OCCIDENTAL COLLEGE
ANNUAL REPORT
ANNUAL REPORT
With an innovative design blending engineering and art, Occidental’s $6.8-million, 1-megawatt ground-mounted solar array went online in March after almost four years of planning, outreach, and construction. The array will generate approximately 11 percent of the College’s annual electrical usage at an estimated savings of $200,000 a year. “While our chief goal has always been to reduce the College’s dependence on fossil fuels, the time we spent in developing the array reflects our desire to address solar power in a new, creative way,” says President Jonathan Veitch. “It represents a new paradigm for arrays as architectural objects that, like buildings, are expected to contribute aesthetically to their environment.” About 30 percent of the array’s 4,886 panels sit on top of shade structures installed in an existing campus parking lot. The others are on a nearby southwest-facing hillside above Oxy’s soccer fields. With panels mounted just two to three feet above the ground, the hillside array hugs the topography of the slope in a curving design based on a mathematical expression known as a hysteresis loop. Occidental’s dramatic design for the array— created by the Lettuce Office of Los Angeles in collaboration with College art faculty—uses highly efficient SunPower panels to limit its footprint. The array will remove 1,250 metric tons of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere every year. That’s the equivalent of removing about 250 automobiles from use, a point driven home by a 250-car lineup along A.G. Coons Road leading up to the solar array for its formal dedciation on Founders Day, April 20. Electricity accounts for more than two-thirds of the College’s utility costs, and 75 percent of its direct carbon consumption. A $3.4-million rebate from the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power helped finance the project.
ANNUAL REPORT 2012–2013
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From Jonathan Veitch The College’s record makes a powerful argument for the relevance of the liberal arts, and for the value of an Occidental education. The Year in Awards Faculty and students make Oxy proud with accolades, advances, and academic excellence.
ST RAT EGIC INIT IAT IVES Curricular and Scholarly Transformations Fostering innovation in core and disciplinary curricula engages Oxy students in integrated intellectual inquiry. Los Angeles L.A.’s environment, culture, economy, politics, institutions, issues, and programs provide boundless opportunities. Global Culture Through academics, community engagement, admission, research, and service, faculty and staff bring the world to Oxy. Living & Learning Oxy enriches the campus experience to better integrate academics and co-curricular activities while nurturing students’ personal growth. Inclusive Excellence Oxy is committed to providing a welcoming community for students, faculty, staff, and visitors who embrace and embody diversity. Connected Community Oxy aims to build stronger connections back to campus by engaging alumni, parents, friends, and neighbors.
2012-2013 The Bottom Line Amos Himmelstein, vice president for finance and planning, examines the College’s balance sheet. The Year in Giving Shelby Radcliffe reflects on a year of transformational gifts, and the personal joy reflected in a donor’s generosity. The Power of Giving Thousands of alumni and friends support Occidental each year— here are just a few of the reasons why. Board of Trustees/Alumni Board of Governors
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OCCIDENTAL COLLEGE
From Jonathan Veitch The College’s record makes a powerful argument for the relevance of the liberal arts, and for the value of an Occidental education
Ambitious is a word I have used often at Occidental. It’s the adjective I applied to the vision I laid out at my inauguration. It’s the term we used to describe the comprehensive strategic plan the College adopted last year. And it applies equally well to the exceptional efforts made during the last year to realize that vision, build on Oxy’s strengths, and carry out our strategic plan goals. We are grateful to all of Occidental’s supporters whose generous gifts—large and small—have helped transform our plans into action. We took greater advantage of our location in Los Angeles by expanding our network of collaborative partnerships with regional institutions, including some of the area’s leading small theaters, thanks to a generous grant from the Edgerton Foundation. We increased experiential learning opportunities through an expanded internship program, our unique Campaign Semester, and our premed shadowing program at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles. To help shape a more cosmopolitan campus culture, we admitted a record number of international students and sent a record number of students to study overseas. We increased alumni engagement with a distinguished alumni speaker series that touched on everything from Biblical exegesis to the complexities of copyright law.
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Building on this institutional momentum, our plans for the future are equally ambitious. No part of college life has undergone a greater transformation over the last 20 years than libraries; planning and fundraising are well underway for the reinvention of Clapp Library as the Academic Commons, the premier scholastic environment on campus. A similar process is underway to transform the Career Development Center into the Center for Graduate & Professional Success, whose four-year career discernment program will ensure Oxy graduates are equipped to translate their liberal arts skills into fulfilling careers. In these pages, you’ll read about an impressive list of accomplishments, all rooted in the goals and priorities of the strategic plan. There is still much left to do, particularly in an era where the value of higher education in general and the liberal arts in particular is being questioned. Taken together, I believe our record makes a powerful argument for the relevance of the liberal arts, and for the value of an Occidental education. Jonathan Veitch President
We are grateful to all of Oxy’s supporters whose generous gifts— large and small—have helped transform our plans into action.
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OCCIDENTAL COLLEGE
The Year in Awards Faculty and students make Oxy proud with accolades, advances, and academic excellence
Four years ago, Raffy Cortina ’13 chose Occidental over some of the country’s more established film schools because he wanted a liberal arts education. It came down to NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts and Oxy, and “for a filmmaker it’s almost a sin against humanity not to choose NYU,” Cortina says with a laugh. “In the end it came down to wanting to leave New York and try something new, and wanting an intimate college experience where there was a sense of community.” Until the College flew Cortina out to Los Angeles as part of its Multicultural Visit Program, “I wasn’t really considering Oxy,” he admits. But after visiting campus, “I bought into it.” On June 8, Cortina became the first Oxy student to win the national student film competition held by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences with his 13-minute short, Bottled Up. He joins a select list of filmmakers who have left their footprints in the cement of the Hollywood landscape over the last 40 years. Past honorees include Pixar mastermind John Lasseter, Academy Award-winning director Robert Zemeckis, “South Park” co-creator Trey Parker, and Spike Lee, whose landmark 1989 film Do the Right Thing “solidified my desire to want to be a storyteller,” says Cortina. “I could relate to it so much being from New York City, and I figured if Spike Lee could tell a story like this, that my voice could also be heard.”
“In the end it came down to wanting to leave New York and try something new, and wanting an intimate college experience where there was a sense of community.”
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Libby Evans Blanchard ’06 received her second Gates Cambridge Scholarship to pursue her Ph.D. in geography, focusing on environmental issues. Oxy’s first Gates Scholar, she received the award last year to pursue her M.Phil. degree in environment, society, and development.
Number of Barry Goldwater Scholarship recipents in Occidental history. Cullen Faulwell ’14, an economics and mathematics major from Simi Valley, was named Oxy’s first Goldwater Scholar since 2007 last spring. The award allots up to $7,500 to rising seniors and is given to students intending to pursue careers in math, science, and engineering fields.
Tamara Shogaolu ’08, currently a graduate student in film studies at USC, has been named a Luce Scholar. Shogaolu is the 15th Luce Scholar from Occidental since this award was initiated in 1974, and the College's fourth winner in four years. She will be placed in a major Asian city, connected to important institutions and people in her areas of interest, and given a year of financial and administrative support. Shogaolu recently worked on Chavez, a biography of civil rights activist Cesar Chavez, and aims to tell stories through film and multimedia projects that inspire crosscultural dialogue and understanding.
ANNUAL REPORT 2012–2013
Star sprinter Jonathan Padron ’14 of Kapolei, Hawaii, finished eighth overall in the 100 meter final at the 2013 NCAA Division III Outdoor Track and Field National Championships last spring to earn his third All-American honor. Earlier in the season, the theater and psychology major earned All-American honors at the Indoor Championships.
