Class of 1966 alumnus Jim Moore slipped into his baseball stripes last Saturday and stepped up to the plate at Borleske field against Whitman’s varsity team for the annual alumni baseball game. Several other alumni joined Moore on the diamond, losing narrowly to the current varsity team. Over 40 years after Moore graduated from Whitman, where he was a member of both the varsity baseball and football teams, he continues to stay active with Whitman athletics.
Moore, a member of the Board of Overseers, was recently appointed by President Bridges as president of the W Club, an alumni group designed to support Whitman athletics.
“The purpose of the W Club is to provide support: both in terms of enthusiastic alumni and booster attendance at athletic events, as well as financial support: for the Whitman varsity athletic programs,” Moore said in an interview with the Communications Department.
Moore’s dedication to Whitman athletics and the W Club stems from his own experience as a Whitman athlete.
“I had a difficult experience when I was playing sports here 40-some years ago. I loved it and I love the school, but it was hard to play varsity athletics in a situation where the team was not competitive,” Moore said. “We [the W Club] would like to help the college turn that around in a way that is consistent with the character of the college: academics will always be number one at Whitman, but that doesn’t mean we have to have a bad athletics program or a program that isn’t as competitive as it should be.”
According to Athletic Director and Associate Professor of Sport Studies Dean Snider, all of the money raised through the W Club go directly to support the student athlete experience.
Specifically, the club is hoping to devote funds towards assistant coach resources and covering travel expenses for visiting recruits.
Moore, along with the club’s Vice President Susan Buxton, ’85, selected seven other alumni to join the board: Jock Edward, ’66; Julie Gaisford, ’65; Jerry Hillis, ’61; Becky Kennedy, ’96; Jim Michelson, ’83; George Osborn, ’66; and Cathy Williams, ’74. The board held their first meeting in April.
“W Club members and other people who have interest want to see the student athletes at Whitman be touted as excellent just like academics are at Whitman,” Snider said. “They are people who love the college; they care very greatly about not only the college, but the student athletes and their experience at the college, and they just want to find a way to help everyone’s overall experience. They are a great caring group that we are very fortunate to have.”
In August, the W Club held their inaugural event at a Mariners’ game in Seattle. Seventy alumni and friends showed up to learn about the W Club and Whitman athletics.
“We had great attendance; we filled the interview room at Safeco Field,” Moore said. “It was wonderful.”
The W Club has several more events planned for the coming months including a tentative tailgate at the men and women’s soccer games at UPS on Oct. 25, and a reception at Whitman’s basketball games at Lewis and Clark on Jan. 24.
