[A rewrite of my first editorial in July, 1996. –Ed.]

Thanks to all of the editors of the Oak Leaf who came before me. When I was an active, we received copies of the Oak Leaf regularly. Much of what I read seemed very distant from my life. Somehow, though, the letters, features, and pleas for donations stuck with me. They gave me some indication of the power that Pomona College and NAP might continue to have on me once I walked out of those gates on College Way.

I had the good fortune to live close to Pomona and spend time on campus for years and years after I graduated. As those I knew graduated and moved away, my visits grew less and less frequent and, of course, eventually stopped. Or, more accurately, they were reduced to annual visits on Alumni Weekend. The Pomona College I went to has been gone for a long time. Nu Alpha Phi, it turns out, changes character much more slowly. Alums are spread across the globe and yet we are tightly bound to each other by the golden thread weaving through the Oak Leaf and the connections made with each new generation of Nappies. Without the Oak Leaf, without our connections, Nu Alpha Phi would be but a memory of good times had.

The Oak Leaf has been continuously published now for over seventy-five years. I am proud of my place in that tradition. I hope I have lived up to the high standards set by those who preceded me including Chris Hall. I have appreciated the opportunity and the privilege.

While I am eager to pass on the torch to the next lucky person, I am sad, too. I’m already missing the joy of having another Oak Leaf on the press and in the mail to your corner of the world bringing news of Pomona College, Nu Alpha Phi, and, of course, your brothers and sisters.

Fraternally yours,

Paul Nagai '88 #978