Whitman College

For the residential college at Princeton University, see Whitman College, Princeton University

Whitman College
The Memorial Building, Whitman College
Established	December 20, 1859
Type	Private liberal arts college
Endowment	$334.8 million
Chairman	John W. Stanton
President	George S. Bridges
Academic staff	155
Undergraduates	1,500
Location	Walla Walla, Washington, U.S. 46.0706922°N 118.3288535°W / 46.0706922; -118.3288535
Campus	117 acres (0.47 km2)
Colors	Blue and Maize
Website	www.whitman.edu

Maxey Hall (Social Sciences)

Hunter Conservatory (Rhetoric and Film Studies).

An artificial pond on Mill Creek

A corner of Ankeny Field, Lyman House to the left.

Whitman College is a private, co-educational, non-sectarian, residential undergraduate liberal arts college located in Walla Walla, Washington. Initially founded as a seminary by a territorial legislative charter in 1859, the school became a four year degree granting institution in 1883. Whitman College is accredited by the Northwest Association of Schools and Colleges and competes athletically in the NCAA Division III Northwest Conference. The school offers 46 majors and 31 minors in the liberal arts and sciences. Whitman was the first college in the U.S. northwest to receive a Phi Beta Kappa chapter, and the first school in the United States to require comprehensive exams for graduation. Whitman was ranked 16th in the nation in Forbes' America's Best Colleges list.

History

Whitman seminary

Whitman Seminary, the precursor to Whitman College, was chartered by the Washington Territorial Legislature in 1859 at the request of Cushing Eells as a memorial to Marcus and Narcissa Whitman, Christian missionaries who had died twelve years earlier in the Whitman Massacre at their mission site near present day Walla Walla, Washington. Eells initially wanted to locate the pre-collegiate academy on the former mission site, but pressure from newly founded Walla Walla, combined with the donation of land in 1859 by prominent local Dorsey Syng Baker, led to the school opening in town. After Eells resigned as principal in 1869, the seminary had difficulty competing with other local schools for pupils and remaining financially solvent.

From seminary to college

Whitman's trustees decided in 1882 that while their institution could not continue as a prep school, it might survive as the area's only college. Alexander Jay Anderson, the former president of the Territorial University (now the University of Washington), came to turn the institution into a college and become its president. After modeling the institution after North East liberal arts colleges, Anderson opened the school on September 4, 1882 (Marcus Whitman's birthday) with an enrollment of 60 students and three senior faculty (Anderson, his wife and son). In 1883, the school received a collegiate charter and began expanding with aid from the Congregational American College and Education Society.

Financial turmoil and new leadership

Despite local support for Whitman college and help from the Congregational community, financial troubles set in for the school. After losing favor with some of the schools supporters, Anderson left Whitman in 1891 to be replaced by Reverend James Francis Eaton. The continuing recession of the 1890s increased the institution's financial worries and lost Eaton his backing, leading to his resignation in 1894.

Reverend Stephen Penrose, an area Congregational minister and former trustee, became president of the college and brought the school back to solvency by establishing Whitman's endowment with the aid of D. K. Pearsons, a Chicago philanthropist. By popularizing Marcus Whitman's life and accomplishments (including the suspect claim that the missionary had been pivotal in the annexation by the United States of Oregon Territory), Penrose was able to gain support and resources for the college. Under his leadership, the faculty was strengthened and the first masonry buildings, Billings Hall and the Whitman Memorial Building, were constructed.

The end of religious affiliation

In 1907, Penrose began a plan called "Greater Whitman" which sought to transform the college into an advanced technical and science center. To aid fundraising, Penrose abandoned affiliation with the Congregational Church, and became unaffiliated with any denomination. The prep school was closed and fraternities and sororities were introduced to the campus. Ultimately, this program was unable to raise enough capital; in 1912, the plan was abandoned and Whitman College returned to being a small liberal arts institution, albeit with increased focus on co-curricular activities. Penrose iterated the school's purpose "to be a small college, with a limited number of students to whom it will give the finest quality of education”. In 1920 Phi Beta Kappa installed a chapter, the first for a Northwest college, and Whitman had its first alum Rhodes Scholar.

World War II

During World War II, Whitman was one of 131 colleges and universities nationally that took part in the V-12 Navy College Training Program which offered students a path to a Navy commission.

Campus

"Styx" (2002), by Deborah Butterfield, sits on Ankeny Field.

A view toward the Quad from the steps of Penrose Library.

The campus includes streams, ponds, trees and numerous outdoor sculptures. At the center of campus is Ankeny Field, which forms part of the main quad and is a popular spot for intramural sports. College Creek (a segment of Mill Creek) meanders through the main campus, forming ponds (most notably Lakum Duckum) and providing a habitat for Whitman's many ducks and an occasional pair of white geese.

About 70% of the student body resides in school housing. Two of eight residence halls date to the early 1900s and several residence buildings are of neoclassical architectural design. There are eleven "Interest House" residences which are mostly of Queen Anne and classical design. Academic facilities are newer and of more modern design.

