OP-ED: Scrambles: Should we mourn their passing?

Walker Orr, Senior

December 12, 2019

I’d like to offer a few uninformed thoughts about the proposed gutting of the Scrambles program. This has been big news around campus lately, and I have friends and acquaintances who are very upset about this development. My intuition tells me that it’s a bad idea from a business standpoint — Scramble...

OP-ED: Why we should care about the Hong Kong protests at Whitman

Nicholas Wong, Junior

December 5, 2019

Since June, pro-democracy protests have been ongoing in Hong Kong. Everyone here has been overwhelmingly supportive, from students to faculty to Walla Walla residents. But I’ve seen no lectures or posters about Hong Kong at Whitman so far. Most people don’t follow the protest news despite being sympat...

OP-ED: Perhaps it’s time to allow Roe v. Wade to be overturned

Nicki Caddell

December 5, 2019

Renewed attacks on women’s reproductive freedoms have impassioned feminists to put much time, energy and resources into ensuring that abortion remains a constitutionally recognized right. Primarily, the focus has been on safeguarding the security provided by Roe v. Wade, a 1973 Supreme Court decision....

OP-ED: A veteran’s sacrifice and the Whitman College memorial plaque

Eric S. Johnson, MD, Class of 1972 Colonel, USAF (retired)

November 7, 2019

A small plaque honoring Whitman alumni killed in action during World War II hangs on a wall on the first floor of the Memorial Building.  On that plaque are the names of 29 young patriots whose lives were lost defending liberty. One of the names on that plaque is Katherine Applegate, who was born in W...

OP-ED: RE: campus vandalism

Women of Art History and Visual Culture Studies 2020

October 24, 2019

Dear President Murray, We were extremely disheartened by your recent email response to the political intervention upon the Marcus Whitman statue, which took place on Indigenous Peoples’ Day. You admonished the spray painters and lamented the destruction of property, calling instead for dialogue. ...

OP-ED: Kathy’s vandalism email: A political-economic explanation

October 24, 2019

Yesterday, I was sitting and chatting with some friends when the word “milquetoast” was used in conversation. Two of my friends hadn’t heard the word before, so I explained that it meant "timid, meak or unassertive," and is often used to criticize the spineless lack of commitment to justice on t...

OP-ED: Rinse and repeat?

Lisa Uddin, Associate Professor of Art History and Visual Culture Studies and Paul Garrett Fellow

October 9, 2019

The Marcus Whitman statue is at it again, sparking activism that compels us to confront Whitman College and white settlement as one and the same. This time, the statue’s defacement involved rephrasing “My Plans Require Time and Distance” (a quote attributed to Whitman himself) to “My Plans R...

Remember the Manifesta? Reparations are Due

Danielle Hirano, Senior, Class of 2019

May 16, 2019

On April 25th, the Whitman Wire received “We Need to Thrive: a Manifesta,” collectively written by nine women of color faculty members. In a revolutionary spirit, they voiced their grievances about the “exodus” of women of color faculty members in 2018-2019 and the reasons for their departure. ...

We Need to Thrive: A Manifesta

Dalia Biswas, Associate Professor of Chemistry, Shampa Biswas, Professor of Politics, Leena Knight, Associate Professor of Biology, Nicole Pietrantoni, Associate Professor of Art, Elyse Semerdjian, Associate Professor of History, Yukiko Shigeto, Associate Professor of Japanese, Lisa Uddin, Associate Professor of Art History and Visual Culture Studies, Jacqueline Woodfork, Associate Professor of History, and Wenqing Zhao, Assistant Professor of Philosophy

April 25, 2019

In the face of a recent exodus of women faculty of color, our institution has asked us to articulate “what we need to thrive” at the college. Each of us might ponder this question, and generate our individual lists of complaints, grievances, needs, and interests. Each of us, of course, is an individual....

OP-ED: Come on, Wikipedia

Nathaniel Larson, Senior

April 4, 2019

I use Wikipedia nearly every day. Each time I read an article on the site, I am amazed at how consistently an organization of volunteers can provide accurate, holistic, and balanced views on nearly every topic, all of it ad-free, for anyone to use. So when the fundraising drive came along a couple years ago, ask...

OP-ED: What Does Divestment Really Mean for Whitman?

Nathaniel Larson, Senior

February 28, 2019

When the Whitman Board of Trustees voted to divest the college from all fossil-fuel investments, I happened to be in the room. As the student representative to the Board this year, it is my job sit at the table and help bring student perspectives to bear on long-term decisions at the college. But in this...

OP-ED: Being the Only Student of Color – ft. an Environmental Studies Course

Erina Horikawa, Senior

February 24, 2019

Being the only student of color is difficult and emotional, to say the least. This recently happened as I was the only person of color in Environmental Justice. I took the course, as a senior Race and Ethnic Studies major, because the course was cross-listed as Race and Ethnic Studies, and because I w...