A Closer Look at Power & Privilege 2026
Our student photographers captured moments of community, learning and conversation from this year symposium
By Pan Deines �26
Photography by Lizzett Zaragoza �27 and Rogan Deptula �29
Listening and learning. In sessions all across campus, students showed up ready to talk about how to challenge oppression and foster belonging in their lives and communities.
Power and Privilege is an annual symposium run by 吃瓜网 students to open up conversations about structural oppression and the ways it interacts with Whitman’s campus and the world. This year’s theme, “Belonging in the Face of Power,” invited us to think about how belonging happens in our spaces and how we can create more intentional spaces by building community, showing up for one another and challenging exclusion.
Student-led, student-focused. The Power and Privilege executive team of student leaders worked hard to create a meaningful three-day symposium. Right photo (from left): Interim Director of Inclusive Excellence Shelby Hearn, Marco Nou �29*, Aaliyah-Ari Howard �27, keynote speaker Raquel Willis, Spenser Shaffer �27, Michelle Ann David �29* and Ketsile Mogapi �29*.
Belonging in the Face of Power. Keynote speaker shared her story of growing from a student activist at the University of Georgia to the nationally recognized thought leader on gender, race and intersectionality she is today.
![[Alt] A student in the audience of a presentation holds a box microphone to ask a question.](/images/whitman-stories/stories/2026/March/20260219_WC_Power%26Privilege_0052.jpg)
Pass the microphone. Thursday all-day lecture series opened up with student presentations on a variety of topics, such as belonging, activism, race, and sexuality. Students got the chance to learn from their peers and ask hard-hitting questions.
Thank you! Whether you stepped up to a podium, worked behind the scenes, volunteered at the door, attended a session or asked a question, thanks for making this year Power and Privilege Symposium such a meaningful event for Whitman.
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Published on Mar 5, 2026