When Frank Zappa (briefly) replaced Chopin on Big Bridges

Thanks to the U.S. ambassador to Pakistan, of all people, an old on-campus prank that placed musician Frank Zappa’s name on Bridges Auditorium is getting new attention. (Zappa lived in Claremont for part of his youth and later recorded music in nearby Rancho Cucamonga.) In the paper, Inland Valley Daily Bulletin columnist and blogger David Allen expounds on the19721975 incident that Claremont-raised Cameron Munter, ambassador to Pakistan, mentioned during his May 13 Commencement address at Pomona. Writes Allen:

Everyone says graduation speeches have few surprises, but that wasn’t true last month at Pomona College, where a commencement speaker copped to participation in the prank …

As Munter recounted it:

‘My favorite Pomona memory is a few young Claremont High School students who, in the dead of night, in the wonderful year of 1972, created a Styrofoam replica of a great musician, his name carved in big white letters in Styrofoam.

‘And those students, who shall remain anonymous, climbed to the roof of Big Bridges, and placed this … visage of Zappa, raised to the pantheon for all the world to see.’

Graduates laughed and applauded. I like how Munter winkingly brags about the prank and yet never quite comes out and says he was among those responsible. He’s a true diplomat.”

Hat tip to laobserved.

More pictures on David Allen’s blog.

Everything Must Go!

Before moving on, Pomona’s Class of 2012 first had to move merchandise and shed accessories. So, for weeks before this year’s Commencement, the daily Student Digester turned into a swap meet laden with “SENIOR SALES!” We looked past the expected futons and floor lamps for the finer things, listed here with the original asking price:

• Tempur-Pedic pillow: $40
• Half-used 3.4-oz DKNY perfume: $10
• Top hat: $10
• Chin-up bar: $15
• Cocktail shaker: $5
• “The cutest toaster you’ll ever see”: $10
• Pioneer PL-530 Turntable: $120
• NFL Fever 2004 for Xbox: $9
• Ski goggles: $15
• Pair of sake cups: $8
• Mosquito net “that you can hang over your bed to make you feel like a princess”: $10

New campus signs designed with past in mind

The next time you are on campus, you may have an easier time finding your way around, thanks to new signs—about 60 in all—that will be installed over the summer.

Pointing the way to Pomona locations old and new, the updated markers will be attached to existing light poles and are designed with history in mind.

Their shape replicates the bronze plaque shield found on several of the College’s historical structures and their beige color matches those older buildings as well, notes Project Manager Andrea Ramella.

Peafowl invade Sagehen turf, but don’t worry

On a recent May day, this pair of peacocks was spotted in the Draper Courtyard, where they are peering into the Edmunds Building. Peacocks also were spotted elsewhere around Claremont. Thanks to Dan from the mailroom for passing along the photos.

But these showy birds are still no match for our beloved mascot, as those who attended Jessica Blickley ’02’s talk about the sage grouse at Alumni Weekend in Apri will attest. A Ph.D. candidate in ecology at UC Davis, Blickley has worked on the plains of western Wyoming, conducting research on the bizarre and beautiful birds. In her talk, she debunked a number of mascot myths. Contrary to some campus lore, sagehens do indeed fly, up to 50 m.p.h. But, alas, the quirky birds don’t really chirp.  The sagehen’s unique vocalization is more of a “coo-coo-pop-whistle-pop,” explains Blickley, who majored in biology at Pomona.

Adds Blickley: “It’s true, male sage grouse are very loyal to their home lek [a.k.a. “strutting grounds”]. Both males and females tend to return to the same one every year. In the same way, I think a lot of Pomona alumni have loyalty to the school and are excited to come back. I certainly feel that way.”

The summer issue of PCM will feature more about Blickley and our bird.

 

L.A. Dodgers Baseball Home Opening Day: Special Pomona College Nostalgia Edition

With the Dodgers’ home opener starting in hours — and the team only half a game out of first place — we are serving up an all-you-can-read buffet of Pomona College-related major league baseball tidbits:

First up:  The latest edition of The Rose Magazine, published this week by the Pasadena Star-News, recalls the day in 1935 that the young Ted Williams and  Jackie Robinson (along with humorist Will Rogers) dined at Pomona College before a big baseball tournament where they “took that first step toward baseball stardom.”

