Living in the bubble that is Pomona College, one rarely ventures onto of the consortium’s adjoining campuses, let alone into the urban jungle that is L.A. However the Athenaeum at Claremont McKenna, with its mix of amazing food and interesting speakers, is well worth the trouble.

At first glance, The Athenaeum looks like a mix between a hunting lodge and a house designed by Mike Brady. This appearance, much like everything associated with the Athenaeum, is deceiving. It does not draw some drag crowd of sportsman and moralizing fathers, as its appearance would suggest.

It is full of stylish, cultured, affluent youth with button down shirts from J. Crew and khaki pants from Banana Republic, sipping on wine, eating cheese and talking about things that interest them. The McKenna kids were talking about money, Pomona kids were talking about how the McKenna kids always talked about money and the Harvey Mudd, Scripps and Pitzer kids...they were probably talking about something, but it probably wasn’t important.

Once a recent Athenaeum-goer settles down from the shock that there is real cheese, wine and discussion here - not the standard Natty Ice, pork rinds and sexual harassment one is used to at most CMC functions, they will be pleasantly surprised to find the main reason many people go to the Athenaeum — the main course.

Although we are spoiled by Francisco and his pasta exhibitions at Pomona, nothing compares to the food at the Athenaeum. It’s real food! Fresh fruit, pasta salad, green beans almandine, salmon with wasabi and a lintz tort made by a kitchen that could go head to head with any restaurant in the village. In fact, rumor has it that Claremont McKenna College has a pastry chef endowment, where a chef trains at the best pastry school in the world, just to make pastries for Athenaeum events.

Although the food and atmosphere of the Athenaeum are wonderful, the Athenaeum does not exist as a really good dining hall- it hosts speakers all year. Speakers range from P.J. O’Rourke, Rolling Stone political columnist, to famous saxophonist Lee Konitz. Last week Robert Pinsky, the 39th U.S. Poet Laureate, spoke at the Athenaeum.

Although Pinsky is a prolific poet who most recently released a collection of his poems, Jersey Rain, he did not come to the Athenaeum merely to read his poetry. He came with a greater purpose. Over the last few years Pinsky has headed up the Favorite Poem Project. Pinsky, troubled that Americans were seen as uncultured and without a common folk culture like many other more homogeneous countries, asked people all over the country to send in recordings of them reading their favorite poem and saying why they liked that poem.

He received over 18,000 responses from people ranging in age from five to 97. Picking the best ones, Pinsky sent camera crews out to record these individuals reading their favorite poem and then explaining why it was important to them.

After explaining what the project was, Pinsky showed the audience a sample of the recordings he had collected. The first reading was by a construction worker from Boston who was reading a poem by Walt Whitman. He read it with a very thick accent as he sat on a bulldozer. Although this image seemed cliché at first, watching the construction worker read the work and talk about why he liked it was truly moving.

He was followed by six or seven other examples consisting of people of varied backgrounds, races, genders and sexual orientations, all with same effect-they showed the beauty of poetry. Through spoken word, each person showed the effect that a few lines and stanzas can bring to vastly different worlds.

They all made poetry more than just something to talk about, but something to feel and experience.

Through the Favorite Poem Project, Pinsky found a common American culture related to poetry. A culture in which poetry can not be assigned to a certain social class or structure, but one where anyone from President Peter Stanley to our amazing chef Francisco can enjoy poetry and find meaning in it.

If you are looking for a really good meal and have two or three hours to kill, sign up for a meal at the Athenaeum. You can register at www.mckenna.edu; they have a full menu of what is being served every day.

If you’re looking for an educational experience that transcends classrooms, books, and teachers, make sure you check out the list of speakers. Speakers appear at the Athenaeum almost daily at 6:30 PM. Reservations are needed only if you plan to eat there.The only downside: the company.