The Occidental Weekly made a few headlines on the kudos circuit in the last academic year, winning three Mark of Excellence Awards at the Region 11 Society of Professional Journalists competition, competing against peer institutions from Arizona, California, Hawaii, and Nevada. The Weekly won first place for editorial writing, second place in general news reporting for Ryan Strong ’14’s article “Taitz loses court case to Occidental for Obama’s records” (Nov. 28, 2012), and third place in breaking news reporting for its Nov. 7, 2012, coverage of the presidential election, “Four more for 44,” featuring reporting by Emily Shugerman ’15, Rachel Stober ’15, and Yuca Kosugi ’14. Last November, the Associated Collegiate Press presented the Weekly with a 2012 Pacemaker Newspaper award in the category of four-year college, non-daily newspapers.
Juan Germán ’12, who turned down a Fulbright scholarship last year to participate in the Congress Bundestag Youth Exchange, has been awarded a Thomas R. Pickering Graduate Foreign Affairs Fellowship ($40,000 each year for a two-year master’s program), which he will use for graduate work at Carnegie Mellon University’s Heinz College. The diplomacy and world affairs major was also a finalist for the Charles Rangel International Fellowship.
On May 3, Occidental held its annual national awards reception recognizing student nominees, finalists, and recipients and their faculty advisers and mentors. ■ Front row, from left: Karen Romero ’16, Jennifer Wang ’13, Mariah Napoles ’13, and Tania Flores ’13. ■ Middle row: Danielle Christopher ’13, Thuy Hua ’13, Nona Gronert ’13, and Michael Patton ’13. ■ Back row: David Axeen, professor emeritus of American studies; Lynn Dumenil, Robert Glass Cleland professor of American history; and Matthew Horten ’13. ■ Five Oxy seniors (Hua, Napoles, Patton, Wang, and Valerie Walker ’13), five alumni (2012 graduates Henry Carr, Elizabeth Kennedy, Alexandra McHenry, and Gabriela Ochoa, and Renata Rocha ’11), and one freshman (Romero) won Fulbright scholarships to work and study abroad last spring, breaking Oxy’s single-year record of 10 set five years ago.
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OCCIDENTAL COLLEGE
STRATEGIC I N ITIATIVES
Curricular & Scholarly Transformations Fostering innovation in core and disciplinary curricula engages Oxy students in integrated intellectual inquiry
Associate professor of critical theory and social justice Mary Christianakis received the 2012 Alan C. Purves Award for her article on the links between drawing pictures and writing skills in older elementary schoolchildren published in the prestigious journal Research in the Teaching of English. The Purves Award is given annually to the author of the article that has the potential to make the most impact on practice. Christianakis’ article—based on a year of fieldwork and observation in a public school classroom in Northern California—examines how fifthgraders use drawings and pictures in their writing and “[challenges] those who consider these forms of writing development immature or inappropriate beyond the early childhood and primary classroom,” the committee citation reads.
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Evan Choate ’13 pulled his lab manual, 70 journal articles, endless class notes, and a 763-page textbook out of his bag for his final Immunology class. What would typically fill the contents of a backpack instead weighed just over a pound and measured only three-quarters of an inch thick. That’s because a Faculty Learning Community to explore the use of iPads in teaching inspired Roberta Pollock, professor of biology and biochemistry, to explore the apps that would bring her class to digital life. College librarian Bob Kieft purchased 30 iPads for instructional use with donations to the library and introduced the Immunology class as an iPad Pilot Project. “As library collections and publishers move from print to electronic text, I wanted to support an experiment that would contribute to the academic community’s understanding of how people work with electronic materials,” says Kieft. The results? “Overall I liked using it,” says Choate, a biochemistry major from Woodland Hills. “It’s not just the ability to have everything in one place, but having everyone upload and share makes studying, research, and class participation easier.”
“His intellectual curiosity was really awakened here. The professors here, the older students he hung out with, awakened him in a very important way. He began to feel a sense of purpose, of destiny.” David Maraniss, bestselling author and Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist, on the subject of his critically acclaimed biography, Barack Obama: The Story, speaking at Thorne Hall on Oct. 29, 2012—a week before Obama was elected to a second term.
ANNUAL REPORT 2012–2013
Kevin Kuwata ’15, a physics major from Rolling Hills, was one of 130 Occidental students spending 10 weeks this summer conducting original research with faculty and community mentors. July 31 saw the culmination of their efforts in a daylong Summer Research Conference on campus, where the students presented the fruits of their labor in 20-minute talks and poster presentations on topics ranging from biking in Beijing to mugshot websites. “This may be the students’ first experience presenting their scholarly work in a public setting, and it may be the culmination of years of effort,” says Scott Bogue, associate dean of the College and director of sponsored and undergraduate research. “We are very proud of the work they have done, and hope that this experience will help set the stage for their lifelong journeys as scholars and researchers.” Community partners included City of Hope National Medical Center, the Autry Museum, and Caltech.
“There are lots of concepts you have entering the classroom that don’t line up with science,” says Andrew Shtulman, assistant professor of psychology and recipient of a $500,000 National Science Foundation Faculty Early Career Development grant in 2010. In August 2012, Shtulman and former student Joshua Valcarel ’11 published a paper in Cognition, an international journal on the study of the mind. The researchers asked 150 Oxy undergrads who had taken more than three college-level math and science courses to answer 200 true/false questions across scientific areas. They found that the students were slower and less accurate in answering statements whose “truth value” changed as a result of science education than those whose truth value remained the same. “Our findings suggest that naïve theories are suppressed by scientific theories but not supplanted by them,” Shtulman says. “How long the two coexist, and in what form, are questions still in need of answers.”
The assignment: meet with one of the co-founders of LinkedIn and entrepreneurs, investors, and government officials from five continents to learn how to foster innovative startups, spur economic growth, and create jobs. For students in professor Sanjeev Khagram’s class in entrepreneurship and innovation, YouNoodle’s inaugural YN1K conference in San Francisco created an opportunity to conduct research, network, and catch a glimpse of the future. “What I’d like to do is dramatically increase entrepreneurship among Oxy students—not in the narrow commercial sense, but to encourage students to be entrepreneurial leaders in all aspects of their life and career, whatever field they go into,” says Khagram, Oxy’s newly recruited John Parke Young Chair in Global Political Economy. And what he calls “the secret sauce inside Silicon Valley” is “the value placed not just on creativity but on risk and failure. From failure people learn,” the Stanford Ph.D. says. “I want my students to learn to feel comfortable in taking risks, to innovate in ways that could fail, and learn and improve from those experiences.”
“Let’s just say I’ll never need another Facebook picture after this one!” Emily Strombom ’14, an urban and environmental policy major from Long Beach, with President Barack Obama ’83 at a campaign stop in Columbus, Ohio, on Oct. 9, 2012. Strombom was one of 32 participants in Oxy’s Campaign Semester leading up to the November election.
That means building on the critical thinking skills traditionally taught at Oxy, he says. “Critical thinking is one of the essential tools entrepreneurs use. But so is creative problem-solving. We want our students to imagine the new, the possible, the emergent. We want to bring these new dimensions into the liberal arts model.” Attending the YN1K conference in October 2012 “probably changed my life,” says Alexander Keat ’15, a diplomacy and world affairs major from Philadelphia. And the class itself? “Mindblowing.” So inspired was Keat that he resurrected Occidental’s long-dormant entrepreneurial club as “Oxypreneurship,” which offered its first programming in the spring. Keat and the other students in Khagram’s DWA 410 class teamed up to conduct research for a real-world client: Rebeca Hwang, the head of YouNoodle, a social enterprise that seeks to promote global entrepreneurship and innovation through networking, collaboration, and education. “The point of the exercise is to conduct rigorous action research that can be immediately used by a real-life partner,” Khagram says. “The class will have a different client each year. And word seems to be getting around—I’ve had a lot of questions about when I’ll be teaching the class again and what the topic will be.”
