Occidental College Annual Report 2017-18

O C C I D E N TA L C O L L EG E

2017-2018

A T HRI V I N G COM M U N I T Y Occidental’s 2017-18 fiscal year marked another year of significant progress in realizing our strategic goals and building institutional momentum.

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We remain committed to providing our gifted and diverse students with a total educational experience of the highest quality.

ith a flurry of national press coverage, we launched our Obama Scholars Program to empower the next generation of leaders in active pursuit of the public good. This new scholarship program will enhance our ability to recruit talented students regardless of their background. Our approach to student recruitment continues to pay off, with students and alumni winning nine Fulbrights, three National Science Foundation Graduate Fellowships and a Luce Scholarship. For the third year in a row, The New York Times ranked Oxy as one of the country’s most economically diverse campuses.

Our extensive ties to Los Angeles grew when we partnered with the city to work on Global Sustainable Development Goals and became an affiliate of the Grammy Museum. On campus, we continue to make progress on several key capital projects, including the Anderson Center for Environmental Sciences, the Oxy Arts Building on York Boulevard and our new Townsend Crosthwaite Pool and expanded McKinnon Family Tennis Center. We opened the door to the study of a rich intellectual tradition when we approved our new Black studies major. And we proudly conferred our first-ever degrees in computer science.

Through these and other programs, we remain committed to providing our gifted and diverse students with a total educational experience of the highest quality. Thank you for being part of our thriving community.

Jonathan Veitch President

Susan Howell Mallory ’76 M’78 Chair, Board of Trustees

2017-1 8 G I V I N G

18.2% Other

G I F TS BY KIND

12.1%

The Oxy Fund (unrestricted current operations)*

$5,563,533

Other (includes restricted current operations)

$6,730,506

Endowment

$4,470,869

Capital

$3,748,045

Bequest intentions

$16,423,751

TOTAL

Endowment

$36,936,704

11.1% 21.1%

Corporations and Foundations

Donor Advised Funds

6.6%

Parents

2.3%

Friends

28.3%

0.8%

Alumni

29.4%

Trustees

Trusts and Estates

0.3%

Staff and Administration

10.1%

15.1%

Oxy Fund

44.5%

Bequest intentions

Capital * In recent years we reported Oxy Fund cash receipts, which included new gifts and pledge payments. The cash receipts for FY18 were $4.23 million.

G I FTS BY SOU RC E Trustees

29.4%

Alumni

28.3%

Corporations and Foundations

21.1%

Donor Advised Funds

11.1%

Parents

6.6%

Friends

2.3%

Trusts and Estates

0.8%

Staff and Administration

0.3%

“ W E’R E PASSI NG YOU T H E P OW E R” Tech pioneer Cathie Young Selleck ’55, education advocate Ann Zwicker Kerr-Adams ’56, conflict resolution educator Maya Soetoro-Ng and political consultant Sara El-Amine ’07 feted the Class of 2018 at Commencement on May 20.

El-Amine—a field organizer for Barack Obama ’83 and later executive director of Organizing for America—told the 509 graduates, “This country and this world won’t right itself without you—whether you stand for that bold making and remaking from inside a boardroom or a hospital room or a classroom or a church or a science lab. We’re passing you the power. Make it bend.”

A N AU D I E N C E W I T H ESPE R A N Z A Four-time Grammy honoree Esperanza Spalding— the only jazz artist in history to win Best New Artist—visited Occidental on February 2 as the 2018 Hume Fellow in the Performing Arts. After holding an hourlong master class for students in Booth Music Hall, the Harvard University professor of practice mesmerized a capacity Thorne Hall audience with a free public concert. “We’re storytellers first,” Spalding reminded music majors and aspiring singers Inez Leon ’21 and Cate Selna ’20. “Everyone can sing now.

It’s boring. Use the space to transmit to the audience what only you know.”

NOT HI N G BU T N ET Oxy soccer exceeded all goals in 2018: The women won their first SCIAC Tournament championship, kicking their way into the NCAA Division III playoffs, while the men played for their first SCIAC Tournament crown in the program’s 51-year history.

