OCCIDENTAL COLLEGE 2013-2014 ANNUAL REPORT
DANCE PRODUCTION From belly-dancing to Bollywood, from hula to hip-hop, Dance Production is the most popular and widely attended event on campus. The 66th annual performance showcased the talents of more than 200 students, as well as faculty, staff, and alumni brave enough to hit the boards.
ANNUAL REPORT 2013-2014
CONTENTS
2 From Jonathan Veitch Oxy’s 15th president on extending his contract through 2020 and building on the College’s institutional momentum. 4 A Decade of Generosity Ten transformative years have turned old buildings into models of 21st-century learning; introduced new professors and programs; and matriculated record numbers of talented, curious, and engaging students. 6 Awards & Athletics From laboratories and classrooms to fields, courts, and stadiums— as well as the world at large—students, faculty, and alumni make the College proud. STRATEGIC INITIATIVES 8 Curricular and Scholarly Transformations Fostering innovation in core and disciplinary curricula engages Oxy students in integrated intellectual inquiry. 10 Partnerships: Los Angeles & Beyond Oxy taps into the culture, institutions, issues, and politics of the City of Angels, while spreading its wings nationwide through an engaged alumni and parents network. 12 Global Culture Through academics, community engagement, admission, research, and service, faculty and staff bring the world to Oxy. 14 Inclusive Excellence Oxy is committed to providing a welcoming community for students, faculty, staff, and visitors who embrace and embody diversity. 16 Connected Community You asked, we listened: Oxy strengthens its ties to alumni and parents by giving you what you want. 18 Living & Learning Crossing generations with thought-provoking presentations, Oxy’s inaugural TEDx conference explores the hows and whys of reinventing the American Dream. 20 2013-2014 The Bottom Line Amos Himmelstein, vice president for finance and planning, examines the College’s endowment. 22 The Year in Giving Shelby Radcliffe reflects on the measures of success for the advancement office—and the pride that comes with an Oxy connection. 24 Board of Trustees/Alumni Board of Governors
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From Jonathan Veitch Oxy’s 15th president on extending his contract through 2020 and building on the College’s institutional momentum
In 2009, when I was first interviewing for the job, I was struck by the love and dedication that Occidental inspired in people. Now I am one of those people. This year, with the full support of the Board of Trustees, I signed on for another term as president. I am humbled by the opportunity to continue to lead the College. I am proud of what we—faculty, students, alumni, staff, and trustees—have accomplished. I am grateful to the thousands of donors whose generosity has underwritten our success. And I am excited about what the future holds for Oxy. This year we completed the transformation of Johnson Hall into the McKinnon Center for Global Affairs. The McKinnon Center is a model for Oxy’s future—a compelling synthesis of technology, architecture, design, teaching, and curriculum that makes our commitment to world affairs visible. Combined with the endowment of the College’s United Nations program by Elizabeth and Bill Kahane ’70, it’s fair to say that Occidental now ranks as one of the very best liberal arts colleges in this field. Now we are laying plans to do the same in urban affairs—the other centerpiece of our strategic plan, and a natural source of strength for an institution located in one of the world’s great cities. Above all, our primary goal is to continue to build a strong endowment to ensure Oxy’s excellence for many years to come. As these pages show, our institutional momentum continues to build thanks to your support. More than ever, I am convinced that a liberal arts education—specifically, an Oxy education—helps our graduates navigate the complexity of modern life through meaningful careers, active citizenship, and rich, introspective lives. Jonathan Veitch President
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2009 President-elect Jonathan Veitch addresses a Fifty Year Club gathering (as President Robert Skotkeim looks on) in Johnson 200.
ANNUAL REPORT 2013-2014
2014 Same room, different view: President Veitch celebrates the dedication of the new Choi Auditorium in the former Johnson 200 space.
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A Decade of Generosity 2004-2014 The last decade has been a transformative one at Occidental, thanks to you. Old buildings have blossomed into models of 21st-century learning. New professors and programs have built on the College’s strengths. And our remarkably talented, globally curious, and always engaging students have matriculated in record numbers. We are grateful to you, as an Occidental supporter. Your generous gifts, large and small, have helped transform their dreams into reality.
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PATTERSON FIELD Resurfaced 2005 Home to the Tigers’ football program since 1916, Patterson Field now serves as the home field for the women’s lacrosse program. Both men’s and women’s soccer teams play a number of games on the turf during the course of their respective seasons as well. Thanks to the generosity of nearly three dozen Tiger Club faithful, the natural grass that covered the field was replaced with FieldTurf, the safest, longest-lasting, and highestperforming artificial turf system used in sports. In summer 2010, the FieldTurf was upgraded.
JOHN PARKE YOUNG CHAIR IN GLOBAL POLITICAL ECONOMY Established 2006 Marie Young, 89, was the widow of 1917 Oxy graduate John Parke Young—a distinguished international economist, former chair of the College’s economics department. After Marie Young’s death in 2006, the couple’s $11-million estate was left to Oxy, funding an endowed professorship (held by Sanjeev Khagram, pictured, since 2012) as well as programs “designed to promote national or international economic, social, financial, or political policies or actions of general public and social benefit.”
BERKUS HALL Completed 2007 Dedicated September 2013 Oxy’s largest and most popular dormitory is named in recognition of a gift from Kathleen and David Berkus ’62 and their family to create a new technology endowment. As chairman of the Board’s buildings and grounds committee, Dave played a major role in the development of the building, which opened its doors as Rangeview Hall in 2007.
THE AHMANSON FOUNDATION READING ROOM Renovated 2007 This popular research and study space offers a glimpse into the future of the Academic Commons @ the Mary Norton Clapp Library. The library renovation is part of a 20-year College master plan, adopted in 2006, that will guide future campus development.
ANNUAL REPORT 2013-2014
SAMUELSON ALUMNI CENTER Dedicated April 2012 Named for its visionary builder, Jack Samuelson ’46, and his wife, Sally (Reid) Samuelson ’48, Oxy’s first permanent home for alumni engagement marries the timeless influences of Myron Hunt with the contemporary accoutrements of a green facility (such as extra insulation, photovoltaic skylights, and LED lighting). “We built it to last for 100 years,” says Samuelson, whose lifelong vocation began with the treehouses he built with his brother.
