10:03 a.m. Core and more 6:07 a.m. Physical education “This is where textual interpreta- Dawn still slumbers, but not all is quiet on tion becomes important,” Professor of the Whitman front. The Baker Ferguson Fitness Philosophy David Carey tells the dozen Center opens at 6 a.m. every school day. This students clustered at a conference table morning Dr. George Ball, 93, Weyerhaeuser in Olin Hall. Carey’s Core class has Professor of Biblical Literature, Emeritus, is arrived at a problematic sentence in pumping iron on the ISO-lateral shoulder press machine. Donna Jones ’76 is counting Paul’s Letter to the Romans. A footnote leg presses, and DeBurgh Professor of Social Sciences William Bogard is riding high suggests three different ways to consider on an elliptical. Across the foyer from the exercise room, the Whitman swim team is Paul’s understanding of the Jewish knifing through its crack-of-dawn lap practice. All are beneficiaries of the $10 million people. “Are there other interpreta- BFFC and its Harvey Pool, a combined 38,000-square-foot, state-of-the-art facility tions?” Carey asks. “Do those exhaust not yet two years old. the possibilities?” Apparently not. Stephen Over ’11 launches into a new thread of discussion and poses his own suggestion. Whitman’s required Antiquity and Modernity class (colloquially known as “Core”) enlists professors from all 8:00 a.m. disciplines. Biology and English profes- sors tackle Toni Morrison’s “Beloved” Great debate with equal gusto, tracing a lineage of Or 8 p.m. Or dead of Western thought. “The thing to see night, crack of dawn for here is how thorny this is for Paul,” all that the time of day Carey suggests to his class. “It is worth matters to Whitman’s wrestling with this. This clash between debate squad. This is a Jews and Christians is one of the great group with an aversion to multicultural encounters that gives rise sleep. The clock they care to the modern world.” about is the one counting Across campus in Maxey Hall, the seconds for their argu- Assistant Professor of Sociology Helen ments. Even the practice Kim’s Critical and Alternative Voices sessions behind closed doors in Hunter Conservatory are fast and furious. “The class — an optional extension to Core debates are intense,” says Jim Hanson, professor of forensics. “The question-and- — discusses a different multicultural answer sessions are great for challenging each other’s ideas.” encounter in Amitav Ghosh’s “In an Whitman’s great debate tradition, begun in 1898, is long, proud and integral to Antique Land.” “It challenges the thread the academic mission of the college. William O. Douglas ’20, the longest-seated of Greek antiquity to European and justice in the history of the U.S. Supreme Court, cut his policy and parliamentary American modernity, which Core poses, teeth here. Bishop Othal Lakey ’57 debated here. The school is the smallest college in by focusing on a region of the world Morgan Dumitru ’11 the nation to qualify three teams to the National Debate Tournament championship. and a time period which Core does not For the second straight year Hanson’s team earned the No. 1 ranking in the cover,” Kim says of Ghosh’s text. country in combined policy and parliamentary debate, outpointing the University of Later, the 14 students in Kim’s On any given day Wyoming after unseating the University of at Berkeley in 2007. class discuss their final projects, many of which involve the Walla Walla community. Natalie Popovich ’10 and at Whitman Elena Gustafson ’10, for example, Scholarship, creativity, intellectual curiosity, fun, are examining Walla Walla residents’ energy, drive — did we mention fun? — are part perceptions of environmental justice along racial and class lines. Antiquity of daily life at Whitman. See for yourself ... and modernity meet the real world.

Stories by Keith Raether and Katie Combs ’08*

*Editor’s note: In her senior year of study, Katie Combs also worked as an intern in the Office of Communications. She is (At left) Students participate in a variety of educational now in on a fellowship with PBS affiliate WNET. and recreational activities on Ankeny Field for Earth Day.

