Members of the Occidental Class of 2028.
Origin Stories
Before arriving at Occidental, these eight members of the Class of ’28 (and a transfer student from the Class of ’27) discovered their superpowers in the classroom, in their communities, in competition, and in service to their...

Occidental magazine brings you campus news, in-depth features, and profiles of exceptional alumni. For the 2024-25 academic year, the magazine will publish two print and digital issues (Fall 2024 and Spring 2025) and two digital-only issues (Summer 2024 and Winter 2025).

David Kim '85
As the Federal Highway Administration’s new deputy administrator, David Kim ’85 wants to fix America’s freeways while reducing congestion. That's going to keep him busy.
SpringMag16_Baseball
Behind the bat of Devon DeRaad '17 and the arm of Scott Ericksen '16, Coach Luke Wetmore's Tigers end a 34-year SCIAC title drought
SpringMag16_Drone
From trade shows and grade schools to African villages and archeological digs, Randy Jay Braun '84 preaches the virtues of drone photography as he works to rehabilitate its bad-bot image
SpringMag16_Shtulman
Associate professor of psychology Andrew Shtulman studies people's intuitive ideas about how the world works—and finds that people are usually wrong
SpringMag16_Asians
Oxy's international enrollment is booming, with Chinese students leading the charge. How are they adapting to Oxy—and how is Oxy adapting to their needs?
From Winter 2003: Dubbed the "Smiling Assassin" as a prosecutor, Jacqueline Nguyen '87 now wields a gavel as the first Vietnamese-American woman appointee to the California state judiciary
Undeterred by life's obstacles—including the 15 surgeries he's endured related to his rheumatoid arthritis—Professor Roger Boesche and wife Mandy share a love for the world, adventure, and...
A long-simmering debate over diversity and equity at Oxy came to a boil in November, with hundreds of students demanding institutional reform. As a new semester dawns with the promise of...
Oxy's 10th president—who died January 15—advanced the College to greater heights with a clear vision and a personal touch
Working with community partners and documenting the history of Northeast Los Angeles, Oxy's Special Collections fosters direct links to the classroom and the academic life of the College...
Before Kwame Do '16 became SCIAC's all-time rushing leader in football, he had to rekindle his love for the game. It's a good thing for Oxy that he did
Winter16_ThirdLA
With architecture critic and adjunct professor Christopher Hawthorne setting the agenda, Oxy's 3rd L.A. series brings the city into the conversation
Winter16_Kondracke
Biographer Mort Kondracke makes the case for Jack Kemp '57's legacy as a conservative for the ages
Winter16_Runoff
With the collection of his noir/horror comic book series Runoff into a single volume, Tom Manning '99 revisits the culture he grew up in, and the story he began at Oxy
Winter16_Kakehashi
Japan's Kakehashi Project promotes better understanding of its culture by sending 23 Oxy students to the Land of the Rising Sun

Features

Professor William D. Ward at his desk in the Hall of Letters on Occidental’s Highland Park campus.
Unseen Occidental
From 1898 to 1914, Occidental College called Highland Park home—and a treasure trove of photos from the 1910s offers a glimpse of campus life before the move to Eagle Rock
Filmmaker Angelina Lee '22
Farm to Film
Combining her interest in sustainability with her prowess behind the camera, Angelina Lee ’22 harvests a new documentary around permaculture
Ben Dalgetty ’10 in the Office of the Mayor in Seattle.
Campaign Trails
Campaign Semester can be a gateway to a career in politics, advocacy work, or even elected office, as seven seasoned campaigners will attest
Members of the Occidental Class of 2028.
Origin Stories
Before arriving at Occidental, these eight members of the Class of ’28 (and a transfer student from the Class of ’27) discovered their superpowers in the classroom, in their communities, in...
Campaign Semester participants Cady Carr '27 and Rachel Obbard '27
Ground Game
For Campaign Semester students in battleground Pennsylvania and 13 other states, the road map to Election Day entails knocking on every door

First Word

From the Quad

Chris Kim, the Choi Family Director of Instrumental Music, conducts the Occidental Symphony in a performance of Michael Jackson’s “Human Nature.”
The Sounds of Branca
A concert for the ages celebrates the generations-spanning clientele of music attorney John Branca ’72 and the launch of the John Branca Institute for Music
Members of the Pacific Crossings “Dream Team”: From left, Nakatsuka, Gilder Lehrman program coordinator Leah Baer, administrative assistant Thea Wilson ’24, and Hong.
Teachable Moments
Associate Professor Jane Hong and a “dream team” of educators bring 150 years of Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander history into focus
Projects for Peace participants Stephen Amankonah Sekyere ’27 and Eleanor Goddard ’25
A STEM Grows in Ghana
Projects for Peace participants Eleanor Goddard ’25 and Stephen Amankonah Sekyere ’27 bring technology—and hope—to middle-schoolers in West Africa
Tylor Lee '26 interned with Healthcare in Action, which provides healthcare and social services to unhoused people.
Summer in the City
A 10-week summer internship program pairs 28 Oxy students with 20 community partners to contribute to the work of advancing social justice in Los Angeles

Mixed Media

Carole MacNeil ’84 with her mom, Eleanor, in 2019.
Mixed Media
New books by Carole MacNeil ’84, Jessica C. Harris ’08, Jessica Keith ’00, Marsha de la O ’74, and the latest documentary short by César Martínez Barba ’17
Author Susan Coll '81, photographed at Politics & Prose in Washington, D.C.
Mixed Media
Susan Coll ’81’s latest comic novel, Professor Amy Lyford’s examination of the art and life of Dorothea Tanning, and more

Oxy Talk

As program director of Research Corporation for Science Advance- ment’s RCSA Fellows Initiative, Spain will support postdocs in physics, astronomy, and chemistry as they transition into their faculty careers.
To Chemistry and Beyond
After 28 years in the classroom and mentoring 74 students in her lab at Oxy, Professor Eileen Spain pivots to prepare future generations of faculty in the physical sciences
Suke Takayuki Kubota in an undated photo.
Oxy’s Samurai Grandmaster
Soke Takayuki Kubota (1934-2024) became a martial arts legend, developing his own karate style and amassing a worldwide following. And for more than 40 years, he taught his methods to the...

Last Page

Professor Emeritus Eric Newhall '67, author of Always Resisting
Resistance Remembered
Professor Emeritus Eric Newhall ’67 recounts the fallout from his decision to oppose the Vietnam War in a memoir more than 50 years in the making
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