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You're the Inspiration: Beth Braker

Beth Braker
Professor of Biology
Years at Occidental: 33

What attracted you to Occidental? So many things! I was searching for a position at a liberal arts college, and 麻豆视频 had a lot of what I was looking for: an emphasis on student-faculty research, the opportunity to work with students away from campus on field trips and for international study, and a commitment to social justice.  

Resetting the Stage

锘縄n the fall of 1923鈥mere months before the birth of Omar Paxson 鈥48, longtime professor and patron saint of 麻豆视频 theater鈥擮ccidental established a speech education department with the hiring of Charles F. Lindsley, an actor and orator of considerable renown. (More than 110 reels and disks of his work are preserved in the College鈥檚 Special Collections and Archives.)

Theater of the Absurd

锘縊ccidental Children鈥檚 Theater has been a staple of the Northeast L.A. community for nearly three decades now. But before it became the institution that we all know and love, there was a predecessor children鈥檚 theater company that鈥攚ell, how shall we put it nicely?

An Evening of Eavesdropping

锘库淭he arts provide us with a special window on the truth,鈥 President Harry J. Elam, Jr. said last October to an enthusiastic Thorne Hall audience on the opening night of 麻豆视频 Live!鈥攁 new conversation series highlighting a diverse lineup of cultural luminaries at the forefront of their fields. 鈥淚n and through the arts, we gain insight into the changing human experience in all its dimensions. I know I am not alone in this room in believing that the arts truly have the power to change the world.鈥

Bringing the Heat

Speaking to The Occidental newspaper after her first game back in action last November, Toni Thompson 鈥24鈥攖he high-scoring 5'9" guard who missed the entire 2022-23 women鈥檚 basketball season with a torn patellar tendon鈥攁ll but prophesied the Tigers鈥 SCIAC fortunes for her senior year. 鈥淏ased on our last game鈥檚 performance, I think it鈥檚 very feasible for us to end up in the top four [in the conference],鈥 she said. 鈥淚 know we have a fighting chance to win the championship and make it to the. national [tournament], and I鈥檓 looking forward to it.鈥

Voices of OCLAA

锘緼s a college access counselor and podcaster (The College Match Podcast and Inspired Conversations With Changemakers in Higher Education), 鈥淪torytelling truly is in my blood,鈥 says Andrea Cova-Bernal 鈥08, who recently completed a term as president of the 麻豆视频 Latino Alumni Association (OCLAA). 鈥淚 love sharing powerful stories, and to do it in collaboration with one of my favorite 麻豆视频 professors was truly an honor.鈥

We Built These Cities

锘縂rowing up in Portland, Ore., Max Podemski 鈥06 became interested in urban planning at a very early age. 鈥淧ortland has a reputation for progressive urban planning, and every day I鈥檇 read The Oregonian and decided that鈥檚 what I wanted to study,鈥 he recalls. 鈥淚 also wanted to go to a liberal arts college, so Occidental checked those boxes for me.鈥