Jan. 27, 2025: Rep. Baumgartner Meeting With Pres. Bolton

Requesting journalist: Kaitlin Salazar

Respondent name and position: Gina Zandy Ohnstad, Vice President for Communications

Response:

You may remember that in September Whitman College co-hosted a forum for the candidates running for U.S. Representative in the Fifth Congressional District and Representative Michael Baumgartner was on campus for that event. Since winning the election, Representative Baumgartner was connected with President Bolton through Independent Colleges of Washington, an advocacy group for the private colleges in our state and the students who attend them. The College has a longstanding relationship with ICW and because of Representative Baumgartner’s appointment to serve on the House Committee on Education & the Workforce, our partners at ICW wanted to make the connection between President Bolton and the representative.  At the time of the introduction, Rep. Baumgartner was planning a trip to Walla Walla so his staff offered some time for him to visit campus to meet with President Bolton and some students to hear more about the exciting things happening on campus, and Whitman was pleased to have the opportunity.

It is very common for college presidents to meet privately with our state and local representatives to discuss things like the learning experiences of our students and how they can help support our students, for example through Federal legislation around financial aid. While he is on campus, the representative will also meet with students to hear their experiences first hand.

Representatives for Congressman Baumgartner requested to meet with a small group of students, as opposed to requesting a larger campus forum. This is not unusual and is similar to when Former Governor Jay Inslee visited campus several years ago.  To fulfill the request, Whitman staff invited a small group of students to meet with the congressman.