It’s a familiar refrain heard across dinner tables, holiday gatherings and comment threads: “Back in my day…” Every generation seems to carry a version of this lament—the notion that they had it tougher or that life was more demanding. Whether it’s holding down a job at 16 or walking to school uphill both ways, the past tends to wear a nostalgia filter, painted in hues of grit and resilience.

While there’s some truth to the idea that the challenges of youth are universal, in 2025 it’s safe to say that there are some pretty unique complexities ahead for folks born in the last 30 years (i.e. the elder “Gen Z” Zoomers, and the younger “Alphas”). The next generation is in the midst of navigating a thorny landscape littered with issues like loneliness, climate anxiety, skyrocketing housing costs, an AI-disrupted job market and political polarization.

This issue aims to explore the realities, hopes and hurdles of those coming into adulthood today, with a particular focus on the three topics of work-life, parenting and mental health. We delve into the future of office work and how young professionals are questioning hustle culture and demanding purpose alongside their paychecks; we talk to experts about how financial stress and shifting cultural expectations have made younger generations less likely to have kids; and we confront the ongoing mental health reckoning that has involved evolving conversations around self-care and seeking therapeutic support.

Adam Conner-Simons ’08

As we turn the page of this issue, we invite you to set aside the nostalgia and listen to the stories of those growing into adulthood at a time unlike any other. While every generation thinks they had it hardest, it just might be true that this one has it different—and is rising to meet it in extraordinary ways.

—Adam Conner-Simons ’08
editor-in-chief

Prompts of Fond Memories

As a former editor of Pomona College Magazine, I read each issue with interest. The Spring 2025 obituaries have prompted some special memories of four people:

Perdita Sheirich was an unsung hero of the College; her myriad notes regarding births, professional and personal achievements, and obituaries captured, preserved and celebrated the fabric of the campus community for decades.

Gordon Hazlitt ’54 was a legendary editor of PCM when I arrived in 1984. He was one of several editors with whom I had the pleasure of working (Christine Kopitzke ’75, Dennis Rodkin ’83, Tom Wood, Mark Wood).

And finally, let’s remember parents and grandparents who are often unappreciated. The late Peter and Winky Hussey (parents of Duncan Hussey ’13) helped support athletics at Pomona, funding facilities and nearly single-handedly organizing tailgate parties before and after football games. They were tireless advocates and supporters of the College.

All four, in different ways, contributed mightily.

—Don Pattison
Pomona, California

Remembrances from the Golden Age

I was alarmed to find nothing in the Spring issue from my ’56 classmates. I miss knowing who is still around and what they are about. At 90, I would enjoy any bits about fellow aged lives. I have memories of the ’50s that are laughable now—Stinky’s hamburgers! May Queen! Gracious Living! I waited on tables at dinners. Are there still served dinners? My life is limited now, of course, to reading, writing a column for a local paper here in small-town Arizona, and musing about the meaning of life. I’m shorter and fatter and am married to my third husband. I don’t miss my teaching or my ministry, but I do miss my departed friends, like Ann Williams ’56 with whom I had wonderful trips and many laughs.

—Elaine Stoppel Jordan ’56

Correction

Friends, on page 8 of the Spring 2025 PCM, you identify 1982 commencement speaker Bill Bradley as a New York senator. Although “Dollar Bill” starred for the New York Knicks, he represented New Jersey in the Senate.

—Steve Johnson ’82

Dear Pomona community,

I’m very excited to have joined Pomona as its new Chief Communications Officer (CCO) this July.

I bring over two decades of strategic communications leadership to the College, and most recently served as Assistant Vice President of Executive and Community Communications at the University of Southern California (USC). I know Pomona to be a remarkable institution whose faculty and administration put student belonging, experience and success at the heart of every endeavor. I feel very fortunate for this opportunity to lead our talented Communications team and help tell Pomona’s story.

More than anything, I’m looking forward to collaborating with our gifted academic community on a host of important initiatives and showing the enduring value of the liberal arts in shaping the next generation of leaders, scholars, artists and engaged citizens.

As a newcomer to the Pomona community, I know that your support and input will be an invaluable ingredient to my team’s success. Your ideas and feedback will always be welcome and I hope you won’t hesitate to reach out!

—Eric Abelev
chief communications officer

This fall I have come back to campus after an energizing and much appreciated sabbatical. I’m looking forward to working with the entire community as we begin this new academic year together.

Sabbatical leave is one of the important ways Pomona encourages great scholarship and, in turn, the exceptional teaching for which we are renowned. It is a gift of time to study intensively and keep the light of learning glowing brightly.

