With the Center for Global Engagement (CGE) scheduled to open in fall 2028, current sophomores will be the only students to have walked both the halls of the former Oldenborg Center and the new CGE during their time at Pomona College.
A regular at the Oldenborg language tables her first year on campus, Jessica Zhang ’29 sees the CGE—with its living-learning communities, communal spaces, and interdisciplinary programming—becoming every bit the melting pot of culture its predecessor was.
“I’m really grateful Pomona has put so much thought and care into preparing students for the international world we’re living in,” says Zhang, a Boston native studying Middle Eastern studies and history.
“The experiences I’ve had here matter a lot,” she adds, “especially with me wanting to go into an interdisciplinary field that involves meeting different people, connecting across different fields and stepping outside my own life experiences.”
The CGE, on which Pomona Board of Trustee members and College leaders broke ground October 10, will not only build on Oldenborg’s legacy of preparing students to work across geographic and cultural borders but also offer far more programming to far more people.
While established programs such as study-away and Global Gateways demonstrate Pomona’s commitment to off-campus learning, new pilot programs with international collaborations demonstrate the breadth of experiences the CGE will offer in Claremont.
Students have played key roles in shaping future CGE programming, their curiosities and passions the impetus for such initiatives as the Pomona America-China Initiative For International Cooperation (PACIFIC), which was created last year by Tania Rachidi ’27 to expand knowledge about U.S.-China relations and foster personal connections.
Sagehens have also been imperative in planning and organizing H. Russell Smith Professor of International Relations Pierre Englebert’s upcoming “Africa After the End of History” symposium—a pilot for CGE’s signature initiative, the Global Collaborative.
Working alongside the Global Pomona Council of staff and faculty, the 10-person Global Pomona Council Student Work Group is actively designing immersive residential and academic experiences that will advance the CGE’s vision.
“We’re being very intentional with not just making the CGE Oldenborg 2.0, but a place that expands resources available to students, staff and faculty on campus,” says Liam Bayer ’27, a computer science and international relations double major from Sacramento, California.
“I’m really excited to walk that line of balancing some nostalgia for what was and expanding the opportunities the CGE can provide.”
Emerging CGE programs will catalyze new opportunities for immersive and interdisciplinary local and global research and learning, says Kara Godwin, assistant vice president and chief global officer.
As expansive as that charge is, Bowen Xu ’29, a Hangzhou, China native, is hopeful excitement around the CGE can generate additional research funding for international students who are uniquely equipped to tackle global issues.
Like Bayer, Xu’s a member of the Student Work Group and says he’s “really excited about what the Center will be and how I can contribute to it from the perspective of an international student.”
As work continues on building the CGE’s physical home, Zhang can’t wait to rekindle old memories in new spaces.
“I’m excited for the feeling I got when I walked into Oldenborg and could hear people speaking different languages every day,” she says. “You looked around and saw cultural bubbles happening in different places. It was a very fulfilling experience, sitting down at a language table and locking in.”
“I expect the CGE to be where a global community can get together and share experiences, customs, stories and art from all different cultures over a lunch table.”