16 Whitman Magazine July 2008 17 11:52 a.m. Human tapestry Eight minutes shy of showtime and already this year’s Imagine Celebration, brought to you by the Intercultural Center, has lived up to its name. A band of 10:07 a.m. Living interests Whitman first-years called Lucid Dream is plugged in and ready to romp on the Call it Sunday in the Recycling Center with Coffeehouse stage of Reid Campus Center. The group is the opening act in a four- Steve. This is the hour and day every week that hour community celebration of diversity at Whitman and in Walla Walla. Steve Shoemaker ’11 and his roommates at the The omnipresent La Monarcha taco truck is parked outside. All is right in the Environmental House — a.k.a. the Outhouse — jump world except the unusually cool spring weather, which forced the festival indoors. into Whitman’s “big, busted blue recycling truck” Not to worry, however. The stairs leading to the Coffeehouse are festooned and comb the neighborhood of campus residences with flags of the world’s nations. Mukulu Mweu, associate dean of students for for recycling contributions. Glass, paper, plastic, intercultural programs and services, and Andrés Dankel-Ibáñez, assistant director cardboard, batteries — the four housemates and one of the Intercultural Center, are spreading their usual cheer. Reggae-calypso band resident assistant (Shoemaker) who call the Outhouse Andy O is here, with enough interior sunshine in its playlist to go around. Life home this term take it all, filling drum after storage — to say nothing of La Monarcha’s fish tacos — is good. drum with recyclables. “The Outhouse has a common environmental cause that attracts students from very different backgrounds,” says Shoemaker, a politics major. “There’s diversity within commonality, which is a great thing.” The Outhouse, opened in 1981, is one of 12:52 p.m. 10:40 a.m. 11 Interest Houses on campus, each with a particular focus. The solar thermal system Music from the heart at the Outhouse is four years old, the photovoltaics date to 2002, and the commode in While their colleagues are hoisting Creative release the front yard has been a fixture — and a planter for primroses — for years. lunch trays, the 97-member Whitman The game is “Zombies,” and its Bon Appétit delivers dinner to the Outhouse and its IH neighbors four days of the College Chorale is lifting every rules are simple: week. Every Sunday two different Interest Houses cook brunch for the others. “Getting voice in song. The company’s spring • Either love or hate Zombies. to know other students over a communal meal is pretty cool,” says Shoemaker. concert — Mozart’s “Requiem”— is • Own a bandana. six days away, and conductor Robert • Be OK with the roaming Bode, Alma Meisnest Endowed Chair Zombie Horde chasing after you, of Humanities, is leaving nothing to eating your flesh, and then accepting chance. His conducting gestures are you as their Zombie friend. 11:15 a.m. Walk the talk meticulous, his instructions precise. If you can stomach these stipula- The line forms here. And there. And over there. A crush of prospective students “Don’t hold onto the diminuendo,” tions, then Humans versus Zombies and their parents fills the first floor of Penrose House, home of Whitman’s presidents he says. “Let its purpose serve as might be for you. The game has until 1995, now headquarters for the Office of Admission and Financial Aid. From style.” proved popular at Whitman and the front door of Penrose, three times a day — 8:30, 11 and 2:30 — student guides The Chorale is open to all across the country. One Whitman lead hour-long tours of campus. Ankeny Field is wireless as well as a field of dreams Whitman students through audition. contest last year involved more than for intramural sports, they note. Student academic advisers are ready and willing to Out of it comes the select chorus, 200 players. “We get a lot of strange help with term-paper editing at midnight. the 30-member Whitman College looks,” says Carrie Laxson ’10, Sarah Deming ’10 of Tacoma, Wash., president of Whitman’s Black Student Chamber Singers. Several from both taking a break from the action in the Union, is one of the tour guides. She’ll walk a mile and then some for Whitman, groups have gone on to music careers. safe haven of Penrose Library. It’s the better part of it “There are no ‘stars’ in a chorus,” a welcome respite after an early- backward on her tours. Bode says. “Everyone works hard morning mad dash from Memorial She’s done it for a year, to meld. The experience can be Building. Laxson was chased down “loved it and learned Sarah Abdurrahman life-changing.” in what she calls “a sophisticated a lot about the college game of elementary school tag.” from it.” Sophisticated it is. The game’s “Most of all I love extensive Web site, run by Patrick meeting all the students 1:10 p.m. Fulbright