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OCCIDENTAL COLLEGE
STRATEGIC I N ITIATIVES Los Angeles
L.A.’s environment, culture, economy, politics, institutions, issues, and programs provide boundless opportunities
A gift of $400,000 from the Edgerton Foundation—the Los Angeles-based foundation directed by Louise and Brad Edgerton—will enable Occidental to partner with The Theatre @ Boston Court and A Noise Within to create the Edgerton Foundation Theater Program. The centerpiece of the four-year program will be extended joint residencies for directors and playwrights at Oxy and the two Pasadena theaters. The award also will create an internship and fellowship program for current Oxy students and recent graduates. “We are thrilled that this generous gift from the Edgertons will expand the opportunities available to our students in such a meaningful way,” says theater department chair Susan Gratch. “A Noise Within will expose them to classic texts, while Boston Court will allow them to experience the latest and most cutting-edge work.” The Edgerton Foundation has funded a New American Plays national award program since 2007, awarding grants to nonprofit theaters for 150 new plays to date. It also supports work in security issues, the environment, and sustainable energy, and has established the Antoinette and Vincent Dungan Lectureship on Energy and the Environment at Occidental in honor of Louise Edgerton’s parents.
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Expanding on an already successful summer internship program, Occidental’s Career Development Center has added several new partner organizations with the summer 2013 launch of InternLA and InternPDX. The groups go beyond Oxy’s Community Arts and Public Service (CAPS) organizations by bringing in new partners representing six sectors: arts and entertainment, business and entrepreneurship, law and policy, media and technology, science and research, and social services and advocacy. Nearly 100 students applied for the 28 partnership sites. Organizations offering internships in Los Angeles include the Children’s Law Center, the Downtown Women’s Center, investment firm Payden & Rygel, Center Theatre Group, Red Hen Press, City of Hope Beckman Research Institute, the Grammy Museum, and Resolution Economics. Participating organizations in Portland, Ore., include Sustainable Harvest and urban-planning firm Cogan Owens & Cogan.
A $35,000 grant from the John Randolph Haynes and Dora Haynes Foundation to form an innovative partnership between the Occidental library, the Eagle Rock Valley Historical Society, and the Highland Park Heritage Trust will help preserve a unique historic resource: 20th-century newspapers of northeast Los Angeles. Creating a repository for more than a dozen community papers is part of an ongoing collaboration between the entities to promote the preservation and awareness of local historical materials.
ANNUAL REPORT 2012–2013
Emma Gerch ’14, a sociology major from Los Angeles, and Dylan Sittig ’13, an urban and environmental policy major from San Dimas, were among hundreds joining a climate-change rally February 17 sponsored by 99Rise, a self-described “nationwide movement waging nonviolent struggle to break the stranglehold of Big Money on American politics and reclaim our democracy for the 99 percent.” Oxy students have long made their voices heard: Margot Mifflin ’82 recounted Barack Obama ’83’s opening salvo against the College’s investments in companies connected to South Africa’s apartheid policy in a blog entry for The New Yorker last fall. At a rally outside the Coons Administrative Center on Feb. 18, 1981, “he stood with one hand in his pocket, spoke in declarative spurts, and showed no sign of being the orator who would become president nearly 28 years later,” Mifflin wrote.
Can popular music still change culture? That was the question posed May 29 at the second in an ongoing series of OxyTalks, a new partnership between the College and Zócalo Public Square, an organization dedicated to nonpartisan discourse. From left, adjunct assistant professor of American Studies and moderator Thaddeus Russell is joined by KCRW’s “Morning Becomes Eclectic” host Jason Bentley, music critic Evelyn McDonnell, and English and comparative literary studies assistant professor James Ford.
Pedestrian art lovers traffic past Smilee Barnacle’s contribution to a bicycle art show that opened February 28 at the Weingart Gallery. In an effort to bring together the cycling communities of northeast Los Angeles and Oxy, the exhibit (curated by Margaret Gallagher ’13) explored the rich connections between biking and art.
For the second year in a row, 10 Oxy pre-meds spent the last two weeks of their winter break “shadowing” doctors at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles to get a better sense of what the practice of medicine entails. “They follow attending physicians, not residents or interns, who typically are too busy to interact with pre-meds,” explains Angela Wood, director of pre-med advising at Occidental, who coordinates the CHLA program. “I want students to know that they are getting into the right field for them. … Real doctors are scientists and humanitarians. You have to first and foremost want to serve people, otherwise it won’t work for you.”
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OCCIDENTAL COLLEGE
STRATEGIC I N ITIATIVES Global Culture
Through academics, community engagement, admission, research, and service, faculty and staff bring the world to Oxy
Art history major In Young Lee ’13’s original plan to study the Berlin Wall as an art object “went out the window” once she got to Germany. After much exploration and talks with local scholars and experts, she realized that the Wall was a “pivotal cultural monument that embraces not only German history but also their cultural past,” she said at a conference on campus last October. “I hadn’t realized how complex it is. I was only able to understand that because I was there physically.” Lee was one of nine Oxy students—all recipients of grants to conduct independent summer research abroad—to present the fruits of their international study. With assistance from faculty mentors, students develop projects of scholarly merit that promote cross-cultural engagement. “This is real, significant preparation for serious scholarly work in the future.” said English and comparative literary studies professor Michael Near, former chair of the International Programs Committee (now retired). The subjects of the students’ research projects—which took place on four continents—varied widely. In his photo essay “Running Stitch,” Dustin Neiderman ’13, above, and collaborator Anna Jones ’13 studied how the evolution of the kantha embroidered quilt, a specialty of West Bengal, parallels the women’s movement in India. It began as a privately constructed object for family use but became a commercial product supported by NGOs following India’s independence movement in the 1940s. “Today the kantha allows women a role in the public sector,” Jones said, adding that her time spent in India “was one of the most powerful academic experiences I’ve ever had.” The Paul K. Richter Memorial Fund and the Evalyn E. Cook Richter Memorial Fund support the Research Abroad scholarship. The income generated from the trusts funds the Richter Scholars Program at a small group of private colleges in the United States, including Occidental.
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“Learn the language, visit and spend time in China,” James Fallows told Oxy students. “China is making the world a more interesting place.” James Fallows, author and Atlantic Monthly correspondent, and wife Deborah, a linguist and author, spent a week on campus to inaugurate the Wellington K.K. Chan Distinguished Visitors in Residence Program in Chinese Studies. The visit culminated with a lecture by James, “Living in the World That China Makes,” on April 2.
Aralyn Beaumont ’14 has dedicated much of her undergraduate career to studying food she may never get to eat and rituals she may never experience. Recently, though, she switched things up a bit. Beaumont, a religious studies major from Laguna Niguel who presented her research paper, “You Are What You Eat: Food and Identity in Ancient Rome,” at the Second International Conference on Food Studies last October, spent the spring 2013 semester interning at L’Atelier Guy Martin in Paris, a center for recipe publications, cooking classes, and private dinners. Preparing her tastebuds for contemporary food journalism is Beaumont’s first priority—and she believes her historical expertise is an advantage. “I have a perspective of the way food influences society, and I know the kinds of questions to ask,” says the former Occidental Weekly editor-in-chief, who also blogs about her food experiences at home and abroad (eatinglalayerbylayer.wordpress.com). “I can draw parallels between the way food is valued and how it plays a role in society.” Associate professor of religious studies Kristi Upson-Saia says Beaumont also possesses the much-sought-after academic skill of being able to empathize with the subjects she studies. “Throughout her first few years at Oxy, Aralyn took several courses on the ancient world. In these courses, she stood out for her historical sensibilities,” she says. “That is, she is able to channel the mindset, priorities, and values of the ancient folks she is studying.” Beaumont’s Parisian interlude may only be a small part of her overall Oxy experience, but she says it will surely be an integral one. “I think that these are important steps that I’m taking,” she says. “I'm going to take a lot from what I learned at the Atelier, eating and having conversations with people about food.”
