Meda Chesney-Lind chosen as commencement speaker
May 16, 2011
As graduating seniors wrap up their final year at Whitman, the administration has been preparing for what is possibly the college's largest event of the year: Commencement. For such a special event and with such a diverse graduating class, it can be difficult to choose the perfect keynote speaker....
Happiness and the “real world”
May 18, 2010
As a high school senior, I was bewildered by the vast number of colleges to choose from. I remember flipping rapidly through a huge Princeton Review book, pausing only when one category, happiness, caught my eye. I wish I could say my decision of where to spend four years of my life involved a compl...
Whitman and the end of politics: A conservative farewell
May 18, 2010
I owe a lot to Whitman. During these years I have traveled all over the Middle East, China and Latin America and studied the languages of those areas. The texts and authors I have read in class have been a jumping off point into my own reading and intellectual journey. My professors have on the whole...
Administration prepares for commencement
May 18, 2010
As graduating seniors receive their diplomas on Sunday, May 23, they're not the only ones who have put in a lot of work to get to commencement. Whitman's administration undertakes in a massive effort to make sure the special day is, well, special. "Almost every single staff department on campus contributes somet...
Whitman must do more to innovate
May 18, 2010
Looking back over four years at Whitman, I am disappointed and frustrated with a system that could be doing so much. I think that there is a severe lack of encouragement and valuation of open knowledge systems at Whitman. While disappointing for my four years here, there is quite a bit that future students c...
Whitman alumni weigh in on the value of liberal arts education
May 18, 2010
As seniors at liberal arts schools across the country prepare to enter one of the worst job markets in recent memory, a number of colleges and universities have decided to cut humanities programs, an evolution highlighting a growing debate in higher education about the value of the liberal arts. Over...
Zombie musical creators take ‘Francis’ to Seattle
May 18, 2010
Many upperclassmen will remember "Francis," last year's student-produced zombie musical, which was held in Reid Ballroom and involved trash bags, fake blood and an epic dance party. Sophomore Michael Hanley described it as "an overwhelming sensory barrage" and "the greatest night of [his] life." As seniors...
College is the new high school
May 18, 2010
College is the new high school. The emphasis is as much on personal growth and development as on academics; as much about learning to kayak as mastering economics. The Whitman Web site says that students here "find a balance between challenging academics and developing enduring and meaningful pe...
The Couch Moments
May 18, 2010
By the time you read this, all but a handful of you will be where I was a year ago: done. After four years of papers, tests, presentations and grades, it's an odd feeling. As the four-year train ride of college grinds to a final halt, most of us step out onto the platform to find that we've only the...
Art students look to bright futures
May 18, 2010
We all knew when we came to Whitman that a liberal arts education isn't all about learning job skills or making yourself marketable. We knew full well that our philosophy and art courses weren't "practical" in the real world, yet we chose to take them anyway. For graduating seniors who have majored in...
From ‘Avatar’ to ‘Sherlock Holmes’ – Few films stand out this year
May 18, 2010
It is fairly easy to gage the ebb and flow of cinematic expression in the popular arena and the last 12 months haven't dared challenge many cornerstones of Hollywood's status quo. The daring 3D effects of James Cameron's "Avatar" predictably revolutionized the technology that goes into making films, offered a vis...
Summer reading: Reviews and previews
May 18, 2010
Summer is almost upon us (though some of us still have to power through finals), and that means that for the first time in almost five months, we'll have time to read! (For seniors, this might be the first time in four years.) To this purpose, I've compiled a list of books that will make for excellent...
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