Fellow on the job Herman ’08, tracks players’ status I gave tours to who end She’s on her feet five or more shifts a week, wiping down counters, refilling the salad and statistics, alerting participants up coming here,” she bar, changing 40-pound milk boxes, spinning from food station to station — a dervish to new developments and the says. in Prentiss Dining Room. But Suzanne Zitzer ’08 (summa cum laude at Commencement occasional “mission.” “It’s a fun with honors in German studies) is delighted to be a student manager for Bon Appétit, way to engage,” Laxson says. “I’ve Whitman’s food service provider. “After a strenuous shift I feel more ready than ever to met a lot of people because of return to an essay,” she says. Zombies. It (tests) how innovative Her favorite moment on the job? “Working the Lunar New Year dinner shift when Whitties can be.” a friend of mine played the guqin (a Chinese zither).” The method in balancing work and study? “I constantly make lists and use my planner to keep me on track. Learning is a deep passion of mine, so I always make time to get my work done and stay focused.” Zitzer also dances off the job, gardens and works out — all for good reason and result. She’s a Fulbright research recipient poised to study German environmental policy at the University of Leipzig. In short, she thrives on a life in motion.

18 Whitman Magazine July 2008 19 2:22 p.m. Group chemistry 3:50 p.m. Twin billing Day-Glo is not dead at Whitman. One glance at Associate Professor of Chemistry Duets may come easily for first-years Dawn ’11 and Nicole Angus ’11, Allison Calhoun’s advanced chemistry lab puts all doubt to rest. There, on the south cavorting as they are through an impromptu rehearsal of Pablo de Sarasate’s wall of Science 251, hanging like a ’60s fashion statement, is a family of tie-dyed lab “Navarra,” sans piano, in the sweet acoustic space of Kimball Theatre. coats. Calhoun’s students created them at the beginning of the term on an overnight For starters, they’re identical twins. They’ve played violin together for nine retreat at Whitman’s Johnston Wilderness Campus. years. They’ve sung in choral groups together for seven years. And they The purpose of the project was hardly haute couture. One goal in advanced may be the only violinists on the planet who’ve also perfected the art of chemistry is to master critical thinking and problem-solving. The first exercise in pole-vaulting. “We have a lot of shared interests,” says Dawn. “Steel-drum the class examines the chemical and physical origins of color, thus the iridescent bands are also high on the list.” “It’s a good way to balance the academic lab coats. “We use the time at the wilderness campus to prepare for the rigor of the work,” says Nicole. course,” says Calhoun. “These are highly prepared first-year chemistry students, The twins, who hail from Mercer Island, Wash., and divide their playing but the course is extremely challenging for even the strongest students. We examine time between the Whitman Orchestra and the Walla Walla Symphony, the origin of color while building a toolbox of successful study habits for the class. learned firsthand about Whitman’s tradition of excellence in music through The lab coats are a way of advertising that chemistry isn’t sterile, that it’s a creative a family friend, Whitman alumnus Bruce Bailey ’62, who plays cello in the endeavor.” Seattle Symphony Orchestra. They took a lesson with Amy Dodds, adjunct assistant professor of music, and were sold on the college. “It felt right,” says Nicole. Dawn nods. “We like the strong academics here,” she adds. 2:48 p.m. Field of dreams — and leaders They began the season in fine form, taking two of three games from Occidental College on the road in . They closed it on a deter- mined note, splitting a four-game series with perennial rival Whitworth University. The Whitman men’s baseball team took their lumps during the season, and contended with wind-blown days that rivaled anything that Wrigley Field has seen. But baseball Coach Casey Powell’s young club (13 first-years and sophomores on a roster of 23) were gamers to a man, from pitcher Sam Thompson, a 6-foot-3, 215-pound senior (“He has a great attitude every time he walks onto the field,” says Powell) to team co-captainLuke Marshall, who led the regulars the previous spring with a .316 batting average. They also learned about leadership to comple- ment their scholarship. Adam Knappe ’08 (pictured here), who earned All-Northwest Conference honorable mention, made the transition from shortstop to second base, where he helped turn 24 double plays. “Adam made tremendous strides in his four seasons,” said Powell, “and became a good team leader on the field.” Dawn ’11 (left) and Nicole Angus ’11 Doug Plummer

