Our Mission

The Draper Center for Community Partnerships fosters mutually beneficial exchanges between Pomona College and the larger community of which we are a part.  We do this by connecting community members, students, faculty, and staff in support of educational outreach, community-based research and learning, and other community engagement activities.

Our 2019-2020 Spirit Statement

 

At the Draper Center, we continue to build upon the legacies of those who came before us. With love and intentionality, we strive to foster mutually beneficial relationships rooted in critical consciousness and the values of our community partners. 

 

On campus, the experiences that emerge from community partnerships are a powerful tool for learning.  They carry the potential to:

  • enhance critical thinking;
  • promote real-world application of academic concepts, theories, and models;
  • expand the realm of the classroom;
  • encourage students to view themselves as change agents;
  • develop leadership, both individual and collaborative, among participants;
  • support recruitment and retention of diverse students, faculty, and staff;
  • establish mentoring networks;
  • refine the values and skills supporting lifelong social responsibility.

Off campus, community partnerships embody Pomona College's responsible commitment to positively contribute to the surrounding communities in which we live and from which we receive intellectual, academic, and staffing resources. The Draper Center strengthens existing ties and forges new ones between Pomona College and other community organizations–ensuring dynamic, reciprocal, and constructive partnerships.  In doing so, we build from the belief that all people are legitimate contributors to knowledge, learning, and social improvement.

“They only are loyal to this college who, departing, bear their added riches in trust for mankind.”
-James A. Blaisdell, President, Pomona College (1910-1927)