On the Frontlines of National Security

In his work as a policymaker, Richard Johnson ’01 draws upon skills he learned at CMC

1947: Pomona-Claremont Sagehens Are Born

A partnership with Pomona College allowed CMC students to compete on existing varsity sports teams

1954: Football and Track Find a Home

The new complex became home to football and men’s track and field

1958: Arce Leads New Athletic Department

Claremont-Mudd Stags era begins with Bill Arce leading new athletic department

1978: Athenas Win First SCIAC Title

Cross country team trailblazes to take first women’s SCIAC title for CMS

1988: SCIAC All-Sports Trophy Sweep

The 1987-88 year was a first, as CMS won all three SCIAC All-Sports trophies

1993: Axelrood Pool Makes a Splash

In 1993, the Matt M. Axelrood Aquatics Center opened to campus and CMS Aquatics

1993: CMS Volleyball Reaches NCAA Quarterfinals

Win over Trinity propels Athenas volleyball to first NCAA quarterfinals in program history

2010: Perizzolo Captures Two National Titles

With pair of national championships, Annie Perizzolo ’11 made CMS Women’s Swimming and Diving history

True Blue

Scott Akasaki ’98 landed a dream job with the Los Angeles Dodgers

Engage with CMC. Our anniversary year is a time to celebrate everything CMC. Explore opportunities for networking, mentorship, career support, sharing your professional expertise, and keeping in touch.

If you are interested in any of these opportunities, please reach out to the Office of Alumni and Parent Engagement at alumni@cmc.edu or fill out the online form.

“My best investment ever. After investing four great years of challenging intellectual development and great social development, you get a return on that investment of the opportunity to truly be whatever you want. The investment pays dividends every day.”

– Kerry Fanwick ’76

CMC Alumni Association

Founded by the first CMC students in 1948, the Claremont McKenna College Alumni Association was incorporated formally in 1956 by the College’s earliest alumni. All alumni are members of the CMC Alumni Association. The governing Board collaborates with College leadership and sponsors activities that provide valuable opportunities to become more familiar with CMC’s educational mission; support the institution and its students; and engage with administrators, faculty, students, and alumni. The Board also provides an ideal forum for sharing experiences, volunteer opportunities, alumni accomplishments, and general fellowship with one another. The Board supports many volunteer opportunities and efforts, including Class Agents, Class Notes, Reunion Committees and Programming, Chapters, and assisting the Soll Center for Student Opportunity. One does not need to be on the Board to volunteer.

  • Communications: Assist the Association and the Office of Alumni and Parent Engagement with Communication strategy, including social media, website, and the CMC Magazine. Class Liaisons and Class Notes are coordinated through this committee.
  • Off-Campus Engagement: Chapters and regional programming are at the center of the Association’s activities, and the College prioritizes engaging our community members across the globe. This committee supports the work of our chapters through regional and virtual programming.
  • On-Campus Engagement: Support the great work of our on-campus programming and on-campus partners, including Alumni and Reunion Weekends, ImpactCMC Volunteer Weekend, and student engagement through the Soll Center for Student Opportunity and other in-person opportunities.
  • Philanthropic Engagement: Co-managed by the Office of Annual Giving and Office of Alumni and Parent Engagement, this committee functions as the Association’s primary fundraising committee. The main mission of the committee is to assist the College in its efforts to raise the vital funds that bridge the gap between tuition and the actual cost of a CMC education. Engage your peers and ask for their support, and reach out to offer thanks to donors.

For more information on any of these opportunities, please contact Evan Rutter ’06.

Alumni Interviewer Program

Recruit for CMC! Work with the Office of Admission by attending college fairs in your area and interviewing prospective applicants. Each year, thousands of students inquire about a CMC education, and who better to talk with them than CMC alumni? Your efforts to recruit and help are vital, and allow us to select and yield the best applicants to CMC. For more information, please contact Edna Elnar Wicker.