SWAN HALL Dedicated October 2012 Designed as a men’s dorm by Myron Hunt and converted to office use in 1960, Swan Hall was remodeled and expanded in 2013 at a cost of $19.9 million. In addition to renovating the original building, a new 22,500-square-foot wing was designed by architect Brian R. Bloom to house six academic departments: American studies, English and comparative literary studies, history, politics, psychology, and sociology.
THE ROSE HILLS FOUNDATION STUDENT ACTIVITIES CENTER Completed August 2013 Oxy’s new hub of student interaction “is key to the College’s holistic mission of living and learning,” says President Veitch. The Student Life offices support more than 100 student organizations, six fraternities and sororities, student-run business operations, and student government. A new Community in Action suite underscores the College’s relationship with Los Angeles.
McKINNON CENTER FOR GLOBAL AFFAIRS Dedicated April 2014 At the heart of the McKinnon Center is the Global Crossroads, a two-story multi-screen media installation driven by a custom Web application that serves as a public forum for sharing projects on matters of global relevance—a powerful digital tool that allows students to take a cross-curricular, multimedia approach to international issues.
CHOI AUDITORIUM Dedicated April 2014 Renovated in 2013 with the latest digital technology, the former Johnson 200 now gives Oxy a showcase space for major speakers and events, and a spiffy new classroom as well.
For more about A Decade of Generosity, turn to page 23.
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Awards & Athletics Faculty and students make Oxy proud with accolades, advances, and academic excellence
Occidental broke its own record for most Fulbright award winners in a year: 13. Fulbright winners with an English teaching assistantship include: Jacqueline Ayala ’14 of Fort Bragg (who traveled to Mexico); Asha Canady ’12 of Sacramento (Greece); Alexandra Loomer ’14 of Burbank (Ecuador); Nicholas Nam ’13 of Edmonds, Wash. (Turkey); Pablo Romano ’14 of Santa Clarita (Argentina); and Juliet Suess ’14 of Chicago (Germany). Fulbright winners conducting study/research abroad are: Tania Flores ’13 of Chico (who traveled to Spain); Kristina Geiger ’14 (pictured, above) of Fairlawn, Ohio (Switzerland); Ryan Metzler ’14 of Doylestown, Pa. (New Zealand); Jason Prebel ’14 of Kaneohe, Hawaii (New Zealand); Pauline Shoemaker ’12 of Arlington, Va. (Bangladesh); Lauren Siverly ’14 of Federal Way, Wash. (Argentina); and Haiyun (Julie) Xu ’14 of Northville, Mich. (Mexico).
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Henry Dickmeyer ’15, an economics major from Seattle, received the American Educational Research Association Fellowship Award. Dickmeyer participated in the AERA Undergraduate Student Education Research Training Workshop in Philadelphia in April.
A record four Oxy grads— Jordan Dias ’14, Gregory Earnest ’14 (hugging Dean of Students Barbara Avery at Commencement), Estrella Lucero ’14, and Jennifer Pope ’08—were selected to participate in the Coro Fellows Program in Public Affairs— a full-time, nine-month, graduate-level leadershiptraining program.
Mario Castillo ’13, a diplomacy and world affairs major from Downey, participated in a monthlong program in Europe in summer 2014 as a recipient of the Humanity in Action Fellowship.
Christina Seyfried ’15, an economics and diplomacy and world affairs double major from Vienna, Austria, was selected as a Davis Project for Peace recipient. Seyfried and Stephane Kattie from UC San Diego spent last summer in Ghana implementing their project, Let There Be Light.
Cecilia Prator ’12 and Kosa Kendall Goucher-Lambert ’11 received National Science Foundation Graduate Fellowships. Prator, a biology major, is pursuing a Ph.D. in environmental science at UC Berkeley. Goucher-Lambert, a physics major, is pursuing a doctorate in mechanical engineering at Carnegie Mellon in Pittsburgh.
Three Oxy juniors—Jarron Brady of St. Louis, Samarah Jackson of Lancaster, and Kerry Sakimoto of Honolulu— were named Public Policy and International Affairs Fellows at UC Berkeley. The PPIA Fellowship Program prepares participants from diverse backgrounds for graduate studies in public affairs or international affairs and grooms them for professional roles in public service.
Anton Molina ’15, a physics and chemistry major from Daly City, received a 2014 Barry M. Goldwater Scholarship—the 36th Oxy student to win a Goldwater since 1990.
ANNUAL REPORT 2013-2014
During his 26 years on the faculty, Tetsuo Otsuki— known throughout the Oxy community as Dr. O— mentored more than 100 Oxy students who became physicians, dentists, chemists, and scientists. Before his death in 2012, the former Bertha Harton Orr Professor of Chemistry endowed the Dr. O Humanitarian Award to recognize an individual for his or her extra efforts and outreach to enhance the life of the Oxy community. Dean of the College Jorge Gonzalez presented the award to Carolyn Adams, left, the longtime executive assistant in the dean’s office, at the April 18 dedication ceremony for Dr. O’s Garden, located in front of Norris Hall of Chemistry.
Halfway through the race, with a second consecutive NCAA Championship in the 200 breaststroke on the line, Occidental star swimmer Steven van Deventer ’15 was in fourth. But he had a patient strategy: “Long and smooth first 100 (yards), with five strokes per length, and then sprint the final 100 to bring it home.” He subsequently blew past the rest of the field, winning his second consecutive national championship in the event, while setting the SCIAC record and posting the second-best time in Division III history in the process—four-tenths of a second from the national record. He’ll have one more shot at Rory Buck’s 2011 record of 1:57.79 next season. Van Deventer (above, left) earned All-American honors alongside senior classmates Caroline Chang (women’s 200 breaststroke, center) and Jessica Robson (3-meter diving).
