Policies and Statements
Diversity, equity, and inclusion are core values at Whitman College. The college strives to have and support a student body, staff and faculty that represent the diversity of our world: gender identity, sexuality, race, ethnicity, national origin, socioeconomic class, disability, religion, spirituality and age cohort.
We seek to foster an inclusive learning environment in which members draw from different intellectual traditions to engage with and challenge one another through studied, thoughtful, and respectful dialogue and debate.
We aspire to become a place where all community members experience difference every day, where diversity is supported and woven throughout our cultural fabric: our values, our behavior, our culture. Our mission focuses on educating engaged students from diverse backgrounds and experiences in a college community where everyone can participate fully in the life of the college and experience a genuine sense of belonging.
Education is a common good that ultimately serves the entire society; therefore, access is a moral imperative. Diverse learning contexts are known to provide transformative educational experiences. An inclusive environment at Whitman that nurtures the development of the ability to work effectively across difference will prepare our students for life after Whitman. We believe that through an innovative rigorous liberal arts curriculum, we can educate all students and prepare them to serve in various fields and sectors and to contribute to a rapidly changing, multicultural and globalized world. Our graduates will be ready to work with others for the common good.
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.
Whitman College is deeply committed to the principle of nondiscrimination in all its forms. In its admission, educational, and employment practices, programs, and activities, the College does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, sex (including pregnancy and parenting status), gender, gender identity or expression, genetic information, sexual orientation, religion, age, marital status, national origin, shared ancestry, disability, veteran status, or any other basis prohibited by the Civil Rights Act of 1964, Title IX of the Educational Amendments of 1972, Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, and other applicable federal, state, or local laws.
The College’s Title IX Coordinator, the Office for Civil Rights (OCR), or both may be contacted with inquiries regarding the application of Title IX and its regulations.
Contact Information for the Title IX Coordinator:
Cassandre Beccai
Director of Equity & Compliance
Title IX Coordinator
Office: Memorial Building 301
Phone: 509-522-4314
Email: beccaic@whitman.edu
For details regarding Whitman College's Title IX policy, please refer to whitman.edu/titleix. Please refer to whitman.edu/grievance-policy for details regarding Whitman College’s nondiscrimination policy and grievance procedures.
To file a complaint or report conduct that may be considered sex discrimination under Title IX, please contact the Title IX Coordinator or visit whitman.edu/assist.
The faculty of Whitman College affirm the centrality of academic freedom to the mission of a liberal arts education. We are committed to the belief that an education in the liberal arts is vital to the functioning of a democratic society. We – as teacher-scholars – are engaged in the pursuit of knowledge and this pursuit can only flourish in a climate of freedom that encourages critical inquiry, open discussion, and the free exchange of ideas. When we engage in these endeavors in our teaching and scholarship, this freedom is understood as academic freedom. This freedom is central to our ability to provide the best possible education to our students, and thus is central to our institution.
Academic freedom encompasses the freedom for all individuals employed by the college in a teaching role to ask, pursue, and engage with a vast range of ideas and practices in their scholarship and teaching, by virtue of being experts in their discipline. Protected academic writing and speech is not confined to scholarship. Academics, in the course of their academic duties, also write memoranda, reports, and other documents addressed to such things as a budget, curriculum, departmental structure, faculty hiring, and institutional governance generally. Within the classroom, academic freedom includes freedom of discussion and freedom to select course materials, content, methodology, activities, and sequence within course objectives established in the official curriculum as approved by the faculty. This freedom extends to controversial matters related to the course subject in the reasonable and good-faith judgment of the faculty member, as rooted in the norms and practices within their fields and disciplines.
Educators at Whitman College are accorded freedom of speech when speaking on matters of public concern, free of institutional censorship and discipline regardless of the mode of communication in which the speech is delivered, subject to standards consistent with AAUP guidelines and First Amendment limitations. However, our special position in the Whitman community imposes certain obligations. As teacher-scholars we should remember that the public may judge our institution by our utterances. Therefore, faculty should make every effort to indicate that they are not speaking on behalf of the institution when speaking on matters unrelated to their scholarship and teaching. Given that the nature of electronic communication tends to decontextualize meaning and attribution, the College recognizes that it generally is not feasible for faculty members to consistently indicate that they are speaking as individuals and not in the name of their institution.
In the event that the College believes an extramural utterance has been such as to raise grave doubts regarding the faculty member’s ability to fulfill the responsibilities of their position, then the College is required to consult the Faculty Code (reference, Chapter 1, article 3, section 4 and 5 of the Faculty Code), the College’s grievance policy, and the AAUP Statement on Academic Freedom for guidance. The AAUP statement affirms that “a faculty member’s expression of opinion as a citizen cannot constitute grounds for dismissal unless it clearly demonstrates the faculty member’s unfitness for his or her position. Extramural utterances rarely bear on a faculty member’s fitness for their position.” Any judgment of fitness should take into account the faculty member’s entire record as a scholar and teacher. In such cases, Whitman College will follow the standards of response set forth in the current Faculty Code (reference, Chapter 1, article 3, sections 4 and 5 of the Faculty Code) and the College Grievance Policy.
A diverse and inclusive community will include a range of viewpoints that may at times conflict. But it is not the proper role of the College to attempt to shield individuals from ideas and practices they find unwelcome, disagreeable, or even deeply offensive. While the College affirms a climate of mutual respect, concerns about civility shall not be used as a justification for closing off discussion of ideas. However, conduct that substantially disrupts the educational environment may be subject to review under existing College policies.
The College community as a whole has a responsibility not only to promote a lively and fearless freedom of debate and deliberation, but also to protect that freedom when others attempt to restrict it. Such an open exchange of ideas is essential to a liberal arts education.
