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Whitman College

Whitman College is a co-educational, non-sectarian residential undergraduate liberal arts college in Walla Walla, Washington.

History

In 1836 the missionaries Marcus and Narcissa Whitman established a medical mission and a school a few miles from the modern-day city of Walla Walla to serve the Cayuse Indians and immigrants on the Oregon Trail. After the Whitmans were killed in the 1847 Whitman Massacre, the Rev. Cushing Eells resolved to establish a school in their honor. The Washington Territorial Legislature granted a charter to Whitman Seminary on December 20, 1859. On November 28, 1883, the legislature amended the charter, changing the name to Whitman College and the school to a four-year, degree-granting college. The modern-day Whitman College has no religious affiliation.

In 1913, Whitman became the first college or university in the nation to require undergraduate students to complete comprehensive oral and written examinations in their major fields. Individual majors also require an extensive project in the form of either a written or multimedia thesis or a presentation or recital. In 1920, a Phi Beta Kappa Chapter was installed, the second for any college in the Pacific Northwest.

Campus

The campus includes streams, record-holding trees and numerous outdoor sculptures. It is built around Ankeny Field, which provides structure to the architectural layout, but also serves as a popular social destination on warm days. College Creek meanders through the main campus, forming ponds (most notably Lakum Duckum) and providing a habitat for Whitman's many ducks.

About 75% of the student body resides in school housing. Two of eight residence halls date to the early 1900s and several residence buildings are of neoclassical architectural design. There are eleven "Interest House" residences which are mostly of Victorian and classical design. Academic facilities are newer and of more modern design.

Three women's sororities (Delta Gamma, Kappa Alpha Theta, and Kappa Kappa Gamma) are housed in the Prentiss Hall school residence hall and four men's fraternities (Sigma Chi, Beta Theta Pi, Phi Delta Theta, and Tau Kappa Epsilon) are housed in fraternity houses north of Isaacs Avenue. Downtown Walla Walla is a few blocks to the west of the campus. The college also has other land holdings outside the main campus area, one of which — the Johnson Wilderness Campus — is used for academic and social retreats.

In the news

Whitman College has recently recogonized multiple students for receiving prestigious scholarships. In 2008 2 students were honored as Truman Scholars, 3 as Watson Scholars, and 6 revieved Fulbrights.

Academics

About 1450 undergraduate students are enrolled in Whitman College, 56% female to 44% male. Greek life is notable in the high percentage of students, around 33%, in fraternities and sororities. There are many student activities, many of which focus on student activism and social improvement. Many students also choose to participate in varsity, club, and intramural sports such as rugby union, waterpolo, lacrosse, dodgeball, and nationally renowned cycling and Ultimate teams. Special interest housing for foreign language program students is also available.

The college offers 42 fields of study for Bachelor of Arts degrees. There are also approximately 10 additional areas that offer solely minor studies.

Degrees are awarded after successful completion of senior "comprehensive exams". These exams vary depending on primary focus of study, but commonly include some combination of i) a senior thesis, ii) written examination, and iii) oral examination. The oral examinationis either a defense of the student's senior thesis, or is one or multiple exams of material the student is expected to have learned during their major study administered by faculty. The written exam is either a GRE subject test or a test composed by the department.

Approximately 50 percent of Whitman graduates go on to graduate school within five years and attend some of the best graduate programs. Whitman graduates have won the nation's most prestigious fellowships and awards. Over the last three years Whitman has had one Rhodes Scholar and 18 Fulbright Fellowships. In the last eight years 15 Whitman graduates have won Thomas J. Watson Fellowships.

For students who are interested in foreign policy, Whitman is one of 16 institutions participating in the two-year-old Thomas R. Pickering Foreign Affairs Fellowship program. The State Department pays for fellows to obtain their master's degree at the university of their choice in return for three years of service as a Foreign Service Officer. Whitman has a number of alumni who serve in foreign affairs.

Students can take advantage of one of the most loyal alumni networks in the nation through the Career Consultant Network, which includes almost 2,000 alumni who have volunteered to help students with their career search.