During my sabbatical I had the opportunity to work on my next book, which is about why human beings need beauty. I don’t think that beauty is icing on the cake of human experience; it is part of who we are and how we learn.

Beauty leads us on in our explorations of the world around us. The products of our creativity—from paintings and poems to buildings and even tools—are records of what we have learned about the world and how we have learned it. Our symphonies are explorations of the world of sound; they are products of feeling, too, but they are also markers of collective yearning, loving and living.

It is easy, as a college president, to be fully caught up in pressing day-to-day issues, and I truly love serving the College and our community. I’m glad to be back on campus, living and loving our collective life. But, having an opportunity to focus for a time on my intellectual curiosity connected me closely once again with the heart of Pomona—our commitment to lifelong learning.

Students choose Pomona because they, too, are curious. So many elect to double major because it’s simply too hard to narrow their attention to just one discipline. And our faculty come here because there is no place better to discover, create, imagine and learn alongside each other and our incredible students.

I am grateful to the Board of Trustees and to Bob Gaines, who stepped in as Acting President, for this period of time to once again experience the life of scholarship and strengthen my kinship with our learning community. Bob’s steady, thoughtful and optimistic leadership was wonderful to see. I appreciate so much his willingness to take on the role and the expert way in which he guided the College toward the fulfillment of our mission.

Now, as we begin a new academic year, it is important that we as a community find ways to be a place of calm amidst the winds of discord and division that are currently buffeting our nation and our world. Pomona brings together people with different backgrounds, cultures, worldviews and passions. We have so much to learn from each other, ideas and imaginings that can enrich each of our lives. The key is learning to listen, not just with our ears, but with our hearts and our full attention.

On the first day of orientation I walked, as is tradition, through the gates with our newest students. When I met with them later in our beautiful Center for Athletics, Recreation and Wellness, I encouraged them to look around at their classmates. These are the people, I reminded them, who will become their teammates and friends, not just for now, but perhaps for life. I encouraged them to pay attention to and care for each other on the journey they will share at Pomona. I ended with a quote from Apollo astronaut Rusty Schweickart that I think is apt for us all: “We’re not passengers on Spaceship Earth,” he said. “We’re the crew.” (And then, of course, I said it again in Klingon.) Whatever languages we speak, whatever creeds we hold dear, and wherever we go, we Sagehens will shape our future together, and that makes me very proud.

Pomona College has been making an outsized contribution to Spaceship Earth for more than 100 years because of the strength of our community. I eagerly anticipate building on that in the year ahead.

—G. Gabrielle Starr
President

Adam Conner-Simons ’08

Making the Practice of Deceleration Normal, and Natural

Am I the only one who’s noticed a shift in the pace of life these days? Stepping into this new role as guest editor, I’ve reflected on it more than usual. I wake up to an onslaught of urgent emails and push notifications that demand immediate responses, leaving little room for quiet reflection. While there are many tech-driven advances that have brought us convenience, speed and savings, these developments also pose a particular challenge to our well-being: the erosion of our ability to slow down and simply be present.

One powerful antidote to this is the theme of the issue sitting in your hands today: getting “back to nature.” For me, at least, the most reliable action for counterbalancing the frenetic rhythms of modern life is the simple act of stepping outside and mindfully observing the natural world  in all of its gentle profundity.

When we take moments to appreciate nature—the rustle of leaves in the wind, the rhythm of ocean waves, a simple sunset—we break free from the constant demand for swift action. Nature operates at a pace that can’t be rushed, and in its presence, we are reminded that life is not about racing from one task to the next, but about engaging fully with each experience.

I’d like to think that the intentional slowing down we feel in nature is not entirely dissimilar to the liberal arts atmosphere that surrounds us at Pomona.

Instead of rushing through a checklist of prerequisites or focusing on a narrow band of vocational skills, Pomona asks students to engage with a wide variety of perspective-broadening disciplines, teaching them to appreciate the interconnectedness of ideas and the complexity of the human experience. With a curriculum that forces us to think deeply, critically and holistically, we can soften our pace, reflect on the larger picture, and wrestle with a robust range of ideas here before going off to the great, big “real world” (whatever that means).

Sagehens graduate not only informed and skilled, but also thoughtful, curious and empathetic. Somewhat paradoxically, they’re better equipped to navigate a world that demands instant answers because they have learned to take the time to think differently, and more creatively. In both the act of appreciating nature and the ethos of a liberal arts education, there is a shared recognition that the process of deceleration—whether it’s to absorb the beauty of the natural world or to deeply explore a complex idea—enriches our lives. It helps us cultivate a more profound understanding of ourselves, the world, and our place within it.

                  ­—Adam Conner-Simons ’08

                  Guest Editor