Whitman College Top Questions

Popular groups on campus include: the outdoor program (OP) which sponsors trips and operates the ever-popular climbing wall and open kayak swimming/water polo, ASWC (Associated Students of Whitman College) and WEB (Whitman Events Board) which puts on events and brings awesome speakers and performers to campus, Greek life (only 30{4a082faed443b016e84c6ea63012b481c58f64867aa2dc62fff66e22ad7dff6c} of the student population, but still an overall positive part of campus) which throw a ton of all-campus parties and events and maintain a strong connection with the campus and the community, and sports (varsity, club, and intramural) which most students participate in at some level. Groups I'm involved with are Greek life, the Prison Research Group, Hillel-Shalom (the Jewish group), and various intramural sports (my favorite is flag football). Some highlights of campus activities are going to the wheatfields at sunrise/sunset, climbing at the climbing center, playing pick-up soccer, going to speakers and music performances (past ones include Ralph Nader, Sherman Alexi, Ben Folds, The New Pornographers, Tallest Man on Earth, Frank from PostSecret), our three amazing acapella groups, going to sport games on the weekends, and getting coffee/dinner downtown.

The most popular clubs and activities on campus would have to be the outdoor program, as well as theater, intramural/club sports, and student government. But there are so many other clubs and activities to participate in. I'm involved in peer listening, intramural soccer, and slam poetry. My favorite event so far was when we had a Drive-In theater on campus, put on by WEB (which is a club that puts on all kinds of events throughout the year). .

Nothing is really more popular than something else. Everybody at Whitman finds their nitch where they fall in love with some activity, club, or group....but then those kids that found their nitch will participate in other activities and groups just because they are interested or enjoy that other thing (or multiple things). It's not like Greek life is more popular than participating in the Theater program. In fact, members of the theater department are actually PART OF the Greek system! Same with Student government. The people that are part of Student government are also on the swim team, or the baseball team and other varsity athletics. From my stand point, I don't think there is one activity or group that is more popular to be part of than another. I feel like each group and organization is viewed equally by every student, and their membership overlaps regularly. There is a great culture at Whitman though. In all the dorms, people leave their doors open. So as you walk down the hall way coming back from the bathroom, it might take 15 or 20 minutes to get back to your room because you are stopping and saying hi to everybody in their rooms as you walk by. I really really enjoyed that last year, I got really close with some people just cause everybody's doors were open all the time. In terms of fun things to do for student activities...I really enjoy doing Fridays at Five...its when all the jazz groups perform in the coffee house on friday at five. It's a great way to unwind after the week is over and listen to great music while hanging out with some of your friends. There are also some awesome traditions at Whitman (some of which are secret!! I promise they aren't bad!! they are just secret and part of the fun is that they are secret!) But the ones that aren't secret I'll tell you about! For freshman students there is a thing called "storming the field". All the RA's of each dorm that houses freshmen put on the storming the field tradition the first night of orientation. Basically that is when all the freshman go outside and do a lap (or two) around their dorm's respective field and then the rest of the night is filled with tons of fun field games, root beer floats, snacks...and also leads into one of our secret traditions! so much fun, I wont ever forget storming the field. Other traditions include "riding sticks". We've got a sculpture on campus that looks like a horse made out of driftwood, and students regularly will ride sticks just for fun. But during the winter, right before finals it is a tradition for everybody to line up and ride sticks to some ridiculous music playing the background. It's great fun. Another great tradition is the Paul Allen Reading Room Challenge. We have a quiet room in our library. And the challenge basically is, is if you are the last person in the quiet room (usually in the AM) you get to sign a book on top of the fire place mantel and explain why you were up so late studying and what professor's fault it was...it's great to look back on all the pages and see all the ridiculous things written in there. We have fraternities and sororities on campus, and I am part of a fraternity. However, the greek system is by no means the center of attention or the "elite" group of people on campus. Being part of a greek house is just like being part of a club, or a sports team or another student group. It is just one part of something you do in college, but not the only thing. There isn't any negative stigma about the greek system, it is a very open group of people and people who are not affiliated are always over at the greek houses hanging out with their friends who live there. There is no culture clash between affiliated members and unaffiliated members...which may sound weird, but thats the culture that has developed at Whitman. Which is great! cause I can't imagine not having some of the friends that I have now just because they chose not to join the greek system.

Greek life has a strong presence here. If you want, frat parties can be the center of social life. Lots of drinking. Socializing tends to be done in groups. It helps to connect with a lot of different groups. For a small college, there is strong participation in the arts.

Fun is here! Way too many things to do within a given a week and you have to limit yourself to stay focused on academics...parties every weekend...events throughout the week (dance, theather, improv, music, etc.)

