by John Pixley

The Monday after commencement weekend at the Claremont Colleges here was sunny and warm, unlike the cold-to-cool, mostly grey previous two days. I decided to stroll up to Marston Quad at Pomona College to see the commencement setup. I had not been by in the prior week or two to see it being assembled, and, after all, this was the site that had to be abandoned for the Shrine Auditorium all the way in Los Angeles last year when pro-Palestinian protesting campers refused to leave. (Okay, I’m something of a graduation junkie, but, this year, I saw only one speech online; I didn’t go from one commencement to another to hear the addresses, as I have in the past.) I figured that at least some of the site would still be up.

It was all gone. Or pretty much all gone. The very back of the stage was being taken down, and there were a few cords laying about. Other than that, it was business as usual on the green square in front of Bridges Auditorium, with several people laying and sitting in the sun.

Boy, that was pretty fast work! Almost like that, Claremont was caught, so to speak, with its pants down, without its shield of prestigious academia. Literally overnight, Claremont had turned into an ordinary town, just another town, for the next few months.

Even after all these years, I still felt the sting of that loss. Even with the crowds and the celebratory air in town that weekend, I still found myself mourning. (The grey skies and chill didn’t help.) I guess I’m still a College faculty kid, having grown up the child of a Harvey Mudd professor. It’s like what a friend said about being a “P.K.” (preacher’s kid). Or that old line about being able to take the boy out of the country but not being able to take the country out of the boy.

But it has become more and more apparent to me that, even without its academic regalia, even without the gown, Claremont isn’t just an ordinary town, isn’t just another town. Perhaps it’s from not being able to travel like I used to, but I see more and more that Claremont is not so ordinary, isn’t unlike the unique, distinctive towns, the cool towns, I have liked around California, colleges or no colleges.

On cold days after a rain, when the streets are still wet and we pass by each other in our hoodies and beanies, I see Santa Cruz. When I see the colorful, old homes in a variety of styles along the shady streets near the Village and Memorial Park, I see Grass Valley and Berkeley. When I see the mission-inspired architecture mixed in with the more contemporary wooden buildings in the Village as the sun is going down at the end of a warm day, I see San Luis Obispo. When I see and smell clipped, green lawns steaming on hot summer days, I see Chico.

Yes, many of these towns and other California towns that I’m reminded of, that I’m transported to as I go about Claremont, are college towns. They have colleges in them, are associated with colleges. But I have spent a good deal of time in some, like Santa Cruz and San Luis Obispo, and have had minimal or no awareness of the college or university there.

It also occurs to me that there are no doubt many Claremont residents who have little or no contact with or awareness of the Colleges here. (I often have to remind myself of this, College faculty child that I still am.) But, even if they don’t think about it or realize it, they no doubt enjoy what the Colleges brought to Claremont. They no doubt enjoy what the Colleges have contributed to Claremont, how the Colleges have influenced Claremont.

Even if we don’t ever interact with the students — how many of us do? — or step onto the campuses, we appreciate all the artistic activity going on around town, whether musically or visual. We appreciate the human-centered governance, all the committees and opportunities to be heard, that began with the town halls that were started when the Colleges were being established. Even the trees, which we enjoy and also make Claremont unique and known, came with the Colleges, with the founders bringing their memories of home out West.

Now, it is the Colleges that are what make Claremont our home.