature topped 

her eclectic list, but she was also a 

serious dancer, with a love of ballet. 

An Intro to American Politics class with Professor David Menefee-Libey and 

a class titled Political Freedom, taught by Professor John Seery—along 

with many long and fascinating conversations with Professor Lorn 

Foster—convinced her that she loved politics as well as French. 

After taking a physical education class in water polo her first year, Ann fell 

in love with the sport and became a dedicated swimmer and triathlete. 

Ann wrote her senior thesis on Camus’ role in the French Resistance. 

“Doing that exercise made me realize that I did not want to do something 

theoretical or abstract. Though I enjoyed it and was pretty good at it —or 

at least good enough—I wanted to do something more applied.” 

Through Pomona connections, she got a computer job with the Department 

of Energy, doing historical research into the U.S. experiments from the 

1950s on the effects of radiation and plutonium on humans. “We were 

the Secretary of Energy’s shock troops of openness.” 

At the Department of Energy, her interest in environmental concerns was 

piqued, and she decided to go on to Yale Forestry School, where she 

earned a master’s of forest science. This was followed by a Ph.D. from the 

University of California, Berkeley, in Environmental Science, Policy and 

Management in Forest Policy. 

Ann applied for a Fulbright Scholarship on a “sort of a why-not whim. 

One of my roommates from Pomona told me she’d just returned from a 

Fulbright to the Dominican Republic…I thought, ‘Hmm. Fulbright, now 

there’s a good idea.’“ Awarded a Fulbright Scholarship to the South Island 

of New Zealand, she heeded Foster’s admonition: “Oh Ann, there will be 

no turning down a Fulbright.” 

Ann fell in love with New Zealand and ended up settling there. She teaches 

environmental politics classes—Public Policy, Intro to New Zealand 

Government, Natural Resource Policy—at Lincoln University, and stays 

busy “wreaking havoc on land policy down under.” Recently, she received 

extensive print and television coverage for her conclusion that the Crown 

and taxpayers are getting fleeced in a series of farm deals. 

“Professor Foster has promised to come to New Zealand for a visit 

someday. I’m really looking forward to seeing him again.” 

Mendoza ’00 

Major: Mathematics 

Richard Mendoza discovered 

Pomona through his AP history 

teacher, John Fisher ‘67. “He 

would talk about the College 

and how strong it was 

academically. But he said there 

was a lot more to it—that it 

was a place where you really 

felt like you were part of a 

community.” 

“Math was my favorite subject in high 

school, but I’d also been interested in law 

since I was very young and figured by 

going to a liberal arts college, I would 

also be prepared for that if it was the 

direction I ultimately chose.” 

In his first year, Richard took classes in math, physics, sociology, religious 

studies, music and drawing. “The wide diversity of courses I took at 

Pomona was, for me, a signature of the liberal arts experience.” 

Richard spent a semester abroad studying in Budapest in a math program. 

“It was a great experience because I was learning about the culture and a 

country that most people don’t know too much about and also studying in 

my major and managing to stay on track.” 

In his senior year, Richard interned for the ACLU in downtown L.A., where 

he assisted a staff attorney on projects at the county jail. “By that point I 

had applied to law schools and was interested in doing something directly 

related to law. I’d realized that while pursuing math was a good and 

rigorous education, it was not going to be my path.” 

Richard applied to eight law schools, three in California and five on the East 

Coast. “I had a strong sense I would return to California, so I thought it 

would be a good opportunity to try living someplace else. Deciding to go to 

Yale wasn’t a difficult decision. It’s among the smallest of the law schools, 

and I liked the familiarity of its close-knit community.” 

He graduated from Yale Law School in 2003, passed the bar that summer 

and spent a year as a law clerk for Judge Ferdinand Fernandez at the 

United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. “Working for federal 

judges is a very interesting academic experience. Relatively few people 

have that opportunity, so I decided to take advantage of it.” 

After taking two months off, Richard started at O’Melveny & Myers, an 

international law firm in Los Angeles where he is an associate with the tax 

group. “The bulk of my practice is in employee benefits and executive 

compensation. It seems more structured and related to the kinds of 

thinking that goes into mathematical reasoning, so I was naturally inclined 

to that. I think the political, cultural and economic awareness you get from 

studying both in and out of the sciences is always helpful in the practice of 

law, where you have the intersection of facts and reasoning.” 


The Pomona Advantage 

Pomona offers its job-seeking graduates a number of 

advantages—some formal, others informal. Long 

before graduation, the Career Development Office 

begins working with students to explore fields of work 

and improve their job-finding skills. The office assists 

with internships and other career-related activities, and 

as part of a five-college effort, joins in bringing 

hundreds of corporate and institutional recruiters to 

campus each year. 

Just as valuable but more difficult to tally are the 

many intangibles that accompany a Pomona 

education. Informal networks among Pomona’s 

accomplished alumni have been instrumental in the 

creation of many successful enterprises and 

collaborations, and all new graduates soon find that 

they benefit from a reputation for excellence built over 

generations by the graduates who have gone before. 

Career Development 

The Career Development Office (CDO) helps students 

discover and develop satisfying careers through career 

counseling, internships, a national on-campus recruiting 

program, cutting-edge technology, volunteer 

experiences, and extensive information about graduate 

schools and career-related topics. 

