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As a freshman, James Solomon helped form the Pomona Student Union, devoted to bringing to campus a wider range of ideological viewpoints. That’s something he and his politically-minded colleagues felt Pomona needed.

Administrators responded with enthusiasm and backed that up with funding. “You’d expect the administration to be a little hesitant,” says Solomon, a public policy analysis major. “But they’ve been incredibly supportive.”

Students and faculty have been, too. Since then, the Pomona Student Union – with the idea that “"one cannot possess a firm belief in anything unless it is challenged" – has become one of the key student-run enterprises, sponsoring debates and panels on issues ranging from immigration to same-sex marriage that draw hundreds of people from on and off campus. It’s not all serious stuff: the group once sponsored an afternoon of dodge ball matches pitting Republicans vs. Democrats vs. Independents.

When it comes to academics, Solomon points to four or five professors who have affected the way he sees the world. ”Pomona really is a place where you can develop intellectually and as a person,” he says. “The people you come in contact with are really going to change the way you see things.”

But his favorite college moment came outside the classroom, early on in his Pomona days, when he was a volunteer for the 2004 presidential campaign of John Edwards, the senator who wound up as the Democrats' vice presidential nominee.

Solomon and a fellow student campaign volunteer Kyle Warneck got the call late on a Sunday night. The Edwards campaign wanted to know if they could organize a campaign stop at Pomona College on Wednesday--only three days away. "We were like, 'You've got to be kidding,''' says Solomon.

Then they went to work, calling Dean of Students Ann Quinley, who talked to President David Oxtoby. By 8 a.m. Monday morning, the Secret Service was on campus to prepare for security, even before the event was officially on. Solomon and Warneck plunged into a frenzy of preparation, coordinating with campaign staff and campus administrators. Cell phones rang incessantly, and a dorm room became Edwards' temporary Claremont campaign headquarters. They hardly slept for two days.

It was all worth it when the big moment arrived, and hundreds of students and journalists packed the room to hear Edwards unveil a new stump speech on the problem of poverty. The event drew widespread media coverage, from CNN to The New York Times. Solomon got to meet Edwards and sat on stage during the talk.

Solomon says administrators’ willingness to scramble make the campaign visit possible is just an example of “the unbelievable support that the College gives to your efforts and entrepreneurial ideas. We have administrators and faculty who are really interested in letting students take the initiative.”