Dear Pomona College Community,
I’m writing to announce the creation of a new endowed scholarship fund to enroll student refugees from war, upheaval and natural disasters around the globe.
The fund is made possible through the generosity of long-serving Pomona Trustee Paul Eckstein ’62 and his wife, Florence. Their $1.2 million gift honors Paul’s parents, Liese and Albert Eckstein, who left Germany in 1936 amid the growing power of Hitler and the Nazi Party.
The Dr. Albert Eckstein and Liese Bendheim Eckstein Scholarship at Pomona College will be for students with financial need who are current refugees or who have experienced refugee status during their lives or within their own families.
I am grateful for Paul and Flo’s foresight in seeing the role Pomona College and U.S. higher education can play in engaging with the wider world in this manner. I also have been working to partner with other colleges and universities to help clear the path for students from global trouble spots to attend U.S. institutions.
Global engagement will be at the forefront of our campus conversation in the months ahead. Propelled by strong participation from across our community, the leaders of the Global Pomona Project will present their work early in spring semester. The aim is “to bring our liberal arts education to life in ways that reach beyond disciplinary and national borders and better equip our students to engage with people and organizations worldwide.”
Finally, let me invite you to a special December 14 on-campus screening of “Till,” about the aftermath of the 1955 lynching of 14-year-old Emmett Till, told from the perspective of his mother, Mamie Till-Mobley. Myrlie Evers-Williams ’68 will introduce the film, and an audience Q&A will follow. The event is free but tickets are required. Due to strong interest, the event has been moved into the spacious Bridges Auditorium, and I encourage everyone to attend.
With best wishes,
Gabi