Resources range from individual career counseling 

and workshops to assist students with job-search skills 

and strategies to a comprehensive listing of thousands 

of full-time and part-time summer jobs, internships and 

volunteer opportunities. The CDO resource library, one 

of the largest in the nation, contains printed and Webbased 

material on graduate schools, a database on 

graduate fellowships, as well as hundreds of books 

on career fields and job-hunting. The office also 

maintains and makes available to students a database 

of more than 1,600 Pomona alumni interested in 

providing career or graduate school-related guidance 

and assistance. 

In cooperation with the career offices of the other 

Claremont Colleges, Pomona provides an exceptional 

on-campus recruiting program. Each year, hundreds of 

employers, along with representatives from graduate 

and professional schools, recruit students right on 

campus. To help prepare students to do their best in 

employment and graduate school interviews, CDO 

career counselors and human resource professionals 

provide mock interviews. 

The CDO provides a variety of ways for students 

and employers to connect. About 400 students attend 

the annual Career and Internship Fair, which draws 

about 50 employers from every sector, including nonprofit, 

business, science, health care, technology and 

the arts. Through Pomona’s partnership with the 

Selective Liberal Arts Consortium, students can arrange 

for interviews with employers in Boston, Chicago, New 

York, Philadelphia, San Francisco and Washington, 

D.C. during winter break. In addition, the CDO hosts a 

Coast-to-Coast Virtual Career Fair during spring 

semester and has a jobs postings program for small to 

mid-sized companies that cannot recruit on campus. 

Guest speakers from business, industry, the arts, 

academia and not-for-profit organizations visit campus 

during Career Week and for other events to discuss 

topics ranging from high-tech careers to graduate 

school admissions. During the academic year, the 

office presents numerous programs that connect 

students with alumni from various career paths. 

Another program called “The Real World,” takes 

students to a Los Angeles-based organization to get a 

first-hand look at careers in companies that have 

included Paramount Pictures, Disney Feature 

Animation, Chiat/Day Advertising, City of Hope, 

Earthlink, JPL and the Los Angeles Times. 

Faculty in each discipline advise students on 

graduate programs and applications. The CDO also 

offers assistance with graduate school planning, and 

maintains a library of graduate school information. 

Pre-Professional Studies 

Pomona does not have specific majors for students 

interested in postgraduate professional study; in fact, 

no particular major is considered “preferable.” 

Designated faculty members advise students who are 

considering careers in business, engineering, the health 

professions, education and law to ensure that the 

students are appropriately prepared. The acceptance 

rate of Pomona graduates into medical and law 

schools is one of the highest in the nation. 

Graduate Study 

More than a quarter of Pomona’s seniors choose to 

attend graduate or professional schools immediately 

after graduation, and most (approximately 75% to 

80%) decide to do so within the next 10 years. For 

many—those considering law, medicine, or 

engineering, for example—advanced study is 

required; in other fields, such as business, an advanced 

degree can be advantageous. Still others decide to 

pursue further the interests they develop at Pomona. 

Pomona regularly ranks among the top few 

institutions in the percentage of graduates pursuing 

doctoral degrees. Because Pomona students pursue 

significant original projects in the course of their 

majors, they can demonstrate independent work in 

their applications, and they develop the skills 

necessary to succeed in their chosen fields. The ample 

research opportunities available at Pomona 

significantly improve the attractiveness of Pomona 

graduates to both graduate and professional schools. 

And because Pomona faculty truly know their students, 

they are able to offer specific and persuasive 

recommendations. 

Partial Listing of Employers Who Hired Recent Pomona Graduates 

A Room To Create 

Adecco USA 

Advisory Board Company, The 

Amigos de las Americas 

Analysis Group 

Bank of America Merrill Lynch 

Board of Governors of the Federal 

Reserve 

Brancart & Brancart 

Brentwood Biomedical Research 

Institute 

Bruce Peru 

Cambridge Associates 

Camp STAR 

Charles River Associates 

CitiGroup 

City Year 

Close Concerns 

Cornerstone Research 

Council for International Educational 

Exchange Thailand 

Davis Polk & Wardwell LLP 

Deloitte Consulting 

Deutsche Bank 

Drucker Institute 

Ernst & Young 

Estudio Teddy Cruz 

First Solar 

Forte Information Resources, LLC 

French Ministry of Education 

Garcia and Associates 

Google 

GreenCorps 

HighVista Strategies 

iCrossing 

Intervarsity Christian Fellowship 

Kaplan 

Logo/MTV Networks 

MATCH Corps 

Mercer 

Merrill Lynch 

Morgan Stanley 

National Institute of Health 

New Channel Education 

Nitro Swim Center 

Peace Corps 

Public Financial Management 

Rocketship Eucation 

Samuda and Johnson Attorneys-at-Law 

Simpson, Thacher & Bartlett, LLP 

Southern California Edison 

Spectra Sensors 

Stetson & Powell Orthopedics 

Teach for America 

The Tree Trust 

Tufts Medical School 

U.S. Senate 

U.S. State Department 

UC San Diego 

UC San Francisco 

UCLA 

University of Arizona, Dept. of 

Psychology 

University of Chicago 

University of Michigan 

University of Oregon 

World Teach 

57

58 

Certifiable Genius 

MacArthur Fellowships are more commonly known as “genius grants” because 

the half-million dollar awards are given to people in every field of endeavor purely 

on the basis of “originality, insight and potential”—or, in other words, genius. 

