Convocation
Whitman College’s annual Convocation ceremony is a calling together of everyone on campus—students, faculty and staff—to mark the beginning of the next academic cycle, and to welcome the incoming class of first-year students into our community.
Convocation took place on Monday, Sept. 2, 2024 at 4 p.m. in Cordiner Hall.
2024 Convocation Program
Processional
Jo Baim, organ
Welcome and Introductions
Elisabeth Mermann-Jozwiak, Provost and Dean of the Faculty
“This Is Your Time”
Martina Gordon, Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation General Council Secretary
“The Path We Travel”
Ricky Gonzalez ’26, President, Associated Students of Whitman College
“A Cause for Conversation”
Angela Eliacy ’25, Power and Privilege Executive Director
“Welcome to an Election Year”
Susanne Beechey, Chair of the Faculty and Associate Professor of Politics
Musical Interlude
Linnea Gatmon-Sandrock ’25, violin
Jan Roberts, piano
Convocation Address: “thinking with...”
Kisha Lewellyn Schlegel, Associate Professor of English
Musical Inerlude
Ella Yuen ’25, piano
Opening of the Academic Year
Sarah R. Bolton, President
Recessional
Platform Party
Sarah R. Bolton, President
Susanne Beechey, Chair of the Faculty and Associate Professor of Politics
John Cotts, Chair of Division I and Professor of History
Angela Eliacy ’25, Power and Privilege Executive Director
Ricky Gonzalez ’26, President, Associated Students of Whitman College
Martina Gordon, Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation General
Council Secretary
Helen Kim, Associate Dean for Academic Affairs and Professor of Sociology
Lydia McDermott, Chair of Division II and Associate Professor of Rhetoric, Writing, and
Public Discourse
Elisabeth Mermann-Jozwiak, Provost and Dean of the Faculty and Professor of English
Mary Raschko, Associate Dean for Faculty Development and Associate Professor of English
Kisha Lewellyn Schlegel, Convocation Speaker and Associate Professor of English
Ginger Withers, Chair of Division III and Dr. Robert F. Welty Professor of Biology
Whitman College Faculty Milestones
Effective with the 2024–2025 Academic Year
Promotion to Professor
Jakobina “Bina” K. Arch, Professor of History
Arielle Marie Cooley, Professor of Biology
Moira I. Gresham, Nathaniel Shipman Professor of Physics
Gilbert Felipe Mireles, Jr., Professor of Sociology
Granted Tenure and Promotion to Associate Professor
Aarón G. Aguilar-Ramírez, Associate Professor of Hispanic Studies
Mark P. Hendricks, Associate Professor of Chemistry
Granted Tenure
William H. Bares, Associate Professor of Computer Science
Named to Endowed Professorship
Kate Shea, Louis Francis Anderson Professor of Classical Literature and Archeology; Associate Professor of Environmental Humanities and Classics
Special Participants:
College Marshal
Helen Kim, Associate Dean for Academic Affairs and Professor of Sociology
Faculty Marshal
Barry Balof, Professor of Mathematics
American Sign Language Interpreters
Cori Jones
Paula Bazinet
Land Acknowledgment:
Whitman College is located on the traditional Cayuse, Umatilla and Walla Walla homelands. We pay our respect to tribal elders both past and present and extend our respect to all Indigenous people today. We honor their stewardship of the land and ecosystem and commit to continuing that important work.
More About Convocation
Academic regalia worn at collegiate ceremonies such as Convocation and Commencement serves two purposes: it lends dignity and color to such occasions and reveals types of academic achievement through different styles of gowns and hoods and varying colors.
The regalia you see today is based on what was worn at universities in the 14th and 15th centuries, especially at Oxford and Cambridge. Late 19th century changes included the assignment of specific colors to signify academic disciplines. Modern academic dress in the United States has remained essentially unchanged since 1895, when it was standardized by the Intercollegiate Code.
Differing styles of gowns represent bachelor’s, master’s and doctoral degrees. The bachelor’s gown has a long pointed sleeve, the master’s has a long closed sleeve with a slit for the arm at the elbow, and doctoral robes have full, bell-shaped sleeves with three velvet bands matching the velvet facing of the gown opening. The velvet on the doctoral gown can be colored to represent a specific discipline, and the gown itself can be black or a color chosen by the institution.
Hoods drape down the back of the gowns and are most commonly used to reflect master’s and doctoral degrees. They are lined in the official color of the institution which conferred the degree, with a chevron used for a second color if needed. The colored velvet binding indicates the academic area to which the degree pertains. For example, white for liberal arts, pink for music, yellow for science, purple for law, red for theology, green for medicine and blue for philosophy.
Caps, all with tassels, can be either the familiar square mortarboard or a rounded or multi-angular floppy style.
Cordiner Hall, a 1,400-seat concert auditorium, bears the name of the late Ralph Jarron Cordiner, a 1922 Whitman graduate who was president and CEO of the General Electric Company from 1950 to 1963. Cordiner Hall features a 3,000-pipe custom-built organ made by the Holtkamp Organ Company and a 9-foot Steinway Model D grand piano.