Whitman Stories

This summer, Whitman College students have new access to biomedical research opportunities with the Mayo Clinic Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences. Under a new Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship (SURF) partnership, Mayo will hold two spots for current Whitman students to participate in research at one of three research centers in Arizona, Florida or Minnesota.

Peter Newland ’67 and Robyn Johnson have shared their love of artists’ books for nearly 25 years. Now, they are sharing that love — as well as their collection of dozens of the handcrafted works of art — with the Whitman College community.

Andrea Chin ‘15 hasn’t been one to stray from her goals and the path that leads her to them. While at Whitman, Chin was a biochemistry, biophysics and molecular biology (BBMB) major. She had her sight set on Whitman from the moment she was accepted to the college’s Visit Scholarship Program, which provides a free trip to campus for students from underrepresented backgrounds.

Conner says, "I agreed to take on this project because I believe the relationships we share around us make or break our well being."

Whitman College has joined 164 other colleges and universities across the nation in signing an amicus (“friend of the court”) brief in support of Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) as the case heads to the Supreme Court.

Whitman College President Kathleen Murray announced the appointment of Steve Setchell as the college's new vice president for development and alumni relations.

After an article appeared earlier this week in The New York Times suggesting the president demanded a snake-filled moat to protect the southern border, Jackson, an associate professor of biology, explained that people who think they fear snakes "are actually afraid of the unknown."

Not everyone knows that Constitution Day shares the bill with Citizenship Day, an observance dating back to 1938. Whitman Professor David Schmitz, who specializes in 20th century American history and foreign policy, explains that a Polish refugee organized the first "I Am An American Day" celebration in New York, featuring patriotic speeches, songs, prayers and a parade from Walt Whitman's birthplace on Long Island.

His research team surveyed 379 Americans ages 18-65 on their musical preferences, movie interests, personality traits, and psychopathic tendencies.

First-year students at Whitman College have the opportunity to meet fellow incoming students

He conducted field work with Daniel Schindler, an aquatic ecologist at the University of Washington researching how the millions of fish that hatch in the freshwater lakes and streams along Alaska's Bristol Bay head out to sea and then return to their birthplace to spawn and die. A section of their anatomy called the otolith, a bit of calcium carbonate that sits within the salmon's inner ear and acts like an internal GPS, provides clues about their movements.