Blog Articles

Shark Mutulili ’25 Earns Pomona’s First Rhodes Scholarship in 20+ Years

This spring Shark Mutulili ’25, a public policy analysis major with a politics focus, was awarded a Rhodes Scholarship. The prestigious international fellowship is awarded to about 100 students each year, 32 from the United States and the rest from countries across the world.

Shark Mutulili ’25Mutulili was one of two students awarded the Rhodes Scholarship for Kenya. A Nairobi native, she is Pomona’s 13th Rhodes Scholar, second-ever female recipient and first since Peter Chiarelli ’03.

The oldest fellowship award in the world, the Rhodes covers all expenses to study at the University of Oxford for two or more years. Mutulili plans to pursue a Master of Public Policy at Oxford before returning back home to Kenya long-term.

Her ultimate hope is to “shape better systems to see the dignity in every human being,” she says.

When Mutulili learned she was one of 10 finalists for the Kenya award, she had to quickly make travel arrangements to fly to Kenya in less than a week for the final interview—a flight made possible by Pomona’s Office of the President. The day after the interview, while preparing to head to the airport, she received a congratulatory phone call. “I was jumping up and down,” she says. “I was in complete shock.”

Mutulili served as Pomona’s 2025 senior class president, leading committees to improve student life and foster community on campus.

“I wanted to serve and to understand the way people think, the things that bring them joy and the challenges they’ve gone through,” she says. “I’ve tried my best for this to be a senior year worth remembering.”

Her senior thesis focuses on comprehensive sex education to prevent gender-based violence against adolescent girls and women in Kenya. She looks at tribal knowledge, traditions and practices as well as colonial histories of education to understand how gender biases and power imbalances affect the policies that are created.

“Shark stands out at Pomona for her joyous spirit and her thoughtful and caring engagement across differences, whether of opinion, identity or discipline,” says President G. Gabrielle Starr. “We at Pomona are so proud of her and thrilled for her to take advantage of these new opportunities at Oxford.”

As a recently announced Napier Initiative Fellow, Mutulili will continue her work to improve living conditions for children and mothers in two rural prisons in Kenya, providing for immediate needs such as baby food, diapers and cots as well as working toward long-term goals such as improving sanitation, providing water tanks and creating child care spaces.

One of the first people Mutulili told about the Rhodes Scholarship was her academic advisor David Menefee-Libey, whom she says has been a staunch supporter at Pomona.

“Every time I talk with Shark, I learn about yet another amazing thing she’s been in the middle of,” says Menefee-Libey, the William A. Johnson Professor of Government. “And through all that she remains a kind and joyful person. I can’t wait to see what she does next.”

The 2025 Wig Distinguished Professor Awards

Seven faculty members—including five first-time honorees—were bestowed at Commencement with Wig Distinguished Professor Awards, recognizing their excellence in teaching, commitment to students, and service to the College and the community.

Presented annually since 1955, the awards involve anonymous votes from Pomona juniors and seniors that are then confirmed by a committee of trustees, faculty and students.

Malachai Bandy is an assistant professor of music who plays some 20 different instruments spanning more than 800 years of music history. His expertise includes viola da gamba technique, history and iconography; historical performance practice; and 17th-century North-German music.

Mietek P. Boduszyński is an associate professor of politics and expert on U.S. foreign policy, democratization, post-conflict stabilization, Eastern Europe and the Balkans, and the Middle East and North Africa.

J Finley is an associate professor of Africana studies whose research looks at Black women’s history, performance and cultural expression, and the performative and political efficacy of Black women’s humor and comedy.

Frances M. Hanzawa, an associate professor of biology who’s been at Pomona for 30+ years, conducts diverse research in ecology, evolution, plant ecology, genetic and demographic consequences of seed dispersal and plant-animal interactions.

Tom Le is an associate professor of politics with expertise in Japanese security policy, the U.S.–Japan alliance, military and security balance in East Asia and East Asia regionalism.

M. Bilal Nasir is an assistant professor of Asian American studies whose research interests include policing and surveillance, critical race studies, secularism, social movements, science and technology, and anthropology of Muslims and Islam.

