Whitman Stories

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.

Lauren Mendoza came to Whitman from Minneapolis, Minnesota. "I heard about Whitman at a Colleges that Change Lives college fair. I love the Pacific Northwest and I’m a huge backpacker. I wanted easy access to the outdoors. I visited Walla Walla and I really liked it."

From native plant gardens buzzing with honeybees to flowering shrubs to “celebrity” trees and all the flora and fauna in between, the campus brims with natural beauty. Maintaining its luster for everyone to enjoy is a team effort.

As a researcher and instructor in the Department of Chemistry at Whitman College, Dalia Biswas has worked with more than a dozen undergraduate students on different aspects of her research molybdenum-catalyzed transformation of CO. She's seen how much the exposure to research helps students connect what they learn in the classroom to a real career.

Whitman College President Kathleen Murray today announced the appointment of Thomas Witherspoon as the college’s new vice president for diversity and inclusion.

Aliyah Fard '22 came to Whitman through the Summer Fly-In Program available to first-generation and working-class students. The connections she made during that program allowed her to start on campus already knowing familiar faces around campus. As a social media intern, Fard helps run fun campaigns and come up with content for Whitman's social media channels. Fard is a first-year student from Denver, a soon-to-be environmental politics major, a social media intern and a Whittie.

This summer, Gold is staying in Walla Walla making socially engaged theatre with collaborators Erina Horikawa '19 and Donovan Olsen '19. The trio was inspired by "Because You Are Here," a project that began in Fall 2018 in Associate Professor Jessica Cerullo's devised theatre class and co-taught by Tia Kramer, a social practice artist in Walla Walla. The work is being funded through a Davis Projects for Peace grant and through Whitman's Ben Rabinowitz Award.

When Lia Beatty '21 joined the Eye to Eye Chapter at Whitman College and became involved in advocacy for students with learning disabilities, she had no idea that work would catapult her into a national spotlight.

Whitman College Provost and Dean of the Faculty Alzada Tipton today announced the appointment of Kim Chandler as the college’s new athletic director and chair of Sports Studies, Recreation and Athletics.

Isaiah Banta is part of the Class of 2020 at Whitman. Isaiah has had the unique experience of taking a class at the Washington State Penitentiary with incarcerated students. Isaiah is a resident assistant in Anderson Hall and while he initially thought he would be studying physics at Whitman he realized that computer science would help him learn, "to build the world."

The associate professor of mathematics was honored with the Meredith Clark Slane Distinguished Teaching-Service Award during High Point University’s 2019 Commencement ceremony. The award is named for Meredith Clark Slane and has been given annually since 1973 to recognize excellence in teaching. Graham-Squire has been teaching at High Point since 2011.

Blue sky peeked through the clouds to shine on bright spirits on Sunday, May 19, 2019, during Whitman College's 133rd Commencement Ceremony. Keynote speaker Aisha Fukushima '09 led the class in a call-and-response rendition of the song "Feelin' Good."