Brian Tucker ’67 (Physics major) received his genius grant in 2002 for 

his work in helping third-world countries outsmart disaster by using low-cost, 

indigenous building techniques to earthquake-proof schools and hospitals. 

Previous winners include author Ved Mehta ’56 (History major), 

internationally acclaimed artist James Turrell ’65 (Psychology major) and 

physician-filmmaker-author Gretchen Berland ’86 (Biology major). 

©A.M.P.A.S.® 

Accomplished 

Alumni 

The Envelope 

Please... 

The list of Pomona alumni who have won 

Academy Awards for best screenplay includes 

David Ward ’67 (International Relations 

major), who took home the Oscar in 1973 for 

The Sting; Robert Towne ’56 (English major) 

who won for Chinatown in 1974; and most 

recently, Jim Taylor ’84 (English major) who 

won for the unexpected hit Sideways in 2004. 

But our alumni aren't only on the receiving end of 

Oscars— Ric Robertson ’78 (Theatre major) 

has been behind the scenes at quite a few Oscar 

ceremonies as Executive Administrator of the 

Academy Awards since 1989. 

Twinkle, Twinkle... 

Alas, this photo is a fake. Gumby, the famous claymation 

character created by Art Clokey ’56, doesn’t really have a 

star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. However, there are four 

Pomona alumni who do. In fact, one of them, actor Joel 

McCrea ’28, has two stars—one for movies, one for radio. 

Other Sagehens immortalized in Hollywood sidewalks are actors 

Robert Taylor ’33 and Richard Chamberlain ’56 (Art 

major) and choral conductor Robert Shaw ’38. Another 

Sagehen who surely deserves a star is actor-singer-songwriter 

and Rhodes Scholar Kris Kristofferson ’58 (English major). 

Science and Medicine 

Among the many scientists and doctors who began their careers at 

Pomona, here are a few names: Jennifer Doudna ’85 (Chemistry 

major), Howard Hughes Investigator and Professor of Biochemistry and 

Molecular Biology at UC Berkeley, is a member of the National 

Academy of Sciences. As a top administrator at NASA, astrophysicist 

Colleen Hartman ’77 (Zoology major) oversaw the Galileo probe 

and promoted a mission to Pluto. Laurel Beckett ’68 (Mathe - 

matics major) is a leading Alzheimer’s Disease researcher and Professor 

of Biostatistics at UC Davis. Dr. Lynn Yonekura ’70 (Zoology 

major) is Professor of Obstetrics and Gynecology at the UCLA School of 

Medicine and Executive Director of the Hope Street Family Center. 

Top of 

the News 

Past Executive Editor of The New York 

Times Bill Keller ’70 (English 

major) recently stepped down to 

become a columnist. It was as foreign 

correspondent that he earned a 

Pulitzer Prize, writing about the fall of 

communism. Other Pulitzer winners 

include Barry Siegel ’71 (English 

major) who won his for feature 

writing at the Los Angeles Times and 

2012 winner Mary Schmich ’75 

(Liberal Arts major), a columnist for 

the Chicago Tribune. 

Presidential 

Material 

Eileen Wilson-Oyelaran ’69 

(Sociology-Anthropology major) is 

the first woman and the first African- 

American to serve as President of 

Kalamazoo College. Other alumni with 

presidential stuff include Alexander 

Gonzalez ’72 (History major), 

President of Sacramento State 

University, and R. Stanton Hales 

’64 (Mathematics major), who retired 

in 2007 after 11 years as President of 

Wooster College. 


Books, Books, Books 

You could fill a library with books by 

Pomona authors. Here is a sampling: 

Sacred Games by Vikram Chandra ’84 

(English major) is a fine work of literature 

that happens also to be a best-selling 

mystery. The Metaphysical Club by Louis 

Menand ’73 (English major) won the 

2002 Pulitzer Prize for history. Blue Nile is 

by noted science writer Virginia Morell 

’71 (English major) whose work appears 

regularly in Science and National Geo - 

graphic. The Art of Placemaking is the latest 

work of noted urban planner Ronald 

Fleming ’63 (Government major), who 

helped launch “Main Street” revitalizations 

across America. With his bestselling The Hot 

Zone, Richard Preston ’76 (English 

major) opened America’s eyes to the 

dangers of emerging viruses. His brother, 

Douglas Preston ’78 (English major) 

is co-author of a series 

of bestselling thrillers, 

including The Book of 

the Dead. 

On the Bench 

Pomona alumni on the bench include Judge Stephen 

A. Reinhardt ’51 (Pre-law major) of the U.S. 9th 

Circuit Court of Appeals and Cruz Reynoso ’53 

(History major) former associate justice of the California 

Supreme Court, now Professor of Law at UC Davis. 

Business on Mars 

Chris Chapman ’72 (Art major) is President of 

Honeybee Robotics, which built the rock abrasion tool for 

the two Mars rovers—Spirit and Opportunity. Other 

business-savvy grads include Bernard Chan ’88 (Art 

major), President of the Asia Financial Group, Inc.; 

Laszlo Bock ’94 (International Relations major), Vice 

President for People Operations at Google; and Paul 

Efron ’76 (English major), former partner at Goldman 

Sachs and Co. 

Sound of Music 

Music-making alumni range from classical—opera 

soprano Lucy Shelton ’65 (Music major)—to 

popular—Tony Award-winning director-producer 

George Wolfe ’76 (Theatre major) and Brendan 

Milburn ’93 (Music-Theatre major), author of the hit 

musical Striking 12—to rock—Keith Murray ’00 

(English major) and Chris Cain ’99 (International 

Relations major) of the rock band, We Are Scientists. 