Sophomore running back Kwame Do set a new Oxy record for rushing yards in a single season (1,325), eclipsing the previous mark of 1,084 yards set 45 years earlier by Gene Moore ’69. Do led the SCIAC in rushing with 158.4 yards per game and earned first team AllConference honors for the Tigers, who went 5-4 (4-3 SCIAC) in Doug Semones’ first season as head coach.
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STRATEGIC INITIATIVES Curricular & Scholarly Transformations Fostering innovation in core and disciplinary curricula engages Oxy students in integrated intellectual inquiry In her second year as director, Kristi Upson-Saia has made some significant strides in Oxy’s Center for Teaching Excellence. Bolstered by a five-year pledge from the Linda and Tod White Charitable Fund, the CTE has vastly increased the number and breadth of faculty learning communities and resources to improve pedagogical methods, approaches, and strategies. Biology faculty meet to develop and coordinate 100-level courses and align assignments in their 200-level courses to ensure consistency across the curriculum. A “Greek Tragedy” faculty teaching group links courses in the theater, English, and classics departments. Reading and research groups have given faculty of color a forum to share their experiences in an effort to improve the campus climate. And the Whites’ generosity has allowed Upson-Saia, an associate professor of religious studies who came to Oxy in 2006, an additional course release to not only run the CTE programs but consult with many faculty members about their approach to teaching—troubleshooting problems and designing innovative class projects. With the support of a $750,000 grant from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, components of the College’s first-year general education Core program were re-envisioned as Cultural Studies Program “Labs.” The result is an array of team-taught classes addressing some of the big questions of human existence—from immigration to revolutions, from the environment to urban living, from the concept of health and the practice of medicine to the culture of food. “I think students have this idea of ‘This is what I’m going to be’ when they get to college,” says associate professor of economics Bevin Ashenmiller, who is teaching the six-unit California Environment Semester this fall. “Our goal is to make them question that.”
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“Occidental College offers exactly what my son needs. He is motivated by the challenging intellectual environment, yet supported by the small class size, excellent professors and beautiful campus.” —GWYN SAYLOR P’15, PORTLAND, ORE. OXY ANNUAL FUND SUPPORTER
ANNUAL REPORT 2013-2014
A $400,000 National Science Foundation grant will allow Oxy’s Moore Laboratory for Zoology to purchase modern white steel cases that will better protect the specimens against pests; to fund student and staff work on updating the scientific names of the specimens, which are out of date and impeding research; and to develop a new website that will better highlight the collection and its research and educational uses. Established in 1950, the Lab’s collection contains 62,382 bird and 2,158 mammal specimens, placing it among the world’s largest research natural history collections. “This is a game-changer for the Moore Lab,” says John McCormack, director and curator of birds and mammals at the Lab and assistant professor of biology.
At Occidental, which used nearly 79.4 million gallons of water in 2012, a yearlong initiative in 2013-14 forced students and faculty alike to consider the fate—and their role therein—of the planet’s most vital resource. The effort tied in to the 100th anniversary of the Los Angeles Aqueduct, a seminal moment in the city’s growth and prosperity, as well as the United Nations’ International Year of Water Cooperation, an attempt to raise awareness on the challenges facing water management globally. A 12-student Global Water Task Force created by Sanjeev Khagram, Occidental’s John Parke Young Chair in Global Political Economy, has worked with clients in the U.N. Development Program, researching water
infrastructure and sanitation in countries in west and central Africa, Southeast Asia, and Latin America. Lack of water for sanitation has exposed 2 billion people worldwide to health risks, says Khagram, adding that water challenges common to the developing world could easily surface in the United States. While Oxy long has promoted environmental sustainability, the water initiative marks the first time the College has attached a campuswide theme to an academic year. “The future of water—and the future of anything, really—demands multiple perspectives,” says John Swift, professor of English and comparative literary studies and director of the Core general studies program. “We’re trying to bring interdisciplinary perspectives to bear on important issues, and I think it’s the best way to think of anything of importance. It has seemed to work the way we wanted it to by producing these many different kinds of conversations.”
The Occidental College Glee Club ushered in 2014 by embarking on a nine-day magical history tour of Spain and Portugal in January, performing in cathedrals, palaces, and other historic venues across the Iberian Peninsula. Highlights included singing for Mass at the Royal Church of Los Jerónimos in Madrid, a joint concert with Spanish college students in Córdoba, another Mass as the guest choir at the Cathedral in Sevilla, and a concert at Palacio Foz in Lisbon. “One of the best parts of touring is singing our musical selections in new and unfamiliar venues with different acoustics,” says director of choral music Desiree LaVertu. “Another great part of the touring adventure is the bonding that takes place among the students as they spend so much time together.” The tour was made possible with the help of three endowments.
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STRATEGIC INITIATIVES Partnerships: Los Angeles & Beyond Oxy taps into the culture, institutions, issues, and politics of the City of Angels, while spreading its wings nationwide through an engaged alumni and parents network Alida Beck ’15, a politics major from Portland, Ore., worked as a paid intern at Cogan Owens Cogan, a land-use planning and community engagement firm in Portland. All totaled, 40 undergraduates worked Oxy-funded summer internships in Los Angeles and Portland through Occidental’s Career Development Center, thanks to the generosity of trustee Joan Payden and others. The program began with six internships in 2006.
Native American arts and culture expert Nancy Marie Mithlo was selected for a unique new joint appointment at Occidental and the Autry National Center. Beginning in fall 2014, Mithlo will teach art courses as an associate professor while also working at the Autry in program development, exhibition planning, and community outreach. At least one of her courses will involve training students to use the resources at the Autry.
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In collaboration with the Children’s Rights Project and the Autry Museum, Spanish for Native Speakers (taught by Felisa Guillén, professor of Spanish and French studies, left) allows students to improve their linguistic competency by applying their native language skills and the knowledge acquired in class to the translation of authentic documents in academic, scientific, artistic, and legal fields outside of Occidental.
