Center for Global Engagement Questions and Feedback

The interdisciplinary Center for Global Engagement (CGE) is Pomona’s liberal arts laboratory, offering a dedicated home for students, faculty and staff to collaborate with partners on complex issues of local and global consequence. Through the CGE, the College will help ensure that as the result of a Pomona education, all graduates will:

• Reflect on and come to understand one’s identities and actions in relation to complex cultural and natural systems
• Acquire or demonstrate proficiency in a language other than English
• Cultivate intercultural attitudes of respect, humility, empathy and curiosity
• Gain deeper knowledge of international, national and local issues and their interdependence
• Analyze global phenomena through intersectional and multi-disciplinary lenses
• Form meaningful connections across differences arising from (but not limited to) national origin, country of citizenship, linguistic background, socioeconomic class, sexual orientation, gender identity, religion, political perspective and physical ability
• Develop strategies to foster human and environmental well-being locally and globally

The Global Pomona strategic vision for the College invokes our campus-wide commitment to being a community that is “engaged, curious and prepared to act with courage and self-awareness in an ever-changing, interconnected world.” This vision, developed with input from faculty, staff and students, encompasses three key priorities:

• Provide transformative learning experiences that equip Pomona students to engage and address complex societal issues (grand challenges) in an interconnected and ever-changing world
• Develop the CGE as a hub for interdisciplinary and experiential global and local learning at Pomona
• Strengthen the coordination, connection, collaboration, and communication within and across local and global initiatives

The Global Pomona Council is called together at an extraordinary moment in the life of the College. Building on more than six decades of Pomona’s global engagement, language study and cross-cultural learning, this Council of faculty and staff is entrusted to help advance the Global Pomona Strategic Vision by strengthening the College’s work stewarding one of our community’s highest priorities: preparing every student to engage meaningfully with—and lead in—an interconnected world.

• The Global Pomona Project was convened by President Starr in 2021 to develop a strategy for a stronger, more cohesive and intentional framework for global and interdisciplinary engagement. In 2023, the project culminated in a plan to build a center—a facility and a programmatic base—that would catalyze new, collaborative approaches to knowledge creation, problem solving and learning.
• It also established the Global Pomona Council in Fall 2024, within which academic and administrative leaders collaborate to identify ways to bring the Global Pomona vision to life, including the CGE. “Global” would refer not just to geography, but to problems or questions of such complexity that they require an interdisciplinary, “global” response, knowledge and mindset.
• Leaders identified a physical home for the CGE on the site of the Oldenborg building, and planning and design began for a beautiful, new, state-of-the-art facility. Construction is scheduled to begin in Summer 2026, and the building is scheduled to open by Fall 2028.
• Throughout Pomona’s history, faculty, staff and students have pioneered initiatives through research, creative expression, community partnerships and learning experiences that are global, collaborative, immersive and interdisciplinary. Starting robustly in the 2025-2026 academic year, and for several years prior, CGE collaborators began identifying faculty, staff and student initiatives and piloting new projects that will inform the CGE’s future vision and development. The College is watching these pilots closely, collecting data and analyzing their evolution, to incorporate what is learned from into future CGE program design.

Yes. When we speak of a Center for Global Engagement, we are expanding what we mean by global. With our groundbreaking study abroad programs’ focus on language learning, as well as our diverse international and domestic student population, Pomona has long sought to provide students with an international lens through which to understand the world. And with the world becoming ever smaller, we believe the challenges that we face locally demand a multi-disciplinary approach, encompassing a range of viewpoints and a skillset that prepares graduates to lead in communities and professions where they will encounter difference. The CGE will encompass both our international programs, and new, broader ways of tackling questions,issues, and essential skill development closer to home.

