Dear Pomona College Community,
HAPPY FALL! Since I was a child, the start of the school year has always been my favorite time of the year, as energy builds toward the return of books, classes, and friends both old and new. Watching students arrive this year has been particularly poignant, as I am taking one of my own children to college for the first time. This has made connecting with Pomona families who have been saying goodbye for now to their own students newly resonant (the hugs and tears I saw during move-in hit me to the heart).
As deeply as I appreciated my sabbatical last semester, spending time with new and returning students as they arrived on campus reminded me how much I missed our Sagehen community. I am so very glad to be back. Meeting with Orientation Adventure leaders, dropping by practices, and consoling parents as they waved goodbye, it felt energizing to connect with all that makes Pomona exceptional. Education is a gift from the heart of one generation to another, and it is the privilege of a lifetime to be part of that gift. As one parent said to me, we’re at Pomona because we love education as much as Pomona does, and we believe in its power. I do too.
The fresh beginnings of fall inspire me anew. Having been granted the gift of reflection, as we step into this academic year, I’d like to invite you to join me in looking back on some of the recent achievements of this community—and, most importantly, looking ahead to our exciting future.
Achievements in the Academy
- The core of our relentless pursuit of knowledge is our outstanding faculty and the close relationships with them that our small and connected community creates. The alchemy that happens when students and faculty make discoveries together enlivens the intellectual life of our campus. This year alone, 15 new tenure-track faculty members are joining our ranks. Let’s welcome them with enthusiasm!
- Extending the work of the Global Pomona Project, established in 2022, just a year ago we launched our innovative Global Gateways program, enabling faculty to design study-away opportunities for all our students to engage in the global learning they will need to lead in our increasingly interconnected world. This program is another step forward in our Global Pomona initiative, which will include building the residential liberal arts laboratory that the Center for Global Engagement (CGE) will offer.
- The CGE is fundamental to the Strategic Vision we established in 2020 and will provide students, faculty, scholars and campus guests a nationally-distinguished hub for immersive and transdisciplinary education. We remain on track to begin construction next summer of the new building that will be the CGE’s future home.
- Progress like this is made possible by the generous gifts of our donor community. In just the last two years, our alumni, parents, friends and other donors have contributed nearly $140 million to the College, including a record-breaking $82.8 million this past year. I hope you had the chance to read more about our tremendous fundraising developments in the story that appeared on our website this morning. Our donors’ support at every level of giving elevates Pomona’s excellence as a liberal arts leader truly committed to access. These gifts fund scholarships, financial aid, interdisciplinary programs, student-faculty research opportunities, hands-on study-away programs, athletics and much more. I am grateful to all those who make this enormous difference in our students’ experience at Pomona and in their future success.
Our Students
- Earlier this year, Pomona was recognized as one of the top U.S. producers of Fulbright Scholars; then in June, 18 more alumni took their place among the ranks of the 333 Pomona graduates who have received Fulbright awards.
- In April, graduating senior Shark Mutulili ’25 became the13th Rhodes Scholar in Pomona’s history and the second woman at Pomona to win the award. The College’s last Rhodes Scholar was Peter Chiarelli ’03.
- Given the achievements of our faculty and students, it is no surprise that Pomona is a top choice for a growing number of outstanding high school students; this fall’s 12,470 applications for the Class of 2029 set a new record.
- At a time when college affordability is an increasing concern for families, the Princeton Review ranked Pomona fourth on its list of top 20 private colleges for financial aid. And it shows in our Class of 2029: 24 percent of our incoming students are the first in their families to pursue higher education (a Pomona record!). In all, 61 percent of incoming first-year students are receiving financial aid totaling $19.9 million.
- It is continually gratifying—and a lot of fun—to watch our students distinguish themselves not only in the classroom but also on the athletic field. Thanks to the teamwork and incredible dedication of our student-athletes, faculty, and coaching staff, the most recent Learfield Directors’ Cup standings rank our Pomona-Pitzer athletic programs 15th nationally among NCAA Division III programs. In addition to individual accolades, highlights of recent team success include:
- Women’s water polo clinching a fourth consecutive national title in May;
- Men’s cross country winning three of the past five national championships; Baseball reaching the NCAA World Series in 2024 for the first time in program history;
- Women’s swimming & diving winning their 25th SCIAC championship this past February;
- Women’s soccer finishing atop the SCIAC last fall for the sixth straight season.
The state-of-the-art facilities in the Center for Athletics, Recreation and Wellness, which opened in 2022, have undergirded much of our recent athletic success, while supporting the health and wellness of all our community.
Building and Rebuilding Community
The numerous arts, athletics, research, and study-away experiences at Pomona are vital opportunities for our students to learn, challenge themselves and interact with the world; they also are fundamental to how we build community as a college. They make it possible for Sagehens to connect with one another and others far beyond our campus in ways that build lasting friendships, perspective and meaning. They enable us to build a foundation on which to engage with each other across our differences.
