Since 1924

Engaging Speakers • Engrossing Topics • Great Conversations • Delicious Lunches • Close Friendships

University Club meetings and programs are now in-person.

The Club President and Members Welcome You

The University Club of Claremont has just celebrated its hundredth anniversary. While our club has changed greatly over the past century, it’s original goals are mostly the same: to promote friendship, intellectual curiosity, and education in the Claremont area.

We invite you to attend our lunch meetings to learn from a wide variety of programs and to meet people who value education.

David Sonner, President 2025-2026
E Mail : david_sonner@verizon.net

UClub first-time guest

We invite you to be our guest at any upcoming luncheon meeting of the University Club of Claremont, held the second and fourth Tuesdays of most months (first two Tuesdays of November and December), at the Doubletree Hotel in Claremont. We gather at 11:30, have a good lunch at 12:00, and enjoy an intellectually stimulating program before adjourning about 1:30. The current lunch price is $25, but you will be our first-time guest by bringing or referring to this ticket.

In order to be included in our lunch count, we need your RSVP to secretary@universityclubofclaremont.org by noon of the Saturday before the luncheon through December 2024. We look forward to welcoming you soon.

May 2025 Programs

May 13

“Uncommon Good – Doing Good in Claremont and Beyond”

Speaker – Randy Lopez, Executive Director of Uncommon Good

Uncommon Good’s mission is to break the intergenerational cycle of poverty through innovative programs in health, education, and food security.

Executive Director Randy Lopez brings marketing and executive experience to the job, including at Del Taco, Buca di Beppo, Claremont Chamber of Commerce, and Ophelia’s Jump. He has also served the community through the LA County Business Federation’s Arts, Entertainment, Sports and Olympics Committee, the advisory board of the Drucker School of Management at CGU, and on the Board of Directors for the Claremont Courier.

In-Person Meeting!

Held in the Sycamore Room, Doubletree Inn, 555 W Foothill Blvd, Claremont

11:30 am: social time * 12:00 am: lunch * 1:00 pm: speaker
Lunch is $25 for members and guests (subsidized by the Club)

May 27

“The Trump Administration’s Assault on Higher Education”

Speaker – Susan McWilliams Barndt, professor of politics at Pomona College

From Harvard to Columbia University, the current administration has targeted several Ivy League colleges for their alleged involvement in anti Semitic activities, withholding billions in federal grant money if these institutions will not submit to federal demands for control over admissions, hiring and other policies. Locally, a U.S. House committee has requested information from Pomona College about alleged antisemitic incidents on its campus since last fall.

Professor McWilliams will address the increasing pressure on higher education from the current administration. She has previously spoken in Claremont on efforts across the country to ban books.

McWilliams has won the Wig Award for Excellence in Teaching at Pomona College four times. She is the author of several books including The American Road Trip and American Political Thought (Lexington, 2018) and Traveling Back: Toward a Global Political Theory (Oxford, 2014).

She holds a B.A. in political science and Russian from Amherst College, an M.A. and Ph.D. in politics from Princeton University and a Certificate in Advanced Educational Leadership from Harvard University’s Graduate School of Education.