New Endowment Will Fuel ‘Life-Changing Experiences’ for Whitman Students

With their recent gift to establish the Serrurier Community-Engaged Teaching and Learning (CETL) Endowment, Greg and Nancy Serrurier (Parents ’11) are helping Whitman College launch an exciting new era in immersive learning. 

Through the new CETL Endowment, community-engaged learning will be a college-wide endeavor, with courses and programs that immerse students in real issues and real solutions in the Walla Walla community, Pacific Northwest and beyond. The endowment will support faculty members as they create new courses and retrofit current ones across all departments—creating new opportunities to collaborate with local nonprofits, schools, government agencies and community groups. 

The endowment will also help create a role for a dedicated CETL specialist, who will work closely with faculty to grow this important work and develop courses and partnerships that make the most of local, regional and even global opportunities to engage with big ideas and important issues. 

Provost and Dean of the Faculty Elisabeth Mermann-Jozwiak is pleased with this additional commitment to the faculty. “I am excited and immensely grateful for the support that faculty will receive for their work in and with the community,” she says. “The specialist will help Whitman expand the immersive educational experiences that are possible when students are confronted with real-world problems and take their learning outside of the classroom.”

Bringing Learning to Life in Community

When Greg and Nancy’s son, Ben Serrurier ’11, attended Whitman, he took several classes in which immersive learning was a key component, including Semester in the West, during which he and his fellow students traveled over 8,000 miles, meeting a wide variety of people in the American West and learning firsthand how to navigate public land conservation challenges. 

“These classes are life-changing experiences,” says Nancy. “The experiential factor is the secret sauce.” 

Ben’s experience influenced her understanding of the extraordinary potential of community-engaged learning and inspired the Serruriers to provide these transformative opportunities to every Whitman student—whether through immersive field programs like Semester in the West, innovative community partnerships like Whitman at the Penitentiary, or courses that take Whitties out into the world to put their learning into action.

“I would like every Whitman student to have the opportunity to apply what they are learning to challenges outside of traditional classrooms,” says Nancy, who is now a member of the Board of Trustees and Chair of the Upward Together campaign. “These novel experiences challenge students to grow, become confident outside of their comfort zones and expand their perspectives, not only about the world, but also about what they are capable of accomplishing.”

The Whitman Difference

In their years of service and philanthropy to the college, Greg and Nancy’s vision for Whitman as a premier place for immersive learning has come into focus. 

“It’s truly exciting to think about the CETL courses offered throughout the curriculum as a hallmark of the Whitman education,” Nancy says. By infusing community-engaged learning into Whitman’s curriculum, students will be more capable than ever of being the agents of change they want to be in every community they are a part of. 

President Sarah Bolton agrees. “Through the Serruriers’ generous endowment, the CETL program will further distinguish Whitman by expanding immersive learning in our academic courses,” she says. “This model, which builds on the great work of our faculty, will educate our students on how to engage with the world in ethical, sustainable and community-connected ways. We are deeply grateful to the Serruriers for making this possible.”

Thanks to Nancy’s leadership as Chair of the Upward Together campaign and the generosity of alumni and friends of the college, Whitman recently solidified its commitment to meet the full demonstrated financial need of all incoming students, made a historic investment in residential life with the construction of the Junior-Senior Village, and is now launching the transformative immersive learning initiative—all of which will greatly enhance students’ educational experiences. 

“I love the community that Whitman creates,” Nancy says. “I love the way the college provides students opportunities to learn and grow as students and citizens of a wider world. I love how the faculty and staff care about students and are committed to their success. Whitman is a very special institution that deserves to thrive.”