Back to the Classroom One More Time

As plans for Alumni Weekend 2026 (May 1–3) take shape, one highlight stands above the rest: the chance for alumni to interact with the professors who helped define their Pitzer experience.

During the weekend, past and current faculty will all be on campus, offering not just familiar faces, but also meaningful opportunities for connection (and reconnection). A faculty-alumni mixer on Saturday afternoon at the McConnell Apron provides the perfect opportunity to bring many of those relationships back into the same space.

For Professor Emerita of English and World Literature Jill Benton, such reunions are highly personal and meaningful.

“I usually scan the list of alumni attending and look for them at the event,” she said. “Sometimes they reach out ahead of time—always a delight.”

For Benton and others, Alumni Weekend isn’t just an opportunity for Pitzer alumni to reconnect; it’s also a chance for faculty to see former students and learn more about their lives after Pitzer.

“Alums often do not realize how significant they were to their professors,” said Professor Emeritus Paul Faulstich ’79. “They think of those professors who have had a big impact on them, even changed their lives. But as a professor emeritus, I can say how profoundly impacted we are by our students. Students, too, change lives, and it is a treat for professors to reconnect with their former students who are now in different stages of their lives.”

Faulstich, who will also celebrate with his Class of 1979, reflects a broader truth about Pitzer: that student-faculty relationships are reciprocal and enduring.

That connection continues in the classroom, and this year’s Alumni Weekend will offer a window on it. 

Current faculty will lead lectures and interactive sessions that showcase the ideas shaping current students. Assistant Professor of Economics Alma Bezares Calderón will explore “The Value of the Environment in a Changing Climate,” while Professor of Asian American Studies Kathy Yep will lead a participatory session on addressing social disconnection through qìgōng, blending scholarship with mindful practice.

“Today’s students engage new questions and contexts,” Yep said, “but they continue to experience the same intellectual rigor, care and transformative learning that alumni remember.”

Alumni can also step back into hands-on learning. In the ceramics studio, Professor of Art Tim Berg and Rebekah Meyers will guide participants in throwing clay on the wheel (no experience required).

Alumni Weekend events like these are a reminder that relationships formed at Pitzer don’t have to end at graduation. They can deepen or be rekindled.

“I hope that our alumni get inspired by the themes they discuss over the weekend,” said Bezares Calderón. “I hope this will be an opportunity for them to engage with others in a safe space and to learn and share their experiences.”

Explore the full Alumni Weekend schedule

Pictured in photo (from top left, going clockwise): Kathy Yep, Paul Faulstich, Jill Benton, Alma Bezares Calderón, Tim Berg and Rebekah Meyers.