Nearly a century ago, a handful of Pomona College students set sail for Asia, launching one of the nation’s earliest study-abroad programs. Today, Pomona is once again pioneering a new frontier in global education.
In its March 6 meeting, the Board of Trustees formally approved construction of the 100,000-square-foot Center for Global Engagement (CGE), a liberal arts laboratory and a dedicated home for students, faculty and staff to collaborate with partners on complex societal issues of local and global consequence.
The College’s most ambitious construction project to date, the $125 million Center will house 200 students. It will also include academic, meeting and conferencing spaces alongside a forum dining hall and event space, which will host campus- and community-wide events.
Construction will begin in fall 2026 following the demolition of the Oldenborg Center this summer.
The CGE is tentatively set to open in fall 2028.
In a world that demands far more than a semester abroad, the CGE is the College’s bold response—a transformative initiative that weaves global learning, hands-on interdisciplinary collaboration and immersive residential experiences into the fabric of a Pomona education.
“The Center for Global Engagement is not just a project. It is key to Pomona’s path forward—our opportunity to imagine what a 21st century liberal arts college can be, and to build the structures that make that possible,” Pomona College President G. Gabrielle Starr says.
A Vision in the Making
The College’s leadership in global education has long been part of its identity, from its early study-abroad programs in China and Japan in the 1920s, to the opening of the Oldenborg Center for Modern Languages and International Relations in 1966—a national model for language-learning and cultural immersion.
In spring 2020, the College’s Board of Trustees and faculty leadership reaffirmed this commitment through a new Strategic Vision, focused on investing in people and tackling the defining issues of our time.
“As trustees of the College, we recognize the boundless potential of our students and our faculty to explore issues of global consequence, as well as the dedication of staff members who drive transformative learning opportunities and research partnerships,” says Janet Benton ’79, chair of the Pomona College Board of Trustees. “The Center for Global Engagement will harness this potential, providing a home base for scholarship and hands-on learning that helps address issues facing all of humanity.”
Today, that vision is reflected in the makeup and experiences of Pomona’s community, where 14% of students are international, hailing from 65 countries outside of the U.S., and 20% of faculty have earned an undergraduate or graduate degree internationally. Currently, half of all Sagehen students study abroad—five times the national average—and the College intends to make these opportunities available to even more students in the coming years, through Global Gateways and other programs.
The CGE builds on this rich foundation, creating the infrastructure needed to prepare students for the complex world they will inherit.
A Building Designed for Impact
The Center for Global Engagement will span 100,000 square feet and be anchored by a dynamic residence hall that brings global learning into daily life. Underscoring the College’s belief that residential life is the beating heart of a liberal arts education, the hall will house 200 students and nine visiting scholars in immersive living-learning pods.
The Center will also feature state-of-the-art classrooms, collaboration spaces, conference facilities and a dining forum that, in addition to daily meals, will host campus and community events throughout the year.
“This is about coalescing what we already do so well—interdisciplinary teaching, experiential learning, community engagement—and giving it a home, a strategy and the ability to grow,” says Kara Godwin, assistant vice president and chief global officer.
Programs that Power the Mission
The Center will be powered by a suite of new and expanded initiatives that position students to lead across borders and disciplines. Students, faculty and local and international partners will have opportunities to collaborate on hands-on projects that address urgent societal challenges. Programming will include interactive seminars that bring leading experts into conversation with students and faculty on pressing issues that require interdisciplinary thinking.
The Center will also serve as a hub and home for programs that expand students’ horizons, including our Global Gateways program, which offers shorter term, faculty-led study-away courses tied directly to the curriculum, alongside traditional semester-long programs.
“The phrase ‘global engagement’ is deliberate,” says Godwin. “It signals a move away from thinking that is bound by geography or academic major to focus on the problems we want to solve and the skills we want to develop.”
The Path Forward
The Board’s approval of the CGE project follows the successful effort to raise commitments totaling $50 million toward the full cost of the building—a threshold the Board established in 2022. Additional fundraising will build upon this strong response from Pomona’s dedicated donor community and, combined with the College’s reserve capital funds, will bring this transformative project to fruition.
“The success of the Center for Global Engagement is inherently tied to the generosity of our Sagehen community. Philanthropy has always driven bold ideas at Pomona, and this project is no exception,” says Maria Watson, vice president for advancement. “Visionary partnerships with alumni, families and friends have made this a reality. I would like to extend my heartfelt thanks to the exceptionally generous donors who have supported this project, and I look forward to celebrating their contributions together with our community.”
To learn more about the Center for Global Engagement and its role in advancing Pomona’s global initiatives, visit the CGE website.