Upward Together, Always

A total of 16,137 alumni, parents, families and friends came together with a shared belief in the power of a Whitman education. Because of their generosity, Whitman College has completed Upward Together, the most ambitious and successful fundraising campaign in the college’s history.

Together, donors gave more than $226 million to expand opportunity, strengthen the college, upgrade facilities, and ensure that generations of Whitties will benefit from an exceptional liberal arts education. Every gift, regardless of size, helped make this historic achievement possible, and many are already transforming students’ lives.

“This campaign is a testament to what is possible when a community believes deeply in its students and its mission,” says Upward Together Chair Nancy Serrurier (Parent ’11). “Every gift represents someone who believed in Whitman students and chose to help shape their future. That is what makes this achievement so meaningful.” 

Investing Where It Matters Most: Our Students 

Support for Upward Together included more than 4,000 donors who made their first-ever gifts to Whitman. 

Many donors helped provide students with immediate, direct support through The Whitman Fund. These gifts—totalling $22 million over the course of the campaign—helped open doors with expanded scholarships, grow learning opportunities on and off campus, provide a sense of belonging for students from around the world, and empower every student to prepare for their future and career.

Alumni and families invested most deeply in Access and Affordability to make a high-quality Whitman education available to talented students. Thanks to nearly $90 million in gifts and commitments for scholarships and aid, including a $10 million gift from Walt and Kathie Weingart, Whitman is now meeting the full financial need of all students beginning with first-year and transfers students in the fall of 2026.

Current students are already benefitting from these gifts, including a rising junior from Edmonds, Washington, Lily Kamila ’28, who is making the most of her Whitman experience. Kamila is an Art and Rhetoric, Writing and Public Discourse major with a concentration in Human-Centered Design. 

“I didn’t even know some of these opportunities were possible,” Kamila says. “I would not have even been able to come to this school, and I know many, if not most, of the student body is being impacted by these generous gifts to financial aid and to all the resources on campus.”

Students graduate from Whitman with among the lowest rates of debt in Washington state. Whitman recently announced the Whitman 10% Promise—guaranteeing that a family’s contribution toward Whitman tuition will never exceed 10% of their yearly income. These affordability and transparency outcomes would not be possible without the generous philanthropy of alumni and families.

“This was not only a campaign for Whitman’s future. Right now we are seeing the outcome of the generosity of our alumni, friends and supporters powerfully shaping the everyday experiences of our students,” says President Sarah Bolton. “The Whitman of today is more accessible and more transformative than ever—for every student. That is an extraordinary impact.”

From the Ground Up: Building Community & Spaces To Thrive

Before the Upward Together campaign officially kicked off, the college dreamed of a more Vibrant Campus Community, most notably a new junior-senior village—a housing community to provide both independence and access to campus.

The project took years to realize and inspired $24 million in gifts, making the village the largest-ever philanthropic investment in Whitman’s campus.

Today, Nancy Serrurier Village has changed the face of the west edge of campus and gives more than 200 students a place to call home. 

“The village has really opened up how big campus feels and created a new living environment that keeps that close-knit community that we all love here,” says Marika Cartier ’26 who was one of the first students to live in the village.

The new buildings—Harvey, Robart and Stegner halls—are situated around the parklike Keane Family Green and a restored section of College Creek.

In addition to this transformative village, new athletics facilities are inspiring students to choose Whitman, excel on the field, and find community as they compete for and cheer on the Blues. James Hayner Field serves as a year-round, all-weather training and competition facility for varsity soccer and lacrosse—a place that is already home to champions. During their 2025–2026 seasons, Whitman’s men’s soccer and women’s lacrosse teams each won Northwest Conference titles and made their first-ever trips to the NCAA Tournament.

“Having a field like this has definitely raised the level of play, especially at practices and in games,” says varsity soccer player Kevin Serrano Maldonado ’28. “That definitely has contributed to our high sense of competitiveness in our team culture that we take pride in.”

Baseball student-athletes are also making the most of their new home base at Borleske Stadium—the Edwards-Moore Clubhouse. This modern facility features flexible team space, a spacious locker room, a media and recruiting space, and a training room.

Strengthening Academic Excellence & Immersive Learning

With its priority on Academic Excellence, Upward Together strengthens not just what Whitman students learn, but how and where they learn it—inside the classroom, alongside faculty and increasingly beyond campus.

In the classroom, new endowed professorships are securing top scholars in History, Physics and Computer Science. Building on the generosity of Now Is the Time campaign gifts, the tenured faculty positions of the Computer Science Department are now fully endowed. 

Along with these faculty investments, gifts for collaborative student-faculty research are already turning coursework into hands-on discovery for students—with hundreds more to benefit in the years to come.

That same commitment to teaching extends to where learning happens. A gift from Dinah Deshler ’64 has revitalized Maxey Auditorium, creating a fully accessible teaching and event space with modernized acoustics, lighting, audiovisual technology and seating. 

As part of the campaign, the college also secured a $1.5 million Humanities for All Times grant from the Mellon Foundation to advance community-based learning opportunities in Indigeneity, immigration and incarceration.  

Learning at Whitman also means ensuring that every student can access it and carry it forward. Gifts to advance Diversity, Equity and Inclusion are helping bring new campus student leaders to Whitman through the Posse Scholars and Šináata Scholars programs. Other gifts lower financial barriers to Outdoor Program experiences and adventures, while continued and new investments support the Summer Fly-In program, which brings first-generation students to campus early to build a sense of belonging before their first semester begins.

For the campaign priority Strong Launches, student opportunities in career preparation and immersive learning have been expanded by new endowments for career coaching and internships and community-engaged learning. An endowment also funded a new Seattle-based employer relations director who will strengthen pathways and programs, such as the new Summer in Seattle program, and build partnerships that create opportunities for Whitman students with key employers.

Going Strong Now & Into the Future

Beyond the gifts and investments themselves, the Upward Together campaign helped identify and celebrate a new generation of Whitman philanthropic leaders through the 50 Under 50 initiative. These 50 individuals gave $50,000 or more to Upward Together and were 50 years old or younger at the start of the campaign.

“The 50 Under 50 initiative is critical in solidifying emerging leaders, not only for Upward Together, but the future of the college’s philanthropic tradition,” says Aaron Perrine ’99, Vice Chair of the Upward Together campaign. “Engaging with the next generation of Whitman’s philanthropic leaders has been exhilarating, and I know this group will continue to contribute their time, expertise and resources to the college for many years to come.”

To share and uplift the impact for students, guests gathered for an Upward Together celebration at Chihuly Garden and Glass in Seattle on May 7. An on-campus, community celebration that will include a dedication of Deshler Auditorium will be on Sept. 18.

“The Whitman experience is not made by just one single person or one single group. It truly is a group effort,” says Kamila. “I would just say it is a really good investment in the future of Whitman and, honestly, the world because we need people doing the thinking. We need people doing the examining, the making. Everything about it is making a big difference.”