364 Boyer Ave
Baker Center, 2nd Floor
Walla Walla, WA 99362
Whittie News
Whittie News is Whitman College’s alumni newsletter, designed to keep our alumni community connected and engaged. From alumni successes and campus updates to special events, this newsletter serves as a link between the college and you.
Whittie News Updates
Dear Alumni & Friends:
This is always an exciting time for the Admission team and for the Whitman community as we welcome a new entering class of Whitties to campus. To lead off the September Whittie News, it’s my pleasure to tell you about the talented class of 2027 that just moved in to begin their lifelong Whitman journey.
The class of 2027 comprises 455 first-year students handpicked from a record 6,238 applicants for admission. They averaged a 3.77 unweighted high school grade point average and 29 had a perfect 4.0. Whitman was also a popular destination for transfer students – we welcomed 26 transfer students from a wide variety of colleges, ranging from community colleges (Walla Walla CC, Bellevue College, Pasadena City College ) to liberal arts colleges (Reed, Macalester, Smith) to large universities (WSU, UC Davis, McGill).
By many measures, this class is the most diverse in the College’s history. 32% of the class identifies as students of color. As I write to you today from a recruiting trip in China, I can report that international students representing 43 countries make up 14% of the class. We drew students from 34 states and two sovereign tribal nations, and welcomed 20 students from the Walla Walla valley (the highest total in recent memory).
With special thanks to alumni and friends for your generous support of scholarships and financial aid to make a life-changing Whitman education accessible to students of all economic backgrounds, I’m proud to share we are opening Whitman’s doors to record numbers of low-income students and students in the first generation of their families to attend a four-year college. 23% of the incoming class are first generation college students, and 112 incoming students have received Pell Grants due to their significant financial need.
Of course, these statistics don’t begin to describe the talent and promise of these young people. I wish I could introduce you to some of them, including the founder of a nonprofit organization for protecting the Salmon River, a member of the Washington State Air National Guard, a leader of a high school Black Student Union, a competitive bagpiper, an entrepreneur who started a cake baking company, and the builder of a 400-gallon koi pond.
We are deeply grateful for alumni giving and volunteer efforts that help us inspire these amazing students to join the Whitman family. Our team hopes to see you on campus or at a high school near you soon.
Adam Miller
Vice President for Admission and Financial Aid
Dear Alumni & Friends:
Greetings from the Whitman campus! Fall semester begins in just a few weeks, and we can’t wait to welcome 463 terrific students from across the country and around the world to the class of 2027. This promises to be an extraordinary year for the Whitman family, as we see the power of a Whitman liberal arts education and the difference our graduates make, and continue to advance our mission for the future in a rapidly changing world.
This fall we will publicly launch the most ambitious campaign in the history of the college. I invite you to join me and members of the Board of Trustees to mark the launch at events on campus starting October 12 and in key cities in the following weeks. You can find more information about the program in this newsletter. The priorities the board plans to announce at these events reflect a bold vision for the future of our College and our students.
Whitman is a college that changes lives, and Whitties continue to make us proud through their accomplishments and the impact they make in their communities and in the world. This month we’re celebrating our three National Science Foundation (NSF) Fellows and our 55th Fulbright Scholar in the past 15 years. I am also excited to share news of a partnership with the Posse Foundation to bring 10 outstanding students from Chicago to Whitman each year. We expect the Posse scholars to make a tremendous positive impact in building student leadership, diversity and inclusion in our community.
This edition of Whittie News also shares the story of a wonderful alumna gift of real estate to help meet critical housing needs for Whitman community members. Through such care and generosity of alumni, parents, and friends we can build on the excellence of a Whitman education and prepare young people to thrive and meet the increasingly complex challenges of our time.
Our aspirations for the College and our students are high. We’ll fulfill them together. Thank you for all that you continue to do for Whitman!
Sincerely,
Sarah R. Bolton
President
Alumni
