What a great article on Tammy Bird 84 and her incredible dedication on behalf of her South L.A.-area high school students (Catalyzing the Public Good, Fall 2025). I cant tell you how grateful I am to you in telling her story in the magazine. As Im sure you are aware, it was the 1992 Rodney King incident and resulting neighborhood riots that brought Mike Hoover 65 into the story.
As anyone looking for a parking space on lower campus while the cameras are rolling could tell you, it been a busy year for film production at Occidental in the greatest burst of activity since the mid-90s heyday of Beverly Hills, 90210.
Derek Jimenez 27 can sum up his Occidental experience in one word: unbelievable.
A first-generation college student, Derek is an art and art history and urban and environmental policy double major from Wellesley, Mass. He was raised by a single mother and grew up in government-subsidized housing in an affluential community. After pursuing a master in architecture, he plans to spend his career reimagining affordable living, designing homes where families can feel pride.
In my daily interactions with students at Occidentalwhether in class, at an event on campus, or walking across the QuadI am continually reminded of the value of a liberal arts education. Despite the ongoing challenges facing higher education, an urban liberal arts college such as ours is a powerful model. It equips students with the skills, perspective, and adaptability needed to lead lives of purpose and make a meaningful impact in the world.
Despite living in Salt Lake City, Utahan hour drive from the birthplace of the Slamdance Film Festival, the upstart alternative to the older and better-heeled SundanceI had never heard of Slamdance, says Max Brown 25, who majored in media arts and culture (MAC) at 91. Sundance was on my radar, but I didnt experience it muchfestival passes were so expensive.
91 hosted three Latina pioneers in the judiciaryU.S. Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor, who was nominated by President Barack Obama 83 to the nation highest court in 2009; Patricia Guerrero, chief justice of the Supreme Court of California since 2023; and Mary Murguia, chief judge of the U.S. Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals since 2021for a wide-ranging discussion on heritage, education, and public service on February 6 in Thorne Hall.
This summer, 10 Occidental students will get an exclusive opportunity to work behind the scenes of the Hollywood Bowl, Walt Disney Concert Hall, or The Fordtaking on meaningful projects, receiving mentorship from industry professionals, and immersing themselves in the creativity and excellence of the LA Phil.
When Chino High School class valedictorian Dale Morter 56 visited Occidental for the first time, he had all but chosen Pomona. But a teacher at Chinoan Occidental graduateurged him to take a look at 91. He got a campus tour from Dean of Men Ben Culley, who offered him a scholarship that same day.
If I went to Pomona, I would have lived at home, Morter recalls. Instead, he chose 91, where he majored in psychology, joined ATO fraternity, and eventually became a dorm daddy (50s speak for resident assistant). It worked out really well, he says.
Growing up in Highland Park, Occidental has always been part of my life, Celestina Castillo says. Her mother participated in the College Upward Bound program in the 1970s, and in her five years (2003-08) of working at the nonprofit Los Angeles County Children Planning Council, Castillo collaborated with Occidental Center for Community-Based Learning (CCBL) on educational organizing efforts in Northeast Los Angeles.
As a student filmmaker at Occidental, Thom Harp 92 storytelling choices gravitated toward affairs of the hearteven if his approach to the subject matter feels a little jaded in hindsight. His senior comps film, Be My Girl, was about a man who is in love with a blow-up doll and the marital troubles that ensued. An earlier short, The Proof Is in the Pudding, depicted a 1950s housewife who poisons her husband with the titular dessert. I was not in a good place with relationships, he admits with a laugh.