Journeys›Photograph

Touring Occidental College with Our Daughter

·Occidental College·#california#summer#family#los angeles#Occidental College#college tour
Three people smile beside a bronze plaque featuring a raised portrait of Barack Obama, mounted on a wall with greenery.

Drove down from Truckee to Eagle Rock for a college tour at Occidental, our daughter's turn to size up a campus and ours to trail along behind her. First stop was the Barack Obama '83 plaque — he gave his first political speech here as a student, an anti-apartheid protest — and we lined up for the obligatory family picture beside it before the walking started.

Myron Hunt laid the campus out around 1912 on a cross-axial plan, and you can feel it: everything runs off the quadrangle, which had tents and tables set up under the oaks for the tour groups. Inside the library the Obama theme continued, a signed HOPE poster over a case of memorabilia near the Ahmanson Room.

The stop that got the biggest reaction was the pool, dead blue under a hot sky, and a dorm out back with a sand volleyball court and a row of Adirondack chairs. Last thing was the Remsen Bird Amphitheater, cut into the hillside in 1925, built for about 5,000, the old wooden seats long since replaced with concrete tiers running up toward the eucalyptus.

Orange and black banners with a tiger motif and the Occidental College seal hang between stone columns on a building.A light-colored building with a tower, red tile roof, and arches, surrounded by green landscaping under a clear sky.A round fountain with a silver sculpture sits in a plaza surrounded by a building, trees, and dry grassy hills.An outdoor swimming pool complex with diving boards, spectator stands, and trees under a clear blue sky.A modern building with a tall stained glass window and a raised walkway, framed by green trees against a blue sky.An outdoor area with large trees shading white tables, chairs, and event canopies, next to green grass and a concrete path.A wood-paneled reading room with long wooden tables, lamps, bookshelves, and a large grid window.A framed "HOPE" poster of a person hangs above a wooden display case showcasing various photos, books, and memorabilia.A large cream-colored building with a tiled roof stands among lush green trees and manicured gardens under a blue sky.A two-story building with palm trees, a patio, and a sand volleyball court with colorful chairs on a lawn.Empty outdoor amphitheater with concrete seating curving around a grassy stage, beneath a hill with trees and a blue sky.A light-colored stone wall displays the words "OCCIDENTAL COLLEGE" in silver letters, with green foliage above and below.

More Entries