Oxy is a streetwise cousin to the more upscale and suburban Claremont Colleges. Plentiful internships and study abroad give Oxy students real-world perspectives. Opportunities for undergraduate research are plentiful. Oxy’s innovative diplomacy and world affairs program features internships with UN agencies. Strong focus on diversity and social justice.

Occidental College is one of a handful of small colleges located in a big city, in this case La La Land. But unlike the sprawling and impersonal City of Angels, Oxy emphasizes a strong sense of community and a decidedly diverse student population. Notable alums include former president Barack Obama. “Students dream big at Oxy,” says a senior. “Whether a student wants a career in Hollywood or on Wall Street, everyone knows that it starts in the classroom.”

Set against the backdrop of the San Gabriel Mountains, Oxy’s self-contained Mediterranean-style campus is a secluded enclave of flowers and trees between Pasadena and Glendale, minutes from downtown Los Angeles. The McKinnon Center for Global Affairs features a two-story, LED-lit wall of sculpted glass with embedded interactive screens that display a shifting array of student and faculty research and coursework. New campus additions include an $18 million aquatic center and a tennis center.

Inside this urban oasis resides a thriving community of high achievers who don’t for a moment believe that the liberal arts are dead, or even wounded. Required first-year cultural studies seminars include topics in human history and culture, with an emphasis on writing skills, and are limited to 16 students each. In addition, all Oxy students must show proficiency in a foreign language and complete coursework in world cultures, fine arts, the preindustrial-era, science, and math. In their final year, all students complete a senior comprehensive, or “comp,” such as a project, paper, or exam that shows mastery in their field.

Many of Occidental’s academic departments are excellent; economics, diplomacy and world affairs, biology, urban and environmental policy, politics, and chemistry are among the strongest and most popular majors. The media arts and culture major, which offers concentrations in critical media and media production, is solid; students learn both theory and production skills and enjoy access to internships in L.A.’s film and entertainment industries. Newer offerings include majors in computer science and Black studies. There are also 3–2 engineering programs with Caltech and Columbia University and a 4–2 biotechnology program with Keck Graduate Institute (of the Claremont Colleges). Academics at Oxy are challenging, but the atmosphere is not competitive. Faculty members are readily available in and out of the classroom, and students say the teaching, in general, is excellent. Sixty-three percent of classes have fewer than 20 students, and as academic advisors are responsible for about four students per class (16 total), personal relationships develop quickly. “Professors’ office doors are always open for students if they need help in class or in life,” confirms a senior.

Oxy encourages diverse learning experiences through independent study, internships, and study abroad. The college boasts an unusual UN program that allows students to intern with UN-related organizations while also taking classes and living in Manhattan for a semester. The Campaign Semester, offered every two years, gives students a chance to work full time on political campaigns and then return to campus for a seminar where they reflect on their experiences. About two-thirds of students study abroad or pursue international research or internships in more than 50 countries. The Summer Research Program supports more than 100 student research projects in the sciences, social sciences, and humanities every summer, and many students publish and present their work.

“Students at Oxy are generally creative, smart self-starters and politically and socially engaged/opinionated,” says a sociology major. Thirty-eight percent of the students are from California, and 7 percent hail from foreign nations. African Americans make up 4 percent of the student population, Hispanics 14 percent, Asian Americans 15 percent, and multiracial students 9 percent. Perhaps not surprisingly, students tend to be liberal, and the raging social concerns are “racial and social inequalities, environmentalism, and gender issues,” according to one student. Merit scholarships are doled out to qualified students each year-averaging $13,300-but there are no athletic scholarships. Occidental typically meets the full demonstrated need of admitted students and has increased the amount of grant aid awarded to middle-class students. Special financial packages are available to low-income students as well. The Barack Obama Scholars Program provides top achievers who have demonstrated serious commitment to public service with a four-year scholarship covering the full cost of attendance, as well as funding for three summer experiences, such as internships or service projects.

The residence halls are small-almost all house fewer than 150 students-and co-ed by floor or room. Eighty-one percent of students live on campus, but what you get depends on your luck in the housing lottery. Freshmen live together in five dedicated first-year halls, and students are required to live on campus and purchase a meal plan until their senior year, when they can opt to move off campus. Special-interest housing, like Multicultural Hall, Food Justice House, and Queer House, is popular. “The food is fresh and yummy!” cheers a student. “It’s always changing and they bring in locally sourced produce.” Resources related to sexual assault include the Project SAFE student group, which a senior says “has been absolutely wonderful in creating a safe and respectful campus.”

While the bustle of L.A. often beckons on weekends, the Oxy campus provides its share of fun, too, whether it be a “basketball game, concert, dance, or party,” says one student. Greek organizations attract 12 percent of the men and 21 percent of the women, but they are neither selective nor exclusive; students choose which to join, rather than being chosen, and the frats must invite everyone to their functions. As for alcohol, “like most other colleges, there is underage drinking even though this is illegal,” says a junior. Dance Production-a decades-old tradition in which student dancers perform works by student choreographers-sells out both performances each year. Other big events include Apollo Night (a talent contest) and the Fall Fest and Spring Fest concerts, featuring big-name performers. You may want to keep your birthday a secret, or on that unhappy day a roaring pack of your more sadistic classmates will carry you out to the middle of campus and mercilessly toss you in the Gilman Fountain. It’s a tradition, after all.

A student characterizes the surrounding neighborhood of Eagle Rock as “a quaint little community with an eclectic combination of ‘ma and pa’ restaurants and plenty of hole-in-the-wall stores.” Community outreach is important at Occidental and dates back to the mid-1960s, when the college opened its Community Literacy Center and one of the country’s first Upward Bound programs for underserved students. A majority of Oxy students participate in some kind of community project, most through the Center for Community Based Learning. When students become weary of the social life in the “Oxy fishbowl,” they head for the bars, restaurants, museums, and theaters of downtown Los Angeles and Pasadena, where, one student notes, “You can find almost anything except snow.” But the ski slopes of the San Gabriel Mountains are not far away, and neither is Hollywood nor the beautiful beaches of Southern California. A car (your own or someone else’s) is practically a necessity, though the college runs a weekend shuttle service to Old Town Pasadena and other popular spots. The weather is warm and sunny, but the air is often thick with that infamous L.A. smog.

Oxy’s sports teams (the Tigers) compete in Division III. Football draws the most fans, while baseball, men’s and women’s track and field, and women’s soccer are some of the most competitive teams. Oxy’s football rivalry with Pomona–Pitzer is said to be the oldest in Southern California, and the school’s Io Triumphe (“Hurrah, O Triumph”) nonsense chant, a tradition since 1905, has been mocked for nearly a century by rival Redlands, which made up a gibberish chant of its own in 1921. Oxy has a small intramural program, in which 25 percent of students take part; popular club sports include rugby and ultimate Frisbee.

Occidental’s creative, motivated, and diverse students are not here for the bright lights and beautiful people of Los Angeles; those are just fringe benefits. Instead, students are drawn to this intimate oasis of learning by professors who hate to see anyone waste one whit of intellectual potential. “We are pushed to take our writing and critical thinking to the next level,” says a sociology major. And students here are only too happy to live up to these lofty expectations.

-Fiske Guide