LEADERSHIP
President Oxtoby Inducted into Academy of Arts and Sciences
In October, President David W. Oxtoby was among 180 influential artists, scientists, scholars, authors, and institutional leaders who were inducted into the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. Other newly elected members with Pomona ties include: Sally Elgin ’67, Professor of Biology at Washington University in St. Louis School of Medicine; Henry Wellman '70, Professor of Psychology at the University of Michigan; and former Pomona faculty member Steven Koblik, currently president of the Huntington Library, Art Collections and Botanical Gardens.
ACADEMICS
Late Antique-Medieval Studies Major Adopted
A new major in Late Antique-Medieval Studies (LAMS) was adopted in the spring of 2012. The new intercollegiate, multidisciplinary major focuses on the Mediterranean and Near Eastern worlds of Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages and is housed under Pomona's Classics Department. Among other requirements, the program calls for at least three semesters of study in Greek, Latin or Arabic.
Pomona Offers Self-Instructional Language Program in Swahili
For the first time in fall 2012, Pomona College offered Swahili through the Self-Instructional Language Program (SILP), a half-credit course modeled on similar programs offered at colleges such as Williams College and Grinnell College. The program is intended to offer students new languages not offered by the College through self-instructional programs. When students were first notified of the program in April, more than 40 students responded, indicating interest in a range of languages, including Farsi, Hebrew, Hindi/Urdu and Thai. Swahili was adopted as the first language to be offered through the program because of the strong interest expressed by students.
CAMPUS
College Purchases Ranch as New Field Station
In July 2012, Pomona purchased Trails End Ranch on land north of Claremont, including more than 50 acres of almost pristine chaparral, to be used as a new field station for Pomona students. The Ranch includes a ranch house, a 2,000-square-foot workshop/barn suitable for supporting fieldwork and land ideal for a range of research in biology, geology, environmental analysis and other disciplines. The purchase was also intended to preserve an important piece of natural landscape from future development.
KSPC Switches to New Broadcasting Tower
In July, KSPC Radio’s signal reach suddenly improved as the station switched from one of the oldest radio antennas in the region to brand new equipment on a tower in Padua Hills. Known for its eclectic radio programs, with an emphasis on new and unheard artists, KSPC began broadcasting from an antenna and transmitter mounted at 2221 feet. The old tower was located on the Pomona College campus adjacent to Seaver Theatre.
Coop Store Adds Fresh Market Space
The Coop Store in Smith Campus Center renovated and expanded during the summer into the adjoining space, adding a large fresh-market area with more food options for campus customers.
ATHLETICS
Coach of the Year in Men's Water Polo
Pomona-Pitzer Men's Water Polo Coach Alex Rodriguez was named the Association of Collegiate Water Polo Coaches (ACWPC) Division III Coach of the Year. after a year which saw the team capture the SCIAC Men's Water Polo championship with a dramatic 7-4 win over Claremont-Mudd-Scripps in the championship game.
EVENTS
College Celebrates its 125th Anniversary
On Oct. 14, Founders Day, Pomona celebrated the 125th anniversary of its founding with a campus birthday party that brought together the College family with schoolchildren and visitors from surrounding areas for a day of learning, fun and community-building. For one day, the campus became a mix of carnival, arts festival and open-air classroom as thousands of visitors wandered the grounds, watching dance routines, listening to musical performances, learning about geology or Native American artifacts, joining in a game of quidditch right out of a Harry Potter novel, riding a carousel and eating kettle corn and birthday cake. Near the end of the festivities a flash mob broke out in the four corners of Marston Quad. Meanwhile, more than 600 students from junior high and high schools around the region spent the day learning about college admissions, financial aid and campus life and taking classes in such topics as "Chaos in Music" and "Move Your Body! Zumba and Yoga for a Healthy Mind and Body."
Native American Ceremony Launches 125th Year
On the opening day of fall semester of Pomona's 125th year, Pomona hosted a celebratory gathering that looked to the original people who lived in this area long before the College's founding. Invited to hold their traditional bear ceremony at Pomona's Sontag Greek Theatre, local Native American tribes gathered for an evening of drumming, singing, chanting and ritual dances.
Taylor Swift Performs at Bridges Auditorium
Grammy winner Taylor Swift performed a live acoustic concert on October 15 in Bridges Auditorium. The free concert came to The Claremont Colleges courtesy of Harvey Mudd College, which received the most online votes in the “Taylor Swift on Campus” contest. HMC also received $10,000 from Chegg for Good for their school’s music program, as did the other top five vote-getting schools. The Taylor Swift concert was filmed as part of the VH1 Storytellers series, which aired in November 2012.
ALUMNI
U.S. Senator Brian Schatz ’94
In December 2012, Brian Schatz ’94 was appointed by Hawaii Governor Neil Abercrombie to fill the U.S. Senate seat of Senator Daniel Inouye, who died earlier that month after representing Hawaii for five decades. Elected lieutenant governor of Hawai’i in 2010, he led the state’s clean energy efforts, Asia-Pacific relations, and private and public investment in the state. He had previously served in the Hawaii State Legislature from 1998 to 2006, where he was majority whip and held other committee leadership positions. Before being elected to the legislature, Schatz was the CEO of Helping Hands Hawai’i, one of the state’s largest nonprofit social services organizations.
Two Alumni Named to Forbes "Rising Star" lists
Kyle Lancaster '05 and Alexander Garfield '08 were named to "30 Under 30" Rising Stars lists by Forbes Magazine. Lancaster, an assistant professor of chemistry and chemical biology at Cornell University who gained notice for solving the chemical structure of the enzyme that makes the world's nitrogen cycle possible, was named to the Forbes “30 Under 30: The Rising Stars Transforming Science and Health” list. Garfield, who founded Evil Geniuses, one of the leading agencies in eSports, while at Pomona, was named to the "30 Under 30: Games & Apps" list.
ELSEWHERE
After 244 years since its first publication, the Encyclopædia Britannica discontinued its print edition.
A Chinese spacecraft with three Chinese astronauts docked manually with an orbiting module Tiangong 1, making China the third country to successfully perform this mission in space.
Hurricane Sandy generated a huge storm surge in the Northeast, inundating parts of New York City.