Three women's sororities (Kappa Alpha Theta, Delta Gamma, and Kappa Kappa Gamma) are housed in the Prentiss Hall school residence hall and four men's fraternities (Sigma Chi, Beta Theta Pi, Phi Delta Theta, and Tau Kappa Epsilon) are housed in fraternity houses north of Isaacs Avenue. The Delta chapter of Phrateres, a non-exclusive, non-profit social-service club, was installed here in 1930. Between 1924 and 1967, 23 chapters of Phrateres were installed in schools across North America. Downtown Walla Walla is a few blocks to the west of the campus. The college also has about 22,000 acres (89 km²) of other land holdings outside the main campus area, one of which — the Johnston Wilderness Campus — is used for academic and social retreats.

Academics

About 1500 undergraduate students are enrolled in Whitman College, 56% female to 44% male. Greek life is notable on campus; there is high percentage of students, around 33%, in fraternities and sororities. There are many student activities, many of which focus on student activism and social improvement. Many students also choose to participate in varsity, club, and intramural sports such as rugby union, waterpolo, lacrosse, dodgeball, and nationally renowned cycling and Ultimate teams. Special interest housing for foreign language program students is also available.

The college offers 42 fields of study for Bachelor of Arts degrees. There are also 10 additional areas that offer solely minor studies.

Degrees are awarded after successful completion of senior "comprehensive exams." These exams vary depending on the students' primary focus of study, but commonly include some combination of i) a senior thesis, ii) written examination, and iii) oral examination. The oral examination is either a defense of the student's senior thesis, or is one or multiple exams of material the student is expected to have learned during their major. The written exam is either a GRE subject test or a test composed by the department.

University rankings (overall)
National
Forbes	16
Liberal arts colleges
U.S. News & World Report	36
Washington Monthly	13

For students who are interested in foreign policy, Whitman is one of 16 institutions participating in the two-year-old Thomas R. Pickering Foreign Affairs Fellowship program. The State Department pays for fellows to obtain their master's degree at the university of their choice in return for three years of service as a Foreign Service Officer. Whitman has a number of alumni who serve in foreign affairs.

Students can take advantage of one of the most loyal alumni networks in the nation through the Career Consultant Network, which includes many alumni.^{[citation needed]}

Whitman's Speech and Debate Program is active in policy (CEDA-NDT) and parliamentary (NPDA-NPTE) debate as well as individual events. Each year, 24 to 30 students participate in the program. Students travel to tournaments throughout the west coast as well as nationally. Whitman students Adam Symonds and Jessica Clarke won the CEDA National Championship in 1999.

Whitman also offers combined programs in conjunction with several institutions throughout the United States:

• 3-2 programs in engineering with the California Institute of Technology, Columbia University, Duke University, University of Washington, and Washington University;
• 3-2 programs in forestry and environmental management with Duke University, leading to a Master of Environmental Management or an MBA degree;
• A 3-2 program in oceanography at University of Washington, leading to a Whitman B.A. and a U. of Washington B.S. in Oceanography;
• A 4-1 combined program in elementary education with the Bank Street College of Education in New York City, culminating in a bachelor's degree from Whitman, a master's degree from Bank Street, and the requirements for teaching certification

Whitman offers a "Semester in the West" program, a field study program in environmental studies, focusing on ecological, social, and political issues confronting the American West. For a full semester, 20 accepted students will travel the West, focusing on various issues.

Whitman is listed in Loren Pope's book Colleges That Change Lives.

Athletics

Whitman holds membership in the NCAA's Northwest Conference (Division III) and fields nine varsity teams each for men and women. More than 70 percent of the student body participates in intramural sports; more than 20 percent participate in a varsity sport.

Whitman's official mascot, named the 'Fighting Missionary' after Marcus and Narcissa Whitman, is a source of debate, with many student organizations and athletic teams wishing to change it in order to avoid the implied cultural imperialism. However, many alumni are in favor of keeping the unique mascot, which inspired the innuendo-laden cheer "Missionaries, Missionaries, We're On Top!"^{[citation needed]} Current campaigns to change the mascot support the 'Duck', named for the many ducks residing in campus creeks and ponds, as a culturally neutral mascot.

In addition, the Whitman Cycling team has managed to win DII National Championships for the past two years, and 4 times in the past 6 years, making them the athletic team at Whitman with the most National Championships, despite their club sport status.

KWCW 90.5 FM

Entrance to Penrose Library.

Olin Hall (Humanities).

Admission Office building at Whitman College in the summer of 2009.

KWCW 90.5 FM is a Class A radio station owned and operated by the Whitman Students' union, the Associated Students of Whitman College.

"K-dub" as it is known to students, is located inside the Reid Campus Center on Whitman Campus. Broadcasting at a power of 160 watts, the station's range is approximately 15 miles (24 km) as well as online at kwcw.net.

College leadership

Whitman College is governed by Trustees in conjunction with a college President, Overseers and Alumni Board.

