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Cool Change illustration for Occidental magazine
Cool Change
After years of sleepless nights and hot-weather hacks, every residence hall finally has air conditioning—much to the relief of current and future Tigers

Occidental magazine brings you campus news, in-depth features, and profiles of exceptional alumni. For the 2025-26 academic year, the magazine will publish one digital-only issue (Summer 2025) and two print and digital issues (Fall 2025 and Spring 2026).

Two-time Emmy winner Emma Choate ’20 with her 2-year-old dog, George.
From casting to costumes to music direction and composition, three Occidental alumni live out their Hollywood dreams while being honored by their peers
Life After Fire illustration for Occidental magazine, Spring 2025
The Eaton and Palisades fires in January took their toll on members of the Occidental family, including students, alumni, faculty, and administrators. With a long rebuilding process ahead...
Filmmaker Angelina Lee '22
Combining her interest in sustainability with her prowess behind the camera, Angelina Lee ’22 harvests a new documentary around permaculture
Actor Loren Lester ’83 in Times Square
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
Illumination Chief Marketing Officer Sam Bergen '04
Following the record-shattering box office launch of The Super Mario Bros. Movie, Illumination Chief Marketing Officer Sam Bergen ’04 recounts his journey from Campus Road to Rainbow Road
Actress, author, and voiceover artist Reba Buhr '10
Reba Buhr ’10’s Oxy experience was interrupted by the collapse of her mental health. Here’s how she worked through it
L.A. City Councilwoman Monica Rodriguez '96
As Monica Rodriguez ’96 begins a second term on the Los Angeles City Council, she’s using her voice to bring change to her lifelong home
Jim Conlin '74 at home in his garage in Rochester, N.Y., in an undated photo.
Jim Conlin '74 was not an ostentatious fellow—but his legacy gift to Occidental will improve the fortunes of generations of future students
Michael Gonzales '96 with Guinean Transition President Mamady Doumbouya.
Michael Gonzales ’96 embraces his new role as U.S. ambassador to Zambia with intelligence and integrity
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...
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

Features

Two-time Emmy winner Emma Choate ’20 with her 2-year-old dog, George.
When Emmy Met Oxy
From casting to costumes to music direction and composition, three Occidental alumni live out their Hollywood dreams while being honored by their peers
Gibby Professor of Science Margi Rusmore
Margi Rusmore Reaches the Apex
Oxy's inaugural Gibby Professor of Science may be exiting the classroom, but there are still mountains to climb—as well as prepping her data (and her extensive rock collection) for future...
Warren Montag, the Louis M. Brown Family Professor of English
Warren Montag: Activist and Ally
Whether it was 18th-century British literature or 20th-century European critical theory, Montag approached the syllabus with rigor, grace, warmth, and plenty of deadpan humor—and he...
President Tom Stritikus and Professor of Kinesiology Stuart Rugg at Commencement in May 2025.
Stuart Rugg Stays Fired Up
With seemingly boundless energy, a passion for teaching, and his signature catchphrase, Rugg helped build kinesiology into a signature program at Oxy
Professor Peter Dreier at Anderson Field
Peter Dreier Comes Full Circle
After 32 years as a professor at Oxy, Dreier will return in 2026 as an adjunct—to teach his first-ever class on poverty and inequality and take one more swing at Campaign Semester

First Word

From the Quad

Mariah Rutiaga Amaya ’22 outside the Hameetman Career Center.
Vital Signs
Recent Oxy grads from a variety of disciplines are enrolling in top-tier medical schools in unprecedented numbers, applying their own life experiences to the future of healthcare
Oxy professors and students engaged in summer research and internships
How I Spent My Summer Vocation
From artificial intelligence in the classroom to immigrant rights in the city, the Occidental landscape has been abuzz with activity for faculty and students alike

Mixed Media

Detail from Turtle Walker poster
Much Ado About Turtles (and Keanu)
From John Wick to Wittgenstein, and a sea turtle mystery to an underwater thriller, there's something for everyone in our summer reading (and viewing) roundup
Terry Kitchen '81 performs "We All Dream."
Mixed Media
A host of new works by Oxy alumni explore explore themes of democracy, resilience, and human connection—as well as our fascination with horses, dragons, and ocean life

Oxy Talk

Occidental Board of Trustees Chair Art Peck '77
The Occidental Imperative
Business veteran Art Peck ’77 brings his leadership acumen to the Board of Trustees at a critical juncture in higher education when the College’s mission—and messaging—are more important...

Last Page

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