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This article is about the college in Washington state. For the Princeton University residential college, see Whitman College (Princeton University). Whitman College is a co-educational, non-sectarian residential liberal arts and sciences undergraduate college in Walla Walla, Washington.
History In 1836, a few miles from the current city of Walla Walla, the missionaries Marcus Whitman and his wife Narcissa established a medical mission and a school to serve the Cayuse Indians and immigrants on the Oregon Trail. Despite their good intentions, the Whitmans were a product of their times and had many ideas about the "savages" they were trying to "save" that would today qualify as racist or imperialist. Like missionaries elsewhere in America, Australia, and Canada, the Whitmans tried to help the "savages" by taking their children away to raise in Christian homes. The tribes were angry at having their children stolen and eventually revolted. After the Whitmans were killed in the Whitman Massacre in 1847, the Rev. Cushing Eells resolved to establish a school in their honor. The Washington Territorial Legislature granted a charter to Whitman Seminary on December 20, 1859. On November 28, 1883, the legislature issued a new charter, changing the seminary into a four-year, degree-granting college. From its beginning, Whitman College has prized its independence from sectarian and political control. In 1913, Whitman became the first college or university in the nation to require undergraduate students to complete comprehensive oral and written examinations in their major fields. Individual majors also require an extensive project in the form of either a written or multimedia thesis or a presentation or recital. In 1919, a Phi Beta Kappa Chapter was installed, the first for any college in the Pacific Northwest. Campus The campus includes streams, record-holding trees and numerous outdoor sculptures. It is built around Ankeny Field, which provides structure to the architectural layout, but also serves as a popular social destination on warm days. College Creek meanders through the main campus, forming ponds and providing a habitat for Whitman's many ducks. About 70% of the student body reside in school housing. Two of eight residence halls date to the early 1900’s and several residence buildings are of neoclassical architectural design. There are eleven "Interest House" residences which are mostly of Victorian and classical design. Academic facilities are newer and of more modern design. Three women's sororities (Delta Gamma, Kappa Alpha Theta, 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. Downtown Walla Walla is a few blocks to the west of the campus. The college also has other land holdings outside the main campus area, one of which is used for academic and social retreats. Academics About 1450 undergraduate students are enrolled in Whitman College, 56% female to 44% male. School life is notable in the 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, waterpolo, lacrosse, dodgeball, and nationally renowned cycling and Ultimate teams. Special interest housing for foreign language program students is also available. The college offers approximately 40 fields of study for Bachelor of Arts degrees. There are also approximately 10 additional areas that offer minor studies. Degrees are awarded after successful completion of senior "comprehensive exams". These exams vary depending on primary focus of study, but commonly include some combination of i) a senior thesis, ii) a written exam, and iii) an oral exam. The oral exam, administered by a board of faculty members from the student's major, is either a defense of the student's senior thesis or an hour-long test of material the student is expected to have learned during their major study. The written exam is either a GRE subject test or a test composed by the department. Approximately 50 percent of Whitman graduates go on to graduate school within five years and attend some of the best graduate programs. Whitman graduates have won the nation's most prestigious fellowships and awards. Over the last three years Whitman has had one Rhodes Scholar and 18 Fulbright Fellowships. In the last eight years 15 Whitman graduates have won Thomas J. Watson Fellowships. For students who are interested in foreign policy, Whitman is one of 16 institutions participating in the two-year-old Woodrow Wilson Graduate 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. Students can take advantage of one of the most loyal alumni networks in the nation through the Career Consultant Network, which includes almost 2,000 alumni who have volunteered to help students with their career search. Among colleges with enrollments under 5,000, Whitman ranks in the top ten in graduates who serve in the Peace Corps. Whitman is also renowned for its one of a kind "Semester in the West" program. Semester in the West is a Whitman College 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 issues such as grizzly bear and wolf reintroduction plans, management of national parks and monuments, the booming economy and culture of Las Vegas, environmental justice in New Mexico, and many more. Along the way, they meet with activists, writers, environmentalists, loggers, ranchers, miners, labor organizers, local politicians, land managers, historians, political scientists, geographers, foresters, economists, farmers, Native Americans, biologists, ecologists, and cowboys. As they travel, they read what others have written about the West, and do a great deal of their own writing. The program runs every other year, beginning in 2002. The 2006 "Westies", as they are called, are now travelling the American West. Phil Brick, Professor of politics at Whitman since 1992, created the program and is the facilitator. Whitman 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 'Missionary' after Marcus and Narcissa Whitman, is a source of debate, with some parties wishing to change it in order to avoid the implied cultural imperialism. 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. Others are in favor of keeping the unique mascot, which inspired the innuendo-laden cheer "Missionaries, Missionaries, We're On Top!". KWCW 90.5 FM KWCW 90.5 FM is a Class A radio station owned and operated by the Whitman student union, the Associated Students of Whitman College. Each semester students, faculty, staff, and community members can sign up for a weekly 2-hour block on this free-format radio station. Disc jockeys are free to play whatever music they wish, so long as it follows Federal Communications Commission guidelines. In addition, the station has several call-in radio shows to engage listeners from the greater Walla Walla area. "K-dub" as it is known to students, lives inside the Reid Campus Center on Whitman Campus. Broadcasting at a power of 200 watts, the station's range is approximately 15 miles (24 km). Listeners may also listen online from the KWCW homepage, www.kwcw.net. College leadership Whitman College is governed by Trustees in conjunction with a college President, Overseers and Alumni Board. Trustees Presidents Overseers Alumni Board Whitman College alumni started the Alumni Association in 1895 to communicate alumni reaction about college programs back to the Alumni Office. The following individuals are current board members: Notable Whitman alumni | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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