Boston:

(The Claremont of the East?)

At the Coop Store, the place to get all your Pomona stuff, tee-shirts read: “Harvard: the Pomona College of the East.” For alumni living among the colleges and universities of New England, it can be hard to keep in touch with the alma mater on the West Coast. For Pomona’s Boston Alumni Regional Community, the challenge is to counteract this and to bring together the Pomona community within six New England states.

The Boston Community plans events to give people a chance to interact with one another, and, as often as possible, provide some connection to Pomona. While direct links to Pomona such as a Glee Club tour or a faculty lecture are a treat, the majority of alumni events in this area are simply meant to be fun and foster connection with the Pomona and Boston communities.

The Boston Regional Community traditionally plans a few popular events each year. “The best events appeal to a wide range of people and combine the social, educational and fun for Pomona alumni,” says Dodie Bump ’76, member of the community’s planning committee. “Get as many people involved in the planning committee and split up the responsibilities—that makes for good events, too.”

In past years, events have included community service events for the annual Pomona Outreach to the World, educational activities such as visiting the oceanographic institute at Woods Hole, or sports events such as a Celtics vs. San Antonio Spurs basketball game. According to organizer Steve Kagan ’89, the basketball game and chat with Spurs coach (former Pomona-Pitzer coach Gregg Popovich) and assistant coach (Pomona alum Mike Budenholzer ’92) drew 150 alums from all six New England states last year. “It’s a fun event and a chance to cheer for some good Pomona guys,” says Kagan, “while the volunteer events excite people because they are a chance to really do something.” Kagan’s recipe for a successful program is, “make it cheap, fun and accessible by public transportation,” and the formula is working.

—Jessica Drenk '02, assistant director of Alumni Relations