Whitman's Speech and Debate Program is renowned for success in policy (CEDA-NDT) and parliamentary (NPDA-NPTE) debate as well as individual events. Each year, 24 to 30 students participate fully in the program. Students travel to tournaments throughout the west coast as well as nationally. Whitman students Adam Symonds and Jessica Clarke won the CEDA National Championship in 1999.

Whitman also offers combined programs in conjunction with several prestigious institutions throughout the United States:

3-2 programs in engineering with the California Institute of Technology, Columbia University, Duke University, University of Washington, and Washington University;
A 3-2 program for students interested in international business in conjunction with Monterey Institute of International Studies leading to an MAIA or an MBA in international business;
3-2 programs in forestry and environmental management with Duke University, leading to a Master of Environmental Management or an MBA degree;
A 3-2 program in oceanography at University of Washington, leading to a Whitman B.A. and a U. of Washington B.S. in Oceanography;
A 4-1 combined program in elementary education with the Bank Street College of Education in New York City, culminating in a bachelor's degree from Whitman, a master's degree from Bank Street, and the requirements for teaching certification

Whitman offers a "Semester in the West" program. Semester in the West is a Whitman College field study program in environmental studies, focusing on ecological, social, and political issues confronting the American West. For a full semester, 20 accepted students will travel the West, focusing on issues such as grizzly bear and wolf reintroduction plans, management of national parks and monuments, the booming economy and culture of Las Vegas, environmental justice in New Mexico, and many more. Along the way, they meet with activists, writers, environmentalists, loggers, ranchers, miners, labor organizers, local politicians, land managers, historians, political scientists, geographers, foresters, economists, farmers, Native Americans, biologists, ecologists, and cowboys. As they travel, they read what others have written about the West, and do a great deal of their own writing. The program runs every other year, and began in 2002. Phil Brick, Professor of politics at Whitman since 1992, created the program and is the facilitator.

Whitman is listed in Loren Pope's book Colleges That Change Lives.

Whitman athletics

Whitman holds membership in the NCAA's Northwest Conference (Division III) and fields nine varsity teams each for men and women. Whitman additionally hosts varsity Alpine and Nordic ski teams that compete in the NCAA Division I Rocky Mountain Intercollegiate Ski Association. More than 70 percent of the student body participates in intramural sports; more than 20 percent participate in a varsity sport.

Whitman's official mascot, named the 'Fighting Missionary' after Marcus and Narcissa Whitman, is a source of debate, with some parties wishing to change it in order to avoid the implied cultural imperialism. Current campaigns to change the mascot support the 'Duck', named for the many ducks residing in campus creeks and ponds, as a culturally neutral mascot. Others are in favor of keeping the unique mascot, which inspired the innuendo-laden cheer "Missionaries, Missionaries, We're On Top!".

KWCW 90.5 FM

KWCW 90.5 FM is a Class A radio station owned and operated by the Whitman Students' union, the Associated Students of Whitman College. Each semester students, faculty, staff, and community members can sign up for a weekly 2-hour block on this free-format radio station. Disc jockeys are free to play whatever music they wish, so long as it follows Federal Communications Commission guidelines. In addition, the station has several call-in radio shows to engage listeners from the greater Walla Walla area.

"K-dub" as it is known to students, lives inside the Reid Campus Center on Whitman Campus. Broadcasting at a power of 160 watts, the station's range is approximately 15 miles (24 km).

College leadership

Whitman College is governed by Trustees in conjunction with a college President, Overseers and Alumni Board.

List of Presidents

Alexander J. Anderson 1882-1891
James F. Eaton in 1891-1894
Stephen B. L. Penrose 1894-1934
Rudolf A. Clemen, 1934-1936
Walter Andrew Bratton, 1936-1942
Winslow S. Anderson, 1942-1948
Chester C. Maxey 1948- 1959
Louis B. Perry 1959-1967
Donald Sheehan, 1968-1974
Robert Allen Skotheim 1975-1988
David Evans Maxwell, 1989-1993
Thomas E. Cronin 1993-2005
George S. Bridges 2005~

Alumni Board

Whitman College alumni started the Alumni Association in 1895 to communicate alumni reaction about college programs back to the Alumni Office. The board is currently chaired by Sarah O. Wang (Honolulu, Hawaii), with Cara K. Haskey (Seattle, Washington) as vice chair.