Career Support

Students are always eager to connect with CMC alumni to discuss careers, employment, and internships. The Soll Center for Student Opportunity aims to provide students with the knowledge, skills, and resources to find meaningful opportunities for personal and professional growth—both while at CMC and after graduation. They strive to do this through individual coaching, customized programming, networking, and expanding opportunities for experiential learning. Get involved by:

  • Posting a Job or Internship for Students and Alumni: Find CMC students and alumni to work for your organization! CMC is a member of the 7-C College Recruiting Program, which allows you to post a position and pull from our talented applicant pool. To post a job, you have two options: (1) You can either post the job on Handshake as an employer or (2) you can fill out the brief Alumni & Family Job and Internship Posting Form. You can also use this form if you would like to let CMCers know about opportunities at another organization you are affiliated with. Please note that we are able to offer Summer Internships and Experiences funding to CMC students who apply by March 1, so unpaid and low-paid internship opportunities are also welcome!
  • Recruiting (both on and off-campus)
    • On-Campus Interviews: Set up times to interview and learn more about why students are interested in your organization or career field.
    • Information Sessions: We offer employers the opportunity to come to our office and speak with students. Help them discover new career options and build a professional relationship.
    • Coffee Chats: Get to know students in small groups. Meet with 2-3 students at a time and discuss your company, role, and recruiting process. Career Services can handle all of the scheduling logistics for this event.
    • Attend a Meet-Up or Panel Discussion: We have a number of events over the course of the year in which you can network and engage with students who are interested in employment opportunities.

For additional information on any of these programs and to schedule a date for your visit, please contact Charlene Kile.

  • Share your Career Insights – Experts-in-Residence: Career Services invites our CMC parents to share their expertise and experiences in a particular interest cluster with our students. We seek experts at two levels: generalists and specialists.
    • Generalists talk with students who are new to an industry and are looking for some basic tenets, or a primer, that will help them further investigate the industry. The best information comes from industry professionals who can provide a fuller picture of different lines of work, major players, and current resources. Conversations may include information about first jobs, good and bad decisions, favorite elements, who and what prepared you the most for your profession, and what you know now that you wish you knew then!
    • Specialists talk with students who have narrowed their interests and know the basics about the industry. These questions tend to focus on answers to interview questions, how to differentiate between company cultures, and other information specific to a particular role. If you are interested in participating in our Experts-in-Residence Program, please complete the following survey, and a career coach will provide your contact information to relevant students. On average, our Experts receive 1-3 emails per month.
  • Conduct a Mock Interview: Mock interviewing is an invaluable opportunity for students to practice their interview skills and receive honest feedback on their interview performance. Typically conducted via phone or Skype, students learn how to answer challenging questions, develop interview strategies, improve their communication skills, and reduce their stress before an actual job interview. We are looking for alumni who can offer all types of interview experience, including screening interviews, behavioral interviews, case interviews, and technical interviews. If you are interested in participating as a Mock Interviewer, please complete the following survey, and a career coach will be in contact with further details.
  • Host a CMC Student at Your Organization/Job Shadowing: A job shadow experience entails hosting one or more CMC students, in your office, for a partial or full day of shadowing. We are seeking parents who would be willing to host students for a 4-8 hour office visit over winter and summer breaks. The goal is to provide CMC students with more information about career options and to personally experience a day in the life in various professions.
  • Networking Treks: Each year, we organize student-networking trips to cities such as Boston, Chicago, Los Angeles (and surrounding Orange County), New York City, San Diego, San Francisco, Seattle, and Washington, D.C. Each trip has a specific industry focus. If would like to host a visit, please reach out to Ursula Diamond.
Regional Chapter Leaders

Have an idea for regional programming? Looking to join your city or region’s leadership team to plan dynamic activities for the CMC community? Connecting off campus is just as important as connecting on campus. CMC has 19 regional chapters for local engagement, and the College is always in need of hosts for programs, and volunteers to welcome new students and recent graduates to their communities. Alumni enjoy meeting fellow alumni from their area and engaging with faculty, staff, and students when they come to town. Network with members of the CMC community in your region and learn about ways to support each other and the College. For more information, please contact Jenna Gough. To search and connect with regional chapters, please visit: https://online.cmc.edu/volunteer-opportunities#Chapters.