ANNUAL REPORT 2012–2013
Josh Luo ’14 and John Dawson ’14 in St. Petersburg, Russia
Alex Balgobin ’14 in South Africa Africa & Middle East Ghana (Cape Coast, Legon) Jordan (Amman) Morocco (Rabat) Senegal (Dakar) South Africa (Cape Town, Durban) Tanzania (Arusha) Turkey (Istanbul)
Europe Austria (Vienna) Czech Republic (Prague) England (Bristol, Cambridge, London, Norwich) France (Montpellier, Paris) Germany (Berlin) Greece (Athens) Hungary (Budapest) Italy (Rome) Netherlands (Amsterdam) Russia (St. Petersburg) Spain (Granada, Madrid, Salamanca) Eric Quizhpi ’14 in Sao Paulo, Brazil
A record 259 undergraduates studied abroad for a semester in 32 countries on five continents in 2012-2013—and many of them shared their photos of the local culture with the Oxy community.
Latin America Argentina (Buenos Aires) Brazil (Fortaleza, Sao Paulo) Chile (Santiago, Valparaiso) Costa Rica (Monteverde, San Jose) Dominican Republic (Santiago) Nicaragua (Managua) Peru (Lima)
Laurel Cox ’14 in Tokyo Asia China (Bejing, Hong Kong, Nanjing) India (Hyderabad) Japan (Tokyo) Taiwan (Taipei) Thailand (Khon Kaen)
Oceania Australia (Melbourne, Townsville, Wollongong) New Zealand (Dunedin)
Nia Patterson ’14 in New Zealand
The inability of Ravi Shankar’s living room to accommodate the growing audience for his Music Circle concerts is the reason Oxy has been Southern California’s chief venue for classical Indian music for 40 years. Shankar—the acclaimed sitarist, composer, teacher, and musical evangelist who died last December—and student Harihar Rao founded the Music Circle in 1971 to showcase Indian classical music. But the demand for concert seats quickly outstripped the capacity of Shankar’s Beverly Hills living room. ■ Then, one fateful day in 1973, Shankar and Rao were touring the Occidental campus, where Shankar’s son, the late Shubho Shankar ’75, was studying art. When the two men walked into Herrick Chapel, “The sunlight was streaming in and it was very, very impressive,” Rao said in a 2002 interview with Occidental Magazine. “Ravi said it would be great for Indian music.” ■ Since 1973, the Music Circle has put on six to eight concerts a year in Herrick and occasionally in Thorne Hall, featuring top Indian artists primarily playing the northern style of classic Indian music. Shankar himself made several appearances on the Oxy campus, performances that often attracted former Beatle and Shankar student George Harrison. “He would enter the side doors after the lights were dimmed,” Rao said. “He didn’t want to be recognized.”
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OCCIDENTAL COLLEGE
STRATEGIC I N ITIATIVES Living & Learning
Oxy enriches the campus experience to better integrate academics and co-curricular activities while nurturing students’ personal growth
Occidental’s newly renovated Rose Hills Foundation Student Activities Center celebrated its grand opening August 30 with snow cones, popcorn, lemonade, and balloons. “I’m blown away,” says Nick McHugh ’14, ASOC president. “It’s a great community space. I think it’s going to be a place where students can get informed but also just get together. It’ll be a great hub for conversation and ideas.” ■ The Rose Hills Foundation donated $1 million to the College to renovate the space on the Johnson Student Center’s first floor. The enhancements maximize student interaction with Student Life programming and, importantly, with key program offices that were previously scattered across campus that advance Occidental’s commitment to diversity, career development, and civic engagement. ■ Almost 80 percent of Oxy’s 2,123 students live on campus, and every student passes through JSC each day. “This facility is key to the College’s holistic mission of living and learning,” says President Jonathan Veitch. ■ The new center creates a nexus where career services, intercultural programs, and community engagement are visible and available in a bright, inviting setting that’s easy to navigate. The Student Life offices support more than 100 student organizations, six fraternities and sororities, student-run business operations, and student government. The project connects the Student Life offices with a new Community in Action suite that will spearhead the College’s relationship with Los Angeles. ■ “It’s a less-academic-looking place for students to meet,” says Abhilasha Bhola ’16, a student programmer for the Center for Gender Equity. Adds Maya Morales ’14, a student programmer for the Intercultural Community Center: “This space has really warmed up.”
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“It’s going to be a place where students can get informed but also just get together. It’ll be a great hub for conversation and ideas.” ASOC President Nick McHugh ’14
As Occidental’s first sustainability coordinator, Emma Sorrell ’13 will be responsible for pursuing new sustainability projects with an initial focus on utility-use reduction. In keeping with the College’s 2013-2014 water theme in honor of the 100-year anniversary of the California aqueduct, she will work on water-use reduction strategies across campus, including landscape irrigation, the single largest use of water at Oxy. In addition, Sorrell will coordinate and support existing sustainability initiatives.
ANNUAL REPORT 2012–2013
Founded in 1887, Occidental College has proudly called the Eagle Rock neighborhood of Los Angeles its home for the last 100 years. To commemorate that milestone, Oxy commissioned alumna and artist Margaret Gallagher ’13 to create six unique illustrations that evoke Oxy’s sense of place in the community. The illustrations serve as the focal point for a new series of streetlamp banners, “100 Years in Eagle Rock,” that began to appear throughout Los Angeles in late August. Gallagher, an Oregon native, chose to call northeast L.A. home after graduating from Oxy last May with a degree in studio art. She works as a freelance illustrator, graphic designer, and fine artist.
A grant from the Michael J. Connell Foundation will equip a digital production studio to help launch a new generation of Oxy students fluent in audio, video, and computational production, regardless of major. The $68,900 grant from the Pasadena-based foundation will address the growing number of multimedia assignments faculty are asking of their students, remedy existing equipment shortages, and make it possible for training to include more students. “One of our goals is to help students make the transition from recreational to academic and critical uses of technology,” says Daniel Chamberlain, director of Oxy’s Center for Digital Learning + Research. “The Connell Foundation’s support will play an essential role in helping us enhance teaching, learning, research, and scholarly work by both students and faculty.”
“Although my work has taken other forms (folds, slabs, sheets, zip folds), my fundamental interest in the detachability of signification as a way to reconstruct form and desire continues to be an underlying motivation in my work.” So writes Linda Besemer, James Irvine Distinguished Professor of Art History and the Visual Arts. The Nevada Museum of Art recently hosted an exhibit of Besemer’s abstract optical works titled Sine Language. To quote the museum’s release: “While updating abstraction for the 21st century, Besemer’s work contains implicit political and social critique, hearkening back to the movement’s radical roots.”
