As Pomona College prepares for its 113th Founders Day celebration, President Peter Stanley is taking measures to insure that the college continues to progress with the times while maintaining its residential, liberal arts tradition.

In an interview with TSL about the state of the college, Stanley could not seem to stress enough his dedication to advancements in areas of technology and new fields, "maintaining what we do well while making sure that in doing so, we do not let new things pass us by and fall behind."

Stanley also spoke in detail about residential life, academics, and the history of the College during the 30 minute session.

"Living in a residential community is one of the most distinctive things about Pomona College," Stanley said when asked how one would begin to define Pomona. "We embrace a somewhat novel philosophy: that if you live, work, and play together in the same place, there is something of a multiplier effect that makes all facets of life more rewarding."

Stanley asserted that the focal point of such a residential life should always be centered on learning and learning alone. "We do all of this, feed, house, entertain, because it fosters the best possible learning environment. The goal is to do everything well enough that there are no irritants. Only then can we contextualize classroom learning in residential life."

Despite recent "irritants" such as tripled students, food service problems, and controversy surrounding fraternities, Stanley thinks that the College's residential life is of relatively high quality.

"I'm thrilled this year with what I see around campus," he explained, "and more so than in other years that I can remember. There seems to be less savaging of one another than in years past."

Stanley saw the savaging of fellow students as one of the biggest threats to a residential community, where communication and dialogue do so much toward fostering mutually beneficial relationships.

He also spoke of marked gains to the fraternity system, which he described as "far more well behaved" than in years past.

Referring to the report of a social life task force that examined the roles of fraternities on campus some years ago he stated, "We've come so far since then. That report was the chronicle of a zoo."

"That's a lot of what we were trying to do with the Smith Campus Center, to provide a common ground, a meeting of North and South, a place to congregate," he said.

With respect to academics, Stanley said that every indication he saw boded very well as for regarding Pomona maintaining its tradition of excellence.

Though the relative merits of liberal arts and job market directed education is a topic at this Friday's student/trustee retreat, Stanley disagreed that there was any question where the proper balance should be struck.

"In recent years, the vast majority of knowledgeable people have come to realize that a liberal arts education is the best preparation for a changing world," he said. "There was a time when that verdict was in doubt, but that time has passed. Our philosophy has been vindicated."

Pressed to name the biggest problem facing Pomona academics, Stanley spoke of the growing body of knowledge that demands to be taught.

"Fifteen years ago," he said, "there were not majors in computer science, neuroscience and related cognitive fields. Molecular biology and biotechnology were but glimmers in someone's eye.

"The college has wanted to provide education in these fields as they develop, and quite frankly it has had to provide the subjects in order to stay competitive.

"At the same time, we are still teaching ancient Greek and Latin, and ancient history and philosophy, and we will continue to teach these things."

The problem, Stanley said, comes with making decisions about what portions of the ever-growing body of knowledge to teach with limited resources."No one," he said, "can teach everything and teach it well, especially at the standards that we demand here in what we do teach.

And we are at a disadvantage in this area, being a small college, unable to have the breadth of departments that a large university can sustain. And that is the challenge: making prudent decisions about how to cover the growing body of knowledge."

Stanley emphasized technology as the best way a small college can keep up with its larger competitors.

"Technology allows us to cheat," he said. "It let's us offer all the benefits of a small college, and many of the resources that would otherwise only be possible in a larger setting." Stanley pointed to the recent reassignment of Terry Wolff to teach technology to faculty as the most recent step in bringing Pomona up to speed.

We've been overhauling technology at the school of late," he said, "and some of the problems we've had caused us to focus on putting the infrastructure in place, in getting it to work. Now, we feel we should begin to make the technology work for us, and the only way we can do that is if teachers can bring technology into the classroom where it can be most beneficial."

At the close of the interview, Stanley spoke in more general terms of his own role in the college's future.

"I would like to think I will leave the college with an intellectual life that is more vibrant, with an infrastructure that is more developed, and with a sprit that is more adventurous and more civil," Stanley said. "And we've come a long way, and we've got a long way to go."