Our Place in Walla Walla
Our Place in Walla Walla is a periodic column published by Noah Leavitt, Co-Director for the Career and Community Engagement Center for External Affairs and College Liaison for Community Affairs. It was created as a tool to help Whitman students learn more about the Walla Walla Valley, many of whom are living in Walla Walla for the first time. Each piece examines a different element of the area, from annual events to landmarks to community leaders.
Our Place in Walla Walla is published bi-weekly during the academic year as a featured column in the Whitman Today newsletter and here on the website.
December 2, 2024
Abby Muro: “Coming Home”
Interview with Abby Muro, Executive Director of the Walla Walla Immigrant Rights Coalition.
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November 18, 2024
Danielle Garbe Reser ’97: “Commit to Community”
An interview with Danielle Garbe Reser ’97, Executive Director of Blue Mountain Action Council.
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November 4, 2024
Joshua Huh: “Making Friendships Through Entrepreneurship”
An interview with Joshua Huh, owner of Carte Coffee.
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October 21, 2024
Andrew Trogstad-Isaacson ’11: “Get out and explore”
An interview with Andrew Trogstad-Isaacson, Interim Director of the Water & Environmental Center at Walla Walla Community College.
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October 7, 2024
Michelle Jamison Adams: Indigenous Heritage of Walla Walla
An interview with Michelle Jamison Adams, a key member of the Planning Committee for the Pasxapa Powwow.
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September 23, 2024
Amy Ly ’06: Envisioning Possibilities
An interview with Amy Ly ’06, Project Manager for the Gates Foundation-funded Horizons initiative with United Way of the Blue Mountains.
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September 9, 2024
Sandy Garcia ’08: Community Connections
An interview with Sandy Garcia ’08, supervising attorney for Legal Counsel for Youth and Children.
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May 20, 2024
Our Place in Walla Walla #18: Summer!
Our place knows how to enjoy summer vacation. Long days and no school mean that it’s time to take full advantage of the Valley.
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May 6, 2024
Our Place in Walla Walla #17: Wine
Our place loves grapes. This past weekend, you may have noticed extra traffic in town and around our community as Walla Walla hosted the annual Spring Release weekend, with thousands of people visiting town to participate in dozens of special events, tastings and other wine-related festivities.
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April 22, 2024
Our Place in Walla Walla #16: Higher Education
Our place enjoys and benefits from a vibrant higher ed sector. Yesterday, Whitman students along with students from our two local higher education partners, Walla Walla Community College (WWCC) and Walla Walla University (WWU), along with area residents joined hands for the Spring Tri-College Community Day.
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April 8, 2024
Our Place in Walla Walla #15: The Penitentiary
This week, the Whitman Wire features a story about a recent tragedy at the Washington State Penitentiary (WSP), one of our state’s four maximum security prisons (“close custody”) and, until the Washington Supreme Court ruled the state’s death penalty statute unconstitutional in 2018, the location of Washington’s Death Row and the facility where the state executed convicted inmates.
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March 25, 2024
Our Place in Walla Walla #14: Community Spirit
Our place is filled with Whitman community members making it better for everyone.Last week, our local newspaper, the Walla Walla Union-Bulletin, celebrated the fourth annual cohort of remarkable local residents through their 39 Under 39 initiative.
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