Civil Rights 

Pomona has educated some important 

champions of civil rights, including 

Myrlie Evers-Williams ’68 

(Sociology major), a former chair of the 

NAACP National Board, and the late 

John Payton ’73 (Mathematics 

major), former president of the NAACP 

Legal Defense and Education Fund, who 

successfully argued for the University of 

Michigan Law School’s affirmative action 

plan before the U.S. Supreme Court. 

My Future’s 

So Bright... 

Scott Olivet ’84 (Government major) is 

CEO of Oakley Inc.—the maker of fashion 

sunglasses, watches and apparel. Other 

recent alumni who’ve made a name in the 

fashion industry include Josia Lamberto- 

Egan ’00 (International Relations major) 

co-founder of the award-winning firm 

Trovata, and designer Dru Hilty ’02 

(Media Studies major) who works with 

Alexander Wang in New York. 

59

60 

Because the life of a 

A Typical Pomona College Class 

Here are a few facts about 

recent entering classes at 

Pomona College. 

Middle 50% of SAT-I scores: 

Critical Reading: 680–780 

Math: 690–770 

Writing: 680–780 

Middle 50% of ACT scores: 

Composite: 31-34 

High school class rank: 

Of students from high 

schools that provide rank, 

90% were in the top 10% 

of their high school 

graduating class. 

Percentage of class 

receiving Pomona 

College scholarship: 

54% 

First generation in college: 

17% 

Geographic distribution: 

California 33% 

Northwest 11% 

Midwest 16% 

Other West 10% 

Northeast 16% 

South 6% 

International 8% 

TheRight 

Match 

ADMISSIONS AND FINANCIAL AID 

great liberal arts college is 

created in large part by the students who live and learn there, the admissions 

staff at Pomona College works to enroll a student body that will both 

contribute to and benefit from the extraordinary opportunities that are made 

available here. In evaluating students, our primary consideration, of course, is 

academic excellence. Admission is highly selective and includes a thorough 

review of each candidate’s application materials by members of the 

Admissions Committee. Since we regard each applicant individually, there is 

no set formula for admission. We review each application closely, seeking 

those whose records indicate that they have challenged themselves fully, who 

will continue to set a high standard of academic achievement and who have 

the curiosity and self-motivation that are the distinguishing marks of true 

scholarship. Pomona is interested in the best students, regardless of their 

ability to pay; financial need does not affect admission decisions for U.S. 

citizens and legal permanent residents. 

In assembling a class, we consider a diverse student body an educational 

asset for everyone, and regard Pomona’s mix as one of the great benefits the 

College has to offer. In the class, we hope to see a broad range of interests, 

backgrounds, talents and aspirations represented. 

We encourage you to contact the Office of Admissions with any questions 

you may have about Pomona College, its requirements or its admissions 

procedures. 


First-Year Admission 

Because so many talented students apply to Pomona 

College, we cannot state a minimum record or index 

ensuring admission. Each decision is based on a 

judgment of the entire application in the context of the 

applicant pool as well as consideration of the 

opportunities available to each applicant. 

Since our students come from a variety of 

educational experiences and from across the nation and 

around the world, we do not specify individual classes 

that are required for admission; however, we do seek a 

broad range of academic experiences in a variety of 

disciplines. The Admissions Committee expects that 

competitive candidates normally will have completed 

four or five academic subjects each term, including the 

10th, 11th and 12th grades. The Admissions Committee 

considers the rigor of the program and quality of the 

record, as well as the pattern of subjects. At a minimum, 

four years of English, three years of foreign language, 

and at least two years each in laboratory and social 

sciences are expected. Four years of mathematics are 

expected, and a four-year course of study that includes 

one year of geometry, a second year of algebra, a year 

of trigonometry and analytical geometry and a year of 

calculus is highly recommended. Courses in computer 

programming and statistics, while desirable, should not 

be substituted for these fundamental courses. 

Students interested in pursuing a science major at 

Pomona should include in their high school curriculum 

one year each of courses in biology, chemistry and 

physics, with an emphasis on laboratory work and 

problem solving. 

In evaluating a candidate’s high school program, 

extra weight is generally given to honors, Interna tional 

Baccalaureate, and Advanced Placement courses, if they 

are available in the high school. Although courses in 

areas such as journalism, debate, leadership and 

religious doctrine, as well as courses in music, art or 

theatre, are valuable to the student, they are not 

typically considered academic courses in assessing the 

strength of the candidate’s high school program. 

(Applicants with particular talents in the visual and 

performing arts and creative writing are encouraged 

to offer evidence of those talents along with their 

applications. Please see the application or contact the 

Office of Admissions for more information.) 

It is extremely important for applicants to ensure 

that their application and supporting papers accurately 

reflect their academic and personal traits and 

accomplishments for the Admissions Committee’s 

evaluation. We urge students to evaluate their own 

materials and consider how to provide full information 

to our staff. For example, where the high school 

transcript does not indicate the quality of academic 

work (e.g., pass/no credit or ungraded courses), the 

applicant should submit other evidence for the 

Committee. 

Students who have attended foreign high 

schools and those who have pursued unusual 

patterns of academic study should contact the Office 

of Admissions regarding materials to submit in 

evidence of their preparation for college work. 