Frats and sororities are great because they do tons of community service and group bonding, as well as throwing parties everyone can go to. Whether or not you pledge Greek, they're an essential part of campus.

Something for everyone. Plenty of drinking. Also there are always dry functions for those who don't drink. Frats are semi popular and on the rise.

There are many different clubs on campus to choose from. I've had a show at KWCW, the school's radio station, for the past 2 years and it's been really fun! Clubs at Whitman seem to actually get things done, too, versus just sit around and talk. Youth Development Initiative sends students to Sierra Leone, Black Student Union hosts great hip hop parties, etc. Whitman offers movies open to all students, shown at Kimball Theater Saturday and Monday nights.. I've seen some really great films through this tradition. Whitman also brings some of the coolest speakers, and it would be sad if students didn't take advantage of them! Last year I saw Salman Rushdie speak. This year I saw a Holocaust survivor, Terry Tempest Williams, and Marjane Satrapi (author of Persepolis) talk. These are some of the greatest speeches I've seen. The Walla Walla Symphony (really excellent for a small-town symphony, and they bring in some great guest performers) also performs on campus at Cordiner Hall, and students can get free tickets in the music building. If you want a good party, frat houses are recommended (and there are usually off-campus parties to choose from). If that's not really your scene, then no problem--I've spent tons of great Friday nights just chilling with my friends, talking.

Whitman is a pretty social campus. Like I said earlier, there is always a lot going on. On any given Friday you can go to Coffeehouse on the bottom floor of the campus center building (complete with a stage and comfy couches) and listen to local or student bands (and the occasional slam poet) play for a few hours. There's usually great music, and the cafe upstairs is open so you can get some coffee or tea too. Whitman does have a Greek system; there are three sororities (Kappa Kappa Gamma, Kappa Alpha Theta, Delta Gama), and four fraternities (Sigma Chi, Tau Kappa Epsilon, Beta Theta Pi, Phi Delta Theta). The fraternities have houses on the north side of campus, and the sororities are housed in the all-womens' dorm. This being said, you don't have to join a fraternity or a sorority in order to have a social life at Whitman. I personally chose not to join a sorority, but several of my friends did and they really enjoy it. And the great thing is that I can still hang out with them and their sorority friends. The Greek system is not exclusive or in-your-face crazy, as it might be at other schools, which I find really nice. As most other colleges, there is a party scene on campus, but like the on-campus Greek-life, it's not in your face all the time. If you are looking for a party on any given weekend, you will probably find one. However, you DO have to look for them; they're not going to find you. In my opinion, it's nice not having a raging party scene all the time because then if you don't want to be part of it, it's easy to not be. That being said, one of Whitman's more amusing traditions is Beer Mile, which is sort of what it sounds like. At midnight before reading day of second semester finals, students gather on the main field and run around. Naked. It might sound weird (or totally cool), but I guarantee, it's one of the more fun/funnier events that takes place. Dorm life is obviously a huge factor when it comes to being social. For the most part, students keep their doors open and often time choose to hang out in the lounges rather than in their rooms all the time. The RAs of the houses and residence hall sections occasionally put on events where people can just hang out. In my dorm during my first year, we had several open mic nights where everyone would gather in the lounge, drink hot chocolate and eat snacks, and listen to their hall-mates serenade them with their lovely music.

As I said before, there's a big drinking culture that revolves around the Frat houses behind Jewett. Frats and sororities, well they are definitely there if you want them. I didn't, still don't, and can avoid their sickening preoccupation with gender roles most of the time, but still, I can't say that Greek Life doesn't seep over sometimes where it's not wanted. Greekend, for example, is very annoying and rife with 40 year old alumnists trying to relive their golden years. Let's see... The drama cult is known for all its batty traditions and initiations. There are plenty of juicy stories about Whitman's past, which you will learn gradually over time. Let's see, there is a lot of streaking, intramural sports playing, bike riding, Ankeny field sun basking, speakers, events, concerts(both by outside bands and by Whitman students). I am a member of quarterlife, one of the literary magazines on campus, and I've loved it so far. Blue Moon is the one that's well known and comes out once a year, while quarterlife is a smaller(literally- it's the size of a quarter page) publication that comes out quarterly. I can't say much about Blue Moon, but quarterlife is very open for innovation, input, and involvement. It was very much a collaborative team effort and I was able to get very involved from the start and contribute ideas on how to make it even better. I also had a radio show with KWCW. Do it! The application is easy to fill out and the it's fairly easy to get a show if you have a good idea for a concept. If you don't know how to work the equipment that's fine, they'll show you how.