Managed through the Career Development Center, bridge partnership programs have become a fully immersive and hands-on experience for students and recent graduates ambitiously pursuing greater career discernment and training. The Fullbridge Program, based in Boston, and Koru, based in Seattle, have both partnered with Occidental to offer their services. Integrated with personalized coaching, world-class content, and employer access, these programs provide the tools necessary to succeed in the 21st-century global workplace. In 2013-14, 17 students participated in the Fullbridge Program and three in Koru.
ANNUAL REPORT 2013-2014
Ryan Metzler ’14, an art history and visual arts/media arts and culture major from Doylestown, Pa., was a national finalist in the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences’ 41st Annual Student Academy Awards—the second Oxy student to reach the finals in as many years. His 10-minute documentary Eth“No”Representation (featuring Mary Lou Rock, pictured) explores the misrepresentation of Native Americans in mainstream media, inspired by a junior year semester in New Zealand and internships at the Autry National Center that gave him access to Native Voices, a local Native American theater troupe.
Leslie Trim and Iraj Vojdani (with their son, Reza Vojdani ’14) of Portland, Ore., have made a $100,000 donation to Oxy’s Center for Graduate and Professional Success. The Vojdanis have been a part of the effort to shape and sustain the Career Development Center’s PDX Internship program.
Textile artist and fashion designer Liz Collins and her troupe of artisan-knitters transformed the steps between Johnson and Fowler halls at the heart of the Occidental campus into Knitting Nation Phase 12: H2O, a day-long, site-specific, carefully choreographed performance involving literally miles of yarn. The project made its West Coast debut Nov. 6, 2013, as part of Collins’ two-week stay as the College’s first Wanlass Artist-in-Residence. A $91,225 grant from the Kathryn Caine Wanlass Charitable Foundation will fund visiting artists and provide important studio equipment at Occidental over a two-year period. 11
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STRATEGIC Global CultureINITIATIVES Through academics, community engagement, admission, research, and service, faculty and staff bring the world to Oxy
Occidental dedicated its new McKinnon Center for Global Affairs on April 26, 2014, with dozens of students demonstrating how global awareness informs their work—many of them using the innovative technology built into the fabric of the building. The McKinnon Center—architect Hagy Belzberg’s radical re-imagining of the interior of one of the College’s original 100-year-old buildings—“is Occidental’s commitment to global citizenship made visible,” President Jonathan Veitch said before hundreds of invited guests. The departments of politics, diplomacy and world affairs, and foreign languages and the International Programs Office are all housed in the new center. The centerpiece of the $11.5-million, 40,000-square-foot project: a two-story-high, LEDlit media wall of sculpted glass with 10 embedded interactive screens that display a constantly shifting array of student and faculty research and coursework. “This is an experiment in what’s possible,” Veitch said. “This is our answer to massive open online courses—MOOCs—and the threat that technology will supplant a more personalized education. “ Hedge fund manager and former Occidental trustee Ian McKinnon ’89 and his wife, Sonnet, provided the lead gift for the project. While the couple made their gift to honor two professors who had a major impact on McKinnon—Derek Shearer and Roger Boesche—the gift is also a tribute to Veitch. “He is doing an amazing job of leading this institution,” McKinnon said. “It was his leadership that inspired us.”
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Hussein Banai, an assistant professor of diplomacy and world affairs at Occidental, was one of six scholars worldwide to be named Carnegie Council Global Ethics Fellows. The half-dozen joined the Carnegie Council’s Global Ethics Network, which currently provides a platform for 32 scholars in 15 countries to create and share interactive multimedia resources that explore the ethical dimensions of international affairs. Banai’s research interests include democratic theory, diplomatic history, and Middle East politics (with a special focus on politics in modern Iran). He is the co-author of Becoming Enemies: U.S.-Iran Relations and the Iran-Iraq War, 1980-1988, and has published widely in academic and professional journals on topics in diplomacy, U.S.-Iran relations, and democratic development in the Middle East.
Professor Xiao-huang Yin, chair of the American studies department and special adviser to President Jonathan Veitch on Chinese initiatives at Occidental, has been awarded a Fulbright Distinguished Chair grant to teach and do research in China for the 2014-15 school year. Yin, a member of the Oxy faculty since 1991, specializes in Asian American studies, transnationalism, U.S.-Asia relations and modern China. Yin plans to conduct his research mainly in the Second Historical Archives of China (SHAC) in Nanjing, which was the capital of China from 1912 to 1949, the years that are the focus of his research. He also plans to visit local museums and libraries in the hometowns of early Chinese immigrants to search for letters, diaries, essays, memoirs and other records of the experience of returned migrants in China.
ANNUAL REPORT 2013-2014
Professor Eric Frank, chair of Oxy’s art history and visual arts department, led students on an 18-day tour of Italy last January as part of the Michelangelo: Art and Biography course.
Aakash Raghubansh ’15
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)
76%
OF STUDENTS PURSUE MULTIPLE
ROUTES TO
GLOBAL
CITIZENSHIP
LATIN AMERICA Argentina (Buenos Aires) Brazil (Fortaleza, Sao Paulo) Chile (Santiago, Valparaiso) Costa Rica (Monteverde, San Jose) Dominican Republic (Santiago) Nicaragua (Managua) Peru (Lima)
Megan Dung ’15 in a classroom 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) Ben Poor, Bea Spirakis, and Elana Muldavin (all ’15) visit the Taj Mahal while in India.
A $5.5-million pledge from Elizabeth and Bill Kahane ’70 of New York will endow Occidental’s U.N. program, which each year gives up to 16 undergraduates the opportunity to combine a full-time internship with academic study. The newly named William and Elizabeth Kahane United Nations Program has been the centerpiece of the College’s Chevalier Diplomacy and World Affairs program since 1987.
Former Vermont Gov. Howard Dean delivered the Choi Auditorium’s official inaugural lecture, “The First Global Generation and How They Are Changing Everything,” as the 2014 Phi Beta Kappa Speaker, underwritten by the Ruenitz Trust Endowment.