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OCCIDENTAL COLLEGE
STRATEGIC I N ITIATIVES Inclusive Excellence
Oxy is committed to providing a welcoming community for students, faculty, staff, and visitors who embrace and embody diversity
“Dance is my escape from everything else,” says Chris Monteath ’13, far right. A diplomacy and world affairs major from Franklin, Tenn., Monteath served as co-president of Dance Production as a senior. Through dance, he says, “I forget all the stress from school.” Part talent show, part rite of passage, Dance Production is a life-changing experience for many students. The event was created in 1948 and today, with 265 members, is Oxy’s most popular club. Although the production takes place each March, planning the event is a year-round endeavor. In the fall the group’s student executive board holds auditions for choreographers, who then audition dancers. Every student who auditions is guaranteed a spot in at least one number. “What’s great is that it embraces all abilities,” says Tamara Rice, assistant dean of students. “You don’t have to know how to dance. It’s very welcoming.” Past shows have featured styles from hip-hop to hula—“a big melting pot of dance,” Monteath says—and Dance Pro alumni say that after the last curtain falls, their experiences remain strong in their minds for years to come. “So many friendships are built through the show,” says Dayna Chikamoto ’12, a choreographer for four years and a dancer for three. “I always say you aren’t an Oxy student until you have participated in Dance Production.”
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“Both parties spend most of their time trying to thwart the other party. A lot of it is driven by partisan cynicism, and this is the antithesis of what Jack Kemp was all about.” Mort Kondracke, veteran political analyst and biographer of Jack Kemp ’57, at Oxy’s inaugural Kemp Scholar lecture in Mosher Hall on February 11. The College is seeking funding to complete a $500,000 endowment to permanently sustain the Kemp Scholar program.
Macklemore—the Seattle hip-hop artist whose collaboration with producer Ryan Lewis has yielded two No. 1 songs, “Thrift Shop” and “Can’t Hold Us,” as well as the marriage-equality anthem “Same Love”—played to a packed Rush Gymasium as the headliner for Springfest 2013 in March. “I told my smart friends, it’s cool that you guys go to Occidental,” the rapper (born Ben Haggerty) told the audience. “It’s diverse and is in L.A., it’s OK.”
Daniel Widener, associate professor of history at UC San Diego and author of Black Arts West: Culture and Struggle in Postwar Los Angeles 1942-1992, delivered the keynote address of the 2012-2013 “LA ArtRising—Black Arts, Culture, and Politics” series last September. Widener’s talk was titled “The Art of Creative Survival: Black Agendas Past and Future.” The series was a joint program of the Black Alumni Organization, the Occidental College Alumni Association, and the Stafford, Ellison, Bowman-Wright Fund—named in honor of Oxy’s first three African-American graduates, members of the Class of 1952.
RUNNING THE NUMBERS: OXY’S CLASS OF 2017 The 552 students who make up the Class of 2017 joined 34 transfers from such schools as Bates, NYU, and Virginia Tech for the start of Oxy’s 127th academic year on Aug. 28, 2013—the first day of classes. A talented and diverse group, they represent 37 states, 24 countries, and hometowns ranging from Tokyo (the world’s largest city, with a population of 33.2 million) to Moretown, Vt. (population: 1,658). Forty-two percent of the class is made up of students of color, including 26 percent coming from underrepresented groups. Twelve percent of first-year students have alumni ties to Oxy, while 8 percent of transfers can claim a similar kinship to the College. Incoming freshmen founded more than 30 organizations for others with such shared interests as animal rights, neuroscience, peace in the Middle East, yoga, “Buffy the Vampire Slayer,” and “Seinfeld” (by a New Yorker, of course). Among transfers, one founded an online vintage clothing store, another presented research on adolescent bullying at a conference, and a third raised money to fund small business ventures for impoverished women in Guatemala.
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OCCIDENTAL COLLEGE
STRATEGIC I N ITIATIVES Connected Community
Oxy aims to build stronger connections back to campus by engaging alumni, parents, friends, and neighbors
An all-star lineup of Oxy grads—and one beloved former professor—returned to campus as Distinguished Alumni Speakers in connection with the College’s 125th-anniversary celebration. The group included: Peter Adamson ’84 (economics), who manages the investment portfolios of Oprah Winfrey’s personal, corporate, and charitable entities. Welz Kaufman ’82 (music), president and CEO of Chicago’s Ravinia Festival, the nation’s oldest outdoor music festival. Richard Lehrer ’66 (philosophy), partner with Greenberg Traurig, one of the county’s top entertainment lawyers and longtime representative of the Rolling Stones. Enrique Lopez ’89 (psychology), a clinical neuropsychologist at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center’s Department of Rehabilitation and psychologist at Cedars-Sinai’s Pain Center. Doug McAdam ’73 (sociology), director of urban studies at Stanford University. Andrea Nieves ’07 (American studies), a Henry Luce Scholar now working for the Commission for the Disappeared and Victims of Violence in Jakarta. Angelica Salas ’93 (history), executive director of the Coalition for Human Immigrant Rights of Los Angeles. Tim Sanford ’75 (theater), artistic director of Playwrights Horizons, the Off-Broadway nonprofit dedicated to the development of playwrights, composers, and lyricists.
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Harvard’s Karen L. King returned to Oxy, where she began her academic career, to give a February 7 talk about her discovery of a fragment of Egyptian papyrus in which Jesus refers to “my wife.”
Randall Schapiro ’66 (biology), president of the Schapiro Multiple Sclerosis Advisory Group and professor emeritus of neurology at the University of Minnesota. Anthony J. Spires ’92 (East Asian languages and cultures), associate director of the Centre for Civil Society Studies and assistant professor of sociology at the Chinese University of Hong Kong.
Alumni Reunion Weekend welcomed 873 alumni and friends to campus in June. Classes celebrating their reunions raised $768,129 for the Annual Fund and $1,030,966 total for the College. The Class of 1963, which celebrated its milestone 50th reunion, contributed $140,466 to the Annual Fund and $196,666 total to the College.
ANNUAL REPORT 2012–2013
When the Flying Karamazov Brothers took the Thorne Hall stage at Oxy on Sept. 14, 2012, it was a personal homecoming for Stephen Bent ’09, second from right, who performs with the juggling troupe under the stage name Zossima. “The performing I get to do with the Karamazovs is deeply infused with joy and playfulness,” Bent says, “and I’m thrilled to be able to share that with my Oxy community.” Selected to replace founding member Howard Jay Patterson while he was still a student at Oxy, Bent did what any true Karamazov would do: He juggled schoolwork with his performance schedule. That’s multi-tasking.
18 million Number of undergraduates currently enrolled in college, according to Commencement speaker Andrew Delbanco, the Mendelson Family Chair of American Studies and Julian Clarence Levi Professor in the Humanities at Columbia University. Addressing the 552 graduates of Occidental’s Class of 2013, he noted, “Only 100,000, or 5 percent, go for a college like yours.”
“I owe a lot to Oxy,” said Sammy Lee ’43. The two-time Olympic gold medalist in platform diving at the 1948 and 1952 Games) was one of eight inductees into the first class of Occidental’s Athletics Hall of Fame during Homecoming & Family Weekend last October. Lee was inducted alongside women’s tennis champion Pat (Henry) Yeomans ’38, Oxy’s first woman to earn a varsity letter, who died in March 2013.
Occidental College Rugby Football Club bulldozed their way through matches with seven top competitors to win the National Small College Rugby Organizations’ National 7’s Championship on June 2. After losing only one match in a round robin-style tournament, they bested the University of North Florida 28-15 in the championship match at Philadelphia’s PPL Park. “The fans and alumni are the backbone of our team. Having their support sets us apart from other college rugby teams,” says Oxy wing Joey “Unicorn” Maloney ’13, a kinesiology major from Sebastopol. “We are not just a rugby team; we are a rugby community made up of players, coaches, fans and family, and it is such a privilege to be a part of this community.”
Oxy extended its social media reach in 2012-2013 with a revamped website, a beefed-up presence on Facebook and Twitter, and the launch of an Instagram page. Among the most popular posts on the latter is campus photographer Marc Campos’ snap of this sweltering squirrel, which garnered 167 likes in August.
