Pomona College Fundraising Hits Historic Highs

Pomona College alumni, families and friends gave a record $57.1 million in gifts and pledges this past fiscal year to help provide students with a transformative liberal arts education. In addition to breaking records in total fundraising and alumni giving participation, volunteer engagement also soared, making us a standout among peer institutions. Thank you for helping us make history, Sagehens!

Pomona Alumni Out and About

From coast to coast, Pomona’s Regional Alumni Chapters continue to build Sagehen connections. This summer and fall, activities included a music performance, a baseball game, a visit to an art center, the Blue Angels, a Sagehen’s book launch and a hangout with coffee and donuts. Visit our website to connect with a chapter in your area!

Sagehens, We Need Your Nominations!

Help Students Explore Life Beyond College

Nominate yourself or a fellow alum for Return to Pomona, a new program that gives exceptional alumni the chance to share their experience, knowledge and talents with students and faculty. Whether serving as a guest lecturer, teaching a course or forging relationships with students and faculty, we’re seeking to cultivate stronger bonds with alumni who can enrich the student experience through unique and challenging opportunities. Visit our site to submit a nomination and read about our first Return to Pomona alum Mikey Dickerson ’01, the first administrator of the U.S. Digital Service.

Fall Greetings!

A Message from the Alumni Association Board President

Dear Sagehens,

I hope your fall is going well. The Alumni Association Board is off to a busy start and enjoyed our October retreat on campus. The chance to meet and discuss board initiatives in person is always helpful and productive, and we particularly enjoyed our time with students. One area of focus for us this year is the value of a liberal arts education—a critical issue to support at this moment.

As we get going, we are deeply focused on ways to build alumni connections through our three main committees. The Engagement Committee will focus on events, like career panels and Alumni Weekend. Our Regional Chapters Committee will help support the fantastic work of our alumni chapters. And the Development Committee will focus on community connection and fundraising. We are also excited about opportunities to welcome our seniors into the alumni community.

I am thrilled to lead and support these dedicated Sagehen volunteers—and to help our alumni community connect with Pomona and each other. I encourage you to find ways to meet up with Sagehens, as well—a regional chapter event or an impromptu dinner with a classmate who’s in town. And please join us for Alumni Weekend 2025. The board will be there, and we’d love to see you!

Chirp!
Andrea

Andrea Venezia ’91
President, Alumni Association Board
pomona.edu/alumni-board

Read about the Alumni Association Board and get to know Board President Andrea Venezia in her recent interview.

Glicks Pledge $2.47M to Expand College Access for Middle-Income Students

Samuel D. Glick ’04 and Emily S. G. Glick ’04 have pledged $2,474,474.47 to support financial aid and other crucial resources for future students from middle-income families. Their renewed support is among the highlights of a banner year for Pomona fundraising, which saw record levels of alumni contributions and participation, outpacing peers and surpassing many of the College’s historical benchmarks. Sam and Emily are longtime supporters of the College; Sam is the outgoing chair of the Board of Trustees, and together they have taken on leadership roles to help advance Pomona’s strategic vision.

“We are deeply grateful for Sam and Emily’s generosity in establishing the President’s Fund for Middle-Class Access,” says President G. Gabrielle Starr. “Their support will provide more than scholarships; it will provide access and opportunity to pursue life-changing work and invaluable academic experiences for students who often don’t consider Pomona.”

The Glicks’ gift will support amplified outreach with middle-income students–many of whom never consider applying to Pomona due to cost. It also will help provide more robust financial support for middle-income students who are admitted. For those who enroll, the fund will support targeted programs and resources for career development and academic enrichment. The Glicks hope that, with such resources in place, more students from middle-income families will see a Pomona education as their reality.

“Doing something to help make Pomona available to more people, we hope, in a small way, makes the world a better place,” says Sam.

Read the full story at pomona.edu/news/2024/08/28-sam-04-and-emily-04-glick-pledge-247m-expand-college-access-students-middle-income-families

Berryman Pledges $10 Million Legacy Gift

Pomona College alumna Sue E. Berryman ’59 has pledged $10 million to establish six endowed funds for the areas of humanities, music, scholarships and faculty innovation. Berryman comes from an engaged Sagehen family that includes her late mother, father and aunt.

Berryman earned a doctorate in political economy from Johns Hopkins University before pursuing a range of roles at Harvard Business School, RAND Corporation, Columbia University and the World Bank. As director of Columbia’s Institute on Education and the Economy, she testified before state governors and Senate committees on the economy and education policy. She also traveled the globe with the World Bank to help countries address structural problems in their education systems.

In honor of her mother, the Frances Bowers Berryman ’30 Fund for Humanities Study will help fund programming in “common reads” books, visits to arts and cultural institutions, and alternative spring break experiences. Two new music-minded funds pay tribute to her father: the John Jordan Berryman ’28, which will support Glee Club performances and travel, along with instrument acquisition and maintenance for the Music Department.

