June 29, 2023: On Today’s Supreme Court Decision Regarding Admissions

Email from President Sarah Bolton to the Whitman campus community on Thursday, June 29, 2023:

Dear Whitman Community, 

As we work to understand the implications of today’s Supreme Court opinion on race-conscious admission practices, I wanted to take this moment to reiterate Whitman College’s commitment to diversity, equity, inclusion and anti-racism. Earlier this spring, in a joint statement with Board Chair Joe Davis, we communicated that the Supreme Court Decision will not change our values and our mission of providing a high-quality, rigorous liberal arts education to students from diverse backgrounds.

Excellence requires diversity, and we will continue to recruit a student body that both represents the diversity of the United States and that also includes many international students.  We will continue the daily work already underway on campus to fight racism and work toward inclusive excellence. We will continue to strive to become a place where students, faculty and staff across all identities feel valued and welcomed—a place that all are glad to choose to live, learn and work. 

Whitman College will follow the law, and while some of our work may need to change, the current moment also creates an opportunity to develop approaches to recruiting students that could achieve even greater diversity and equity. As many of you know, we have recently entered into a partnership with the Posse Foundation to bring ten excellent students from Chicago to Whitman each year, and we are actively engaged in many other approaches to bring students, faculty and staff from every background and perspective to our college. This work is more important now than ever.

My gratitude to all of the many people on campus who are working every day to advance our values and support a strong, diverse and inclusive Whitman. I look forward to continuing to build our community together.

Sarah Bolton