Shahriar Shahriari is the William Polk Russell Professor of Mathematics and Statistics and now a six-time Wig Award recipient, with expertise in combinatorics of posets, extremal set theory, finite group theory, representation theory of finite groups and surreal numbers.

2025 Wig scholars: from left, Pomona Professors Shahriar Shahriari, Malachai Bandy, Frances M. Hanzawa and J Finley

From left, Pomona Professors Shahriar Shahriari, Malachai Bandy, Frances M. Hanzawa and J Finley

In Search of the First Lights That Lit Up the Cosmic Night

Erica Nelson ’08

Erica Nelson ’08

Erica Nelson ’08 is aiming beyond the stars, to the origin story of the universe. Thanks to the 2021 launch of the James Webb Space Telescope, Nelson is taking pictures of the very first galaxies to learn what the universe was like at the beginning of time.

That quest has landed the University of Colorado-Boulder assistant professor of astrophysics on CBS’s 60 Minutes and NPR’s Science Friday—and on an episode of the Pomona College podcast Sagecast, where she and her undergraduate mentor, Philip Choi, associate professor of physics and astronomy, explained the paradigm-shifting potential of what she and her colleagues have discovered.

How Pomona developed her interest:

I remember my first astrophysics classes and being absolutely blown away by the scale of the universe and the incredibly complex physical processes that rule the universe on large scales. We can use powerful telescopes to effectively look back in time. As a kid I found that concept so mind-blowing that I couldn’t imagine spending my days thinking about anything else.

One of my favorite Pomona memories solidified that I wanted to teach and help the next generation. We had a computer programming assignment for Philip Choi’s class, and it was awful because I was so bad at coding. But Phil took the time to work through it with me until midnight. It was such an act of kindness and really launched me on my journey.

Her research focus:

I’m looking for new methods to understand how galaxies and black holes form and evolve. Powerful telescopes like the Webb allow us to see really, really great distances. That means we can see light that’s been traveling for almost the entire age of the universe, from close to the beginning of time itself. We’re able to see how the universe and the galaxies in it evolved, and that allows us to piece together their origin story.

Galaxy cluster Abell S1063

Galaxy cluster Abell S1063. Courtesy European Space Agency

Finding a surprise in Webb images:

When the first images were released, the most surprising thing we saw was these objects that were very, very red. They had been completely invisible to the Hubble Telescope. We had to use all of the physics and astrophysics we knew to try to infer what those objects were. They are incredibly far away, close to the beginning of the universe. Yet the masses we inferred for them were even more massive than our Milky Way galaxy is now. According to our theories, the universe shouldn’t have had enough time to form things that were that massive that early. It was surprising and stunning and, if true, upends our views of how the first cosmic structures formed in the early universe.

The reaction of the astronomy community:

There have been hundreds of papers on these [red] objects, and we are still figuring out what they are. One of the things that is surprising is that some of the most luminous objects in the universe are actually “supermassive black holes” [upward of 10 billion times the size of the sun]. There are some theories that can explain some components of the light we’re seeing from these objects as growing, supermassive black holes of a type we’ve never seen before.

The reason black holes can be so luminous is that when mass falls into a black hole, an immense amount of gravitational energy is released. Some fraction of that energy can be converted into light we see in the form of accretion disks around the objects and in these black holes blowing out enormous jets. They show up in different ways, but the reason they are so luminous is because there is so much energy available from matter falling into them. The astrophysics community is completely undecided on what these objects are. They are a complete mystery that we’re still working very hard to solve it.

(Wide) open problems that remain:

A long-standing problem in extragalactic astrophysics is that at the center of every massive galaxy is a supermassive black hole, and we do not know how it got there.

One of the possibilities … is a direct collapse black hole. Most black holes are the end product of the evolution of stars, which are powered by nuclear fusion. Once the [stars] have used up all of their fuel, they no longer have anything to support them against the immense force of gravity, and they collapse. If they are massive enough, there is nothing that can prevent them from collapsing into black holes.