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OCCIDENTAL COLLEGE
2012-2013 The Bottom Line Amos Himmelstein, vice president for finance and planning, examines the College’s balance sheet
Under the leadership of the Board of Trustees, President Jonathan Veitch, and the business office, Occidental continues to balance the budget, increase financial support from its alumni and friends of the College, and generate healthy endowment returns. Fiscal year 2013 was one of Oxy’s most successful fundraising years in recent memory. But the College produced solid financial results across the board, as other highlights demonstrate.
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Budget & Financial Planning Occidental’s resources continue to be allocated based on the strategic objectives outlined in its strategic plan. With major donor support, three important capital projects were completed during fiscal year 2013: the $12-million renovation of the interior of historic Johnson Hall as the McKinnon Center for Global Affairs; construction of an innovative $6.8 million, 1-megawatt solar array on a campus hillside (projected to produce more than 10 percent of the College’s power needs); and a $2-million remodeling of a portion of the Johnson Student Center as the Rose Hills Foundation Student Activities Center. Careful planning and pinpoint timing allowed the College to refinance a portion of its bond debt and issue an additional $12 million of new CEFA bond money at a total allin rate of 3.67 percent, resulting in a net present value savings of $2.9 million. Moody’s Investors Service continues to list Occidental with an Aa3 bond rating. Prudent management of scarce resources resulted in an operating surplus of nearly $3 million. This is the fourth year in a row that the College has ended the fiscal year with an operating surplus. Endowment Building Occidental’s endowment—and the operating income it generates—remains one the of College’s top priorities. The endowment’s performance reflected the overall gains in the economy, bringing a return of 12 percent in fiscal year 2013, a dramatic improvement over the essentially flat results seen in fiscal year 2012. Over the previous decade, the endowment has generated a 7.6 percent annualized compound return, as compared to the National Association of College and University Business Officers’ overall mean return of 5.9 percent and the 6 percent average return generated by schools with
Under the leadership of the Board of Trustees and President Jonathan Veitch, Occidental continues produce balanced endowments between $100 million andto$500 million. In budgets, increasing financial support from its alumni and addition, some $6.1 million was added to the endowment friends of the and healthy endowment returns. In from gifts andCollege, other sources. fiscal year 2013, some $21.5 million in gifts and pledges were received—one of Oxy’s most successful fundraising Enrollment years in recent memory. But the Collegepool produced solid Occidental continues to attract a strong of well-qualified financial results on every level, as other highlights demoncandidates. Some 6,135 students applied for admission to the strate. Class of 2017, just slightly under last year’s record-breaking total. Recognized as one of the most diverse liberal arts Budget in the country, students from nearly every state and colleges Occidental’s resources continue to its beworld-class allocated based on 25 countries opt to attend Oxy for academic the strategic objectives outlined in its 2-year-old strategic offerings. In addition to its impressive student population, plan.College With major donor three important capital the continues tosupport, hire some of the country’s best projects were completed during fiscal year 2013: the $TKyoung scholars, including five tenure-track faculty positions million renovation of the interior of historic Johnson Hall as in 2012-2013.
Occidental continues to attract a strong pool of well-qualified candidates from across the country and around the world.
ANNUAL REPORT 2012–2013
1926 The year that Guy Thompson, associate professor of English from 1920 to 1945, built a house at 1815 Campus Road. The newly renovated Guy and Evelyn Thompson House (left to the College by daughter Evelyn [Thompson] Kieffer ‘40 M’43, assistant professor of English from 1944 to 1963) is now home to Jorge Gonzalez, vice president for academic affairs and dean of the College, wife Suzie, and their family.
2013 Operating Expenses 4% Utilities & Insurance 58% Salaries & Benefits
22% Services & Supplies
5% Major Repair & Replace
6% Debt Service
2013 Operating Revenues
5% Cost of Goods Sold
432
4% Other Income 4% Gifts for Operation
16% Endowment Income
Expenses
$ 97,760,598
Revenues
$100,749,740
Expenses
$94,709,499
Revenues
$95,538,232
2013
2012
76% Net Tuition Room & Board
participants in international programs this past year (including Courtney Jones ’14, shown at the Berlin Wall’s East Side Gallery). Gifts to the College enabled 259 students to study abroad, 76 international students to attend Oxy, 8 students to conduct research abroad, 15 scholars to work at interns in Oxy’s United Nations program, 35 students to participate in Campaign Semester, and 39 students to partake in other global projects.
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OCCIDENTAL COLLEGE
2012-2013 The Year in Giving Shelby Radcliffe reflects on a year of transformational gifts, and the personal joy reflected in a donor’s generosity
Shelby Radcliffe is Occidental’s vice president for institutional advancement.
1,187 First-time donors to Oxy (out of 7,631 donors) in fiscal year 2013. Their support represented $2,650,442 in gifts to the College. (Alumni shared the above sentiments at Reunion Weekend in June.)
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The numbers don’t lie: The generosity of Occidental alumni, parents, and friends made 2012-2013 a very good year for the College. A total of $21.5 million in gifts and pledges exceeded our goal by a comfortable margin and represented a significant increase over the previous year. On their most basic level, these numbers represent a vote of confidence in the College and the liberal arts. They will fund greater scholarship support for talented, hard-working undergraduates. They will make it possible to send more Occidental students to have life-changing experiences studying overseas. They will underwrite the mentoring that helps produce dozens of winners of prestigious scholarships and fellowships every year. They will help equip and train the scholar-athletes who pursue what former President Ted Mitchell called “the sweatiest of the liberal arts.” Yet as one alumnus made clear to us this past year, these numbers represent something more profound as well. My colleagues and I were in the midst of a conversation on how best to recognize this individual’s generosity, when he called to thank us for helping him imagine what was possible. From his perspective, his was a gift that would not only help transform the College, but would help transform his own life as well. For a fundraiser, there is no higher praise than this—to know that a gift came from a place of personal joy. It is outcomes like this that let us know we are on the right track, as much as what the numbers show. The vision of President Jonathan Veitch, the Board of Trustees, and Occidental’s superb faculty is worth investing in, with substantial benefits that accrue to the donor as well as the College, both tangible and intangible.
36% Increase in number of leadership gifts of $2,500 or more from current Oxy parents. Leading the volunteer effort were Parents Association co-presidents Wellner and Mark Tremallo P’12 P’15 (above, surrounded by members of the 2012 O-Team).
One of Oxy’s great strengths is the professor/ student ratio in the classroom. Our kids have had lengthy and daily contact at Oxy with their professors, not with teaching assistants or teaching fellows. That is just about as good as it gets in higher education. Mark & Wellner Tremallo P’12 P’15
Gift to the Parents Fund
ANNUAL REPORT 2012–2013
846
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Gift Receipts by Source (Total: $18,656,479) Alumni
$ 12,076,245
Parents
$
783,160
Friends
$
988,268
Faculty, Staff, and Administration
$
53,208
Bequests
$
464,679
Trusts
$
162,693
Corporations
$
440,456
Foundations
$ 3,662,692
Other
$
Percentage of Oxy students participating in one or more of the College’s 21 NCAA Division III intercollegiate teams as well as club and intramural sports. $543,378 in gifts to Tiger Club provided significant support of these scholar-athletes in FY13, including women’s basketball standout Makenzie Brandon ’13, two-time SCIAC Player of the Year and Oxy’s all-time leading scorer (1,592).
25,080
Total trustee giving in 2012-2013 was $8,538,522, which includes $3,925,334 in influenced gifts through foundations and corporations.
Gift Receipts by Kind (Total: $18,656,479)
24% Endowment
Annual Scholarship Donors
281 Endowed Scholarship Donors
349 Number of endowed and annual scholarships available at Occidental to provide financial assistance to 78 percent of the student body. These scholarships, together with other forms of financial aid administered by Oxy, added up to more than $38 million in FY13.
