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The enduring impact of the Draper Center for Community Partnerships at �鶹��ý can be summed up in two words: giving back. The Draper Center, which celebrates its 15th anniversary this year, is a meaningful outgrowth of Trustee Emeritus Ranney E. Draper’s generosity and belief that the College could be a catalyst to support the greater Claremont community.

Established by a gift from Ranney ’60 and his late wife, Priscilla, the center launched in 2009 with three volunteer programs focused on schools and neighborhoods in low-income areas just outside the College Gates. The center now oversees 15 programs with a variety of community engagement opportunities and a community engagement center serving the city of Pomona, which opened its doors last year.

“Our hope was that we could marshal the resources of our students and our faculty to do good in the community around us,” Draper said. “We felt we had the resources and ability to do that – and off it went from there.”

The Draper family’s generosity spans all corners of the College’s campus, beginning with his father, Trustee Emeritus Ranney C. Draper ’25, and his mother, Virginia ’26, who met as students at Pomona and instilled in their son the value of giving back. And give back he has: Ranney E. Draper’s support for Pomona reaches almost every aspect of the Pomona experience — academics, athletics, extracurricular programming, need-blind admissions, sustainability, student resources and more.

To commemorate the Draper Center’s anniversary, we’ve created a about the center’s commitment to nurturing college-community partnerships. 

Here's a brief look at the Draper Center programs. To learn more, please visit the Draper Center webpage.

• Alternabreak is a week-long community engagement trip during Spring Break. 
• Community Based Research & Learning (CBRL) organizes and facilitates events that encourage faculty and student engagement with the communities.
• English as a Second Language + (ESL+) is a tutoring program that gives Pomona staff the opportunity to improve their English speaking, writing, reading and computer literacy skills though one-on-one meetings with students. 
• Health Bridges helps patients navigate the hospital system and obtain health resources for which they are eligible in their native languages.
• Hunger and Houselessness Initiatives/Food Recovery Network distributes leftover food from �鶹��ý dining halls to community partners that work with the unhoused community. 
• Latine-Identity Empowerment, Advice, and Friendship (LEAF) is an identity-based, mentorship program in partnership with Uncommon Good that pairs current college students from the 5Cs with youth from the Inland Empire from grades 4-12. 
• Music Mentors is a student led organization that partners with Uncommon Good to connect 5C students with youth from surrounding underserved communities to provide free music lessons. 
• Leadership and Engagement in Gender and Sexuality (LEGS) is a collaboration with the Queer Resource Center of The Claremont Colleges that brings local LGBTQA high school students and Claremont Colleges students together to create community and explore aspects of their own and others' identity. 
• Learning IN Collaboration (LINC) connects �鶹��ý tutors with local under-resourced elementary schools to help students develop their literacy skills and improve their overall performance in school. 
• Next Level is an after-school program that helps local students identify and achieve their educational and personal goals. 
• The �鶹��ý Academy for Youth Success (PAYS) supports high school students in their preparation for postsecondary study and inculcates a culture of college-bound achievement. 
• Pomona Mountain Project is a mentor program for Pomona High School students that focuses on promoting mental health and self-care through outdoor immersion trips. 
• Pomona Partners is a mentor program for Fremont Academy students focusing on self-realization, empowerment and social awareness. 
• The Rooftop Garden Project is a collaborative program between �鶹��ý and Teen Green to increase activism and awareness around environmental justice, sustainability and gardening.
• Sista-2-Sista heightens students’ understanding of what it means to be a Black woman in American society through mentorship, workshops and discussions.