The Pioneer: When did you arrive at Whitman?

George Bridges: I arrived here in 2005. My first day on the job was July 1.

P: So that was right before the class of 2009 came to campus?

GB: Yes, they came in August and it all started.

P: What do you think about the class of 2009, generally speaking?

GB: I think the class of 2009 is phenomenal. It’s filled with really interesting, engaging and inspiring young men and women, and I’m really proud of their accomplishments. It’s been a great four years, and I feel very fortunate to have been here and gone through this great cycle of education with them. It’s fun.

P: Have there been significant ups and downs with the class of 2009?

GB: There are ups and downs with every group of students, and luckily almost of them have been ups with this class. I think I came here with what I would almost call a misconception of small colleges in general, and the misconception is this: for most of my career I’ve taught at larger schools where students learn primarily through classes and in lectures, but at Whitman, and smaller liberal arts colleges generally, the students learn in relationships. It’s relationships with professors, one-on-one conversations inside and outside the classroom, and relationships with other students. One of the most important things I’ve learned in coming here is how precious those relationships are and how long they affect the lives of the students. It isn’t just a four-year window; those relationships really carry on through decades. What’s been incredibly impressive to me is that these relationships sustain over many years.

P: How have you affected the class of 2009?

GB: Well, the great challenge in being a college president is knowing how you impact your students. I can tell you how I hope I’ve affected the experiences of the class. I hope from our time together that they’ve learned––from me and from others––about the value of asking questions, the value of examining the perspectives they bring to the environment in which they live and work. I think we’ve had many conversations about diversity and about the importance of acknowledging and embracing differences. Those are among the issues that I hope have been part of their experience, and I hope I’ve contributed to that.

P: How has the class of 2009 affected you?

GB: Profoundly. The relationships I’ve developed with individual students have given me enormous hope for their leadership of their communities, and how they will respond to their inheritance, the social conditions, and the economy that my generation will be leaving them. I’m enormously hopeful for the future of these students and for the country: they’re so smart and so inspiring. What I also like so much about this generation of students is that many of them value serving others. Service to others simply wasn’t a part of my college experience; it was off the radar screen. This is also a generation of students that is far more interested in global issues. Many of them study and travel abroad while they are here and some even before they are here, and this is just such a remarkable set of attributes for young men and women who have their entire lives ahead of them.

P: Do you have any advice for the graduating seniors?

GB: I would hope that they would continue to ask questions. The value of a college education is not formulating answers; it’s about formulating questions, and formulating the right questions. My hope is that they would continue to ask questions about every aspect of their lives and about our country. I hope they take risks. You can’t grow intellectually, emotionally, personally, if you don’t take risks: and I don’t mean risks that challenge your safety, but I mean intellectual and personal risks that stretch your understanding of the people around you. Take risks, do things that you might not otherwise do, simply to gain a much better understanding of yourself and others.

P: How has Whitman changed as an institution in the last four years?

GB: The good news is that so many aspects haven’t changed. It’s academically very solid and its approach to educating students remains just as it was 120 years ago, focused solely on the undergraduate, so there’s continuity there. At the same time, colleges are like living organisms: buildings come and go, people come and go, they are environments that are constantly changing. So you see the addition of a new global studies program, you see the expanding involvement of students in faculty research, you see international scholarships and fellowships, you see an increasing number of students participating in our Outdoor Program. You see a changing mix of students coming to campus; among our admitted students for the fall of ’09, more are students of color, more are from other parts of the country, and more are from different socioeconomic backgrounds. These are huge changes given the long history of the college. We’re a more diverse group in many respects and those changes are, I think, all for Whitman’s betterment and will lead to a stronger institution. Whitman is and will continue to be a ladder of opportunity and mobility to students who wouldn’t necessarily: by virtue of their family background: have access to a school like this. I think Whitman will be stronger five years from now than it is now if we keep these trends going up.

P: Do you see yourself here for a lot longer?

GB: Well, I hope so. I wouldn’t want to leave. I can’t think of a place where being president would be a better job. There are two aspects of the college that I like the most, and I will continue to like the most: I like and respect the students, I like the energy they bring to the campus; and I enjoy and have the deepest respect for our faculty: these are really talented people who could be anywhere in the country, and they chose Whitman because they want to be a part of this intentional academic community focused on undergraduates. It’s really very inspiring.