Class Liaisons

Class Liaisons act as helpful intermediaries between the Alumni Association, the Office of Alumni and Parent Engagement, the College, and each class. In addition to disseminating useful College-related information to their fellow alumni, Class Liaisons also help the alumni community stay connected to each other and to CMC by collecting newsworthy information from their classmates for publication in CMC Magazine’s Class Notes section. The Class Liaison community enjoys networking with different class years, early access to the latest College news, and a great excuse to keep up with old friends. Email alumni@cmc.edu for more information, contact Rebecca Pelén, or submit a Class Note by connecting with your class liaison.

Class Agents

The CMC Alumni Association is in need of volunteers to help with peer-to-peer fundraising outreach. Class Agents support the Alumni Fund and inspire their classmates to do the same. If you have a passion for helping CMC students and you want to have a meaningful impact on their success, visit the Annual Giving Volunteers site to learn more about how you can help or contact Nicholas Macias-Williams.

 

CMS Athletics Friends Group

There are a number of ways that you can engage with CMS Athletics during CMC’s 75th Anniversary and beyond.

Friends of CMS sport groups are intended to connect (and reconnect) alumni, parents, and friends from each of the 21 teams with each other and the athletics program. The goal is to assist in providing the best possible experiences for Athena and Stag student-athletes during their collegiate careers, while continuing the strong connections developed by our alumni during their years on campus. Friends of CMS volunteers for each sport assist in four key areas:

Volunteer Opportunities

  • Events Hosting/Organizing: Team up with CMS to host a Stag or Athena team meal when they are traveling out of state, or help organize an alumni game, team reunion, or pre/post-game event.
  • Networking and Mentorship: Connect current Athena and Stag student-athletes with alumni and parents for informational interviews, networking events, internships, or jobs. Visit Engage.CMC to get started today.
  • Volunteer Outreach, Communication, and Program Support: Help us reach a wider audience through your network and share info about team news, alumni events, and fundraising priorities such as the annual 1946 Challenge.

Other Engagement Opportunities

  • Support CMS
    • A gift directly to an individual team provides that team and its coaches additional resources to play a nationally competitive schedule, purchase state of the art equipment, and recruit the most talented student-athletes. By directly supporting one or more of CMS’ 21 varsity teams, you are not only making a difference for that program, but you have directly impacted the overall success of CMS Athletics.
    • https://online.cmc.edu/giving/athletics

For more information, please contact Mike Sutton ’76 or Chris Watts with Athletics Advancement.

Parent Network Board and Committees

All parents are a part of The Parent Network. The governing Board collaborates with College leadership and sponsors activities that provide valuable opportunities to become more familiar with CMC’s educational mission through its administrators, faculty, students, alumni, and other parents. The Board also provides an ideal forum for sharing experiences, activities, accomplishments, and overall campus life concerns, as well as general fellowship with one another. Many volunteer opportunities and efforts are led by the Board, including Admission, Career Development, Communications, Parents Fund, and Programs; however, one does not need to be on the Board to volunteer. If you are interested in serving on the Board or simply volunteering on a committee, please reach out to Jeannie Scalmanini, director of alumni and parent engagement.

Research Institutes and Centers

Do you have expertise that you can share with one of CMC’s eleven research institutes and centers? Looking to support the high-level academic work of our faculty and students? Consider joining one of the many Boards that help shape the path of our research program. If you are interested in serving for a research institute, contact Susan Edwards.

Reunion Committees

Every five years your class is honored at Alumni Weekend. The weekend, and each successful class gathering, would not be possible without the work of reunion committee members. Each class aims to recruit a team of 10 volunteers to plan programming and encourage classmates to attend. It is a great way to connect with classmates and ensure a successful weekend. For more information, please contact Conni Terry.

 

Share Your CMC Story

Why is CMC special to you? Post your fondest memory and a photo. “Scroll down” memory lane with posts from fellow CMCers.

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75th Anniversary Events

Join us for a year of special Anniversary events.

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CMC Magazine: 75th Anniversary Issue

A sneak peek of what’s to come in our special 75th Anniversary edition of CMC Magazine.

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