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³Ô¹ÏÍø is pleased to announce the selection of Gwendolyn Trice as speaker for its 140th Commencement Ceremony. Trice is Founder and Executive Director of the (MHIC) in Enterprise, Oregon, which celebrates the rich history of African American, Indigenous and immigrant loggers in the Pacific Northwest.

Founding MHIC in 2008 was a deeply personal way of honoring the memory of Trice’s father and grandfather, both African American men who migrated from the U.S. South in the early 20th century. Her family joined the small multiracial railroad logging town of Maxville, Oregon, which flourished between 1923 and 1933 despite Oregon’s exclusion laws banning free Black people from living and working in the state and local laws modeled after Jim Crow-style segregation.

“We are deeply honored to welcome Gwendolyn Trice as our speaker for commencement this year,” says ³Ô¹ÏÍø President Sarah Bolton. “Trice has worked closely with many of our faculty and students over the past decade and has generously shared her knowledge. She is an expert leader in our region, and an important member of the extended Whitman community. I look forward to hearing the inspiring message she will bring to our graduates and their families.”

New Ways of Teaching & Learning

A visionary educator, Trice has developed a wide range of heritage projects benefitting the collective understanding of race, land and survival in the Pacific Northwest. At MHIC, she has welcomed Whitman’s program; the Land, Water, Justice course; and the Reimagining Maxville project. Trice has also made several on-campus appearances for classroom visits and lectures, and in Spring 2024, she brought MHIC’s traveling exhibit to Maxey Museum.

“I was overjoyed when President Bolton asked me to be a speaker for the 2026 commencement ceremony,” says Trice. “I thought back on the programs I’ve been fortunate to participate in with students, the faculty members that I’ve had the pleasure to work with, and I come away from each experience changed, more grounded by the exploration of our spaces, experiences, and stories and rigorous honesty in looking at our shared histories.”

A Voice Rooted in Heritage & Hope

Trice’s family history and work inspired a 2009 documentary by Oregon Public Broadcasting illuminating the little-known history of African American loggers and their families who migrated to Maxville. She has also been featured in and magazine. 

Previously a member of the , Trice also served nine years on the , stepping down in October 2025. She is a 2015 recipient of the and in 2020 received the from the Museum of Natural and Cultural History at the University of Oregon.

In March 2022, MHIC was awarded the Oregon Tourism Commission’s Diversity, Equity, Accessibility and Inclusion Award. This award celebrates a business or destination that has demonstrated leadership in raising awareness or facilitating change to build a more inclusive and welcoming environment for visitors to Oregon. In 2023 Governor Tina Kotek issued an official proclamation for the Maxville centennial celebration, establishing June 3 annually as Maxville Heritage Day.

Honoring a Legacy of Justice & Stewardship

At Whitman’s commencement, Trice says she hopes to provide a living thread that helps the audience connect to the experiences and resiliency of communities living under unfavorable conditions. In recognition of the immense generosity she provides to the Whitman community and the momentum she has created for racial and environmental justice in rural spaces of the United States, the college will also confer an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters degree upon Trice.

³Ô¹ÏÍø’s 140th Commencement Ceremony will take place on Sunday, May 24, at 11 a.m.