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STRATEGIC INITIATIVES Inclusive Excellence Oxy is committed to providing a welcoming community for students, faculty, staff, and visitors who embrace and embody diversity The Ahmanson Veterans Scholarship Initiative, a current year scholarship funded by the Ahmanson Foundation, was created in 2013 for the recruitment, education, and retention of student veterans eligible for the Post-9/11 GI Bill. Aaron Hammonds ’16, right, a sixyear Air Force veteran who served in both Afghanistan and Iraq, is the College’s first AVSI Scholar. “The true value of my military service is measured in discipline, integrity, and the importance of service before self,” says Hammonds, who was honorably discharged with the rank of sergeant. “These are the values I bring to Occidental, thanks to [the Ahmanson] gift.” “When I graduated from high school in 2003, I swore to my parents that I would be the first in our family to earn a college degree,” the Pasadena resident adds. “Financial hardship put that dream on hold. Now, blessed by the Ahmanson Foundation’s generosity, I can finally make good on my promise.” Hammonds is pursuing a degree in sociology with a focus on social inequalities and public health. “Occidental’s rigorous academics are the perfect foundation for medical school,” he says, “and I look forward to taking advantage of undergraduate research opportunities so I might better understand—and one day solve—the challenges of bringing care to the underserved and impoverished.” Occidental received $50,000 in 2013 and a second grant of $50,000 in 2014. Daryl Barker ’18, who served six years in the Navy, enrolled at the College this fall as Oxy’s second AVSI Scholar.
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Frances (Musser) Boice ’24—seated above, fifth from right, with her Oxy classmates at their 50th reunion in 1974—was “a grand lady of fun and adventure,” traveling to six out of seven continents and even dining with Princess Diana’s parents on one of her many trips to Europe. Upon graduating from Glendale High School, she chose Occidental over UCLA (where she met her husband and classmate, Charles) and was a longtime class secretary, president of the Fifty Year Club in 1982, and a recipient of the group’s Auld Lang Syne Award four years later. She died in 2003 at age 101. A nearly $2.1-million gift from the estate of Lu Belle Boice (Charles and Frances’ daughter) will establish a scholarship fund named for Stephen Boice, Lu Belle’s younger brother (who died when he was in his 30s). Seven members of the Boice family are alumni of the College, and Lu Belle’s gift will ensure that many more families, regardless of their background, will enjoy the fruits of an Occidental education for generations to come.
ANNUAL REPORT 2013-2014
APPLICANTS
10%
International students
THE HIGHEST NUMBER IN OXY HISTORY
25% MUSICAL INSTRUMENT
enrolled
students from
CHINA
38%
D O M E S TI C
STUDENTS OF COLOR
17% FIRST-GENERATION COLLEGE STUDENTS
ENGAGED IN COMMUNIT Y SERVICE
- students from -
CALIFORNIA
- were involved in -
STUDENT GOVERNMENT
15%
were in writing or journalism
1 PUBLISHED 3 NOVELS
66%
PLAYED SPORTS IN HIGH SCHOOL
9%
Participated in model U.N.
sang in high school
+41 A DDI T IONA L
TRANSFER STUDENTS 15
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STRATEGIC INITIATIVES Connected Community You asked, we listened: Oxy strengthens its ties to alumni and parents by giving you what you want Samuelson Alumni Center has fast become a destination for alumni and parents coming back to Oxy. And in the years to come, Oxy will be bringing even more College-related programming to alumni chapters across the nation—because you’ve asked for it. In order to better connect the broader community, the Office of Alumni and Parent Engagement had a busy year, listening to what alumni and parents want and expanding programming to tailor engagement accordingly. Oxy surveyed alumni and parents through an eight-chapter listening tour and a nationwide survey, prompting changes in College programming and fueling the development of a five-year engagement plan. Alumni and parents want Oxy to come to them—via regional events and meaningful online engagement opportunities. They want better alumni career service resources, more personalized and meaningful communications from the College, and more opportunities to engage with fellow alumni, professors, and current students. Oxy is designing programming and processes to meet and exceed these needs, much of which has already been rolled out. In a show of the College’s renewed commitment to improving our outreach, the Office of Alumni and Parent Engagement has enhanced and expanded its staffing, with new initiatives in regional programming, affinity groups, volunteer support, events, Tiger Travel, Reunion, Homecoming and Family Weekend, alumni benefits, and free alumni career services and networking. “We heard you, and we are moving forward,” says Tyler Reich, assistant vice president for alumni and parent engagement. “Oxy is on an exciting journey, and we invite everyone to join us.”
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Alumni Seal Award recipients Lucia Choi-Dalton ’89, June Simmons ’64, Erica (Steinberger) McLean ’69, Leila Pazargadi ’04, and Douglas Raff ’81.
Oxy’s staff put on one of the largest and most successful reunions in memory, and Alumni Reunion Weekend promises to grow even more in years to come.
The Fifty Year Club welcomes honorary degree recipient and teaching legend Bob Winter, Arthur G. Coons Professor of the History of Ideas Emeritus.
Board of Governors President Raymond Yen ’82 and Stephanie Miller ’64.
ANNUAL REPORT 2013-2014
Far left: Disney Imagineer Joe Rohde ’77 talks about “The Meaning of Place” in the McKinnon Center for Global Affairs during Alumni Reunion Weekend on June 20. Left: Professor emeritus Jane Jaquette talks about “Latin America in the 21st Century: Old Problems, New Directions” in Choi Auditorium on June 21. Students, colleagues, friends, and family recognized her contributions to the College by naming Johnson Hall classroom 301 the Jaquette Room. During his quadrennial excursion to the FIFA World Cup in June, Jorge Gonzalez—Oxy’s vice president for academic affairs and dean of the College—met up with students and alumni in Rio de Janeiro. The group included (front row, l-r) Anna Clara Soares ’04, Midori Niikura Hartford ’06, and Luciana Yoshiyasu ’06; (back row) Mark Hartford ’06, Kyle Beasley ’15, Samuel Ravetz ’16, Chico Conceição ’87, Miles Cole ’12, Chris Suzdak ’12, Gonzalez, Alex Wu ’12, Samuel Buckley ’12, and Stefan Johnson ’15.