But that only gets you to black holes that are on the scale of the mass of a star. The thing we need at the center of these galaxies is black holes that are millions to billions of times the mass of a star. It’s the subject of a lot of debate how you actually get a black hole that massive.

One of the possibilities for some of this light we’re seeing in the very early universe—which we’ve recently found evidence for—is the formation of a supermassive black hole directly from a cloud of gas without forming any stars. They look like stars, but instead of being powered by nuclear fusion, they are powered by growing supermassive black holes inside of them.

These are very strange objects. Understanding them is still very much a work in progress. It’s challenging, but not impossible, to truly understand the formation of the first lights that lit up the cosmic night.

This interview has been edited for length and clarity. Listen to the full interview in Season 7 of the Sagecast Podcast.

6 Inducted To the Pomona-Pitzer Athletic Hall of Fame

This spring Pomona-Pitzer Athletic Hall of Fame inducted six new Sagehens!

Anders Crabo ’12Anders Crabo ’12 – Men’s Track & Field

Crabo was a two-time All-American with a top-5 finish at the NCAA Championships, winning the SCIAC championship all four years of his collegiate career and setting the conference record in the steeplechase.

Annie Lydens ’13Annie Lydens ’13 – Women’s Cross Country and Track & Field

Lydens was an All-American in cross country and track and field, and remains one of the most decorated runners in Sagehens’ history. She was a two-time SCIAC Cross Country Runner of the Year and is No. 10 all-time in the SCIAC in the 5K.

Martha Marich ’12Martha Marich ’12 – Lacrosse

Marich was a foundational member of the Sagehens women’s lacrosse team and finished her career a three-time All-Region selection, a three-time All-SCIAC honoree, and a SCIAC Player of the Year. She is the program leader in career goals (332) and the first lacrosse player—male or female—to be inducted.

Luke Sweeney ’13Luke Sweeney ’13 – Football

Sweeney’s 2011 season cemented his place in program history as he became the first Sagehen to lead the nation in rushing yards. His 1,419 rushing yards that year remains the program’s single-season mark. He graduated as a three-time All-SCIAC honoree.

Alyssa Corley ’11Alyssa Corley ’11 – Softball

Corley made two All-SCIAC first teams and has set many Sagehens records, including being the program leader in home runs (35) and runs batted in (115). After graduation, she earned her medical degree at Dartmouth Medical School.

Kirk JonesKirk Jones – Distinguished Service
for Athletic Training

Jones has mentored multiple generations of trainers after 45 years working at Pomona-Pitzer. Among the competitions for which he has served as a certified trainer: the International Swimming and Diving Championships and the Olympic Track and Field Trials.

Sagehens Step Up: A Historic Fundraising Year for Pomona

For the second consecutive year, the Pomona College community has come together to support our students and faculty at unprecedented levels—surpassing all fundraising benchmarks in the College’s history.

More than 7,900 alumni, families and friends gave a record $82.8 million in gifts and pledges, bolstering Pomona’s transformative liberal arts education and the Sagehen student experience. That’s a 45 percent increase, or $25.6 million more, than fiscal year 2024’s historic fundraising total of $57.2 million.

“The strength of Pomona comes from the people who believe in the College and our mission—and in our collective power to shape the world,” says Pomona College President G. Gabrielle Starr. “I am deeply grateful for the support of our community, which nurtures student growth, fuels faculty innovation and fosters an environment where meaningful learning and discovery thrive.”

Here are a few ways Sagehen support makes a difference at Pomona.


Pomona studentsThanks to the enduring generosity of the Sagehen community, more than 50 percent of Pomona students received need-based aid last year, totaling $68.6 million in scholarships and grants. With need-blind admissions and financial aid packages tailored to each family’s circumstances, Pomona meets 100 percent of students’ demonstrated need. The College is also among the few U.S. schools offering significant financial aid for international students, with over 40 percent receiving need-based support.

When we invest in the future of Pomona students, we’re investing in a future full of possibility and one that is brighter for us all.”

