The first week of classes at Pomona College is underway, and Convocation on Tuesday marked the ceremonial start to the academic year.
Faculty in their academic regalia, along with students, staff and guests of the College, streamed from all corners of campus into Bridges Hall of Music to take part in the 110-year-old tradition.
“There is a unique sense of anticipation in the air,” Avis Hinkson, vice president for student affairs and dean of students, said in her address. “And the campus has come alive in pursuit of knowledge, relationship and possibilities.”
College Organist Weicheng Zhao regaled the audience with processional and recessional music on the Hill Memorial Organ, and pianist Genevieve F. Lee, Everett S. Olive Professor of Music, punctuated the speeches with a musical interlude.
“Seeing and hearing my colleagues perform was a real treat,” said Joti Rockwell, associate professor of music. “What better way to start off the academic year than with music in this hall?”
In her welcome remarks, President G. Gabrielle Starr encouraged students to “embrace human ingenuity.”
“Yes, AI can sift and recombine existing knowledge at tremendous scale and rapidity,” said Starr. “But language is not knowledge, and a sophisticated prediction engine is not insight.”
“Develop the skills that only humans can master,” she urged.
Student Body President Malu Estoducto ’27 followed with a call to fellow students to be a part of shaping Pomona: “Remember that you are a capable and valuable member of this community and you should take advantage of all it has to offer while ensuring others can do the same.”
She spoke about her summer internship at the L.A. County Board of Supervisors, where she worked on a participatory budgeting project, “a democratic process in which community members decide how to spend part of a public budget.”
“College is a mutual transformation,” Estoducto said. “I hope that you change this place for the better and let yourself be changed by it.”
“Her speech really gave us the courage to change, to be open to change in this world,” reflected Harry Yang ’30 afterward.
Fernando Lozano, Morris B. And Gladys S. Pendelton Professor of Economics, gave the closing address, titled “Comiendo calabaza, frijoles y tortillas con Borges y Coase: Una educación liberal” (“Eating squash, beans and tortillas with Borges and Coase: A Liberal Education”).
His remarks, delivered in Spanish with concurrent English translations on screens, asserted that the symbiotic relationship between corn, beans and squash is an apt metaphor for a liberal arts college.
“Each of you will contribute individually to the growth and education of others,” Lozano said.
He cited as examples five Pomona alumni—John Payton ’73, Myrlie Evers-Williams ’68, Eileen Wilson-Oyelaran ’69, Danny Wilks ’71 and Onetta Brooks ’74—“who, in less than 10 years, changed the College and the world beyond Claremont.”
Through the support they found on campus, they were able to “[advocate] for spaces so that each Pomona student can flourish,” said Lozano.
He left students with the closing charge: “Find your own story in your experience at Pomona, but do not do it alone.”
As students made their way to the dining halls for lunch, August Oliveira ’30 reflected: “Everybody’s been extremely welcoming during these two weeks that we’ve been here, and now that we’ve had Convocation, Professor Lozano really summarized what a liberal arts education is, which is what we experience every day here.”