“Oxy brought us knowledge, friends, and most importantly, our loving relationship and marriage.” —SHARLYN (ARNOLD) ’62 & RICHARD PULICE ’61 OXY ANNUAL FUND SUPPORTERS
Lisa (Quillen) Tegethoff ’99 and son Ford, above, planted trees in Portland, Ore.’s Baltimore Woods as part of Oxy’s MLK Day of Service 2014. Alumni in six chapters volunteered their efforts nationwide, including alumni from our nation’s capital, who lent their efforts to Food for All DC, a nonprofit charity that strives to provide food to low-income homebound residents in real need.
How can the College provide you with a meaningful alumni experience? That was the driving question behind Oxy on the Road, which took alumni engagement administrators to chapters in San Francisco, Honolulu, San Diego, Seattle, Portland, New York City, Washington, D.C., and here in Los Angeles earlier this year. Among those attending the San Francisco event at Fort Mason last January were (from left) Shira Blatt ’07, Ruben Sanchez, and Amerika Sanchez ’04 M’05.
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OCCIDENTAL COLLEGE
STRATEGIC INITIATIVES Living & Learning Crossing generations with thought-provoking presentations, Oxy’s inaugural TEDx conference explores the hows and whys of reinventing the American Dream Thanks to the efforts of Oxypreneurship students led by Shilpa Bhongir ’16, Occidental hosted its first TEDx conference on March 29, built around the theme Reinventing the American Dream. Somer Greene ’16, an Independent Pattern of Study major from Irvine, kicked the day off with a stirring spoken-word piece about growing up in segregated Memphis, Tenn., where she learned from her grandmother that her dreams, while seemingly made of gossamer, are indestructible. Greene’s experience as an African American has shown her, she said, that “The American Dream does not come easy for everyone.” Brian Erickson ’16, a politics major from Tucson, argued that the American Dream can be found every day on social media. “The ideals it implies have to exist in single, identifiable documented moments. We have to look for those moments, and record them, and then share them, so everyone can see what an ideal in action looks like,” he said. “We want to share the incidents that inspire us, in a world where hearts and minds are connected and perspectives are constantly on display.”
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Student and alumni speakers at TEDx Occidental included Sarah Tamashiro ’15, Cordelia Kenney ’14, Dave Berkus ’62, Brian Erickson ’16, Adrian Adams ’17, and Somer Greene ’16.
Cordelia Kenney ’14, a history major from Rensselaerville, N.Y., urged everyone to redefine their relationship with death—a process she began at age 9. “We live in a highly individualized society, and death is often an individualized experience,” she said. “So what do you want your legacy to look like? There’s no guarantee we’ll wake up in the morning, so why not live a life free of regrets?”
Adrian Adams ’17, a politics major from Las Vegas, argued that the American Dream had to be redefined to allow for the full inclusion of transgender people. “Under the current American Dream, we are taught that your gender must correspond with the sex we are assigned at birth,” Adams said. “But the American Dream is never finished. We need local, everyday inclusion to allow everyone to thrive.”
Sarah Tamashiro ’15, an art history/visual arts major from Honolulu, used the troubled modern history of Hawaii and the drive of native Hawaiians for greater sovereignty as an example of the importance— and power—of rediscovering your roots. “Places are complex,” she said. “We all are part of some place. If we rediscover our roots, we can reconnect with our histories, reconnect with our past. … Be that person.”
First Year: PRODUCED
12.5%
OF THE COLLEGE’S
ENERGY NEEDS
SAVED
“Los Angeles is changing in some profound ways. … It is causing a great deal of anxiety, but a great deal of excitement as well. We will all be using the city in a different way, and it’s exciting to think about what that will look like.”
$241K ON POWER BILL
Oxy’s Solar Array
SAVES
2.5
—CHRISTOPHER HAWTHORNE
MILLION
GALLONS OF WATER Oxy’s Plumbing Project
ANNUALLY
DIVERTED
THOUSANDS
OF ITEMS including school supplies & dorm room furnishings from dumpsters
Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti, left, sat down with Los Angeles Times architecture critic Christopher Hawthorne in Keck Theater on February 13 to discuss ways to make the city a more pleasant place to live and work. The city’s design aesthetic should follow quality of life, Garcetti said. “People don’t think about the design of buildings, they think about how long it’s going to take them to get home to their friends and family.” He sees two significant changes in Los Angeles’ future: more selfsustaining neighborhoods and more transit.
Oxy’s Sustainable ReCycle Store
PROGRAM
IS NOW A
FUNDED Oxy Bike Share
STUDENT SERVICE 17
OCCIDENTAL COLLEGE
2013-2014 The Bottom Line Amos Himmelstein, vice president for finance and planning, examines the College’s endowment
OCCIDENTAL COLLEGE TAKES STEWARDSHIP SERIOUSLY. Any parent who writes a tuition check, any donor who makes a gift, any foundation that makes a grant needs to be confident that Occidental is using its resources wisely. Under the leadership of the Board of Trustees and President Jonathan Veitch, Oxy has demonstrated that their confidence is justified.
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Occidental’s total annual return for the 2013-14 fiscal year was 17.6 percent. That followed a 12 percent return in 2012-13, slightly above the national average of 11.7 percent of 461 U.S. colleges and universities as calculated by the National Association of College and Business Officers. 2012-13 marked the 10th consecutive year that Oxy’s endowment has outperformed the national average—even during the market implosion of 2008-09, when every institution’s investments took a big hit. The success of the Board’s investment committee— which draws on the expertise of alumni such as Chris Varelas ’85, partner in the Bay Area private equity firm Riverwood Capital; Peter Adamson ’84, personal investment manager to Oprah Winfrey; venture capitalists Dave Berkus ’62 P’95 and Ron Hahn ’66; and Rob Neihart ’87, who heads the Capital Groups’ research arm—is based on a strategy grounded in fundamental, long-term priorities. The committee has focused on improved asset allocation and increasing investments in an alternative program that diversifies a portfolio into less liquid investments with a higher rate of return. The results have been consistent: Oxy’s five-year average annual return of 4.4 percent (a period that includes the market crash) and 10-year average of 8.4 percent outperformed a group of five dozen schools with endowments of a similar size.