—Johny Ek Aban ’19
Young Alumni Trustee, former FLI scholar


Students conducted innovative conservation research in Hawaii during spring break with Nina Karnovsky, the Willard George Halstead Zoology Professor of Biology, and Wallace Meyer, associate professor of biology. The trip was part of a semester-long course co-taught by both professors. This faculty-led study away course was one of two Global Gateway programs that Pomona piloted in 2025 to deepen students’ understanding of some of the world’s most pressing issues.

Pomona students in Hawaii

To deepen their understanding of some of the world’s most pressing issues, students conducted innovative conservation research in Hawaii during spring break with Wallace Meyer, associate professor of biology. This faculty-led study-away course was one of two Global Gateways opportunities that Pomona piloted in 2025.


Feng familyLast year, gifts from Sagehen parents and families supported student athletics, wellness programs, student research opportunities and more.

We give because it’s evident that every gift makes a difference, and even though our student has graduated, he is still a part of the Sagehen community. And so are we.”

­—Mark Feng
proud parent of Matthew Feng ‘24


Hannah Gough ’25 playing lacrosse

For many athletes, the critical resources for training, team preparation, competition and recovery that the College provides make us feel like we are taken seriously and appreciated.”

—Hannah Gough ’25
Women’s lacrosse team member, economics and international relations double major at Pomona


For me, teaching is more than a profession. It’s a calling that began at Pomona. Giving back to the College through the Pomona Annual Fund, which supports student research, is a way of continuing the legacy.”

—Dr. Richard Lee ’90
world-traveling physician, educator and humanitarian

Last year, gifts like Dr. Lee’s supported over 200 Sagehens in the Summer Undergraduate Research Program (SURP).

Physics major Toby Arculli ’25 and Masha Prokopenko, visiting assistant professor of geology

Pomona’s interdisciplinary curriculum ensures that physics majors like Toby Arculli ’25, pictured here with Masha Prokopenko, visiting assistant professor of geology, gain exposure to a broad range of scientific fields.


Pomona alumni

My Pomona experience has served me in every aspect of my life. How could I not give back to a place that has given me so much?”

—Andrew Brown ’77
45-year consecutive Pomona Annual Fund donor, former regional chapter lead

Read more about Sagehens making an impact.

Women’s Water Polo Four-Peats as Division III National Champions

Water Polo National Champions

Water Polo National Championship
Pomona Pitzer vs. CMS

In May Pomona-Pitzer captured its fourth straight USA Water Polo Division III championship, defeating chief rival Claremont-Mudd-Scripps (CMS), 9-8, to cap another unblemished postseason run.

Kaylee Stigar ’25

Kaylee Stigar ’25

The four-peat sent Zosia Amberger ’25 and Kaylee Stigar ’25 into the sunset with the unprecedented milestone of having never lost a playoff game in blue and orange. Amberger started in goal all four years and was named Tournament MVP this spring.

“Zosia’s probably the best goalie I’ve had here [and] a huge part of what we’ve been able to do,” says head coach Alex Rodriguez. “Kaylee really stepped up and played phenomenally in the finals—she had this anger and vengeance that really helped us.”

As seniors, Amberger and Stigar were among the class of Sagehens that started at Pomona when students returned to campus following the initial pandemic shutdown. In that first year as Sagehens, Rodriguez says the current seniors learned much from the Class of 2022, including how to lead and handle adversity.

With as much winning as the program has done these past four years, the pressure to retain the top spot in Division III mounts, Rodriguez says.

“I have a simple philosophy that to get better, you have to play better teams,” the coach adds. “Because our sport is small, we play a lot of Division I teams early in the season, and that’s how we develop small goals. To be clutch, to be someone who plays well in big moments, you have to understand you’re going to fail sometimes.”

Zosia Amberger ’25

Zosia Amberger ’25

Despite losing Pomona grads Amberger, Stigar and a handful of seniors from Pitzer College, the Sagehens do not expect to relinquish their stranglehold on Division III women’s water polo anytime soon.

Rodriguez and associate head coach Alex La—one of the best coaches in Division III, Rodriguez says—expect leadership roles to be filled by Brienz Lang ’26, Gabby Lewis ’26 and Zosia’s sister Mia Amberger ’26, with key underclassmen continuing to develop and contribute in meaningful ways.

