Over the past year and a half, a strange, disconnected structure has arisen at the center of what was once a remote parking lot on Pomona’s South Campus. Its concrete walls enclose nothing. Odd slabs and pillars of concrete surround it in no discernable pattern, and yet it includes a number of striking architectural features, making it a puzzle for passersby. It may look pointless, but according to Brian Faber, the project manager overseeing the construction of Pomona’s new Benton Museum of Art, this odd assemblage of architectural details is an important part of Pomona’s building process—a mock-up where the structural elements of the Benton’s new home can be tested, evaluated and, if necessary, adjusted before they are set in stone, so to speak, in the new building.
“This wall, this piece of wood, this piece of glass—you can build it or install it here, and then the architect can come out and look at it and say, ‘This looks good’—or ‘This is horrible,’” Faber explains. “If something goes wrong here, it’s OK. You can figure out how to fix it. But if you do it on the building, you just have to live with it.”
The mockup tested a range of details involving the poured-in-place concrete walls, such as the spacing between boards in the wooden frames, which is mirrored in the board lines that give the exterior walls their signature look.
Other elements tested in the mock-up include two types of openings and the Western red cedar columns—both free-standing and inset—for the new museum’s arcades.
The funds to pay for a mock-up like this one are included in the cost structure of each new building on campus.
The low concrete pillars just inside the wall on the right were used to test a range of finishes on the wooden frames, which affect the color and texture of the finished concrete.
The slabs of concrete that litter the ground around the mock-up were used to test different polished finishes for concrete floors, ranging from low to high polish.
The last week of May, when the mock-up is no longer needed, it will be torn down to make room for a mock-up for the next construction project.
There are seemingly endless tips for time management, but Vicky-Marie Addo-Ashong ’20 and Andrew Phillips ’19 seem to have found a novel one.
It was an eventful winter for Pomona-Pitzer sports as Sagehens swept the SCIAC tournament championships in men’s and women’s basketball and dominated the conference once again in swimming and diving.
The men’s and women’s swimming and diving teams also swept the SCIAC championships for the second time in as many years. The women went on to place seventh at the NCAA championships, with the men taking 11th overall. The teams combined to end the year with 20 All-Americans.
Grow up listening to your mother share stories of studying ballet in Hong Kong—and how she had to give up a career in dance to support her family.
Own a DVD of the American Ballet Theatre’s 1977 production of “The Nutcracker” starring Mikhail Baryshnikov and Gelsey Kirkland and watch it over and over.
Begin to study ballet at age 13—an “extremely late” start. Decide to be home-schooled for high school courses in order to allow time to study ballet intensely at a small ballet academy.
In addition to home-schooling, attend your local community college part time and take almost enough math classes to get an associate’s degree in the subject.
Participate in large competitions, like the International Ballet Competition and Prix de Lausanne, to have a chance at scholarships to ballet companies with international prestige. Learn from both your successes and your losses to work even harder.
Get accepted to a number of colleges—including the University of Southern California for its dance program—but choose Pomona for its small classes and close-knit community.
In your first year, enroll in a ballet class taught by Victoria Koenig, director of the Inland Pacific Ballet dance company. Get invited to audition and dance in productions of “The Nutcracker” two years in a row.
Take general chemistry courses and find a supportive mentor in Professor of Chemistry Roberto Garza-López, who attends a performance of “The Nutcracker” to see you dance.
Spend your first two summers on campus, thanks to grants from Pomona and the Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI), conducting computational chemistry research for Garza-López.
As a co-author, see your data published in Chemical Physics Letters: X, a peer-reviewed chemistry journal, during your junior year while starting rehearsals for a production of “The Little Mermaid.”
The real charm of Andalucía lies in its countryside, featuring blindingly white mountain villages (the so-called pueblos blancos) and endless olive and almond groves. Infamous for its scalding summers, Andalucía is equally renowned for its mild springs, the perfect season for enjoying the countryside the way it is meant to be enjoyed: on foot. The southernmost tip of Andalucía greets its visitors with whitewashed splashes on its craggy hillsides and minarets reshaped into Christian bell towers. Herds of wild bulls roam the upland pastures, pigs root for acorns under isolated oak trees, and Egyptian vultures soar overhead. Hike by day and enjoy village life by night in the midst of a week-long festival leading up to holiest of Christian holidays: Easter. What better way to appreciate the uniqueness of the southwesternmost corner of Europe?
Have you checked out SagePost47, Pomona’s online platform that bridges the gap between students and alumni by fostering one-on-one connections and mentorships? Founded by an alumnus and a student in 2014, SagePost47 has grown to feature 100-plus alumni mentors, blogs, panel events and mock interviews. Learn more and sign up today at 
Seeking your next spring novel and a way to connect with fellow Sagehens? Join the Pomona College Book Club on Goodreads to chat with alumni, professors, students, parents and staff around a common love of reading. Visit 
Scott Kratz ’92 was having breakfast with a good friend, who at the time was director of D.C.’s Office of Planning, when he asked an offhand question about all the construction going on with an old bridge over the Anacostia River. To his surprise, Harriet Tregoning began to lay out her dream for transforming that old span into a park.