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.