Whittie News

Dear Alumni and Friends:

It’s finals week at Whitman, and all will soon be quiet as many of our students return home for holiday break.  

The end of the semester is a good time to reflect on some amazing community events that occurred in the past month. We celebrated our Seattle Upward Together launch at T-Mobile Park and announced the naming of Robart Hall in honor of Judge Jim Robart ‘69. And Whitman partnered with the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation (CTUIR) to host the inaugural Pášx̣apa Powwow.

With gratitude for all donors of gifts of all sizes, we’re recognizing a secure listing of alumni donors by class to accompany a link to the recently mailed Donor Annual Report.

We’re also gearing up for a big start to 2024 with Upward Together events in New York and Washington, DC and Whitties Helping Whitties throughout the West Coast.

Read all about this and more below. Thank you for all that you continue to do for Whitman. Best wishes for the holiday season!

Jennifer

Dear Alumni and Friends:

What a joy it has been to launch Upward Together over the past three weeks. Following amazing celebrations on Ankeny Field and in key cities, anticipation is building for our November 8 Seattle T-Mobile Park event, featuring a conversation with Mariners Chairman John Stanton ‘77 and serial entrepreneur Jonathan Sposato ‘89.  

We are bowled over by magical moments capturing the collective spirit of the Whitman community.  Have you seen the video highlights of Drew Shoals ‘05, Amazon corporate counsel and former drummer of the rock band Train, leading students, alumni, and faculty in an “Upward Together Band” rendition of “Ain’t No Mountain High Enough?” You’ve gotta see it below.  

And of course, we are inspired by the generosity of Whitties.  Just in the past week, 1,534 donors stepped up to support students through All In for Whitman, and we announced a $1.5 million investment in scholarships & aid from Gordon ‘68 and Kathy Britt Keane ‘67.  

We are leading Upward Together out of love for Whitman College, our community, the life-changing student experience we offer, and for how our graduates achieve success and impact throughout the world.  But we envision an even better Whitman of the future.  Realizing it will require climbing some high mountains. We’ll get there, together.

Nancy Serrurier P’11 and Aaron Perrine ’99
Chair and Vice Chair, Upward Together

Dear Alumni & Friends:

Happy Fall everyone! I hope you are enjoying the changing weather and colors.

I was one of six members of the Alumni Association Board who enjoyed a wonderful time in Walla Walla for Reunion Weekend, September 21-24. We had the opportunity to assist the hardworking Alumni Relations team in hosting over 600 alumni and friends, spanning the class years from 1958 to 2019.

Thirteen classes attended 35 events over four days. We had the pleasure to engage with alumni from all those classes; learn more about what is currently happening on campus from staff, faculty, and students; get an update on the College’s initiatives from President Bolton; and even got to guest-DJ one of the class parties on Saturday night.

One of the best-attended events of the weekend was our student-alumni networking event, Whitties Helping Whitties. More than 100 alumni met with 56 students for career conversation and connection on the Cordiner Hall patio, taking the first steps in building an alumni network to help ensure a strong graduate launch.

Reunion Convocation was another highlight, where we welcomed alumni from all classes and our 10th, 25th and 40th reunion committee members presented their fundraising results. It was poignant to hear their reasons why supporting Whitman is so important to them, and gratifying to see the way our reunion classes supported our current and future students.

Thanks to the alumni who were able to attend the reunion weekend, and thanks to the Alumni Relations Office for their tireless efforts to create such a successful event.

Sincerely,

Evan Jones

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