Dear Pomona College Community,
I’m writing to announce Pomona College will be joining together with seven other higher education institutions to help student refugees from worldwide crises apply to and succeed at U.S. colleges and universities.
Launching today, the Global Student Haven Initiative is a response to the war in Ukraine, the humanitarian crisis in Afghanistan and the challenges students face in myriad other global crisis spots. The global disruptions of recent years have tested American higher education’s long commitment to reaching out to the world, and the goal of this initiative is to open doors and help students through.
Bowdoin College, Caltech, Dartmouth College, New York University, Smith College, Trinity College and Williams College are our partners as founding members, and we seek more participants in the months ahead. Each institution commits to providing financial aid for all students with demonstrated need, as well as access to campus services such as mental health support.
At Pomona. we are fortunate to have generous support for this initiative through a $1.2 million gift from Florence and Paul Eckstein ’62, and a $1 million grant from the Fletcher Jones Foundation, and we will continue to seek additional support to sustain this initiative. Gifts supporting this initiative can be made online at Scholarships/Dr. Albert Eckstein & Liese Bendheim Eckstein Scholarship Fund.
Opening doors to opportunity is a central theme in Pomona College’s history, and I feel a strong responsibility to thoughtfully tend to this enduring value Sagehens share. Working with partners to maximize the impact of our efforts will be a key aim in the years ahead. As one example, we will work side by side with other institutions in the years ahead to expand the pipeline for community college students to attend four-year liberal arts institutions.
As the founding member of The Claremont Colleges, Pomona has a long track record of collaborating with like-minded institutions and, in that vein, I’m pleased to welcome two new presidential colleagues in the consortium. Strom C. Thacker ’88, who majored in international relations at Pomona, will become president of Pitzer College July 1. That same day, Harriet Nembhard, who majored in management at Claremont McKenna, will become the new president of Harvey Mudd College.
We have much to be grateful for here in Claremont as we complete the fall semester. We have come far since the most difficult days of the pandemic and remote learning -- and our exceptional faculty, staff and students are an inspiration for me every day. I also want to thank our families and alumni who form the global Sagehen community that propels Pomona forward year after year.
Let me close by sharing this inspiring Pomona video featuring Los Angeles high school teacher Jason Torres-Rangel ’03, named a California teacher of the year and now our state’s nominee for national teacher of the year. In the story, Jason notes that how important it is “to remember the power that education has to strengthen our communities, to develop critical thinkers and strong participants in this democracy.”
I couldn’t agree more. I wish you peace and warmth for the holidays.
With best wishes,
Gabi