Whitman College Top Questions

I came to Whitman for the academics, i am stayed because of the awesome student body.

Are numerous. Anything you could possibly want to do either has a club dedicated to it already, or is waiting for you to create that club. Whitties love to participate in fun events around campus and almost all of the campus groups are pretty well attended, at least by a core group. I know that the Men's Tennis team is fabulous and is more of a family to me than a team.

There is no one centrally popular student activity that dominates the social life. Whitman students choose from many (and at times too many) activities. I have never once been bored while at Whitman. The first year experience is especially focused on getting to know a lot of people and the first year residence halls really foster this sense of community. Greek life provides a social outlet for 30{4a082faed443b016e84c6ea63012b481c58f64867aa2dc62fff66e22ad7dff6c} of students, but isn't exclusive in any way. There are always plenty of social options whether or not you want to drink. Parties are usually creatively themed (and all the residence halls have costume closets). There are Friday night coffeehouse performances, ice cream socials, live music, intermural games, and game nights. Intermural football is probably the most popular sport and a lot of students get pretty into it. I wish the sports teams got more support and that games were a bigger deal. Other than that, I love the Whitman social life.

Walla Walla itself doesn't have a huge scene for the college age crowd, but Whitman compensates for this by having a lot of on campus activities, from concerts to speakers to a Renaissance Fair. Usually there's so much to do on a weekend that it's hard to choose!

There are tons of activities put on by the college: dances, games, speakers, etc. The theater is great there are sevaral shows a semester. The music department almost always has some kind of performance coming up. Guest speakers have to compete for venues and time slots. I met my closest friends in my freshman year dorm. I would not be awake at 2 am on a Tuesday, unless something were wrong. People do party- there is generally a party to be found every weekend. Off campus activities with zero alcohol could include a trip to a good restuarant, ice skating, going to a movie, biking to the wheat-feilds or Benington Lake. Like any college, Whitman has students that drink and do drugs, but it is not a problem. With a little creativity good times can be had without altering your state of mind.

There is ALWAYS something to do on campus, be it a sporting event or the next big party. There is such a wide range of things to do, that I haven't even had the chance to try them all out yet! Most people at Whitman, I would say, are very friendly and sociable. Whitman seems to be, overall, a group of people that love people. Doors in residence halls are often left open, and you can always find someone to talk to, even in the middle of the night. I would say Whitman is a work hard play hard environment for most people, but that doesn't mean everyone parties hard after a big test. While there are lots of students who enjoy a big night out, there are also a lot of people who don't party or drink at all. You'll find your niche at Whitman, and realize that however much you want to go out is completely fine. Greek life is pretty prominent on campus, but it's much different than at a big university. The fraternities and sororities don't cut themselves off from other people...it's just like an extra group that someone chooses to be a part of, but not their whole identity. While there are some students who still buy in to the stereotypical sorority and fraternity attitudes and think they are a problem at Whitman, overall there is a pretty good relationship between greek life and the rest of campus.

As I mentioned earlier there is a lot of environmental activism on campus. There are also a lot of media organizations (including multiple literary magazines, a newspaper, and a radio station). There are tons of events at Whitman, and they're almost all included in tuition so all you need's an ID card. Sometimes it's hard to pick between events because there is usually a lot going on that's worth checking out. Two particular events from last semester that come to mind are the Coffeehouse open mic, which allowed a wide array of students to showcase their music, and Marjane Satrapi's incredible speech.

One of the best ways to meet people and make friends is simply by living on-campus during the first two (or more) years here. I met a lot of my best friends freshman year while they were living down the hall. Many students (especially in first year halls) keep the doors to their rooms open whenever they’re not at class or in bed. ASWC (Associated Students of Whitman College, our student government) brings a lot of really cool speakers (Salman Rushdie, Marjane Satrapi, Helen Thomas) and bands (Guster, Ben Lee, Flogging Molly, Blue Scholars) every year, as well as coordinating a lot of activities, like the “drive-in” movie, where students watch a movie on a big inflatable screen on the lawn, or Casino night. A lot of off-campus houses will host parties, a lot of times with dress-up themes or student bands, and they are generally pretty fun. There are always a number of fun things to do on the weekend, whether you drink or not.

Residence Halls are super laid back, not a lot of students lock their doors, some don't even shut them during the day. There is also something to do almost every night of the week, its harder to choose which event you want to attend rather than find something to do. This includes (but is definitely not limited to) various speakers, films put on by the school (outdoor and indoor), concerts by students in the music department, plays by the theater department (8-9 large scale productions a year and a number of smaller ones at lunch or on random evenings), bands/poets/comedians/illusionists/etc. The nice thing about being in a small town is that activities on campus are all free to students, so you won't be spending a ton of extra money on entertainment like you would in a big city!

Whitman students are very involved in intramurals, in theater, in the environment. I will be taking a theater class next semester, and I have never acted in my life (something about Whitman pushed me to take that chance). You will find that the library is a very popular place on campus, but that does not mean that Whitman students do not have fun. We have the usual parties that any other school has, but there are also so many other events going on all the time. Honestly, I can't remember a time when I didn't know what to do or out of options. If you're at Whitman, you are involved in one thing or another, so you will never be bored.