Road trip: Mike Luery, Pomona College Class of ’77, has a new book out, Baseball Between Us, recounting trips with his son, Matt, to 32 ballparks and other baseball shrines, including the Roger Maris Museum in Fargo, N.D. — where they meet long-ago Dodgers base-stealing star Maury Wills. Of course, the pair also visit Dodger Stadium, where Mike and Matt, fresh from meeting Maury, make the case that the team should retire his number. “… perhaps one day the Dodgers will consider honoring the man who created more excitement on the base paths than any other Dodger player, second only to the great Jackie Robinson,” writes Mike, an award-winning TV and radio journalist. (Wills was also touted in a recent L.A. Times column.) Mike will be signing his book on campus during Alumni Weekend later this month.

From the 2005 PCM archives: Pomona College History Professor Samuel Yamashita recalls his days growing up in the baseball crossroads of Hawaii, where his late father was a well-known umpire, giving the young Yamashita the chance to meet Jackie Robinson, Roy Campanella, Micky Mantle, Stan Musial, Casey Stengel and other baseball greats.

East Coast interest: The Yankees fans among us will be interested to read the story of Harry Kingman, Pomona Class of 1913, who played in four games for the New York Yankees in 1914, according to a piece by Bob Timmermann on the Society for American Baseball Research website. Kingman was born in Tientsin, China — his father was a Congregationalist missionary — and the article notes he is the only major league player born in that nation. He also is billed as the only Pomona alumnus to play in the majors.

Dirty Sox: The Winter 2011 issue of PCM (pdf, page 12) recounts how, a century earlier, the Boston Red Sox took an unusual spring training tour, which led them to Claremont, where they toyed with our team on the way to a 7-0 victory against our collegiate crew.

From the handbook: 1929-1930 campus map

This map from the 1929-30 student handbook shows the campus at a time when iconic structures such as Bridges Auditorium and Fray Dining Hall have yet to be built. If the separate men’s and women’s campuses of the time pique your curiosity, read more about the old north-south campus divide in our winter 2010 issue (page 16 of the pdf).

Another perfect winter day at Pomona …

These photos were taken on Marston Quad on March 2 by John Lucas.

Kris Kristofferson ’58 and Johnny Cash visit Pomona College in the 1970s

Accompanied by his good friend Johnny Cash, Kris Kristofferson, Pomona College Class of 1958, returned to campus in 1973 to receive an honorary doctor of fine arts degree. In the photo, the country-western legends are accompanied by two Pomona College icons, David Alexander (left), who served as college president from 1969 to 1991, and Philosophy Professor Fred Sontag, longest-serving faculty member in Pomona’s history, with a tenure of 57 years before his passing in 2009.

Picking Apple: Students prefer Macs

Macintosh computers now outnumber Windows computers by nearly 2 to 1 among Pomona College students, according to IT Director Kenneth Pflueger. That’s a complete reversal in the ratio in just five years. The count is based on student’s registered laptops and desktop computers and doesn’t include iPads or iPhones. Deborah Frempong ’15 sounds mystical when she speaks of her Mac: “It just feels better to me, in a strange way.”

The Game That Must Not Be Written About

We knew it was coming. For years, we have happened across little items in other colleges’ alumni magazines about students playing Harry Potter-inspired Quidditch matches. Competitors in “Muggle Quidditch” move the ball down the field while holding broomsticks between their legs in a gravity-bound version of the aerial competitions at Hogwarts. In the absence of real magic, the winged and evasive Golden Snitch (above) is replaced by a tennis ball stuffed in a sock and carried in the shorts of a player known as the snitch runner. The Muggle [that is, non-magic] version started at Middlebury in 2005. Now, via the Student Digester, we learn there is a recently-formed team for students of The Claremont Colleges. They call themselves the Dirigible Plums, and they will compete against UCLA, Oxy and others at the Western Cup tournament in March.

 More about Harry Potter at Pomona:
Ritual and Magic in Children’s Literature: In Class with Professor Oona Eisenstadt
Pomona Student Union’s “Veritaserum: The Truth About Harry Potter” event