3% Current Funds Restricted-Athletics
13% Current Funds Restricted 8% Annuity & Life Income
4% Current Restricted Scholarships
130 participants in Oxy’s Undergraduate Summer Research Program in 2013. The generosity of individuals and foundations underwrote the 10-week program for students such as Fernando Zepeda ’14, who worked on a sociological study of local law enforcement.
15% Current Funds Unrestricted 32% Capital 1% Other
With this report, Occidental gratefully acknowledges gifts and gift commitments received from July 1, 2012, to June 30, 2013. Information contained in these pages is accurate as of July 15, 2013 (the figures provided are audited). In the preparation of such reports, errors occasionally occur despite our best efforts. We welcome your corrections. Please notify the Office of Annual Giving (800-359-9151, annualgiving@oxy.edu).
(Plant, Building, Equipment, etc.)
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OCCIDENTAL COLLEGE
The Power of Giving Thousands of alumni and friends support Occidental each year— here are just a few of the reasons why
David Cropper ’85 P’13 was raised to appreciate the value of giving back. The practice took on greater meaning when his son, Brian, enrolled at Occidental. “We’ve always had that philosophy in our family, but I hadn’t given much money to Oxy,” says David (left, with his wife, Joni, and Brian at Commencement last May). “I’d always been sort of a William Stuart Young Society giver.” But in a challenging economic and job climate, Cropper found a new way to make a difference, in the form of a $25,000 gift to Oxy’s Career Development Center. David was responding to President Veitch’s call to improve and expand career services at Oxy to help students transition from classroom to career. “We have these people who are really good thinkers and talkers and they’re great leaders, but sometimes that can be hard to translate into the job world,” Cropper says. “It’s a good time to invest in a career center.” Cropper, a Bay Area real estate developer, was a double major in English and religious studies. Brian also majored in religious studies, and both father and son shared an adviser in Dale Wright, the David B. and Mary H. Gamble Professor in Religion. Brian is now pursuing a master’s degree in theological studies at Harvard Divinity School. “Along with a liberal arts education is career readiness,” Cropper says. “This is a really cool opportunity to provide that.”
I am committed to maintaining an annual gift to Occidental to help ensure its long-term success. Kathy (Myles) Thibodeaux ’83
Gift to the Annual Fund
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Oxy was a generous and thoughtful sponsor of a quality education I wouldn’t have received otherwise. I would like to contribute to that same legacy on behalf of today’s Oxy students. Gregorio Medina ’97
Gift to the Annual Fund
As parents of a child with learning differences, Jane (Zimmerman) Ettinger ’81 and her husband, Robert, know firsthand that student success in the classroom isn’t a one-size-fits-all proposition. “It used to be that there was one way to give information in a classroom. Some kids would get it and some wouldn’t,” says Ettinger, a former school librarian. “Now it’s understood that there are different learning modalities and different ways of teaching. Students need an environment in which their learning styles are understood and not considered a liability.” To that end, the South Pasadena couple made a $125,000 gift to establish the Ettinger Family Endowed Fund for Supporting Learning Differences at Occidental College. The fund will help operate programs offered by the College’s Disabilities Service Office and the Center for Academic Excellence. Those programs currently give Oxy staff and faculty a better understanding of learning differences, in addition to testing and diagnosing students. “We decided to focus our giving to this particular area because it is vital to the well-being of a diverse campus, and we feel strongly that no college student should fall behind simply because his or her brain works in a nontraditional way,” Ettinger says. “I’m grateful that we are able to help finance these efforts, and I’m confident that they’ll make a difference.”
Thanks to an Oxy annuity established by her father, Enid Busser ’58 is able to enjoy the finer things in life. Like roller skating. The retired Long Beach resident has been skating since 1995, and she’s unofficially the oldest roller skater in California and Arizona. “My dad did well enough and retired at 55,” says Busser, second from left. “He set up these annuities that allowed me and my sister to retire if we wanted. It made a major difference in my life, so I thought I would continue the process for my own daughters.” Annuities, which provide tax benefits, allow donors to designate a beneficiary who receives fixed income for life. When the benefactor dies, the balance of the gift passes to Occidental. In Busser’s case, the money will establish scholarships in the biology department. Busser this year established three charitable remainder trusts that will benefit daughters Sara, Katherine, and Elizabeth during their lifetimes. The money ultimately will go toward the Enid Arozena ’58 Endowed Scholarship Fund. For Busser, a former medical researcher and social worker, giving to the College is a matter of principle. “It helps society to have people well educated and able to give back,” she says. “I particularly appreciate Oxy’s diverse student body and the fact that they make an effort to keep it diverse.”
ANNUAL REPORT 2012–2013
In both the United States and China, the impact of business on the environment is an ongoing debate. Thanks to a $400,000 grant from the Henry Luce Foundation, Occidental has an important voice in the discussion. “This is putting students directly in the field to do research, as well as giving them exposure to different collaborations that we’re developing,” says Bob Gottlieb, the Henry R. Luce Professor of Urban Environmental Studies and director of the Urban and Environmental Policy Institute. Oxy students and counterparts in Asia are busy collecting data on hazardous airborne particulate matter—generated by cars and trains, for example. “There’s this exchange of information and techniques that are forcing the hand of the policymakers to start addressing the problem,” Gottlieb says. The four-year grant is funded by the foundation’s Luce Initiative on Asian Studies and the Environment, which allows the College to expand its partnerships with academic and nonprofit institutions in Hong Kong and Nanjing, develop academic content on China and the environment, and establish innovative communitybased research and classroom programs. Funding allows Oxy faculty from various disciplines to develop new courses for students to increase their knowledge of China and its environmental issues. Students also will have study abroad and research opportunities. “The funding is critical,” Gottlieb says. “We wouldn’t be able to do quite the range of connections without it.”
All good comes from the kindness I felt as part of the Oxy family! Jan Joseph Perez Marte ’99
Someone helped pay for my Oxy education through scholarships. I want to pay it forward. Tim Park ’95
Gift to Men’s Basketball
Like many before her, Maribel (Rios) Louie ’97 found true love at Occidental. But that’s not the only reason she and husband Andrew Louie ’95 hold such an affinity for the College. “The experience that we had there was so unique and it’s such an important time in a person’s life as they’re coming into adulthood,” Maribel says. “It really provided us an amazing environment to involve and develop ourselves. It was a time in our life that can’t be replicated anywhere else.” The pair, who met at Stearns Hall and got married on campus, have made gifts to the annual fund since graduating—Maribel with a degree in public policy, Andrew in psychobiology (he’s now an emergency-room physician). They recently upgraded to leadership Annual Fund donors. Their reasons for supporting Oxy extend beyond the classroom. “Given how the College structures the cultural environment, but also the extracurricular environment, there’s so much value,” Maribel says. “We wanted to support Occidental as an institution, so it could continue doing this for others.” Maribel, meanwhile, draws daily on her Occidental experience. “It’s part of what sets me apart in the workplace,” she says. “There’s a heavy emphasis on analysis, asking questions, public speaking, and writing—skills you find at Oxy.”
