As we prepare to welcome a new home for global engagement to campus, the Pomona community bids farewell to the Oldenborg Center for Modern Languages and International Relations.
In its final days standing, Pomona will celebrate the place that has opened the world for generations of Sagehens.
Attend Alumni Weekend 2026, April 30-May 3, where we’ll say goodbye to an old friend and share final conversations at the language tables.
This spring, Pomona College will honor the legacy of the Oldenborg Center for Modern Languages and International Relations with the Dear Oldenborg storytelling and celebration series.
A community-wide farewell to the iconic residence and dining hall — which has served as a hub for language immersion, cross-cultural exchange and community-building for six decades — the series will showcase the rich experiences and meaningful connections made possible by Oldenborg. It coincides with Pomona’s transition toward a new era of global education anchored by the Center for Global Engagement. Pending final approval from the College’s Board of Trustees, Oldenborg will be demolished in May to make room for the new center.
“Oldenborg has always represented more than a building,” says Pomona College President G. Gabrielle Starr. “It reflects a bold vision for language learning and the transformative power of connecting across cultures — as well as the College’s pioneering leadership in these areas. As we honor its legacy, we also celebrate the community that made all of this possible.”
To join in the celebration, alumni, students, faculty, staff and friends are invited to submit photos and memories of their time at Oldenborg. The Dear Oldenborg series will include a 4/7 Day celebration for the campus community, in partnership with ASPC, and it will culminate with in-person events on Friday, May 1, during Alumni Weekend 2026.
“Oldenborg’s impact lives on through the people who studied, taught, worked and built community there,” says Pierre Englebert, the H. Russell Smith Professor of International Relations and Professor of Politics and Oldenborg Faculty Fellow. “These celebrations are about honoring those stories and the mark Oldenborg has made on Pomona’s landscape.”
Liam Bayer ’27 says Oldenborg has already shaped his time on campus — and beyond — in tangible ways. “The community I formed with students, staff and faculty at Oldenborg have made me feel like I have a place on this campus,” says Bayer. “They put my worldview and all of its assumptions into a wider dialogue — a grand Socratic Seminar in which I continuously render the ‘foreign’ familiar, relearn how to learn and craft a more informed perspective.”
Bayer, an international relations and computer sciences double-major, says his friends and mentors in Oldenborg encouraged him to persevere in language studies and motivated him to study abroad in China, where he was able to reunite with former Chinese language resident Manxi Wang.
Alumni Weekend activities promise more reunions and will include a live community storytelling session — open to all and modeled after the popular The Moth Radio Hour — as well as an open house with live music, student awards, tours and opportunities to learn about the Center for Global Engagement. Attendees will be able to share a final meal at the language tables alongside generations of alumni, current students and friends.
Notably, all “Borgies”— a term of endearment for Oldenborg’s residents throughout the decades — are invited to return to Claremont to take part in the Alumni Weekend celebration of Oldenborg.
“In short, if Oldenborg means something to you, you belong in this celebration,” says Englebert.
Join the Dear Oldenborg celebration! Submit your photos and memories, and plan to join us in Claremont for Alumni Weekend 2026.