Positive financial results have been the hallmark of the Veitch presidency. Since his arrival, the College has produced six years of balanced budgets and created a $1.9-million fund to help support goals and objectives laid out in Oxy’s strategic plan. As successful as this stewardship has been, the size of Occidental’s endowment continues to lag behind its peers. Totaling $406.1 million as of June 30, 2014, the Oxy endowment is roughly $100 million less than the average of the College’s official peer comparison group of 16 liberal arts colleges. Currently, only 16 percent of Occidental’s annual operating budget comes from revenue generated by the College’s endowment. Last year, gifts to the College and revenues from food service, housing, and other sources totaled another 8 percent. The rest—76 percent—comes entirely from tuition. That makes Occidental much more vulnerable to the vagaries of student recruitment, in which one year’s failure to reach target enrollments can have serious budget consequences. Whether it’s providing generous scholarships for talented students, keeping faculty salaries competitive, keeping facilities up-to-date, or supporting student and faculty research, a healthy endowment can make all the difference. This is why Occidental continues to focus its fundraising efforts on increasing the size of its endowment—and ensuring that Oxy supporters know that their investment is in good hands.
Whether it’s providing generous scholarships for talented students, keeping faculty salaries competitive, keeping facilities upto-date, or supporting student and faculty research, a healthy endowment can make all the difference.
ANNUAL REPORT 2013-2014
AVERAGE RETURN ON ENDOWMENT COMPARED TO ALL COLLEGE ENDOWMENTS For the last 10 years, Oxy’s endowment has outperformed the national average of all U.S. colleges and universities that report to the National Association of College and Business Officers. Oxy’s improved performance reflects a revised investment strategy advocated by former trustee Ian McKinnon ’89.
Occidental 20 15 10 5 0 -5 -10 -15 -20
NACUBO Mean
$39,346 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013
Size of the average financial aid package in 2013-14. All totaled, Oxy spent more than $39 million on institutional financial aid, including support from 360 endowed and annual scholarships.
460 Oxy students who received federal Pell Grants in the last academic year. Occidental ranks No. 21 among the 99 colleges and universities on the New York Times’ College Access Index, with 20 percent of its first-year class receiving Pell Grants, a net value of $14,200.
“How can I repay Occidental for allowing me to take this path? By actively participating in Oxy’s Alumni-in-Admission program and by giving annually to support my school!” —DR. BARBARA J. BRYNELSON ’77 OXY ANNUAL FUND SUPPORTER “The scholarship that I received from Oxy covered nearly all of my tuition for four years,” says Dr. Barbara J. Brynelson ’77 of Rockville, Md. It was a life-changing event for the chemistry major, who took jobs on and off campus to pay for her books and room and board. In the years since, she has had “a fulfilling and fabulous career” teaching and practicing primary-care pediatrics. “I look forward to a time when I will make use of the Spanish I learned at Oxy to provide medical care in a third-world setting to finish my career,” she says.
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OCCIDENTAL COLLEGE
2013-2014 The Year in Giving Shelby Radcliffe reflects on the measures of success for the advancement office—and the pride that comes with an Oxy connection How do you define success in a college advancement office? Too often, it is with one number—the big number. Don’t get me wrong; our annual fundraising goal is vitally important. If we don’t hit our number, we don’t send students abroad, or sponsor undergraduate research, or subsidize an internship that leads to a job after graduation. If we fall short we don’t renovate that classroom, or fund a professor’s research trip, or purchase new equipment for a varsity team. But the reality is that hitting that number is only a small part Shelby Radcliffe is of what success looks like for us. Occidental’s vice president Success for Oxy’s advancement office is about for institutional advancement. spreading a genuine belief in what Oxy is and what it’s becoming. Success is sharing our excitement about the College’s strategic plan and getting your help to make that plan a reality. Success is when we hear that students, parents, and alumni are proud of their institution, their intellectual home, their Oxy. In record numbers, you are showing us you believe. You do so whenever you start a conversation with us, when you visit campus, when you help an Oxy student and yes, when you give. It’s true; we did hit our big numbers—raising more than $18 million this year, including $4.6 million for the Oxy Annual Fund, and an exclamation point on “A Decade of Generosity” that raised more than $198 million for the College from 2004-2014. We have more students connecting with alumni and parents for job shadowing, internships, career advice, and even jobs. We have more donors from all generations of alumni, from current parents, from foundations and friends. Thank you for believing in what is possible at Oxy and for helping us make it all happen. You are what success looks like.
GIFT RECEIPTS BY SOURCE (Total: $18,225,576) Alumni
$ 7,779,862
Parents
$
865,403
Friends
$
1,101,748
Faculty, Staff, and Administration
$
47,428
Bequests
$ 3,808,518
Trusts
$
168,928
Corporations
$
546,152
Foundations
$ 3,885,565
Organizations
$
Total trustee giving in 2013-2014 was $5,790,355, which includes $1,348,343 in influenced gifts through foundations and corporations.
GIFT RECEIPTS BY KIND (Total: $18,225,576) 1% O ther
22% C apital (Plant, Building, Equipment, etc.)
17% O xy Annual Fund—General Support
5% O xy Annual Fund—Scholarships 3% O xy Annual Fund—Athletics
5% A nnuity and Life Income
15% D epartmental Support
32% E ndowment
22
21,972
Occidental College gratefully acknowledges gifts and gift commitments received from July 1, 2013 to June 30, 2014. Information contained in these pages is accurate based upon reporting data; however; audits have yet to be finalized prior to publication of this report. Finalized audited financial statements will be available at oxy.edu/finance/auditstatement.
