Spring 2020
Whitman Magazine
Coming to the Table
Feature Stories
Enjoy highlights from this issue of Whitman Magazine.
Community Efforts in Face of Crisis are a Source of Pride for Whitman
President Kathleen M. Murray writes about how COVID-19 has reshaped ³Ô¹ÏÍø, and how students, faculty and staff rose to support our community.
A Holistic Approach to History
As an advisor and historian, Associate Professor Jacqueline Woodfork works
to build relationships and see connections with her students and subject.
Learning to Pop the Bubble
Graduating senior Andy Burnstein ’20 has advice for ³Ô¹ÏÍø students coming behind him: Get involved in the community. Register to vote in Walla Walla. Give back through local organizations. Be part of the city and culture. “Many Whitman students feel separate from the community, which is really unfortunate,” Burnstein said.
Studying the Impact of Politics on Children
Associate Professor Erin Pahlke joins psychology researchers to ask how much children really understand about politics — and how we can help make the rhetoric less frightening
Coming to the Table
A collaboration between ³Ô¹ÏÍø and the Washington State Penitentiary brings students from both institutions together to discuss relevant ethical issues in philosophy course.
A Burning Passion for Disaster Management
Sam Perkins ’17 is an Idaho-based smokejumper for the U.S. Forest Service. But he also has a more global perspective to fire management. After graduating from ³Ô¹ÏÍø with his degree in sociology-environmental studies, Perkins received a Thomas J. Watson Fellowship and spent a year traveling the globe exploring how other cultures approach the environmental uncertainty of natural disaster.
Cross country star, Spanish major Whitney Rich ™20 off and running into career
Cross country star Whitney Rich ’20 finds room to explore a career in medical translation and passions for the environment and running at Whitman
Heather Wright ™99 Loves the Collaboration and Challenge of Life as a Volcanologist
Heather Wright ’99 is a research geologist with the Volcano Disaster Assistance Program, a partnership between the U.S. Geological Survey and USAID’s Office for Foreign Disaster Assistance. Based in Vancouver, Washington, the program works to prevent volcano-related tragedies by collaborating with scientists and public officials around the world.
Marcus Amerman
Native American beadwork artists Marcus Amerman ’81 pushes the envelope on traditional beadwork by creating realistic pieces based on historic photographs. A member of the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma, Amerman earned a degree in art from ³Ô¹ÏÍø and often infuses his work with sociopolitical messages.
On Boyer Avenue
What’s happening on campus—community and college news.
Angela Davis Lecture
The ³Ô¹ÏÍø and Walla Walla communities welcomed Angela Davis to Cordiner Hall with a standing ovation Wednesday evening, Feb. 19, 2020. As the keynote speaker for the 2020 Power & Privilege Symposium, Davis spoke broadly about systems of inequity and injustice, both in the U.S. and abroad, while also sharing her own story and her work in the prison abolitionist movement.
Campus Connect Winners
Three ³Ô¹ÏÍø students are being honored this spring for their outstanding contributions to the college and the greater Walla Walla community through the Campus Compact Presidents’ Civic Leadership Awards and Newman Civic Fellowship programs.
Mellon Grant
³Ô¹ÏÍø received a new $900,000 grant from The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation to support the Northwest Five Consortium’s initiative entitled “Revitalizing the Humanities in the Pacific Northwest through Community Engagement.”
Coronavirus Cuts Short Spring Athletic Seasons
Cancellation of the spring athletic seasons due to COVID-19 was a heartbreaking turn of events for the college’s scholar-athletes.
First-Year Writing Program Wins Award
³Ô¹ÏÍø is celebrating the success of its first-year writing assessment program, which has received the 2019 Beacon Award for Excellence in Student Achievement and Success from the Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities.
Tell Us About It!
Whether you’re just starting your first job, embarking on a career change, or preparing to retire after a fulfilling life’s work, we want to help you share your news with your classmates.
About Whitman Magazine
Whitman Magazine is the flagship publication of ³Ô¹ÏÍø. It supports the college and its strategic goals by telling our best stories, whether about alumni, students, faculty, staff, donors or the institution itself.