A Conversation with President Elam

Please join us to meet President Elam and learn more about the current state of the College, what the future holds, and how as a community we can support each other during these historic times. President Elam will be joined by an Oxy faculty member and student, to discuss their academic work during this period of remote teaching and learning.

Our Oxy community reaches across the United States and the world. Therefore we will hold four conversations to best accommodate these U.S. regions: East, Central, Mountain, West. (Please note, the program will be similar for each event.)

• East Coast Region     Tuesday, December 8, 2020 at 6 PM EST
• Mountain, Pacific Northwest, and Bay Area Regions     Tuesday, December 8, 2020 at 6 PM PST / 7 PM MST
• Central Region     Wednesday, December 9, 2020 at Noon CST
• Southern California Region     Wednesday, December 9, 2020 at 6 PM PST

Please register by Monday, December 7. The Zoom login and passcode information will be emailed immediately upon completing registration. You are welcome to attend any events that work best with your schedule, regardless of the hosting region.

REGISTER

Program Participants

East Coast Region  
Tuesday, December 8, 2020 - 6:00 PM EST

• Dr. Namandjé Bumpus ’03 (Washington, D.C.) is the E.K. Marshall and Thomas H. Maren Professor and Chair of the Department of Pharmacology and Molecular Sciences at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. She was a biology major at Oxy and remains committed to assisting current biology students.

• Steve Case ’80 (New Canaan, CT) is a veteran investment consultant in the New York City area. He was an economics major at Oxy as well as vice president of the Blyth Fund. He has been involved with the College in various capacities over the last 40 years and currently serves as chair of the New York Regional Alumni Committee. 

• Diana Ngo is an assistant professor of Economics. Her research interests are in Applied Microeconomics and Development Economics.

Mountain, Pacific Northwest, and Northern California Regions 
Tuesday, December 8, 2020 - 6:00 PM PST / 7:00 PM MST

• Helen Shafran ’87 (Salem, OR), a political science major at Oxy, is a seasoned non-profit professional and currently is the Donor Relations & Stewardship Director at Partnerships in Community Living in Monmouth, Oregon. Helen and many of her family are proud to be called “Oxy Tigers” and her strong commitment to Oxy includes serving on the Board of Governors, the William Stewart Young Society Board, as class reunion chair, and as class secretary since graduation.

• Leo Olebe ’97 (Pleasanton, CA) is currently the Global Director, Games Partnership with Facebook. While at Oxy he was ASOC president and today is excited to re-engage with the College, his fellow alumni, and to support President Elam in his first year at Oxy.

• Regina Freer is a professor of politics and a member of the Advisory Committee for Urban and Environmental Policy. Her research and teaching interests include race and politics, demographic change, urban politics, and the intersection of all three in Los Angeles.

Central Region 
Wednesday, December 9, 2020 - 12:00 PM CST

• Alida Beck ’15 (Chicago IL) was a politics major and math minor at Oxy and is currently in her second year at the Loyola University Chicago School of Law. She played varsity lacrosse for all four years at Oxy and is still an active alumna with Oxy Athletics. She also currently serves as a ViSTA volunteer (Volunteers in Service of Tiger Admission) by interviewing prospective Oxy students.

• Sam Gale ’07 (Minneapolis, MN)  is a professor in Modern U.S. & African American History at the University of Wisconsin-River Falls. As an american studies major at Oxy, the close guidance of Professor emeritus David Axeen set him on his path to academia. Sam is a strong believer in furthering access to an Oxy education, serving as a ViSTA volunteer, and working to create scholarship opportunities for students who are first in their family to attend college.

• Thalia González is an associate professor of politics. She is a nationally-recognized interdisciplinary legal scholar who explores contemporary theoretical and empirical questions at the intersection of law, society, inequality, and public systems.

Southern California Region 
Wednesday, December 9, 2020 - 6:00 PM PST

• Monique Hernandez ’00 (Long Beach, CA) was a sociology major at Oxy and is the Senior Manager of Data Visualization and Special Projects for the Florida Cancer Data System, a central cancer registry providing high quality data on cancer. She currently serves on the executive board of Occidental College Alumni Association (OCLAA) which advocates for the educational and career advancement of Oxy Latino/a students and alumni.

• Lakshmi Dastur-Johnson ’88 P'21 (La Canada, CA) has worked in non-profit finance and advancement for thirty years, including  leadership roles at Oxy and as a trustee at various community non-profits. She is currently Director of External Affairs at Flintridge Preparatory School. In addition to being the  proud parent of an Oxy senior, Lakshmi is serving as co-chair of The Oxy Fund, the College’s annual giving program.

• Aleem Hossain is an assistant professor of Media Arts and Culture. He is a filmmaker and VR creator interested in expanding how we tell stories and who gets to tell them. He recently wrote and directed the sci-fi film After We Leave, which had its world premiere at Sci Fi London in May 2019 and was awarded Best Feature Film at the festival.