Students pursuing home schooling are urged, 

and may be required, to provide a much more 

substantial battery of SAT Subject Test results or 

Advanced Placement tests and should discuss their 

curriculum and application with a member of the 

Admissions staff. 

Students who have completed a considerable 

amount of work at the college level (more than the 

equivalent of six Pomona courses) should consult the 

Office of Admissions regarding freshman versus 

transfer standing. 

Application Options 

Early Decision 

We encourage students whose clear first choice is 

Pomona College to apply under our Early Decision 

program. Because the Early Decision application 

represents a binding commitment, this option provides 

the clearest indication to the Admissions Committee 

that Pomona is the first-choice college, and early 

notification of our decision will permit a successful 

candidate to resolve her or his college choice early, 

without the need to file multiple applications. 

Students may submit an Early Decision application 

to only one institution. As part of the plan, students 

admitted under Early Decision agree to withdraw all 

other applications and to initiate no new ones. 

International Students 

Pomona values highly the cultural diversity offered by 

international students and welcomes interested 

students to apply. There is no separate international 

application. The application deadline for students 

applying from outside the United States is December 

15. All application process deadlines for international 

students are two weeks earlier than for domestic 

students. International students are strongly urged, 

where possible, to provide an email address for 

quickest correspondence. 

The College has no program in English as a Second 

Language or remedial programs for international 

students. Candidates who have not studied at a school 

where English is the medium of instruction must submit 

scores from the Test of English as a Foreign Language 

(TOEFL) in addition to all regular admission 

requirements. Pomona requires a minimum TOEFL score 

of 600 on the paper-based test, 250 on the computerbased 

version and 100 on the Internet-based version. 

Financial aid is offered to a very limited number 

of admitted foreign citizens each year. Selection is 

extremely competitive and international students who 

need financial aid may not apply under the Early 

Decision plans. 

Early Admission 

Students who feel they will have exhausted academic 

possibilities of their high school curriculum by the 

completion of their junior year may apply for 

admission to first-year standing. Early admission 

candidates are expected to demonstrate substantial 

academic potential in their program and performance, 

and social readiness for the residential college 

experience. Students must present a clear ability to 

benefit from early entry into a college program as 

demonstrated by transcripts and standardized testing. 

Early admission candidates are subjected to the 

same review process as regular admission candidates, 

and must provide complete transcripts of high school 

work, SAT Reasoning Test, and two SAT Subject Tests 

or ACT results. Early admission candidates are expected 

and may be required to interview with an admissions 

officer to discuss their readiness for college life and 

academic work. Early admission candidates may not 

apply under the Early Decision option. 

Advanced Placement, 

International Baccalaureate, 

and College Credit 

Students may receive credit for courses taken in high 

school based on scores on Advanced Placement (AP) 

or International Baccalaureate (IB) examinations. Credit 

is given for scores of “4” or “5” on an AP test, or “6” 

or “7” on an IB Higher Level examination. Placement 

into classes above the introductory level is determined 

by individual departments and may depend on the 

score earned and Pomona’s own placement 

examinations. 

Students who take college courses may be 

eligible to transfer credit to Pomona. Credit will be 

awarded for transferable courses on receipt of a 

college transcript, and is determined according to the 

procedures described under “Transfer Admission” 

below, with the same restrictions. Transcripts of all 

work should be submitted with the application, directly 

from the school. 

There is no limit to the amount of advanced 

standing credit that may be accrued through AP, IB 

and pre-matriculation college courses, but credit for 

advanced standing does not supersede the College’s 

requirement of 30 post-college-matriculation courses as 

part of the 32 courses needed for graduation. Work 

completed during high school cannot be used to fulfill 

Pomona’s General Education requirements, except in 

the case of the foreign language requirement. 

Transfer Admission 

Students who will have completed the equivalent of 

one full year of college work at the time of planned 

enrollment at Pomona should apply for admission to 

transfer standing. Those who will have completed less 

than one full year at another college are encouraged to 

consult the coordinator for transfer admission about 

standing and the appropriate admission procedures. 

All transfer students must spend a minimum of 

four semesters in full-time study at Pomona in order to 

receive the B.A. degree. A student may not transfer 

more than 16 course credits (the equivalent of 64 

semester hours or 96 quarter hours) toward Pomona’s 

requirement of 32 courses. 

Admission to transfer standing is extremely 

competitive. In evaluating transfer applications, the 

Admissions Committee places considerable weight on 

the nature and quality of the applicant’s college record, 

and on its compatibility with Pomona’s General 

Education program. If the college record does not 

clearly indicate the quality of the student’s work (e.g., 

a large number of ungraded or pass/no credit courses), 

it is the responsibility of the applicant to provide 

adequate supplementary information for evaluation. 

Students who previously have applied to or been 

61

62 

enrolled at Pomona should make that fact known when 

they first contact the Office of Admissions about 

transferring as they may spare themselves the need to 

assemble information already available to the staff. 

Granting of Credit 

The Academic Procedures Committee of the faculty 

determines the granting of credit for work completed at 

other institutions. The determination will be made after 

the candidate has been admitted. This process may be 

time consuming, and normally only a tentative estimate 

of course transferability will be available at the time of 

initial enrollment at Pomona. 