We desperately need this foundation now. We all were challenged in entirely new ways by the COVID-19 pandemic. With all its grief and pain, the pandemic also revealed the determination, grit and innovation of this community. The Sagehen resilience and caring of those times continue to inspire me. Graduating three classes together in 2022 was more than a profoundly joyous and cathartic experience; it was a tribute to our students, faculty, staff, parents, families and everyone who helped each other through that unforgettable time.
It seems like ever since then, we continue to be tested by the divisions within this nation and by the geopolitics of the broader world. Higher education itself has faced a set of unprecedented events that challenge our values and carry the potential to undermine America’s leadership in international education.
Meanwhile, individuals and communities at Pomona have witnessed, and in some cases experienced, the ongoing traumas of violence and war. The College has had to respond to instances here on campus that went beyond vocal advocacy to harassment and vandalism. Earlier this year, the Department of Education’s Office of Civil Rights (OCR) included Pomona among 60 higher education institutions with pending antisemitism investigations. We take the issues raised by these investigations very seriously and are continuing to address them. Maintaining a community in which all our students are safe has meant enforcing policies and, in some cases, strengthening them, as we did when we added shared ancestry to our harassment policies and when we added antisemitism and Islamophobia to our nondiscrimination statement.
It is my hope and belief that the work we have done has enhanced protections for our students and for freedom of expression. After all, as an institution of higher education, our commitment to the First Amendment and to the civil rights of everyone in this community stands at the very core of our mission.
I wish I could say the world is becoming a more peaceful place. But I can say that at Pomona we will continue to engage with empathy for one another around issues that might divide us. Our partnerships this past year with the Sustained Dialogue Institute and Bridging the Gap provided opportunities for our entire community to expand their skills in connecting across differences. We will continue to support this work this year.
A Fruitful Sabbatical
Being on sabbatical was a special opportunity to continue work on my next book, and it reinforced again for me how crucial it is that our Pomona faculty have such opportunities to gather and create new knowledge, which they then share with our students. I am exploring our need for beauty. Beauty is not something that is merely nice to have; I believe it is inherent to our humanity. Our creative pursuits as humans—the visual artwork, music, literature, even the tools we create—record what we have learned about the world and how we have learned it. They illustrate what we have collectively yearned and strived for, what we have loved. I look forward to sharing the book with our community when it is completed, and I thank the Board of Trustees for supporting my time away to delve into this work. I especially thank Bob Gaines for taking on the role of acting president so I could step away for the semester, and I thank the leadership team for its partnership with him and each other.
And Now to Look Ahead!
This fall, we will launch our Shared Governance Task Force, which will build on the listening sessions that occurred this past spring. The working group will include members selected by Faculty Executive Committee (FEC), Associated Students of Pomona College (ASPC) and Staff Council. The delivery of a final report with recommendations and potential next steps, anticipated in March 2026, will inform our efforts at enhancing communication to ensure everyone has as much information as possible to be effective participants in our community.
We are also kicking off monthly Strategy Group meetings this semester. These meetings will offer dedicated time for collaboration across units and allow us to address topics that require timely or strategic input. I will attend these meetings, and will be joined by Christina Ciambriello, Chief of Staff and Special Advisor for Strategic Initiatives, along with members of the Faculty EC, Staff Council, Executive Staff, and Leadership Group (direct reports of VPs). Any member of these groups can propose agenda topics, and I’m excited about the opportunities we’ll have to collaborate and build consensus across a diverse set of priorities.
We will continue to make progress on the three pillars of our Strategic Vision: Equity & Access, Strengthening Academic and Faculty Excellence, and Fostering a Thriving Community of Sustainable Achievement. This fall, in fact, we are piloting the Equity & Access initiative Pomona College Materials Access Program (Pomona College MAP), which strives to provide universal access to course materials. My deep gratitude to Sara Rose Masland and Pierangelo De Pace for making so much progress on this important project. In the months ahead, I look forward to sharing more information about the progress we have made in all the pillars and what we are pursuing next as we continue to make the Strategic Vision a reality.
For my part, I feel newly energized to deploy our considerable strengths to tackle what lies ahead. As higher education and the liberal arts confront an unprecedented climate of skepticism about our value—and the values we hold—I am confident that Pomona is exceptionally prepared to face these challenges. We are focused on affordability and on preparing our students for extraordinary, global lives and careers; and we are guided by our deepest principles of academic freedom, open inquiry, and free speech. As I said to our new students in my Convocation remarks, the teams we are part of shape our lives as members of this community. Our uniting principle is our commitment to the vital work of preparing our students to transform the world they inhabit. I am excited to rejoin you in that work to fulfill our promise and mission.
With best wishes,
Gabi
G. Gabrielle Starr
President, Pomona College
Philip and Gertrude McConnell Professor
Departments of English and Neuroscience