Occidental magazine brings you campus news, in-depth features, and profiles of exceptional alumni. For the 2021-22 academic year, the magazine will publish two print and digital issues (Fall 2021 and Spring 2022) and two digital-only issues (Summer 2021 and Winter 2022). The Spring 2022 issue is online now.
For seven out of 10 students, financial aid helps enable the path to Oxy. Three recent grads recount their journeys, discoveries, and what comes next
Seventy-five years after the Japanese-American incarceration, students in Paul Nam’s Modern Japan class visit an internment camp and discuss its legacy
California Attorney General Xavier Becerra implores Oxy’s Class of 2017 to swing for the fences in fostering change
Roger Boesche retired in May after 40 years at Oxy. He died two days later. Alumni, colleagues, and a U.S. president recall his immeasurable impact
Friend, Mentor, and Model Philanthropist
Readers weigh in on the Herrick organ, Addie McMenamin ’40, the Rev. Dr. William Barber, and the “Faces of Oxy”
As a teenager, Lewis “Hoppy” Swarts ’41 first dragged a heavy redwood paddleboard into the waves off Hermosa Beach. Decades later, with his beloved sport in dangerous waters, he became the father of organized surfing
Senior comps can be time-consuming, mind-bending, and soul-crushing—but they inspire many Tigers to unimagined heights
Foodies, wonks, and utensil-minded gourmands chew over a buffet of topics as Oxy hosts an international gathering of food studies scholars
Tom Carroll ’08’s YouTube videos explore the forgotten fringes of the City of Angels, while schooling viewers about some lesser-known landmarks—and there’s no test at the end
From Spring 2007: Junior diving phenoms Jon and Robert Dohring were "untouchable" all season, finishing 1-2 in the 1-and 3-meter events at the Division III nationals—and the sky's the limit for next year
More than 75 years ago, Barbara (Wylie) Canright ’40 helped lift the Jet Propulsion Laboratory off the ground. Half a century later, Eleanor Helin ’54 discovered a staggering number of asteroids. And today, Diane Evans ’76 charts a course for new discoveries—all part of a celestial legacy of Oxy alumnae in the space program
When the United States entered World War I in April 1917, Occidental was a small college struggling to survive in its new home. With a new president and a renewed sense of urgency, how did the Great War change Oxy?
Chris Varelas '85 has a passion for sports, a knack for structuring complex technology deals, a loyalty to his Oxy family—and the uncanny ability of being at the nexus of history
