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

2024 Protests

It is with dismay that I read about the disruption of several aspects of campus life (e.g., 2024 Commencement and the fall opening convocation) by pro-Palestinian protesters.

Full disclosure: I have relatives in Israel, who knew people who were killed on 10/7/23, the worst massacre of the Jewish people since the Holocaust. Lest you view me as a cheerleader for Netanyahu, I believe that his refusal to entertain the idea of a two-state solution has contributed to Israel’s diplomatic isolation and security crises. While I initially supported Israel’s military response, I have come to believe that it reached a point of diminishing returns long ago. Like any decent human, I am saddened by the loss of innocent Palestinian lives, and wish that Israel put greater effort into a two-state solution.

That said, these nuances are absolutely lost on the West’s “pro-Palestinian” movement—a term I put in quotes because it seems to put a higher priority on destroying Israel than on improving the lot of the Palestinian people.

Anyone who has studied the history of that region would realize just how complicated it is, with both Jews and Palestinians having legitimate claims to the land and legitimate grievances toward each other.  My complaint against student protesters is threefold. First, a college is supposed to be a place for critical thinking. Students who shout eliminationist anti-Israel slogans obviously gave up on that a long time ago.

Second, the protesters’ methods often push the boundaries of legality. At Pomona and elsewhere, they have shown callous disrespect for other people’s property and personal space.

Third, while I do not believe that  “pro-Palestinian” protesters are consciously antisemitic, their actions have the effect of making many Jewish students feel targeted and intimidated.

All of this breaks my heart.

—Tony Gansen, ’84

Foster City, California

Another ’60s Activist Offers View on Campus Climate

I look back with pride at my political activity when I was at Pomona. I did not have the privilege of knowing Harry Stein ’70 (“A ’60s Activist’s Take on Politicized Campuses,” Summer 2024), but may have participated in some of the same demonstrations he did. Even though I played football, considered the sign of a caveman, I marched with Jane Fonda. The Vietnam War was actually a simpler issue than the Israel-Palestine conflict. The rest of the Middle East, the United States, and the rest of the world bear responsibility for the failure to complete the 1947 United Nations Resolution 181 that created the state of Israel and called for a separate state of Palestine. As for the criticism of the news coverage regarding Pomona by Pomona College Magazine, I have not found it biased. While I live in Arlington, Texas, I still have family in Upland and Riverside with whom I share discussions about Pomona. I was surprised that Harry Stein did not mention the Claremont Institute and its far-right views, yet stated that there is “near-uniformity of thought in Claremont on issues of race, gender and now the Middle East.” I applaud President Starr’s efforts to promote significant discussion regarding difficult and contentious issues.

—Gerald Casenave ’72

Arlington, Texas

Pomona Students, Yesterday and Today

Regarding the letter from Harry Stein ’70, when I returned to Pomona after my Melvin Laird Fellowship in Southeast Asian Studies, I found the campus to be as vibrant and intellectually alive as it was when I dropped out in February 1968.

I have been on campus a number of times in the last 10 years. I have talked to undergrads. The only way one could conclude there was “near-uniformity of thought” among Pomona undergrads is if he had no contact whatsoever with the undergraduate population.

—Bart Scott ’75

Santa Rosa, California

Memories of KSPC in the Late 1950s

When I transferred from Columbia University to Pomona, attending for 2½ years before graduating with distinction in 1958, trad jazz (short for traditional) continued to figuratively save my life. So, I was delighted to host an evening program featuring the likes of Louis Armstrong and Bix Beiderbecke on KSPC (“KSPC Radio Rocks On,” Summer 2024). Terry Drinkwater ’58 ran a tight ship at the station and went on to greater things in broadcasting as a correspondent and anchor at CBS News before tragically passing prematurely in 1989.

But it was my weird fellow classical jazz enthusiast, Jim Bogen ’57, who played a mean clarinet, who encouraged me to host such a program that probably attracted no more than a dozen campus listeners—I never knew as no one ever commented besides Jim and a fellow Phi Delta, Bill Baer ’58.

I was only attracted to buddies then who were a little crazy and off the wall during the deadly conformism of the ’50s, and Jim was one of the few. I’d occasionally visit him four flights up the stairs in Smiley Hall and stare respectfully at the pennies he deliberately cast about his room floor, like a true philosophy major, to show his disdain for Californian materialism. If he’s still alive and reads this, I want him to know I still have the LP he and a pickup student band recorded—some amateurish riffs on trad jazz that must now be very collectible, and that his clarinet solos still stand out.

I also wonder if any archives exist witnessing most of KSPC’s 68 years at its various locations. Nothing like old-time radio going back to the 1930s, but that’s another story.

—Paul Christopher ’58

Pebble Beach, California

Correction

Joanne Tobiessen ’64 worked in career development at Union College in Schenectady, NY, and developed its peer facilitators program during 18 years of service, and also served on Union College’s Women’s Commission. Her obituary in the Summer 2024 issue incorrectly identified the college as Pacific Union. Pomona College Magazine regrets the error.

Write to Us at PCM

We welcome brief letters about College issues from alumni, parents, students, faculty, staff, donors and other community members. Email us or mail a letter to Pomona College Magazine, 550 N. College Ave., Claremont, CA 91711. Letters should include the writer’s name, city and state of residence, contact information, and class year (for alumni). Letters should be no more than 400 words, are selected based on relevance and available space, and are subject to being edited for brevity and clarity.