“The goal of every season is to try to have little championship moments every week,” Rodriguez says. “We try to prepare to win certain types of games, get more feathers in our cap, then win a Division III championship by the end.”

100 Years of the 7 Colleges

The year was 1925, and Pomona College had a problem: too many students wanted to enroll. The solution it kick-started a century ago this fall set the stage for The Claremont Colleges, an educational system unmatched in American higher education—and it all began with then-President James Blaisdell’s audacious idea.

In the “roaring ’20s,” Southern California’s population was exploding. Within a 60-mile radius of Claremont, the population doubled in just six years. The attractiveness of Pomona was so strong that by 1926, only one in four applicants gained admission. Clearly, the college needed to expand. But how to do so without becoming, as 1907 alumnus and Rhodes Scholar E.H. Kennard warned in a 1925 article in The Pomona College Quarterly Magazine, “one more drab university”?

In Oxford, a university eight centuries older than Pomona, President Blaisdell saw a possible model for the future: a collection of small colleges that share some common facilities while each maintains its own independence and identity. “I should hope to preserve the inestimable personal values of the small college while securing the facilities of the great university,” he wrote.

1925 illustration of the Group Plan

1925 illustration of the Group Plan

By 1925, what became known as the Group Plan was quickly taking shape in the minds of Blaisdell and other leaders—some of whose names are now etched in stone across campus. Among them were George Marston, Ellen Browning Scripps and William L. Honnold. In March 1925 Blaisdell gave a trustee-appointed committee his summary of the Group Plan. His right-hand man, Robert J. Bernard, took an all-night train to Sacramento to file articles of incorporation for the new educational enterprise on October 14, 1925, exactly 38 years to the day after Pomona itself was incorporated.

The new entity, says Brenda Barham Hill, who served as CEO of The Claremont Colleges consortium from 2000 to 2006, had three main functions. It would provide common services, hold land on behalf of the group and offer graduate education.

Aerial shot of the campuses taken in 1930

With tuition set at $150 per semester and seminars offered in 14 fields, including geology, Latin, psychology and zoology, classes began in 1926 at the clunkily named Graduate School of Claremont Colleges, known since 2000 as Claremont Graduate University (CGU). That same year the inaugural class of first-years was admitted to a new Claremont college named after Scripps, a philanthropist and supporter of education and women’s rights whose fortune was tied to the E.W. Scripps newspaper publishing empire. An ardent advocate of Blaisdell’s vision, she made multiple real estate purchases that became a significant part of the footprint for Scripps, CGU and three additional new colleges.

The end of World War II saw a flood of returning GIs ready to continue their education, and The Claremont Colleges were poised to admit them. The next 20 years saw the launch of three more colleges, including Claremont Men’s College (1946, later renamed Claremont McKenna College), Harvey Mudd (1957) and Pitzer (1963).

Thanks to Ms. Scripps’ foresight and real estate prowess, the colleges are almost entirely contiguous, minus Keck Graduate Institute located west of Indian Hill Boulevard. One easily walkable square mile—these days often biked, scootered or skateboarded—is now home to roughly 9,000 students, 3,000 faculty and staff, and nearly 3.2 million square feet of building space. The central library is the third largest among private institutions in California, behind only Stanford and USC.

Blending the vision and needs of seven distinct institutions that are at once partners and competitors has required informal collaboration and formal agreements hammered out over many decades. Sharing services, from an early steam-heating plant to sophisticated modern cloud-computing clusters, has occasionally required challenging negotiation and a recognition of the importance of “group over the individual.” As Blaisdell put it, “The whole project depends upon whether the participants are primarily interested in their separate organizations or, first of all, concerned in the creation at Claremont of a common and efficient center….”

And yet, a century in, the experiment shoulders on. The consortium has been modified over the years: graduate education, once the purview of all the colleges, is now housed in two distinct consortium members, and individual schools can choose to participate in some shared services but not others, with procedural guidelines and formulas in place to promote fairness. “Part of the genius of the model from day one was that they saw the benefit of sharing, and that it’s not static,” says Barham Hill.