ANNUAL REPORT 2013-2014
A DECADE OF GENEROSITY: 2004-2014 By the Numbers
Total Giving
$198,545,870 - from -
24,946 DONORS
23%
Oxy Annual $44,610,416 Fund
Endowment Giving
36 %
$72,207,755
endowments established
A P I TA L $35,428,066 C PROJECTS OTHER CURRENT OPERATIONS Current Restricted and Deferred Gifts
$40,403,723
134,903 TOTAL GIFTS
2,809
donors to endowments
65
scholarship endowments
E S TA B L I S H E D
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- faculty funds - academic - programmatic
endowments established
Eric Berkus, Matthew Berkus, Kathleen and Dave Berkus ’62, and Amy Berkus Stone ’95 celebrate the dedication of Berkus Hall in September 2013 in recognition of a $5-million gift by the Berkus family to create a new technology endowment.
Totals include gift receipts and commitments
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OCCIDENTAL COLLEGE
BOARD OF TRUSTEES 2014-2015
Bill Davis ’84 President Southern California Public Radio
Charlene Conrad Liebau Director College Counseling Services
Reid G. Samuelson ’72 Director Samuelson Partners
Hector De La Torre ’89 Executive Director Transamerica Center for Health Studies
Gordon MacInnes ’63 President New Jersey Policy Perspective
William R. Schutte P’16 Managing Director Spencer Stuart–San Francisco
Susan Howell Mallory ’76 M’78 President Southern California Northern Trust
Catherine Young Selleck ’55 President & CEO (retired) Metaphor Inc.
Louise Edgerton ’67 Secretary, Treasurer & Director Edgerton Foundation
Robert H. Neithart ’87 Executive Vice President & Director Capital International Research Inc.
Christopher Varelas ’85 Partner Riverwood Capital
John R. Farmer P’98 Senior Director Goldman Sachs
Steven J. Olson Partner O’Melveny & Myers
EX OFFICIO Jonathan Veitch President Occidental College
Gary Steven Findley ’76 President Gary Steven Findley & Associates
Vincent Ma Padua ’74 General Counsel Hassen Development Corp.
Peter C. Wright ’05 President Board of Governors
Allen W. Mathies Jr. President Emeritus Huntington Memorial Hospital
Charles D. Gold ’89 Principal/Leadership Coach Champions for Growth
Joan A. Payden President & CEO Payden & Rygel
Ian McKinnon ’89 Managing Partner Ziff Brothers Investments
Ronald R. Hahn Chairman Lotus Separations, LLC
Adam D. Portnoy ’93 President & CEO Reit Management & Research LLC
PRESIDENTS EMERITI Richard C. Gilman Theodore R. Mitchell Robert A. Skotheim John Brooks Slaughter
Fred Hameetman ’61 Chairman The American Group
John B. Power ’58 Partner (retired) O’Melveny & Myers
Christopher C. Calkins ’67 President Carltas Co.
Octavio V. Herrera ’98 Executive Vice President & Co-founder AlphaGenius Inc.
Steven R. Robinson ’77 President SRR Trading LLC
Anne Cannon ’74 Independent Financial Adviser and CPA
Stephen F. Hinchliffe Jr. ’55 Chairman & CEO The Leisure Group Inc.
Don R. Conlan President (retired) The Capital Group Companies Inc.
Asad Jumabhoy ’84 Chief Executive Officer Tangerine Time Pte. Ltd.
Jennifer Townsend Crosthwaite ’84 National Bank Examiner Comptroller of the Currency
Naomi Kurata Co-founder & Director Proteus Energy Corp.
Peter Adamson ’84 Chief Investment Officer O.W. Management LLC Patricia Lebre 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 Coit Blacker ’72 Director & Senior Fellow Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies at Stanford University 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
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Gloria Duffy ’75 President & CEO Commonwealth Club
Stephen D. Rountree ‘71 Managing Director Center Theatre Group Rick Rugani ’75 Independent Financial Adviser (retired) Janette Sadik-Khan ’82 Principal (Transportation) Bloomberg Associates
CHAIRS EMERITI Dennis A. Collins P’94 President and CEO (retired) The James Irvine Foundation Virginia Goss Cushman ’55 Civic Volunteer Irwin S. Field Chairman & CEO Liberty Vegetable Oil Co. Walter B. Gerken Chairman & CEO (retired) Pacific Life Insurance Co. Peter W. Mullin Chairman & CEO Mullin Consulting Inc.
TRUSTEES EMERITI Ronald J. Arnault President RJA Consultants Harry W. Colmery Jr. Vice President Capital Guardian Trust Co. Alice Walker Duff ’69 President HMWorks J. Eugene Grigsby III ’66 President & CEO National Health Foundation John T. Knox ’49 P’84 Partner Nossaman, Gunther, Knox & Elliott
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 2014-2015 Carlos E. Aguilar ’98 Monica D. Banken ’99 Amy (Laslett) Berger ’08 Alexander J. Candia ’04 David A. Carpenter ’59 P’86 Leslie (Bolt) Dennis ’66 P’94 Anne H. Egerton ’76 Vincent M. Gallo ’79 Jessica M. Gelzer ’11 Danielle (Mantooth) Gordon ’10 Jeffrey D. Grosvenor ’04 Jay C. Hansen ’85 Shawn (Lovell) Hanson ’83 P’11 P’14 Louis C. Hook Jr. ’80 P’12 Daniel Kang ’94 Daniel B. Klink ’97 Lisa (Kanes) Mandel ’81 P’14 Shumway Marshall ’05 Charles McClintock ’68 Jon Merksamer ’74 Peter M. Polydor ’09 Ana Ramos-Sanavio ’93 Angelica Salas ’93 H’07 Susan (Watson) Tierney ’57 P’86 P’89 Frank Van Der Baan ’67 Peter C. Wright ’05, President Jody A. Yoxsimer ’82
ANNUAL REPORT 2013-2014
Editor Dick Anderson Director of Communications Jim Tranquada Vice President for Strategic Initiatives, Marketing, and Communications Brett Schraeder Director of Donor Relations Miki J. Springsteen ’86 Photography Marc Campos* Design Meghan Leavitt 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 Kevin Burke (pages 7 and 19), Kirby Lee (page 7), Don Milici (page 16), and Bob Palermini (page 4).
1600 Campus Road Los Angeles CA 90041-3314