What Makes Whitman
Students Great ?

"Their sense of humor and their generosity of spirit"

The two things that I admire most about Whitman students are their sense of humor and their generosity of spirit. I’ll give you an example of each.

Several years ago, the chorale was finishing a tour of Seattle and Portland by singing an afternoon concert at a high school in Portland. The principal had invited any students enrolled in a music class to attend, so the gymnasium was full. The final piece on the program was a break-neck, gallop-of-a-piece called “Chindia.” The text is mostly nonsense syllables and the final chord is a shouted “MOOF!” that rattles the ceiling. Earlier in the day, I had hinted to a couple of chorale members that it might be fun to celebrate the birthday that day of a particular choir member by omitting the final “MOOF!” and thereby giving him a surprise solo! As the moment neared, I had no idea whether or not word of our conspiracy had spread to the entire chorus, but sure enough, at the final moment, Dan shouted his solo “MOOF!” with great gusto and mighty volume. To this day I am sure that some members of that audience still wonder why it was that on that warm April afternoon the entire choir collapsed into howls of laughter and fell on the soloist with hugs and high-fives! I was reminded of the students’ generosity of spirit just last month. Our friend David Deal loved all kinds of music and was an enthusiastic supporter of the choral program, so when his wife, Judy, asked if the chorale might come to the house and give him a short, private concert, I thought it was a great idea.* I asked the chorale if they would like to do this and, without hesitation, their answer was, “Yes!”

All 105 members of the chorale slipped quietly into the Deal’s front yard and began to sing. I could tell from the faces of the students that, partway through the first piece, David had stepped out of his front door and settled into a chair behind me. In that moment they gave themselves over to singing with such beauty and tender joy that both David and the chorus were deeply moved. The students opened their hearts and gave David a beautiful gift that day. They gave me one, too.