5:09 p.m. Shared spirit 3:37 p.m. Liberating arts Home every Friday at 5 p.m. for the Hillel-Shalom Group is the For the moment, she’s in the printmaking studio at Olin Hall, turning out pieces for the annual Senior Spiritual Activities Room in the basement of Prentiss Hall. There the group Art Thesis Exhibition. Soon she and her cello will be in a practice room of the Hall of Music, preparing for gathers around a long wooden table to celebrate Shabbat (the Hebrew word a Whitman Symphony Orchestra concert. This evening, she’ll likely be at a library desk, drafting another for Sabbath), a day of rest traditionally observed by Jews from sundown personal essay for the student literary journal blue moon. Emma Wood ’08, of Klamath Falls, Ore., isn’t Friday until the appearance of three stars in the night sky Saturday. sure “which place I inhabit most.” She only knows she’s more often there than in her room at Anderson For years the Spiritual Activities Room was the Tri Delta sorority Hall, and wouldn’t have it any other way. “I remember staying up all night in my first year to make an art chapter room. Today, after extensive renovation in the summer of 2007, it is book,” Wood says. The inspiration? Plato’s “Symposium” in Zahi Zalloua’s Core class. “I couldn’t help a warm, well-lighted place for individual meditation, memorial observances myself,” she said. Wood’s experience at Whitman has made her an avowed interdisciplinarian. An excerpt and gatherings of religious groups on campus. Stuart Religious Counselor from one of her blue moon contributions, “Riding Home Roses,” is sure evidence. It reads: “I am awed Adam Kirtley directs activities. by the way that such fragile starts as my bike lesson pick up speed with time and comfort. I often say now Above all, the room is a reminder to the Whitman community that intel- that riding a bike is the closest you get to earthbound flying, with that carefree speed at which trees shine lectual pursuits and a spiritual life aren’t mutually exclusive. “People get and people pass like streaks of flying color ...” Next year Wood likely will be in Honduras, teaching art and different things out of Hillel-Shalom, but I’d say most people come for the music. Beyond that is a mystery, but whatever comes to her will surely feel like flying. community,” says Danny Kaplan ’10. Emma Wood ’08

20 Whitman Magazine July 2008 21 Any time of day 5:25 p.m. Dedicated educators Master-piece theater n any given day at Whitman, you might find Mary Anne O’Neil, professor of foreign Call it the little shop of chores — all fun languages and literatures, leading a class in Advanced French or Twentieth Century — at least for the duration of an afternoon workshop. Backstage at Harper Joy Theatre, French Literature or Contemporary France and the Francophone World. visiting guest artist Mary McClung (formerly Today — Spring Visitors’ Day — the mission is Advanced French. In the space of 50 adjunct assistant professor of theatre), is instructing a group of students in the art of minutes, O’Neil speaks fewer than a dozen words of English. Five of them — “I won’t take mask-making. More precisely, the project is it anymore” — clarify a passage from Radiguet’s “Le Diable au corps.” For her part, O’Neil character masks, archetypal faces modeled will gladly take it. She has taught at Whitman for 30 years. broadly on Euripides’ tragedy, “Medea.” The ingredients: upholstery foam, cheesecloth and white glue affixed to plastic facial forms. On any given day, Lori Bettison-Varga, provost and dean of the McClung’s instruction: “Try to avoid big webs faculty, might be reviewing three of three dozen Whitman Innovation in of cloth over the eyes.” Teaching and Learning grant applications, preparing a budget for the The play is indeed the thing at HJT, named Board of Trustees, attending a conference of the Council on Undergrad- after Harper Joy ’22. Nagle Jackson ’58, the uate Research (of which she is immediate past president) or spending first American theater director invited to work the lunch hour at a Faculty Forum talk. in the Soviet Union, got his start here. Each year eight plays are produced, one reason why On any given day, you might find: Whitman’s theater program is consistently • Charles Timm-Ballard, associate professor of art, teaching ranked among the best in the nation by the ceramics to students (or alumni at Summer College), inspecting the new Princeton Review. Fouts Center for Visual Arts with the architect or working in his ceramics studio at home. • Sharon Alker, associate professor of English, lecturing to fellow faculty on the Scottish writer James Hogg or poring over his original papers with student Beth Frieden ’08 at the National Library of Scot- land in Edinburgh. • Bob Carson, Grace Farnsworth Phillips Professor of Geology and Environmental Studies, collaborating with his students to map out this summer’s biannual geological expedition to Mongolia.

