This column was contributed by Noah Leavitt, Assistant Dean for Student Engagement

In his column last week, Alex Brott performed an important service by focusing attention on ways that the College can do more to help students understand opportunities in the professions. And he was exactly right. Whitman can do more and should be encouraged to do so by students who are getting ready to use their education to be the visionary and productive change-makers and leaders that our world needs.

I read Alex’s suggestions when I was participating in a conference at Wake Forest University, called “Rethinking Success: From Liberal Arts to Careers in the 21st Century.” The conference brought together several hundred administrators, faculty members, Fortune 500 CEOs, entrepreneurs, thought leaders (including our very own alumnus Dr. Phil Gardner ’69), new media specialists and others who are on the front lines of figuring out how liberal arts students can take their academic training and put it to effective use to solve this generation’s most pressing social, economic and environmental problems.

The conference was exciting in part because over the past four years, Wake Forest has tackled this issue with a great deal of energy and money. Their solution was to create a bold new personal and career development office, that through an intensive $5 million dollar fundraising campaign was able to grow from five to 28 full-time staff members all focused on helping Wake Forest undergraduates take their liberal arts training and be competitive in the interconnected, dizzying world in which we find ourselves.

At Whitman, we too have been responding to these needs, albeit not at the level that Wake Forest has. For instance, we have been creating many new opportunities for students with professional interests to meet community leaders and Whitman alumni who can provide them with information, guidance and network access.

For students interested in law, we recently organized a networking event with the leadership of the Washington State Bar Association. For those interested in entrepreneurship, we took students to a recent Chamber of Commerce luncheon where the keynote speaker was alumnus John Stanton ’77. For students interested in business, we recently brought to campus the director of the local Small Business Development Center. For students interested in meeting local leaders in the for-profit and non-profit sectors, we took a group to a recent “speed mentoring” event with some of our community’s best and brightest.

In addition, we always welcome the chance to work with students and student groups to develop the kinds of support you are interested in. As one recent example, late last semester a student contacted us and indicated that she and her friends realized that they needed to learn more about Excel to be competitive for the kinds of jobs they are pursuing. Within six weeks, in partnership with WCTS, we organized an Excel training that immediately filled up, which then led us to organize a second session, which was also oversold.

I encourage all students––from first-years to seniors––to learn about what is happening in the Student Engagement Center, to take advantage of the Center’s many programs, events, workshops and expertise, and to continue to let us know about what we can do to be a resource as you are preparing to take your fantastic Whitman liberal arts training to the world that needs you. We’ll do all we can to help you be successful.