Nov. 1st marks this year's Mr. Whitman, the annual male beauty pageant hosted by the Kappa Kappa Gamma sorority. The event is fundraising and raising awareness for Trilogy Recovery Community, a local nonprofit group for adolescents struggling with addiction.
Senior Lea Baker wrote a letter to her boyfriend going through U.S. Army basic training every day of her freshman year. When he couldn’t receive mail, she wrote to other soldiers deployed overseas—and enlisted fellow Whitman students to help.
“The first year I did Letters of Gratitude it was kind of like a selfish act; it was like, I can’t write letters to him so I’m going to write letters to troops overseas,†said Baker, who started the project her sophomore year. As part of the Letters of Gratitude campaign, Thetas have been tabling in Reid and encouraging passersby to contribute a message to U.S. troops overseas. Thetas pictured are Cailtyn Yoshina (center), Emily Grossman (with blue scarf), and Andrea Horwege (far right). Photos by Allie Felt.
With help from members of Kappa Alpha Theta, Baker is tabling in Reid every day through Nov. 16, inviting Whitties to pen a letter or two to a soldier stationed abroad.
Whitman has given us so much and will continue to support us after graduation. As such it is important to start giving back to Whitman now, by contributing to the senior fund.
The Kappa Kappa Gamma sorority has long been awaiting the draw of the red curtain in Cordiner Hall this Friday, Oct. 30, for their eighth annual Mr. Whitman pageant. A fundraiser for a chosen non-profit organization, the event brings eight male contestants to compete in formal attire, swim wear, talent and question-and-answer categories.
In past years the non-profit organization which would receive the profits of the event was chosen by the Kappas, who looked at groups with which they had some personal connection or affiliation. Last year, for the first time, they asked the Whitman College community to submit applications for organizations they believed the fundraiser should benefit. For this year's performance, due to heightened publicity, the Kappas found themselves struggling to choose between 21 organizations.