THE C L ASS O F 2022

7,281 37% APPLICANTS

ADMIT RATE

Oxy’s most selective class in 70 years

566

FIRST-YEAR STUDENTS

35% CALIFORNIA 8% STUDENTS STUDENTS FROM

INTERNATIONAL

20 FOR 20

CI T Y O F I N TE RN S From City of Hope to Center Theater Group, and the Natural History Museum to the Grammy Museum, 40 students spent last summer participating in InternLA, a paid internship program funded by gifts to the College. Thirty-three organizations and companies put Oxy students to work. Enhancing their on-site internship, InternLA students participate in Impact, a weekly oncampus professional development program. Interns tour employer sites, learn career-development skills, take part in networking events and present to their supervisors, faculty and administrators at the end of

their internship.

For the 20th iteration of Oxy’s New Play Festival in February, five student plays were presented over three days—three by theater majors, and one apiece by philosophy and politics majors. “It’s the classic liberal arts education, right?” says associate professor Laural Meade ’88, who was assisted by theater department head Susan Gratch with play reading and selection. “You’re a philosophy major. Why not write a play?” As a bonus, 20 “tiny plays” by 20 Oxy theater alumni were brought to life

in whirlwind fashion by a troupe of student and alumni actors to close out the weekend.

“ SU RVI VA L , J USTI C E AND JOY ” Oxy’s 35th and newest major was added to the curriculum in fall 2018.

Black studies is a transnational and interdisciplinary study of the history, scholarship, arts and culture of people of the African diaspora.

“This is a field about survival, justice and joy,” says associate professor of American studies Courtney Baker. “I am both humbled and inspired every time I read this work. I hope that students will be, too.” Baker is chair of the cross-disciplinary program, which she co-crafted with American studies professor Erica Ball. A Black studies

minor is being offered as well.

G O O D AN D RE A DY Less than three weeks before Election Day, former Obama campaign manager and White House senior adviser David Plouffe— current policy and advocacy chief for the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative— broke down the midterms as Oxy’s inaugural Obama Scholars speaker.

The speaker series is part of the Obama Scholars Program, launched last year to empower exceptional students committed to the public good as it honors and perpetuates the principles advanced by President Barack Obama ’83. Occidental welcomed its first two Obama Scholars, Sherin Aboobucker ’22

and Noa Richard ’22, this fall.

E A RNI NG THE I R ST R I P ES Oxy football returned to action this fall with a freshman-heavy roster and a renewed spirit under second-year coach Rob Cushman. A volunteer team of football alumni led by NFL veteran Vance Mueller ’86 worked closely with College gift officers to bolster the program, raising nearly $1 million in commitments last spring.

T H E BOT TOM L I N E

T

he 2017-18 fiscal year was a period of moderate growth for Occidental. As of June 30, 2018, the College’s endowment stood at $434.2 million, a 5 percent increase over the previous year. The endowment produced an average 8.1 percent return.

While lower compared with the previous year, the 2017-18 results exceeded the 7.8 percent median return of Cambridge Associates’ colleges and universities group with endowments between $100 million and $500 million.

Occidental’s fiscal management continues to keep the College well in the black, with nine consecutive balanced budgets. To preserve the purchasing power of the endowment, the College continued its policy of reducing the endowment draw by .05 percent annually to reach a goal of 5 percent. It now stands at 5.05 percent.

As we look ahead, keeping revenue growth greater than rising expenses will be our greatest challenge. Given the uncertainty of the investment environment and the current cost of tuition, Occidental’s upcoming comprehensive campaign will be crucial to the College’s future.

Amos Himmelstein Chief Financial Officer

Christopher Varelas ’85 Vice Chair, Occidental College Board of Trustees Chair, Investment Committee

E N DOW M E NT PE R FO R MANCE Average annual compound returns as of June 30, 2018 OCCI DEN TAL ENDOW MEN T 8.1%

70 /3 0 * BEN C H MARK 7.4%

3 year

6.1%

6.3%

5 year

6.7%

7.3%

10 year

5.6%

5.5%

15 year

7.8%

7.1%

1 year

R EV ENUES Enrollment-based revenues Endowment support designated for operations

* Invested 70% in global stocks (as measured by the MSCI All Country World index) and 30% invested in U.S. bonds (as measured by the BC Aggregate Bond Index).

E X P E N D ITU RES 68.3% 16.4%

Instruction

34.8%

Auxiliary services

19.2%

Student services

13.0%

Private gifts, grants and contracts

7.0%

Institutional support

10.6%

Federal and state grants and contracts

3.6%

Academic support

8.6%

Advancement

6.7%

Public service

4.5%

Research

2.5%

Auxiliary services (bookstore, conference, filming, catering)

2.1%

Other

2.6%