As a somewhat confused 19-year-old political science major with no math/science background, I was encouraged by the faculty at Oxy to pursue my seemingly deluded path to become a physician. I’ve been a family physician for 26 years now, and feel I owe my success to the gentle guidance that my professors at Oxy gave me long ago. Michael D. Good ’79
Gift to the Annual Fund
During her four years working for TeleFund, Deanna Dupuy ’13 says the experience felt as much like chatting with old friends as it did generating gifts for the College. “For me, it was about talking to alumni and having a connection with them,” she says. “I was basically talking to people who had similar experiences as I. We all have one big thing in common, and that’s Occidental. I got to hear all kinds of awesome stories. I really enjoyed it.” One of those connections was alumnus Bob Schoonover ’70, who, like Dupuy, ran track at the College. From their first TeleFund conversation, the pair stayed in touch, and Schoonover even traveled from his Rhode Island home this year to watch Dupuy finish third in the 1,500 in the conference championship. “He had lunch with me and a couple of teammates at the Marketplace. It was very sweet,” says Dupuy, who is teaching reading in Dallas as part of Teach For America. “He said talking to me really recharged his interest in Oxy track.” Dupuy was one of 35 students to make TeleFund calls during the last academic year. All told, students made nearly 2,000 thank-you calls to donors. Dupuy, in particular, had reason to be thankful. “I would not have been able to attend Oxy without the support of alumni contributions,” she says.
Gift to Kinesiology Department
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OCCIDENTAL COLLEGE
BOARD OF TRUSTEES 2013-2014 Peter Adamson ’84 Chief Investment Officer O.W. Management LLC Patricia L. Alireza ’94 Director Cambridge Pressure Cells David H. Anderson ’63 Attorney (retired) Carl A. Ballton ’69 Senior Vice President Union Bank David W. Berkus ’62 P’95 President Berkus Technology Ventures LLC John G. Branca ’72 Partner Ziffren, Brittenham, Branca, Fischer, Gilbert-Luire, Stiffelman & Cook LLP Eileen Anisgarten Brown ’73 Real Estate Developer Brown’s Building Blocks Christopher C. Calkins ’67, Chair President Carltas Co. Anne Cannon ’74 Independent Financial Adviser and CPA Don R. Conlan President (retired) The Capital Group Companies Inc. Jennifer Townsend Crosthwaite ’84 National Bank Examiner Comptroller of the Currency Bill Davis ’84 President Southern California Public Radio
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Hector De La Torre ’89 Vice President of Communications & Government Relations Free Conferencing Corp. Gloria Duffy ’75 President & CEO Commonwealth Club Louise Dungan Edgerton ’67 Secretary, Treasurer & Director Edgerton Foundation John R. Farmer P’98 Senior Director Goldman Sachs Gary Steven Findley ’76 President Gary Steven Findley & Associates Charles D. Gold ’89 Principal/Leadership Coach Champions for Growth J. Eugene Grigsby III ’66 President & CEO National Health Foundation Ronald R. Hahn Chairman Lotus Separations, LLC Fred Hameetman ’61 Chairman American Group
Barbara Kemp P’04 Manhattan Prosecutor (retired) Crime Reduction Programs Naomi Kurata Co-founder & Director Proteus Energy Corp. Charlene Conrad Liebau Director College Counseling Services Gordon MacInnes ’63 Lecturer & Senior Education Policy Expert (retired) Woodrow Wilson School Susan Howell Mallory ’76 M’78 Banking Practice Executive, Wealth Management Northern Trust Janet N. McIntyre ’96 Executive Coach Robert H. Neithart ’87 Executive Vice President & Director Capital International Research Inc. Joan A. Payden President & CEO Payden & Rygel Adam D. Portnoy '93 President & CEO Reit Management & Research LLC
Octavio V. Herrera ’98 Executive Vice President & Co-founder AlphaGenius Inc.
John B. Power ’58 Partner (retired) O’Melveny & Myers
Stephen F. Hinchliffe Jr. ’55 Chairman & CEO The Leisure Group Inc.
Steven R. Robinson ’77 President SRR Trading LLC
Asad Jumabhoy ’84 Director Global Refund Group
Stephen D. Rountree ’71 President & CEO Los Angeles Music Center
John Keister ’89 Angel Investor/Board Member/ Adviser
Rick Rugani ’75 Independent Financial Adviser (retired)
Janette Sadik-Khan ’82 Commissioner New York City Department of Transportation
TRUSTEES EMERITI Ronald J. Arnault President RJA Consultants
Reid G. Samuelson ’72 Director Samuelson Partners
Harry W. Colmery Jr. Vice President Capital Guardian Trust Co.
Catherine Young Selleck ’55 President & CEO (retired) Metaphor Inc.
Alice Walker Duff ’69 President HMWorks
Andrea L. Van de Kamp Consultant Andrea Van de Kamp Consulting Services
Walter B. Gerken Chairman & CEO (retired) Pacific Life Insurance Co.
Christopher Varelas ’85 Partner Riverwood Capital EX OFFICIO Jonathan Veitch President Occidental College Raymond S. Yen ’82 President Board of Governors PRESIDENTS EMERITI Richard C. Gilman Theodore R. Mitchell John Brooks Slaughter Robert A. Skotheim CHAIRS EMERITI Dennis A. Collins P’94 President & CEO (retired) The James Irvine Foundation Virginia Goss Cushman ’55 Civic Volunteer Irwin S. Field Chairman & CEO Liberty Vegetable Oil Co. Peter W. Mullin Chairman & CEO Mullin Consulting Inc.
Stafford R. Grady Vice Chairman Emeritus Sullivan Group Allen B. Gresham ’53 P’85 P’86 Attorney Gresham, Savage, Nolan & Tilden John T. Knox ’49 P’84 Partner Nossaman, Gunther, Knox & Elliott Allen W. Mathies Jr. President Emeritus Huntington Memorial Hospital Ian McKinnon ’89 Managing Partner Ziff Brothers Investments Kristine A. Morris ’76 Partner (retired) Morris & Berger Catherine A. Burcham Pepe ’64 Partner (retired) O’Melveny & Myers David H. Roberts ’67 Retired Citibank/Citigroup Jack D. Samuelson ’46 P’72 P’77 Partner Samuelson Partners
Rosemary Bernheim Simmons ’53 Former Councilmember San Marino S. Tod White ’59 Founder & CEO (retired) Blessing/White Inc. Charles E. Young Chancellor Emeritus UCLA
ALUMNI ASSOCIATION BOARD OF GOVERNORS 2013-2014 Carlos E. Aguilar ’98 Monica D. Banken ’99 Lauren E. Beglin ’04 Patricia (Wilson) Brugman ’78 Alexander J. Candia ’04 David A. Carpenter ’59 Leslie (Bolt) Dennis ’66 Anne H. Egerton ’76 Danielle (Mantooth) Gordon ’10 Jeffrey D. Grosvenor ’04 Jay C. Hansen ’85 Shawn (Lovell) Hanson ’83 P'11 Louis C. Hook ’80 Daniel Kang ’94 Daniel B. Klink ’97 Amy W. Laslett ’08 Lisa (Kanes) Mandel ’81 P'14 Shumway Marshall ’05 J. Michael Mathis ’78 Charles McClintock ’68 Peter M. Polydor ’09 Ana Ramos-Sanavio ’93 Angelica Salas ’93 Susan (Watson) Tierney ’57 P’86 P’89 Frank Van Der Baan ’67 Peter C. Wright ’05 Raymond S. Yen ’82, President Jody A. Yoxsimer ’82
Editor Dick Anderson Director of Communications Jim Tranquada Associate Vice President for Strategic Initiatives Brett Schraeder Director of Stewardship Miki J. Springsteen ’86 Photography Marc Campos* Design SanSoucie Design Printing Diversified Litho Services Published by Occidental College Office of Communications F-36 1600 Campus Road Los Angeles CA 90041-3314 oxy.edu Printed on Recycled Paper *Additional photography by Dennis Davis (page 11) and Kirby Lee (pages 5, 23). Besemer exhibit photo (page 13) by Jamie Kingham, courtesy Nevada Museum of Art.
OCCIDENTAL COLLEGE 1600 Campus Road Los Angeles CA 90041-3314
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