Course credit is transferable ordinarily if: 

• The prior college is accredited; 

• The course carries a grade of “C+” or better; and 

• The course is comparable to a course offered by 


Pomona faculty members may be consulted on the 

question of course compatibility; a candidate may be 

asked to submit catalog course descriptions, syllabi and 

reading lists in addition to the transcript. Equating four 

semester-hours or six quarter-hours to one Pomona 

course may make an estimate of conversion of credit 

from a credit-hour system to our course system. 

Credit for Advanced Placement or International 

Baccalaureate examinations is granted according to 

Pomona’s procedures, irrespective of the previous 

institution’s policies. See the information under “First- 

Year Admission” above. 

Visiting Students 

Students enrolled at other colleges who wish to 

attend Pomona for a semester or a year may apply by 

completing the transfer application and indicating 

“Visiting Student.” Visiting students are not eligible to 

receive Pomona College financial aid but may be able 

to bring federal and state aid to support study at 

Pomona. Some colleges permit their institutional 

financial aid funds to be applied to Pomona charges 

during the time of study here. Those enrolled as 

visiting students will not be considered for permanent 

transfer admission while they are enrolled in classes 

at Pomona. 

Information for All Applicants 

Standardized Tests 

All candidates for admission are required to present 

results from either: 

• The SAT Reasoning Test and two SAT Subject Tests 

administered by the Educational Testing Service 

for the College Board. 

• The ACT Assessment administered by the American 

College Testing Program. (Students are 

encouraged to take the optional Writing Test.) 

All testing arrangements must be made directly 

with the College Board or the American College Testing 

Program. Respon sibility for making these 

arrangements rests entirely with the applicant. 

Information regarding test dates, application fees, 

test result reporting, procedures, special administration 

and sample questions can be obtained from most high 

school guidance offices or from the testing agencies 

directly. Web-based or phone registration may be 

arranged by contacting the organizations. Candidates 

are encouraged to complete the descriptive 

questionnaire associated with the tests. Inquiries 

should be addressed to: 

College Entrance Examination Board 

PO Box 589 

Princeton, NJ 08541 

(Online registration at www.collegeboard.com.) 

OR 

The American College Testing Program 

PO Box 168 

Iowa City, IA 52243 

(Online registration at www.act.org.) 

The tests should be scheduled to allow at least 

one month between the test date and the appropriate 

application deadline. Students testing overseas should 

allow two months between testing and the deadline. 

Test scores must be sent directly to Pomona College 

(code 4607) by the testing agency. 

Interviews 

The Admissions Committee strongly recommends that 

all candidates interview with a member of the 

admissions staff or with an alumni representative of 

the College because we believe an interview is often 

an important part of your college selection process. We 

expect all students who apply from Southern California 

to interview on campus. (Southern California students 

unable to interview on campus should contact the 

Office of Admissions.) 

An interview is a mutual exchange that allows the 

Admissions Committee to learn more about the 

candidate while the student learns more about the 

College. Interviews help make our candidates more 

three-dimensional and provide students an opportunity 

to discuss the choices they have made and their goals 

for college and beyond. 

Interviews on campus are conducted by 

members of the admissions staff and by senior 

interviewers who have been selected and trained to 

assist our efforts. While an interview may be 

scheduled as early as the spring of the junior year, 

we generally recommend that freshman candidates 

wait until the summer before or the fall of their senior 

year in order to make the conversation more 

informative and current. 

Interviews must be completed by: 

• November 15 for Early Decision I candidates. 

• Middle of December for Early Decision II and 

Regular Decision candidates. 

Transfer applicants may interview at any time in 

the year until February 15. 

To schedule an interview, please call at least three 

weeks in advance—even earlier when scheduling an 

interview for December or January. 

Alumni Interviews 

First-year candidates who live outside Southern 

California and are unable to visit the campus for an 

interview may meet with a member of the Pomona 

College Alumni Admissions Volunteer Program in their 

area. The Admissions Committee makes no distinction 

between alumni interviews and those that take place 

on campus. 

Between mid-August and early December, alumni 

interviews are arranged by calling the Office of 

Admissions or through a request via the Pomona 

Website at www.pomona.edu/admissions. Requests 

for alumni interviews should be made by: 

• October 15 for Early Decision I candidates. 

• December 1 for Early Decision II and Regular 

Decision candidates. 

Students living in Southern California may not 

request alumni interviews and are expected to arrange 

an interview on campus. 

Application Forms 

Pomona accepts the Common Application. 

Students using the Common Application must be sure 

to provide supplemental information as required. 

The Common Application may be obtained from most 

high school guidance offices or from the Website 

www.commonapp.org. Pomona supplements to the 

Common Application are available from the Pomona 

Admissions Website, www.pomona.edu/admissions. 

Nondiscrimination Policy 

Pomona College complies with all applicable state 

and federal civil rights laws prohibiting discrimination 

in education and the workplace. This policy of nondiscrimination 

covers admission, access and service in 

Pomona College programs and activities, as well as 

hiring, promotion, compensation, benefits and all 

other terms and conditions of employment at 



With Pomona’s 

Can You Afford 

Pomona? 

THE ANSWER IS YES. 

generous program of financial aid, 

no student should ever hesitate to apply because of cost. One of a handful of institutions committed 

to both need-blind admissions and fully funded, need-based financial aid, the College reviews each 

applicant entirely on the basis of academic promise, then meets 100 percent of the demonstrated need 

of every student admitted. 

