Karen Wong’s father was 11 years old when he left school to help support his family. Though he never had the chance to complete his own education, he spent his life teaching himself, and instilling in his children a conviction that learning never ends. “Education was such a big thing to him,” says Karen. “And not just formal school learning: continuous lifetime learning.”
Those values found a new champion in Karen's daughter, Karena Huang ’29. Drawn to Pomona by its liberal arts approach and her own fascination with Asian philosophy, language and culture, Karena quickly found a community where she could thrive. Watching that happen inspired Karen and her husband, Kelvin Huang P’29, to honor Karen's late father in a place that had already become meaningful to their family. They established a fund supporting study away in China, creating opportunities for future Sagehens to experience the country that shaped his life.
The family's gift reflects another lesson he often shared. As Kelvin recalls, his father-in-law loved an old Chinese proverb: “Reading 10,000 books is not the same as traveling 10,000 miles.” For this family, a complete education includes crossing borders, encountering new cultures and seeing the world firsthand.
As Pomona's Center for Global Engagement expands opportunities for language study, intercultural exchange and study away, the family's gift will help future students experience China not simply as visitors, but as learners. For Karen, the fund is a way to turn a private legacy into a public one, to extend the values her father instilled in her “not just to my family, but the broader Pomona College community.”