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Tomás F. Summers Sandoval Jr.

Associate Professor • Chicanx-Latinx Histories • Pomona College

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Happy 50th wedding anniversary to my mom and dad! You both have taught us all so much, including how the commitments of love and family are choices and hard work (and maybe a little bit of luck). Thank you for the love, the laughter, and 50 years of our family. I love you both!

This is a bag full of my cerebrospinal fluid. It’s the stuff that our brains and spinal cords live in. On my last follow-up appointment they were concerned with my post-op swelling. It was this fluid. This fluid filled my face after brain surgery. But it gets in the way of the scarring from the surgery, which is really healing. So we had to take it out. I’ve been in the hospital for over a week hooked up to this amazing machine that drains me of the fluid through my back. I’m feeling better, looking better, and hopefully healing better. I should be home by Saturday, too, and with any luck won’t have to do this again. Thanks for your thoughts and your love. It makes a huge difference! We’re getting through this together. So thanks!

One of the greatest commitments I have made in my life is to the educational mission of Pomona College. It’s more than a job for me; it’s a commitment to the social transformation that makes us stronger as a school while also making us stronger as a society. This year I made a brand new commitment, one I am pleased to share with you. This year I created a new donation fund to directly support my home of Chicano/Latinx Studies. It might seem odd to you, that I get paid by my job but turn around and donate part of that money directly back to my department. But that’s how much I believe in what we do. I choose to support our work—support student learning, research, and life changing experiences. I choose to celebrate 50 years of an academic unit that has always stood for the meaningful inclusion and success of first gen, low income, Latinx students. As we begin the new fiscal year, will you join me with your support? Every dollar you give to the alumni fund on behalf of the Chicanx/Latinx Studies program will support our work and pay tribute to our 50 year legacy. I hope you ‘ll consider a donation in the weeks ahead. If you do, you’ll have my sincere thanks and gratitude, as well as the sense of purpose that comes with supporting such a key component of our educational mission. @sagehenalumni47 @PomonaCollege

Almost four months of hard work is coming together today. I’m so proud of my amazingly talented daughter who is starring as one the mersisters in this production of the Little Mermaid. And if my amazingly creative wife who designed the costumes. So happy to be out and celebrate their love and talent and dedication.

Arnold was wrong. It was a tumor. A brain tumor. I’ve had it for quite some time. It grew from my brain lining and caused a really big bump on my right temple. Two days ago i had it all removed. It’s gone from the brain and the face; I’ve lost a patch of skull and a cheek bone (both of which are now titanium); and i lost my temple muscle which is now reconstructed from titanium mesh. I’m like the terminator! The best news is that I survived my surgery. I’m alive and able to be a present husband and father. And, considering they sawed into my skull just two days ago the fact that I’m not in pain and just have a lot of swelling (from the tissue trauma) makes me feel pretty lucky. Here’s a before shot (after my wife gave me a buzz cut which made the external tumor way more visible) and an after shot of my swollen and black and blue post-op face. A small price to pay for tumor free.

I have an element in me that’s Pomona College appropriate #47!! #chirpchirp!