More than half of our students receive 

financial aid. Starting with generous Typical Financial Aid Awards 

scholarships—the average is about $39,000 per 

year—most aid packages also include a campus 

job of about 10 hours per week. Since 2008, 

Pomona’s financial aid packages have included no 

loans at all—nothing that has to be repaid, ever. 

We do this not only to ease the financial burden 

on our students, but also to ensure that their 

career choices will not be restricted by the need 

to repay college loans. Optional loans are 

available, however, for those who want to use 

them to cover portions of the family 

contribution. Moreover, Pomona’s financial aid packages are individually designed to meet the 

particular needs and circumstances of each student. Through subsequent years and any fee changes, 

the College is committed to maintaining an equivalent level of support so long as the family’s finances 

remain the same. During 2011–12, the College awarded approximately $30,850,000 in total aid to 

more than 800 of its 1,500 students. 

Complete details on financial aid availability, forms and deadlines can be found in the Pomona 

brochure Affordable Excellence or on the Web at www.pomona.edu/administration/financial-aid. 

* 

Range of 

Family Income 

0 – 20,000 

20,001 – 40,000 

40,001 – 60,000 

Typical Annual 

Aid Package 

53,100 

51,300 

47,300 

60,001 – 80,000 45,300 

80,001 – 100,000 40,300 

100,001 – 120,000 36,700 

120,001 – 140,000 28,200 

140,001 – 160,000 22,800 

160,001 + 19,300 

*Based on aid awarded for the 2011–12 academic year. 

63

64 

1 

4 

2 

3 

Building Legend 

Alexander Hall.....................................10 

Andrew Science Building.......................15 

Athearn Field ......................................28 

Baldwin House....................................62 

Baseball Field .....................................49 

Bixby Plaza ........................................25 

Brackett Observatory ...........................51 

Bridges Auditorium.............................. 35 

Bridges Hall of Music ...........................45 

Campus Safety (CUC) ......................... 13 

Carnegie Building ................................. 9 

Clark I ........................................ 23 

Clark III/Norton ................................. 27 

Clark V ....................................... 22 

Cook House........................................63 

Cottages .......................................60 

Cowart IT Building ...............................14 

Crookshank Hall .................................. 5 

Edmunds Building................................17 

Frank Dining Hall................................ 54 

Frary Dining Hall ............................... 26 

5 

6 

8 

AA 

7 

13 

12 

11 

9 

14 

10 

15 

CC 

39 

BB 

Gibson Hall.........................................55 

Hahn Building ..................................... 8 

Haldeman Pool ...................................33 

Harwood Court.................................. 57 

Honnold-Mudd Library (CUC) ............... CC 

Huntley Bookstore (CUC) .................... AA 

Kenyon House.................................... 69 

Lawry Court ..................................... 29 

LeBus Court ...................................... 46 

Lincoln Building...................................19 

Lyon Court .......................................58 

Lyon Gardens ................................... 42 

Marston Quad .................................. 38 

Mason Hall ......................................... 4 

Merritt Football Field.......................... 34 

Millikan Lab....................................... 11 

Mudd Building.................................... 12 

19 

18 

17 

40 

16 

20 

21 

41 

60 

22 

38 

42 

61 

43 

23 

37 

24 25 

45 

44 

62 

Mudd-Blaisdell Hall ............................. 56 

Museum of Art.................................. 43 

Oldenborg International Center..............48 

Organic Garden ...................................72 

Parking Structure/Athletic Field ............ 71 

Pauley Tennis Complex........................ 76 

Pearsons Hall...................................... 7 

Pendleton Business Building ................ 13 

Pendleton Dance Center....................... 68 

Pendleton Pool................................... 67 

26 

46 

59 

27 

36 

63 

28 

57 

64 

47 

29 

35 

31 

65 

58 

30 

34 

32 

President’s House............................... 39 

Rains Center for Sport 

and Recreation...............................36 

Rembrandt Hall ................................. 44 

Renwick House ...................................61 

Rogers Tennis Complex........................ 70 

Seaver House .................................... 40 

Seaver Biology Building........................ 1 

Seaver North Lab (Chemistry) ............... 2 

Seaver South Lab (Biology) .................. 3 

Seaver Theatre....................................53 

Smiley Hall ........................................37 

Smith Campus Center.......................... 16 

Smith Tower ...................................... 24 

Pomona 66 

Hall 

32 

33 

48 

49 

56 

67 

55 

50 

68 

51 

75 

69 

76 

Soccer Field........................................73 

Softball Field ......................................66 

Sontag Greek Theatre ..........................52 

Sontag Hall ........................................31 

Stanley Academic Quad..........................6 

Strehle Track.......................................74 

Studio Art Building 

(under construction) .......................50 

Sumner Guest House ......................... 64 

SUMNER HALL (Admissions)............... 47 

Tennis/Track Offices ............................75 

Thatcher Music Building........................41 

Tranquada Student 

Services Building (CUC)................. BB 

Turrell Skyspace ................................. 18 

Walker Beach .....................................21 

Walker Hall ....................................... 20 

Walton Commons............................... 30 

Wig Beach ....................................... 65 

Wig Hall ....................................... 59 

54 

53 


52 

70 

74 

A Standing 

Invitation 

Visiting Pomona 

The best way to gain a true appreciation for the qualities 

and opportunities that make this college unique is 

through a campus visit. We are always 

pleased to meet students and 

learn about their interests, 

and we welcome 

71 

73 

you to meet our 

students, visit our classes, and see 

the community here for yourself. The 

Pomona College Office of Admissions is open Monday 

through Friday from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. throughout the year. 

