Whitman Stories

Meet Our Whitties is an occasional feature produced by the Office of Communications. This month's featured student is Alex Coleman '22 from Minneapolis, Minnesota.

When alumna Becca Gotz '14 graduated from Whitman she wanted to do something creative. This creative drive landed her in Seattle, Washington as an editorial stylist for Zulily, a global online retailer.

Spanish and sociology major Lizbeth Llanes Macias '21 is spending the summer interning at Hernandez Immigration Law firm in Walla Walla, Washington. Her internship is being funded by the Student Engagement Center's Whitman Internship Grant. As a first-generation student, Macias discovered the grant opportunity while attending Whitman's Summer Fly-In Program.

When Barbara (Sweany) McClinton ’69 was living in the residence halls at Whitman College, there was only one phone per section. The women whose rooms were near the phone were in charge of answering it and calling down the hall to whomever the call was for.

The Whitman College community mourns the loss of Martz, the victim of a homicide on July 8, 2019. Since 2015, Martz had served as the college’s international student and scholar advisor.

About 435 goats are spending a week as welcome guests of Whitman College. Their objective? Graze about two acres of land near the school's athletic complex. This is the first time Whitman has used goats for vegetation management.

She has traveled to the border on numerous occasions over the last year to offer pro bono legal assistance to refugees fleeing from Central America's violent Northern Triangle that includes El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras. Working with the nonprofit organization Al Otro Lado ("the other side"), Noone plans to visit Tijuana, Mexico, twice this month to deliver letters of support to families awaiting asylum decisions.

Thomas Witherspoon, Whitman’s incoming vice president of diversity and inclusion, will focus on providing leadership in advancing and ensuring an inclusive learning community, serve as a member of the president's cabinet, and help students, faculty and staff envision ways to create a positive experience for every member of the Whitman community.

A 2019 Core Grant from the Sherwood Trust will enable Whitties to gain an understanding of and practice in nonprofit consulting.

"Perfect Version" is available this month through Hardly Art. Shapiro and her bandmates Gretchen Grimm '12, Lydia Lund '12 and Annie Truscott '12 met as students at Whitman before ascending Seattle's rock scene.

Raymond and Elsie Gipson DeBurgh Chair of Social Sciences and Professor of Sociology Michelle Janning looks back on her year of teaching courses incorporating digital guest speakers on various topics, and how the experience sparked questions beyond how well that format facilitated student learning.

Whitman’s newly named Department of Hispanic Studies is alive with energy. For the 2019-2020 academic year, the department, formerly known as Spanish, has a new name, revamped existing courses and several newly created courses. The name change was many years in the making, but it was an external review conducted in 2018 that proved to be the catalyst for the changes.