List of presidents

1. Alexander J. Anderson, 1882–1891
2. James F. Eaton, 1891–1894
3. Stephen B. L. Penrose, 1894–1934
4. Rudolf A. Clemen, 1934–1936
5. Walter Andrew Bratton, 1936–1942
6. Winslow S. Anderson, 1942–1948
7. Chester C. Maxey, 1948–1959
8. Louis B. Perry, 1959–1967
9. Donald Sheehan, 1968–1974
10. Robert Allen Skotheim, 1975–1988
11. David Evans Maxwell, 1989–1993
12. Thomas E. Cronin, 1993–2005
13. George S. Bridges, 2005–

Alumni board

Whitman College alumni started the Alumni Association in 1895 to relay alumni reaction to college programs back to the Alumni Office. The board is currently chaired by Ryan Hagemann, Portland, with Tom Oldfield, Gig Harbor, as vice chair.

Notable Whitman alumni

•         – Otto Harbach, MA, lyricist and librettist of about 50 musical comedies, including Rose Marie and The Desert Song.
• 1919 - Frances Penrose Owen, BA Greek, honored for her extensive public service in Seattle, first woman Regent of Washington State University
• 1920 – William O. Douglas, BA English-Economics, U.S. Supreme Court Justice.
• 1921 - Wallace R. Brode, BA, chemist, absorption spectra of dyes.
• 1922 – Ralph Cordiner, BA Economics-Political Science, CEO and Chairman, General Electric, Corp. Chairman & CEO (1958-1963); President (1950-1958)
• 1924 – Walter Brattain, BA Physics, physicist, co-inventor of the transistor, Nobel Prize winner.
• 1924 – Vladimir Rojansky, physicist, author and educator.
• 1933 – Gordon Wright, BA, historian.
• 1934 – Bernard Berelson, BA English, behavioral scientist known for work on communication and mass media.
• 1935 – Al Ullman, U.S. congressman for 24 years.
• 1941 – Lucile Lomen, first woman to serve as a law clerk for a Supreme Court justice.
•         – Jack Fearey, attended three years, television pioneer at KING-TV, director of the Seattle Center, established the Bumbershoot and the Northwest Folklife Festival.
• 1951 – Adam West, BA English, actor, Batman, Family Guy.
• 1955 – Al Swift, attended two years, Washington Congressman.
• 1959 – Diane Middlebrook, attended, biographer of Anne Sexton.
• 1960 – Douglas Cole, BA Art History, historian specializing in art and Pacific Northwest cultural history.
• 1960 – David R. Nygren, particle physicist, inventor of the Time projection chamber.
•         – Pat Thibaudeau, BA Psychology, former Washington State Senator.
• 1963 – W. Michael Gillette, BA, Oregon Supreme Court Justice.
• 1964 – Walt Minnick, BA, Idaho Congressman.
• 1965 - Webb Miller, BA, Computational Biology Pioneer. Time 100, 2009: Scientists and Thinkers
• 1965 – Ben Kerkvliet, author and educator in the fields of comparative politics, Southeast Asia and Asian studies.
•         – Morten Lauridsen, composer.
• 1967 – Dirk Benedict (Niewoehner), BA Dramatic Art, Battlestar Galactica and The A-Team.
• 1970 – Kathryn Shaw, BA Dramatic Art, artistic director of Studio 58 in Vancouver, British Columbia.
• 1971 – Ryan Crocker, BA English, current U.S. Ambassador to Afghanistan and former U.S. Ambassador to Iraq, Lebanon, Kuwait, Syria, and Pakistan.
• 1971 – John Markoff, BA Sociology, New York Times journalist and co-author of Takedown.
• 1971 – Jack Rasmussen, BA Art, Director and Curator of the American University Museum.
• 1971 – Ben Westlund, BA Education/History, former Oregon State Treasurer. Deceased 2010 while in office.
• 1973 – Torey Hayden, BA, Biology/Chemistry, child psychologist, special education teacher, university lecturer and author.
• 1974 – Marlin Eller, BA Mathematics, programmer and software developer, co-author of Barbarians Led by Bill Gates
• 1977 – John W. Stanton, BA Political Science, Founder and CEO, Western Wireless.
• 1977 – Rick Stevenson, BA History, film writer, director and producer.
• 1985 – Steve McConnell, software engineering author, Code Complete
• 1985 – Lance Norris, BA Dramatic Art, Mystic River.
• 1990 – John Moe, BA Dramatic Art, author and public radio host.
• 1997 – Dorothy Metcalf-Lindenburger, BA Geology, NASA Astronaut.
• 2000 – Ingrid Backstrom, BA Geology, professional skier.
• 2004 – Holly Brooks, BA Sociology, Environmental Studies, Winter Olympian in Nordic skiing.

Further reading

• Eells, Myron (1888). The hand of God in the history of the Pacific Coast : annual address delivered before the trustees, faculty, students and friends of Whitman College at the sixth commencement, June 1, 1888. http://www.secstate.wa.gov/history/publications_detail.aspx?p=85. 

External links

• Official website