The office is also open Saturday mornings from 10:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. 

from late September through early December, except Thanksgiving 

weekend. Please call to confirm Admissions Office hours and the 

availability of appointments before making plans to visit Pomona College. 

Visitors are welcome at any time of the year, although visiting when 

classes are in session will provide the most accurate view of campus life. 

We recommend avoiding the periods immediately before or after a break, 

or before or during final exams. For more information, visit our Web page 

at www.pomona.edu or, for the most up to date information, contact the 

Office of Admissions. We encourage visitors to allow a minimum of two 

hours for a tour and information session and additional time for an 

interview and to visit classes. Please make arrangements for interviews 

at least three weeks in advance; in particular, Saturday and holiday 

interview appointments fill quickly, as do appointments in December and 

January, as deadlines approach. Requests to stay overnight in a residence 

hall should be made two weeks in advance, and will be honored only for 

high school seniors and transfer applicants. 

Campus Interviews 

Please see the Admissions section for information about admissions 

interviews. Interviews are strongly recommended for all prospective 

students and expected for all students who apply from Southern California. 

72 

Tours 

Student-led tours of the Pomona College campus are available whenever 

the Admissions Office is open (see hours above). No appointment is 

necessary although tour times may vary by time of year. Please contact 

the Office of Admissions for specific times. Tours generally last one hour. 

Overnight Stays 

Prospective students who are in their senior year of high school and transfer 

student applicants may arrange to stay overnight in a residence hall as the 

guest of a current student. An overnight visit provides one of the best ways 

to see Pomona up close. Visitors will be provided visitors’ ID and meal 

passes for the dining halls, passes for the libraries and athletic facilities, cots 

and linens. Visitors may accompany their hosts to classes or select classes 

of interest from course schedules available in the Admissions Office. 

Arrangements must be made at least two weeks in advance. 

Overnight stays are arranged only when the College is in session, from 

mid-September through early December, and from the end of January 

through early March. No overnight stays are scheduled during the preexam 

reading period in December, and during the fall, Thanksgiving, 

winter, or spring breaks. Because of the volume of requests, during April, 

we provide overnight visits only to students who have been offered 

admission for the following September. 

The Admissions Office can suggest hotels and motels within a few 

minutes of campus. Please call for more information, or refer to the campus 

visit brochure. 

Information Sessions 

Members of the Pomona College Admissions staff conduct group 

information sessions daily for interested students and parents. (See 

Admissions Office hours above) The sessions offer an overview of the 

College and its programs, followed by an informal question-and-answer 

period. No appointment is required. Please call the Office of Admissions for 

times, which may vary at different points in the year. 

Class Visits 

Prospective students who visit while the College is in session may be 

able to attend a class in an area of interest. The widest selection of classes 

is available in the morning, and relatively few classes are scheduled for 

Friday afternoon. Most classes range from 50 minutes to 90 minutes in 

length. Please call the Admissions Office for more information and to 

confirm that classes will be scheduled during your visit. 

How to Get Here 

Pomona College is located in Claremont, California, about 35 

miles east of down town Los Angeles. The College is easily 

accessible by car, plane or rail. 

By Car 

From anywhere except Pasadena and the San Fernando Valley, 

take I-10 to Indian Hill Boulevard, Exit 47. From Orange County, 

take the Orange Freeway (Route 57) to I-10 east. From the Long 

Beach area, take the San Gabriel River Freeway (I-605) or the 

Long Beach Freeway (I-710) to I-10 east. 

After exiting at Indian Hill Boulevard, drive north about one 

mile to Bonita Avenue, turn right, and go four blocks to the Sumner 

Hall parking lot, which is on the left. The Pomona College 

Admissions Office is located in Sumner Hall. 

From Pasadena and the San Fernando Valley, take the Foothill 

Freeway (I-210) east to Towne Avenue. Turn right onto Towne, 

traveling south until Foothill Boulevard. Turn left onto Foothill. 

Travel east on Foothill to Indian Hill Boulevard, turn right, and 

proceed south 10 blocks to Bonita Avenue. Turn left onto Bonita 

and travel four blocks to the Sumner Hall (Admissions Office) 

parking lot. 

By Plane 

We recommend flying into Ontario Interna tional Airport (ONT), 

which is closest to campus. Ontario is served by major airlines and 

major car rental agencies. A cab ride to Claremont takes 15 

minutes and costs approximately $30. Those flying into Los 

Angeles Interna tional Airport (LAX) may take a commuter flight to 

Ontario, take a shuttle, or rent a car. Allow an hour and a half to 

two hours driving time during peak times. 

SuperShuttle offers a 10 percent discount to any Pomona 

visitor on any date to-from the following Southern California 

airports: LAX, ONT, BUR, SNA and LGB. Please use discount code 

FPCS2 when visiting their Website (www.supershuttle.com) or 

calling 1-800-BLUE-VAN 

From Downtown Los Angeles by Rail 

The Los Angeles area Metrolink serves the city of Claremont 

with a station located just two blocks from the Pomona College 

campus. Call (800) 371-LINK for a schedule.

P O MON A 

C OLLEG E 

Office of Admissions 

Pomona College 

333 N. College Way 

Claremont, CA 91711-6312 

(909) 621-8134 • admissions@pomona.edu • www.pomona.edu • 2012–2013 Edition 

FPO 

08201216000

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