Whitman Stories

Roger Amerman ’80 is a Choctaw beadworker who brought his expertise to the Marvel series "Echo." Now he's returning to Whitman as the O'Donnell Visiting Educator in Global Studies for Spring 2024. Amerman will teach a new course delving into the paleo-history, history and ethnogeology of salmon-centric Tribal Peoples in the southern Columbia River Plateau.

Whitman College President Sarah Bolton announced the appointment of Dr. Elisabeth Mermann-Jozwiak as the college’s next provost and dean of the faculty. Joining Whitman on July 1, her responsibilities will include oversight of the development of the academic program, hiring and supporting faculty, and overseeing accreditation and assessment.

Whitman College students in the new Human-Centered Design (HCD) concentration will have access to additional experts thanks to a generous $100,000 gift from the Lawrence Parke Murphy Trust. This gift to the college’s Upward Together campaign will fund an exciting designer-in-residence program beginning in the 2024–2025 academic year.

Associate Professor of Psychology Erin Pahlke discusses what she's learned from decades of research in “Should White Parents Have the Racism Talk with Their Kids?” with the Atlanta Black Star, the largest black-owned digital publication in the United States.

Kimberly Rolfe, Co-Director of the Career and Community Engagement Center, shares insights on integrating career exploration and development programs throughout campus to support students and young alumni.

Students in the First Year Seminar Games learning community spent their first semester at Whitman learning about the philosophical and psychological aspects of socializing through playing games. It is part of Whitman’s First Year Seminars which are designed to immerse students in deep thought and transformative conversations while helping students gain the skills needed to succeed in college.

Xiaoze Xie’s exhibition, “PANORAMA: Cantos Unfolding,” at Whitman's Sheehan Gallery provided the backdrop for employees from Walla Walla's Providence St. Mary Medical Center to process some of the emotional and physical stress created by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Whitman College, the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation (CTUIR) and Walla Walla Community College partnered to host the inaugural Pášx̣apa Powwow. More than 400 people came from three states and five tribal communities to attend this monumental event.

Last summer International Student and Scholar Services (ISSS) and Off-Campus Studies (OCS) joined together into one “global suite” to better meet the needs resulting from return to pre-pandemic levels of study abroad/off-campus studies participation and the largest ever number of incoming international students.

Whitman College received a leadership gift for a new junior-senior residential village and will name a hall in honor of Judge James Robart ’69. The announcement was made at a November 2023 Seattle event at T-Mobile Park launching the college’s Upward Together campaign.

Whitman College’s 2023–2024 Visiting Writers Reading Series (VWRS) features award-winning poet Robyn Schiff. Schiff is an English and literature professor at the University of Chicago and is a director of their creative writing program. Her most recent book, “Information Desk: An Epic” was published in August 2023.

Several Whitman students worked with local business leader Manuel Perez to organize Walla Walla’s first community parade celebrating the traditional Mexican holiday Día de los Muertos, or Day of the Dead. Held in the downtown corridor close to campus, the event also included music and booths at Walawála Plaza and a public ofrenda at Grandma's Kitchen, Perez’s restaurant.