Berryman also established two funds for her aunt: the Ellen Evelyn Bowers ’31 Scholarship Fund and Global Student Haven Outreach Fund, which will support scholarships for students with financial need and international students displaced by global crises and natural disasters. Lastly, the Sue Ellen Berryman ’59 Presidential Innovation Fund will support broader initiatives across Pomona’s educational mission, including interdisciplinary research.

Read full story at pomona.edu/news/2024/09/09-sue-berryman-59-pledges-10-million-legacy-gift-support-pomona-college

Draper Gives $1M for Football Turf

A $1 million challenge gift from Trustee Emeritus Ranney E. Draper ’60 has helped fund the new synthetic turf on Merritt Field, where Pomona-Pitzer football kicked off their season on September 7 with a 28-12 win against Carleton College.

Merritt’s $2.2 million transformation from grass to turf comes at a watershed moment for a program that has gone from a team with a single win to one competing in back-to-back Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC) championship games and winning the title in 2022.

Former team captain Draper has Pomona roots reaching back to his football-playing father Ranney C. Draper ’25 and uncle Edwin Draper ’25. It’s also where his father and mother, Virginia ’26, fell in love. Their legacy now spans the Draper Walk and Plaza, the Draper Center for Community Partnerships and the Center for Athletics, Recreation and Wellness.

Maintaining Merritt’s grass has been challenging amidst a California climate fluctuating from severe droughts to excessive rains. Until now the team only used Merritt for games, sharing practice time with other teams at the South Athletics Complex; artificial turf lets them use it year-round. Merritt will also be a hub for practices and games for the women’s lacrosse team, as well as intramural programs and P.E. classes.

“It truly matches our philosophy of health, wellness and fitness,” says football coach John Walsh. “This field [will] make an impact on a lot of people both in and out of football.”

Visit Stories of Impact at Pomona to read the full stories online.

Shelley Keeler Whelan ’92

While at Pomona, Whelan captured NCAA Division III doubles championships three straight years from 1990 to 1992. In 1992 she also won the Division III singles championship and willed the Sagehens to the Division III team title—the first in Pomona-Pitzer history.

Whelan, a multi-time NCAA All-American, was enshrined in the Pomona-Pitzer Hall of Fame in 2002 both individually and as part of the historic 1992 team.

“Shelley always focused on the team rather than herself,” former longtime Sagehens coach Lisa Beckett says. “Nearest and dearest to her is that team championship. Shelley continues to support Pomona in many ways, including offering a summer internship in her family investment office.”

Whelan and her sister manage a multigenerational family office that invests in businesses and real estate in the Pacific Northwest.

Diane deFord ‘65

deFord’s father Benton F. Eichorn

Diane deFord was only 4 months old when her father Benton F. Eichorn, a World War II pilot, was shot down over Vernio, Italy in June 1944; six of seven aboard their B-25 bomber perished, including Eichorn.

In the winter of 2013, the pilot’s “dog tag” (military ID) was found in the woods, setting deFord’s daughter Holly Mead on a quest over a period of months to learn more about her grandfather and his crew members—and ultimately connect with surviving family of the crew—by scouring the web and digging into declassified war reports and historical archives.

Mead first got the tip about her grandfather from a museum curator in Tuscany, Italy, who had been researching the crash but had only ever found assorted parts from the plane. The curator contacted Mead informing her that a hunter had come to the museum with a dog tag he found bearing the name of Eichorn—a tag, it was later learned, that had survived not just the plane crashing to the ground, but also four bombs that exploded upon impact. The tag’s discovery ultimately led to the Italian research team’s publication of a book about the B-25 bomber and its crew and mission. This led to a museum exhibition and permanent monument that was erected in 2014, with Mead and deFord flying into Tuscany as special guests.

Before passing away peacefully in March after a brief illness, deFord herself lived a rich and full life up and through her 80th birthday this January. A passionate educator, she worked as an elementary school teacher in multiple locations across five decades, from her Pomona graduation in 1965 to her retirement in 2015. She mostly taught second grade, and lived much of her life in Northern California, including Dillon Beach, Sonoma, Vacaville and Rohnert Park. Born in Pomona, deFord also taught in Claremont, Brea and Mission Viejo.

An avid traveler and nature-seeker, in her 20s she traversed Mexico in a Volkswagen bus, and hiked the whole south rim of the Grand Canyon in a day. Through her 60s and 70s she also would often head out alone on weekslong road trips to her favorite places, tent camping solo.

Mead described deFord as a “caring mother, loving grandmother, teacher and adventurer … someone who was dependable, kind, independent and always young at heart.”

She is survived by her daughter, her son Ryan deFord, three grandchildren and brother Steve Schoenig and sister Linda Howell.