The new 111,000-square foot home of the CGE will host vital modern facilities to create the living, learning and gathering spaces that set the stage for global education and engagement at Pomona. When it opens in the Fall 2028, it will contain:

• A 60,000-square-foot residence hall to house 200 students and nine visiting scholars (including seven Language Residents), helping students build meaningful interpersonal connections, navigate challenges collaboratively and, ultimately, forge bonds that last far beyond their time at Pomona.
• At least nine immersive Living-Learning Communities that build on Oldenborg’s legacy. Seven pods will focus on language (including Chinese, French, German, Japanese, Russian and Spanish) and two or more on thematic topics tied to complex global challenges. Seven native-speaking Language Residents will live in visitor apartments and lead programming associated with the language pods. Two additional apartments will house visiting scholars affiliated with other pods.
• In addition to classrooms and a theater-style learning space, a 10,000-square-foot office area will support academic programs, experiential learning, community dialogue and exchange with local and global leaders.
• Advanced technologies integrated through the building to help foster student-faculty partnerships and work with experts from around the world.
• A 24,000-square-foot dining forum and conference center to support immersive learning, daily language tables, programmatic gatherings, and community-wide lectures and symposia.
• Welcoming outdoor spaces that promote engagement, connection and well-being for all members of our community, in addition to our goal of earning LEED Gold Certification for sustainability.

The new home of the CGE will be built on the current site of Oldenborg. Construction of the new facilities on this site will begin after Commencement 2026. This semester we are celebrating all that Oldenborg has meant to Pomona since its opening more than 60 years ago. All community members are invited to contribute photos to a digital mosaic, and share their memories. On May 1, during Alumni Weekend, we celebrated Oldenborg with a TED-style storytelling event, an open house and a final language tables lunch.

Beginning in May 2026, all Oldenborg, ISSS and IDPO, as well as some dining staff, will be housed in Montgomery Hall on the northeast corner of Bonita and College Avenues. Enter through the east side of the building off Bonita Avenue for ISSS and study away advising.

• Daily language tables will take place in the Frank Blue Room during the 2026-27 academic year.
• Language immersion residence halls will be housed in Lawry Court.
• Language Residents will live at 1105 College Avenue.
• Conversation classes will continue in Mason Hall.
• Study breaks and cultural programming hosted by Oldenborg and the Language Residents will continue across campus, as well as in the Foreign Language Resource Center in Mason Hall.
• IDPO study away advising will take place in Montgomery Hall.
• The International Students and Scholars office will be located in Montgomery Hall.

• Celebration of Oldenborg: May 1, during Alumni Weekend
• Construction begins: May 2026, following Commencement
• CGE groundbreaking ceremony: October 2026
• New CGE opens: August 2028

The residential space of the CGE building is designed to host CGE Living-Learning Communities as part of the CGE’s mission to help students connect their academic work with their lives outside the classroom. The immersive CGE residential opportunities are built on Oldenborg’s legacy and will help students strengthen their fluency in language, culture and collaborative learning. In addition to our seven language immersion residential pods, two or more additional theme-based pods are intended to offer students who are pursuing academic work around particular issues the opportunity to live with others pursuing similar goals.

Programming for the CGE is an ongoing, dynamic process, with pilot programs and affiliated initiatives involving student, faculty and staff partnerships currently underway. Through those pilots, we are gathering data and refining the design of CGE programs and offerings for the whole Pomona community. Program plans currently include:

• The Global Collaborative, through which student and faculty teams tackle multifaceted, real-world, local and global problems, applying their academic knowledge with community partners and campus visitors in related fields.
• In addition to more than 70 study away programs in 38 countries currently offered, the CGE’s International and Domestic Programs Office will provide the infrastructure to expand Pomona’s off-campus academic opportunities. Led by Pomona faculty and tied closely to on-campus curricula, Global Gateways will broaden student access to both international and domestic experiential learning.
• Host as many as 30 community-wide gatherings at the CGE annually. Through interdisciplinary “360 Seminars,” the continued Oldenborg Luncheon Colloquia, and arts, civic and musical events, community members and visiting experts from multiple fields will explore differing viewpoints for addressing the most complex issues of the day.
• A Visiting Scholars program to bring leaders and scholars from around the world to campus for periods of a few weeks to multiple years. The program also aims to provide pathways for other experts in these fields—including postdoctoral researchers and graduate students—to engage with the community and share knowledge, mentor students and collaborate on projects.
• In addition to the new programming, CGE will host key existing offices that support its priorities, including the International and Domestic Programs Office (IDPO) to promote and support our study away programs, former Oldenborg staff to continue language and cultural initiatives, and the International Student and Scholar Services office for our international community members.