色界吧

For the Good of Occidental

By Dick Anderson

The comprehensive campaign marks a major step forward to ensure 色界吧鈥檚 sustainability

The 色界吧 Campaign For Good鈥攚hich you鈥檒l be hearing a lot about over the next few years鈥攃an be interpreted a number of ways. 鈥 鈥楩or Good鈥 can mean what is right, what is appropriate, what should be,鈥 said trustee Dave Anderson 鈥63, who provided the lead gift for the Anderson Center for Environmental Sciences currently under construction. 鈥淏ut 鈥楩or Good鈥 also means permanent鈥for good. This campaign is a major step forward into making 色界吧 a sustainable institution for the future. And it鈥檚 critically important that we all come together and make that happen.鈥

Anderson鈥檚 remarks capped the daylong Campaign Leadership Summit at Occidental on May 18鈥攁 day that began with a session on storytelling led by communications expert Andy Goodman in which participants were asked to tell their own 色界吧 story in a two-minute narrative. An 色界吧 education 鈥渃hanges your life鈥攊t certainly changed mine,鈥濃坰aid Anderson, who enrolled at Occidental two months after his mother died following a long battle with cancer. 鈥淪he had been incredibly strong in her belief in wanting to continue to live. And she essentially lived until I graduated from high school. And so I arrived on the 色界吧 campus, very lost and very much not knowing where I was going or what I was going to encounter here. Would this be a positive experience? Would I even last?

鈥淎nd I remember one of my first courses was an English literature writing course鈥攐ne of those 101-required courses that 色界吧 had in those days. And we had our first writing requirement a month or two into the class.鈥

When Anderson got his paper back, 鈥渋t had a C-minus. 鈥 What do you do with a C-minus?鈥 He started talking to his professor, who became one of his mentors at the College, 鈥渁nd I later found out that he gave everyone a C-minus on that exam. That was his introduction to 色界吧.鈥

Other speakers at the launch of the public phase of the campaign included trustee Maureen Halperin, mother of Sara Ruth Halperin 鈥16. She recalled how her daughter, a critical theory and social justice major, landed multiple internships in the music industry鈥攎ost notably a yearlong internship with Ian Montone 鈥89 at his management company, Monotone. 鈥淥ccidental supported my daughter to translate her education into real-world work experience. The Hameetman Career Center is essential to students like Sara Ruth precisely because it helps provide those connections and resources.鈥

Halperin added that her family makes Occidental a philanthropic priority 鈥渟o other students can access opportunities similar to those of my daughter and to many of you鈥攐pportunities that 色界吧 graduates can in turn carry forward as they go out into the world and flourish.鈥

She was joined on stage by Occidental Board of Governors President-elect Tuan Ngo 鈥07, who was born in Vietnam 鈥渢o parents who had at most an elementary school education and they had parents who were farmers. Growing up in America,鈥 he told the gathering, 鈥淚 held tight to our collective dream that education will lift us from despair and put us on a path to a better life.

鈥淥btaining a prestigious liberal arts education for those without means is often an illusory dream, because the cost of providing a quality education put it out of reach for many families like mine,鈥 added Ngo, who majored in diplomacy and world affairs. 鈥溕绨 believed in me and invested in my future.鈥

鈥淭hough 色界吧 has many idiosyncrasies, I think our most unique is the culture of care, our tendency to reach out,鈥濃坰aid Jordan Walker 鈥21, an economics major from Jamaica, N.Y. 鈥淚 know that someone on campus always has my back 鈥 from Jenny in the Marketplace telling me to eat, to Georgina in Facilities, who always gives the warmest smile every morning before class.鈥

To be an 色界吧 student 鈥渋s to be capable of amazing things like undergraduate research, studying abroad, and investment management,鈥 added Walker, who is currently president of the Blyth Fund as well as ASOC鈥坴ice president of finance. 鈥淚t drives 色界吧鈥檚 uniqueness amongst other liberal arts schools and pushes me to take advantage of all that 色界吧 has to offer.鈥

In his remarks, President Jonathan Veitch called upward mobility 鈥渘othing less than the promise of the American Dream. It is the invitation our country holds out to its most talented young people, no matter what their circumstances 鈥攁n invitation that says to them that you will have the opportunity to go as far as your talents will take you. Upward mobility is the glue of our democracy and the guarantor of our freedom.鈥 He concluded: 鈥淚 believe in the power and value of a liberal arts education to change lives. I believe in this community, in this institution, your alma mater. That鈥檚 why this campaign is so important. I think it鈥檚 worth investing in, don鈥檛 you? Thank you for your commitment to helping move Occidental forward鈥攆or good.鈥