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Whitman news since 1896

Whitman Wire

Vol. CLVII
Whitman news since 1896

Whitman Wire

Whitman news since 1896

Whitman Wire

Get your gender expectations out of my inbox

Get your gender expectations out of my inbox

Dana Walden, Opinion Editor April 9, 2021

If you’ve ever received an email from me, I’m sure you’ve noticed my bubbly email persona. Virtually every email I send has at least one exclamation point, one smiley face and probably one or two...

Illustration by Peggy Li

Affirming White Women

Rina Cakrani, Columnist November 16, 2017

There are certain myths and misconceptions surrounding the question of affirmative action and who benefits from it, and many narratives have been built based on how the beneficiaries supposedly do...

Advertising, sports have power to reclaim ‘like a girl’

Hillary Smith February 12, 2015
I have become desensitized to “like a girl” existing as an insult. But this phrase, in evoking the stereotype of females as physically weak, can be incredibly harmful to girls with waning self-confidence, which Always’s study proved tends to begin at puberty.

Girl Scouts Serves As Feminist Outlet

Anuradha Lingappa February 6, 2014
For my 20th birthday, my parents gave me a lifetime membership to the Girl Scouts of the United States. Being a Girl Scout shaped my identity when I was growing up, and I remained a member until I graduated from high school. I view my involvement with Girl Scouts as a foundation for the feminist ideals I now hold so dear.

As Longtime Coach Steps Down, Debate Culture Under Scrutiny

Shelly Le May 20, 2013
In the last week of April of this year, Director of Forensics Jim Hanson announced he would be stepping down from his role coaching Whitman’s debate team in order to take a position as chair of the newly created rhetoric studies department. Hanson has been coaching debate at Whitman for two decades and has been widely credited with getting the team to its position of national prominence today. In the weeks following his announcement of resignation, debate alumni, students and faculty have raised questions about Hanson’s decision and the administration’s handling of the change, given that a new coach had not yet been selected for Whitman’s nationally ranked team when Hanson stepped down. Many alumni and debaters have suggested that Hanson’s change of position was not a voluntary choice, a charge which he has declined to comment on. While the college is legally prohibited from discussing the reasons why Hanson stepped down due to laws about employee confidentiality, Hanson’s decision came in the wake of greater administrative focus on the debate team. A three-week investigation by The Pioneer has confirmed that the team was the focus of a Title IX investigation during the spring of 2012, and that other administrative concerns were raised about sexual harassment and treatment of women on the team, as well as about the supervision of assistant debate coaches, most of whom are recently graduated students. The college’s Title IX investigation into the team has been the focus of discussions about Hanson stepping down, but the full story involves earlier concerns raised about team culture, including the treatment of women on the team.
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