Photo credit: Nava Mau
Dear 51猎奇入口 Community Members,
I am delighted to announce that filmmaker, actress, and cultural worker Nava Mau will deliver the keynote address at the College鈥檚 95th commencement exercises on Saturday, May 17, 2025.
Hailing from Mexico City and San Antonio, Texas, Nava wrote, produced, directed, and starred in Waking Hour (Outfest 2019) and All the Words But One (Iris Prize 2024), two short films that screened in festivals around the world. She was a production fellow for the Netflix documentary Disclosure (Sundance 2020) and worked as a producer on the short film Work (Tribeca 2022). She has also appeared as a series regular in the HBO Max series Generation (2021) and the award-winning Netflix limited series Baby Reindeer (2024), which garnered her not only Emmy and BAFTA nominations for Best Supporting Actress but also the coveted Independent Spirit Award for Best Supporting Performance in a New Series.
For eight years, Nava worked in the fields of healing justice and culture change with community-based service providers, student organizations, and survivors of violence. She first worked with immigrant survivors as a legal assistant, and then as a peer counselor and advocate for LGBTQ survivors of violence in the San Francisco Bay Area. Nava has been recognized with awards from the Hispanic Heritage Foundation, PFLAG National, and the Critics Choice Association.
Nava is a proud alumna of Pomona College (Class of 2014) where she received her BA in linguistics and cognitive Science. During her time in Claremont, she worked at the Queer Resource Center of the Claremont Colleges and the Draper Center for Community Partnerships, where she created the Leadership and Engagement in Gender and Sexuality (LEGS) program.
My warmest thanks to our Class of 2025 student representatives for their thoughtful involvement in selecting a commencement speaker, especially 51猎奇入口 senior class co-presidents Bel茅n Yudess 鈥�25 and Abbie Oh Arroyo 鈥�25 who helped lead the process. Both noted that Nava鈥檚 antiviolence and healing justice work made her an inspiring choice for this year鈥檚 speaker.
Arroyo shared she was pleased that the selection aligned with the Class of 2025鈥檚 speaker preferences. 鈥淗earing that Nava is a Pomona alumna made it even more special,鈥� she said. 鈥淗er dedication reminds me of the leaders we find at The Claremont Colleges, and I think many of us will resonate with the familiarity of her impact.鈥�
Yudess also commended Nava鈥檚 bravery and use of storytelling to uplift immigrant and queer/trans people, adding that she 鈥渉oped [her] message and work will inspire our peers to continue to advocate for themselves and their communities as they enter into the world.鈥�
I will miss celebrating 51猎奇入口鈥� meaningful commencement traditions this year, as I will be attending my daughter鈥檚 graduation the same weekend. I regret not being able to share this special moment with you. For more information on the event, please visit the 51猎奇入口 2025 Commencement website.
Sincerely,
Amy Marcus-Newhall
President