This statement represents Whitman College’s shared commitment to the principles of academic freedom. The Whitman College Board of Trustees unanimously endorsed this statement in their November 15, 2024 meeting. The Faculty of Whitman College unanimously endorsed this statement in their December 4, 2024 meeting, along with President Sarah Bolton and Provost and Dean of the Faculty Elisabeth Mermann-Jozwiak.
Whitman College seeks to establish a vibrant community of individuals who are intellectually talented, have the potential to be leaders in and out of the classroom and are from diverse backgrounds both nationally and internationally. Recognizing that undocumented students make important contributions to the intellectual and social life of the campus, Whitman College admits and enrolls students regardless of citizenship. Whitman College uses non-governmental resources to support the academic efforts of such students who qualify for financial aid.
Whitman College Statement on Institutional Voice
Voted by the Board of Trustees May 9th, 2025
Whitman College Mission Statement: Situated within the rich and complex landscape and history of the Walla Walla Valley, Whitman College provides a rigorous liberal arts education of the highest quality to passionate and engaged students from diverse backgrounds. Whitman students develop their intellectual and creative capacities in a supportive scholarly community that prioritizes student learning within and beyond our classrooms. We help each student translate their deep local, regional, and global experiences into ethical and meaningful lives of purpose.
Whitman College’s mission is to be a place of learning, growth and discovery, where students from diverse backgrounds deepen their curiosity about the world and develop their intellectual and creative capacities. As an institution of learning, the College fully supports the broad exploration, expression, and discussion of all ideas and points of view, and welcomes students, staff and faculty with a wide range of perspectives and experiences. The College represents those commitments in a number of documents, including our Diversity Statement, our Statement on Academic Freedom, our Non-discrimination policy, and our Statement on Student Rights and Responsibilities.
To best support the broadest intellectual exploration and free expression of its students, staff and faculty, Whitman College will generally not take official positions on matters unrelated to its mission or operation. Expressing an institutional view could stifle the expression and discussion of opposing ideas on campus. For that reason, the College will only issue official statements on matters directly impacting its mission or operation. This principle applies to formal statements made on behalf of the College, through its institutional voice. Such official statements are ones made by the President or Chair of the Board of Trustees or by an official college spokesperson, and occasionally by other college leaders who are called on to speak for the College.
The College intends to promote learning and broad exploration in the strongest possible way. However, this does not mean that the College will never speak on matters of public concern. The College engages on matters that directly impact its mission in a variety of ways, including through public statements and other efforts. For example, the President works on behalf of the College regarding state and national policy matters affecting higher education access and financial aid, higher-education non-discrimination policy, academic freedom, funding for research, student safety and well-being, and the support of students from across the US and around the world.
The College is sometimes called on to modify its operations to support or oppose a particular cause or action. It is certainly the case that the College is not an isolated institution, and nearly every action, purchase and decision of the College may have implications beyond the campus. However, the College should focus decisions about its operations on what will best advance the mission of the college, and exercise great caution regarding calls to modify its operations for other reasons.
The College’s President and Board of Trustees are frequently asked by members of the campus community to make public statements on matters of deep concern around the country and across the world. They generally will not step forward with such statements. Again, this is to preserve the learning mission of the college and the free exploration and expression of ideas, and to ensure that no one point of view or constituency is viewed as supported by the College to the exclusion of others. This idea is well-expressed in the “Kalven Report” of the University of Chicago (1967), which states “The neutrality of the university as an institution arises then not from a lack of courage nor out of indifference and insensitivity. It arises out of respect for free inquiry and the obligation to cherish a diversity of viewpoints. And this neutrality as an institution has its complement in the fullest freedom for its faculty and students as individuals to participate in political action and social protest. It finds its complement, too, in the obligation of the university to provide a forum for the most searching and candid discussion of public issues.”
WHITMAN COLLEGE BOARD OF TRUSTEES RESOLUTION AFFIRMING COMMITMENT TO INSTITUTIONAL AUTONOMY AND BOARD INDEPENDENCE
WHEREAS, the landmark United States Supreme Court decision in Dartmouth College v. Woodward (1819) affirmed that the governance of higher education institutions must remain free from political interference;
WHEREAS, the Board of Trustees of Whitman College recognizes that institutional autonomy and board independence are fundamental to academic freedom, educational excellence, and the fulfillment of our fiduciary duties; and
WHEREAS the Faculty of Whitman College passed a Motion on April 16, 2025 calling for Whitman College to join with other threatened colleges and universities in establishing a coordinated campaign in defense of academic freedom, due process, and the rule of law; and
WHEREAS Whitman College President Sarah Bolton signed on to the April 22, 2025 American Association of Colleges and Universities letter in defense of academic freedom and against unprecedented interference now endangering American higher education;
WHEREAS, Whitman College Board Chair Joe Davis signed on to the May 5, 2025 Association of Governing Boards of Universities and Colleges affirming the Board of Trustees’ commitment to institutional autonomy and board independence.
BE IT THEREFORE RESOLVED THAT:
- The Board of Trustees reaffirms its unwavering commitment to maintaining the independence of Whitman College’s governance and to our constitutional rights.
- The Board of Trustees asserts that its decisions will continue to be made in the best interests of the institution’s educational mission, students, faculty, and staff, free from external political interference.
- The Board of Trustees invites all stakeholders, including our alumni, to defend the autonomy of America’s colleges and universities as essential to a thriving democracy and economy.
- The Board of Trustees reaffirms its authorization to the chair and the president to communicate this commitment publicly and to advocate for policies that protect board independence and institutional autonomy, which are fundamental to academic freedom, educational excellence, and the fulfillment of the board’s fiduciary duties.
Adopted by the Whitman College Board of Trustees on May 9th, 2025.