Whitman Stories

Whitman College welcomed its newest incoming class to campus on Aug. 23, 2023. The roughly 480 first-year and transfer students is Whitman’s most diverse class in school history.

Film & Media Professor Tarik Ahmed Elseewi connects with students as they explore topics like identity and race in his classes. Elseewi is the 2022 recipient of the George Ball Award for Excellence in Advising.

The official Installation Ceremony of Whitman College’s 15th president, Sarah Bolton, took place in late April 2023. Guests from near and far gathered in Cordiner Hall for the formal ceremony and heard Bolton’s aspirations for Whitman and the students of the future.

Director of Sports Performance and the Baker Ferguson Fitness Center Jocelyn Awe sits down to answer five questions about his work, including his coaching philosophy and focus on positive mindset.

Shampa Biswas, the Judge & Mrs. Timothy A. Paul Chair of Political Science and Professor of Politics, recently published an opinion piece titled “What can we learn from ‘Oppenheimer’ about the blind spots in nuclear storytelling?”

Whitman College has entered a new partnership with The Posse Foundation to enroll a cohort of 10 students from Chicago each academic year. This fall, The Posse Foundation will work with Whitman to identify 10 Chicago students who will be admitted in 2024 as the college’s first Posse.

Whitman College is grateful to announce a significant gift from a late alumna of the college. More than three decades ago, Helen McAuslan Logan-Schneider ’55 set up a charitable trust that with her passing gives the college ownership of three rental properties near campus which will provide housing support for faculty and staff.

Each year, many Whitman College students and recent graduates apply for fellowships and grants to pursue research, study abroad, develop leadership skills, teach others and explore the world. We celebrate the dozens of students who were awarded those opportunities in the 2022–2023 academic year.

Amber Ebarb ’03 addressed the Class of 2023 during the 137th Whitman College Commencement Ceremony. Ebarb is the Staff Director for the U.S. Senate Committee on Indian Affairs and spoke of the positive changes on campus since she graduated 20 years ago.

Brit Moss, Associate Professor of Biology and Biochemistry, Biophysics and Molecular Biology (BBMB) at Whitman, conducts student research in the Moss Lab. Moss is a non-traditional, first-generation college student who says she enjoys having a front-row seat to young people discovering their passion for science.