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Sustainability activities at Occidental College.
Changing the Climate
Emboldened by a proactive student body, Oxy doubles down on its commitment to a more sustainable campus

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).

Kristina Kvien ’87, nominee for U.S. ambassador to Armenia
For 2½ years, Kristina Kvien ’87 led U.S. diplomacy efforts inside the embattled and resilient nation—her latest post in a 30-year career with the Foreign Service
George Stevens Jr. '53 with President Obama in 2011.
From Elizabeth Taylor to President Obama, George Stevens Jr. ’53 reflects on an unparalleled career from the backlots of Hollywood to the corridors of power in Washington, D.C.
George Stevens Jr. '53 in 2002.
From Winter 2003: For 25 years, George Stevens Jr. ’53 has saluted living legends in performing arts through the Kennedy Center Honors. But it’s only one career peak for a producer whose...
Graduating members of the Occidental College Class of 2022
‘Embrace the impossible because you can make it possible,’ State Senator tells the 489 members of the Class of 2022
A wall drawing of Janet Stafford was created by artist Kenturah Davis '02 in 2012
Janet Stafford, George Ellison, and Barbara Bowman Wright made Oxy history as the College’s first Black graduates in 1952. What is their legacy?
Author Susan Coll '81, photographed at Politics & Prose in Washington, D.C.
A canceled poet, a toddling tortoise, and the Schwarzenegger of vacuum cleaners turn a D.C. bookstore upside down in Susan Coll ’81’s sixth comic novel
NASA Astrobiologist Jason Dworkin ’91
Astrobiologist Jason Dworkin ’91 has devoted the better part of two decades to a NASA mission to the near-Earth asteroid Bennu. What will we learn when OSIRIS-REx arrives home next year?
Mel Malberg '79, editor of Women of Walt Disney Imagineering
Mel Malmberg ’79 documents the true-life adventures of the Women of Walt Disney Imagineering
2022-23 Obama Scholars
Five years after its launch, Oxy’s Obama Scholars Program expands its cohort and doubles down on its mission
Occidental College President Harry J. Elam, Jr.
In a joyous ceremony showcasing the arts and ‘New Harmonies,’ Harry J. Elam, Jr. is inaugurated as Occidental’s 16th president
"New Harmonies" are at the heart of Oxy's Integrated Strategic Plan.
What will the College look like in 2030? Oxy's Integrated Strategic Plan identifies 11 key issues
The Oxy Campaign For Good
With one year remaining, The Oxy Campaign For Good propels past the $225 million mark
Oswald and Elizabeth Benson '02
Alumni Reunion Weekend returns to campus—and Oswald put on a party to remember
Occidental College President Harry J. Elam, Jr.
Following a milestone campaign year, Oxy builds on its values and strengths
Author and Occidental Professor of Politics Peter Dreier
In a pair of new books, Oxy politics professor Peter Dreier tips his cap to the mavericks, iconoclasts, and rebels who have shaped baseball history

Features

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
Actor Loren Lester ’83 in Times Square
Broadway Baby
In the third act of a career that spans stage, screen, and television, actor Loren Lester ’83 realizes a lifelong dream of performing on the Great White Way
The Occidental Gospel Choir in 1975.
Precious Memories
Founded by students in 1971, the Occidental Gospel Choir made music for a quarter-century—and a reunion of former members celebrates its nearly forgotten legacy
Sam Rubin '82 and Stacie Roshon '08
The Morning Showman
Sam Rubin ’82 became a fixture of the entertainment journalism landscape over his 33 years with KTLA—and his unexpected death in May resonated well beyond Hollywood's red carpets
Hats Off to Patt!
Patt Morrison ’74 shares a curated collection of books with Special Collections—and 50 years of words and wisdom in conversation with Larry Mantle

First Word

From the Quad

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
Occidental’s women's basketball team after winning the 2024 SCIAC Post­season Tournament championship.
Bringing the Heat
Playing through injuries, fatigue, and in front of opposing crowds, Oxy’s ‘relentless’ women’s hoops team wins its way into the NCAA tourney
Coach Rod Lafaurie and members of the 2023 men's soccer team
Kicking and Dreaming
From its first SCIAC championship to a berth in the Sweet 16, Oxy men’s soccer soared to new heights this season. But Coach Rod Lafaurie and his players are hungry for more

Mixed Media

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

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...
Spectators view the OCLAA oral history gallery in the Academic Commons in February 2024.
Voices of OCLAA
Realizing a long-standing goal of Occidental’s Latino Alumni Association, two dozen alumni share their stories with students for an oral history project

Last Page

Journalist Max Chun '19 in the offices of Lookout Santa Cruz.
Local Heroes
When disaster struck his native Santa Cruz last year, reporter Max Chun ’19 and a small team of journalists sprang into action for their community—and pocketed a Pulitzer Prize for their work
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