While the problems facing America can seem overwhelming, history shows us that we each have more power than we know—power that can change the course of history, Pulitzer Prize-winning author and historian Isabel Wilkerson told the Class of 2023 at Occidental College’s 141st Commencement ceremony on May 21.

As a child, Meko Winbush ’03 recalls, “I wanted to be an astronaut. Then somewhere like around age 12 or 13, my family rented Terminator 2, and I thought it was the dopest thing I’d ever seen. I watched it four or five times before we had to return it to Blockbuster.” After that, she continues, “I started asking my dad if I could borrow the camcorder and go outside and make awful films with my friends in the cul-de-sac. I just loved movies and filmmaking.”

In 2005, during a visit to the United States’ oldest Black-owned bookstore—Marcus Books in San Francisco—Will Power was flipping through the pages of an oversized poster book on Muhammad Ali, when he saw a picture of Ali and his entourage. Next to him was Stepin Fetchit—the controversial Hollywood actor, 40 years Ali’s senior—with a caption that described Fetchit as his “secret strategist.” The photo was taken in the midst of the Civil Rights Movement, a jarring discovery given the two figures’ divergent reputations in Black cultural memory.

Last December, following the death of P-22 —the mountain lion who called Griffith Park home for more than a decade following his discovery in 2012—the Los Angeles Times published a story about his impact on the city. “An everyday citizen tweeted that the 12-year-old bachelor with the mesmerizing eyes clearly had been ‘L.A.’s coolest cat,’” James Raney reported—and that phrase resonated with Adam Schoenberg, the Emmy Award-winning and Grammy-nominated composer and associate professor of music at Occidental.

I invite you to join us for Homecoming and Family Weekend (October 20-22), when we will gather for Oxy traditions like the Student Spirit Parade, the annual Glee Club Concert, and a full day of athletic competition, as well as a community celebration of The Oxy Campaign For Good. Registration opens in mid-September. Click here for more information.

Nicolas Choumenkovitch ’86 majored in economics at Oxy and earned his MBA from the University of Virginia.

In June, the U.S. Supreme Court issued rulings in two major cases that will significantly impact the ability of colleges and universities, including Occidental, to consider race as a factor in admission decisions.

In cases involving a private institution, Harvard University, and a highly regarded public institution, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, the court ruled that race-conscious admission practices violate the equal protection clause of the 14th Amendment and harm some qualified applicants.

I had completed my first year of studies at Occidental when a serendipitous encounter in July 2012 sparked the beginning of a decade-long intergenerational friendship. My mom’s car, adorned with an Oxy bumper sticker, was parked outside the Kirkland (Wash.) Library. A passerby saw the sticker and left a simple note (with his email) on the windshield: “Hi Oxy-ite! David Wigglesworth, Occidental Class of ’50.” My mom sent me a photo of the note, and I emailed Dave later that day.

I am at an age where I have elated on mountain tops and groveled in murky swamps and ambled through brambles in the tricky valleys as well as thickets of downed timber. Occidental College and Frank Lambert—a name synonymous with organic chemistry students during his 33 years in the classroom—have been my guides throughout my journey.