The Links That Bind Us
What does community engagement look like to you?
As Annie Voss ’26 declares in this issue, community engagement is so central to Pitzer College’s identity that the student experience would be unthinkable without it.
That is why this issue of Participant focuses on the engagement pillar of the College’s core values and how it’s visible on campus today. The greatest takeaway might be the simplest: At Pitzer, community engagement has many faces.
Some of our central players include the Robert Redford Conservancy for Southern California Sustainability, the Community Engagement Center (CEC), and Critical Action & Social Advocacy (CASA) Pitzer. CEC and CASA Pitzer are celebrating their 25th anniversaries this year.
But there are additional programs and organizations that are having a real impact on surrounding communities. These include the Justice in Education initiative, and we offer a profile of Romarilyn Ralston ’14, who was appointed as senior director earlier this year.
We also look at the efforts of Micah Huang ’13, who is responding to Asian hate crimes through music and as director this summer of the Los Angeles Hungry Ghost Festival. Professor of Asian American Studies Kathy Yep shows us how she introduces students to the ancient Chinese practice of qì gōng, which lays a critical foundation for building community. Kelly Heimdahl ’20 describes her effort to start a partnership with Claremont-based ConductAbility after enrolling at Pitzer as a New Resources student.
While Voss, Alex Wise ’24, and Andrea Robinowitz ’25 describe the inspiring, unexpected impact of getting involved in community work, our profiles of Isa Iqbal ’26 and Sammy Basa ’25 demonstrate how some students are taking Pitzer’s spirit of community engagement to other parts of the world.
Of course, this issue only scratches the surface on a rich aspect of the Pitzer experience. At Pitzer, there isn’t a single way to conduct community engagement. We hope this issue serves as a starting point for your exploration of the College’s many groups and organizations that are helping students put their social justice values into action.
Nick Owchar, Editor