Blaisdell would no doubt marvel at how his idea has flourished in what’s now called the “City of Trees and Ph.D.s.” When he became Pomona’s president in 1910, Claremont had no paved streets and Marston Quad was still a rye field. Now the colleges have collectively graduated about 100,000 alumni, and all five of the colleges are among the most highly ranked liberal arts schools in the country.

Yet Blaisdell would likely not be surprised. As he wrote to Scripps in 1923, “all I can hope to do is to draw the outlines of a project so fine and yet so sane that the generations will not suffer it to fail.”

The Central Pacific Railroad passenger depot in Sacramento

The Central Pacific Railroad passenger depot in Sacramento, where Robert J. Bernard filed the articles of incorporation for Claremont Colleges. [Credit California State Railroad Museum Library]

Celebrating 20 Years of QuestBridge

This year Pomona is celebrating 20 years of partnership with QuestBridge, a national nonprofit that connects exceptional, low-income youth with leading colleges. Through the QuestBridge National College Match college and scholarship application process, Pomona offers a number of College Match scholarships annually that cover the full cost of tuition, room and board and are loan-free.

Bayarmaa Bat-Erdene ’26

Bayarmaa Bat-Erdene ’26

“The access to college that QuestBridge provides is closely aligned with our mission statement at Pomona College to gather individuals, regardless of financial circumstances,” says Edward Pickett III, senior associate dean of admissions and director of recruitment.

Pomona has also hosted QuestBridge-related events such as the National College Admissions Conference, where QuestBridge participants can learn about the college admissions process and meet with admissions staff from partner colleges. This year there are 25 QuestBridge scholars at Pomona. Here’s a snapshot of a couple of them!

Illinois native Bayarmaa Bat-Erdene ’26 credits QuestBridge for making her college experience. She says that her parents, who emigrated from Mongolia, worked really hard to get her to Pomona, and wants to make sure that her parents’ “contributions and efforts were worth it.” Bat-Erdene is studying sociology and public policy analysis, thinking closely about issues like income and immigration. Reading the book The Maid’s Daughter for a class, she was able to compare it to her own experience as her mom worked as a housekeeper for a time.

Peter Schwammlein ’26

Peter Schwammlein ’26

Peter Schwammlein ’26 was drawn to Pomona for the Claremont Colleges consortium, the liberal arts education, and students he had met through the QuestBridge network. Raised in Fayetteville, Arkansas, Schwammlein is majoring in linguistics and considering double majoring in German Studies. Schwammlein has especially enjoyed the students at Pomona. “People are willing to listen to other perspectives,” he says. “The school pulls deep-thinking people that can see multiple sides and are not fully set on their ideology.”

Stray Thoughts

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

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

Letter Box

Come Sail Away

Perhaps it was because three of my grandparents were born in England, the fourth, an eighth great grandfather, born there quite long ago, or due to my dad and his father being in the Navy, I became interested in ancestry and boats. Over the last 25 years I’ve built several small wooden boats, and through that made several friends and organized many ‘Messabouts’.

Over the past decade I’ve been watching lots of YouTube videos on wooden boats and those that sail them, which led in time to videos of couples sailing wooden and fiberglass boats all over the globe for years at a time.

It was thus with great excitement that I read about “Project Atticus” in the Spring 2025 Pomona College Magazine. I’d not heard of this channel before, but I will now enjoy binge-watching the past decade of these videos, and any upcoming videos as well!

—Steve Lansdowne ’71

Desiree and Jordan Wicht overlooking the ocean

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

Write to Us at PCM

Pomona College Magazine welcomes brief letters to the editor about the magazine and issues related to the College from the extended Pomona community—alumni, parents, students, faculty, staff, donors and others with a strong connection to the College. Write to us at pcm@pomona.edu 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, class year for alumni and contact information. With rare exceptions, letters should be no more than 400 words in length. Letters are selected for publication based on relevance and available space and are subject to being edited for brevity and clarity.