Messages of community and teamwork inspired an energetic audience of Sagehens inside a packed Bridges Hall of Music at Pomona College’s Convocation on Tuesday morning.
A tradition at Pomona for 109 years, Convocation officially launches the start of the new academic year, welcoming new and returning students, faculty and staff.
“Convocation marks not just the beginning of your academic journey at Pomona but a renewal of our entire campus,” said President G. Gabrielle Starr over video, sharing that she was across the country seeing her daughter start her college journey.
Students, including members of the Class of 2029 and new transfer students, and Pomona College staff members streamed into the auditorium from all corners of campus before faculty members processed onto the stage in their academic regalia.
Starr charged new students to lean on the community around them. “Look around you: your classmates to the left, right, ahead and behind,” said Starr. “These fellow Sagehens are your extended team, your support network as you move through Pomona.”
Sharing her own experience of playing on her college’s women’s rugby team, Starr encouraged new students to “learn how to play whatever role you’re in.”
“At times, you’ll step forward and seek the limelight; at others, you’ll offer support from the wings,” she said.
Starr ended her remarks by imploring students to step into the unfamiliar: “Engage with perspectives alien to your own. Join teams that stretch your horizons and expose you to new ideas and experiences.”
The Class of 2029 will have ample opportunity to meet a diverse swath of peers, with students representing 41 states and 27 countries. Additionally, 24% of the class is the first generation in their family to attend college, the highest percentage in Pomona’s history.
Calls for community, curiosity and contribution
Associate Professor of Classics and Chair of Faculty Benjamin Keim offered welcome remarks, building on Starr’s theme of teamwork by reflecting on Aristotle’s teachings on one’s obligations within a community.
“Let me exhort you to remember as well your responsibilities as a Sagehen, to dedicate yourselves to your studies, to make the most of your curricular and cocurricular and extracurricular opportunities to build up your colleagues and our community,” said Keim.
During a musical interlude, Associate Professor of Music Melissa Givens took the stage for a moving performance of “My People (Black)” before Grace Zheng ’26, Associated Students of Pomona College (ASPC) president, delivered a call to contribute to the work of democracy.
“Here at Pomona, we have the opportunity to practice the habits of democracy, so that when we leave this campus, we are ready to carry those habits into the world,” said Zheng. “I want us to build a community that doesn't just tolerate disagreement but sees it as evidence that we’re grappling with questions that actually matter.”
Finally, in a speech titled “Adventures in the liberal arts: the real story of my journey,” Nina Karnovsky, Willard George Halstead Zoology Professor of Biology, recounted her circuitous route to becoming a scientist, which involved taking only one science course in college and applying to graduate school six years after completing her undergraduate degree.
The point of her story: “Don't be locked into one idea of what you want to study and what you want to be in life. Be open to new fields of inquiry and experiences. Be curious.”
An inspiring start to the year
Davina Liu ’29 and Cleo Linzer ’29 both found Karnovsky’s story encouraging.
“She took so many classes, but she never regretted anything she did. It was helpful because none of us really know our major,” said Liu.
“I also really enjoyed Professor Karnovksy’s speech,” added Linzer, “because I did student ecology, and hearing about how she connected that to so many relevant problems in the world is very inspiring.”
Tricia Avant, academic coordinator and gallery manager of art for over 10 years, was thoroughly impressed by Zheng.
“ASPC President Grace Zheng’s speech inspired hope and action, two essential ingredients for these trying times marked by uncertainty and change,” said Avant. “Zheng’s words will serve as beacons for the incoming first years now and in the future.”