Occidental Magazine

April 30, 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, they find strength and support among the...

Occidental Magazine

Occidental magazine brings you campus news, in-depth features, and profiles of exceptional alumni. For the 2024-25 academic year, the magazine published two print and digital issues (Fall 2024 and Spring 2025) and one digital-only issue (Summer 2024).

Features

Profiles

Seeding the Forests

Utilizing biomass burial and carbon credits, Mast Reforestation CEO Grant Canary ’05 is on a mission to revive scorched landscapes in the American West

Profiles

Contrarian Documentarian

Academy Award-winning documentary filmmaker Marcel Ophuls ’50, who attended Occidental for three years before dropping out to finish his studies at the Sorbonne, died May 24 at the age of 97...

Los Angeles

Life After Fire

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...

Faculty

Advanced Projects in Photography

With two exhibits opening simultaneously and a new teaching space at ��˿��, Assistant Professor Janna Ireland navigates her burgeoning career as she parents two growing boys

Eddie Gorton ’01, Paul “PK” Kim ’98, and David Murphy ’02

Profiles

Sitting Down With the Stand-ups

Paul “PK” Kim ’98, Eddie Gorton ’01, and David Murphy ’02 trace their comic odysseys from talent shows and laundromats to Thorne Hall and the Laugh Factory

Professor William D. Ward at his desk in the Hall of Letters on Occidental’s Highland Park campus.

��˿�� History

Unseen Occidental

From 1898 to 1914, ��˿�� called Highland Park home—and a treasure trove of photos from the 1910s offers a glimpse of campus life before the move to Eagle Rock

Strategic Planning

Board of Trustees Welcomes Eight

As Art Peck ’77 succeeds Lisa Link P’18 as chair, six new trustees join the Board of Trustees—and two long-serving members return for new terms

Obituaries

A Voice for “The Invisible Majority”

Emerita Adjunct Professor Betsy Perry, who taught at ��˿�� for 19 years, published extensively on Early Modern Spain and advocated for the equal treatment of all academics

Obituaries

Remembering the "Dean of NFL Referees"

With three Super Bowls on his resume, Jim Tunney '51 (1929-2024) became the face of football officiating

First Word

President Stritikus

Tapping Into the Power of Research

��˿�� students and alumni use their lifelong affinity for learning to answer important questions—beginning with a research-driven liberal arts education

From the Quad

Claire Wilson-Black ’26, Talia Goddard ’27, and Brandon Kim ’27

Student Life

Carrying the Torch

As planning heats up for the 2028 Summer Olympics, ��˿�� students are doing their part to ensure a just and sustainable Games

Mariah Rutiaga Amaya ’22 outside the Hameetman Career Center.

Academics

Vital Signs

Recent ��˿�� 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

��˿�� professors and students engaged in summer research and internships

Academics

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

Ruth Berkey and members of the 1978 women's volleyball team

Obituaries

Remembering Ruth Berkey: A Pioneer in Women's Athletics

Ruth M. Berkey, Occidental’s director of athletics from 1977 to 1980 and a pioneering advocate for women’s sports, died May 18, 2025, in Grants Pass, Ore. She was 89.

��˿�� Live! welcomed visual artist Ed Ruscha to Thorne Hall on February 4.

Los Angeles

Spring-loaded With Speakers

Ed Ruscha, Deirdre Cooper Owens, and Tom Nichols lead the discourse at ��˿�� this semester

Assistant Professor Natasha Sekhon studies broken stalagmites to decide whether they should be brought back to the U.S. for further research.

Undergraduate Research

An Underground History of Climate Change

Assistant Professor Natasha Sekhon and junior geology major Mira Hart take their research abroad, looking for clues inside Philippine caves

Mixed Media

More Mixed Media

Terry Kitchen '81 performs "We All Dream."

Arts

Mixed Media

A host of new works by ��˿�� alumni explore explore themes of democracy, resilience, and human connection—as well as our fascination with horses, dragons, and ocean life

Carole MacNeil ’84 with her mom, Eleanor, in 2019.

Arts

Mixed Media

New books by Carole MacNeil ’84, Jessica C. Harris ’08, Jessica Keith ’00, Marsha de la O ’74, and the latest documentary short by César Martínez Barba ’17

��˿�� Talk

More ��˿�� Talk

Occidental Board of Trustees Chair Art Peck '77

Profiles

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...

Profiles

Judgment Calls

Separated by 2,700 miles, National Labor Relations Board administrative law judges Brian Gee ’87 and Ira Sandron ’71 find common ground in ��˿��

Last Page

Obituaries

A Word or Two About Ann La Rue Matlow

Caring, inquisitive, and adventurous, Ann was a friend to all her 1968 classmates—and an estate gift will support future generations of Tigers globally