Sarah Abdurrahman • Shampa Biswas, associate professor of politics, introducing students to the intricacies of global politics, leading the Critical and Alternative Voices Committee or rewarding her students with a feast of Indian food at the end of term. • Dean Snider, athletic director and associate professor of sport studies, teaching Applied Sport Psychology, traveling to a match or game, or buttoning up details for the Athletic Hall of Fame banquet. 6:09 p.m. Scholars without borders • Keith Farrington, Laura and Carl Peterson Chair of Social His contribution included 3 a.m. e-mail notes about Derrida to her. Her work took Sciences, serving on one of a dozen senior thesis committees, directing dead aim on the ethics of reading literature through a multicultural scope. Their vehicles: the Center for Teaching and Learning, teaching a class on the history of Jean Rhys’ “Wide Sargasso Sea,” J.M. Coetzee’s “Foe” and Toni Morrison’s “Beloved.” rock ’n’ roll — and practicing what he preaches as a bass player in his And the reward for the scholarship and midnight oil? Assistant Professor of English Gaurav own band. Majumdar and senior Nani Gilkerson ’08, a race and ethnic studies major, received this Nani Gilkerson year’s Adam Dublin Award for the Study of Global Multiculturalism. On any given day, Whitman faculty wear many hats: teacher, On the afternoon marking the award, Majumdar and Gilkerson aren’t having their cake Mary Anne O’Neil adviser, researcher, grant writer, mediator, mentor, conference presenter, and Veuve Clicquot. They’re presenting the fruits of their collaborative effort to faculty, admission or development emissary, travel agent. Add to this their students and staff, and thanking each other for the opportunity. “Gaurav was overwhelm- personal responsibilities as partner, parent, actor, athlete, singer, song- ingly committed to this project,” says Gilkerson. Says Majumdar: “Nani did her work with writer, community organizer or volunteer and you have a full day in the intense concentration and curiosity. Her project is an elegant, alert and scrupulously chosen life. researched argument.” It has been a very good year for more than Majumdar and Gilkerson. Whitman students in 2007-08 reaped a record harvest of major awards: five Fulbrights (three declined for other awards), three Watsons, two Trumans and a Udall, among many. In each, Gilkerson’s words about her own blue-ribbon project might well apply: “Our challenge was to offer ... an awareness that we have a responsibility to read with an eye for difference.” Gaurav Majumdar

22 Whitman Magazine July 2008 23 11:45 p.m. Peer support While “Late Show with David Letterman” is playing on TVs across the country, Writing Center tutor Rose Jackson ’08 is poring over a first-year’s Core paper, debating the relative merits of Rousseau and Wordsworth and gently reminding a student to avoid the passive voice and “keep your tenses straight.” “It’s interesting reading about things 8:16 p.m. I wouldn’t necessarily encounter on my own,” says Jackson, a Spanish major. “It’s fun when I can help students, and they’re Event central grateful. I see them on campus; we say hello.” Sandy McDade ’74, The Writing Center, a brightly lit room tucked away in Olin Hall senior vice president and and adorned with Magnetic Poetry, is open more than 60 hours a general counsel of the week for students who need advice about participles, thesis state- Weyerhaeuser Company, ments and citation formatting. Nathan Mallon ’12, who’s reading is fielding questions in a corner of the room, says the center is “a warm, easy, relaxing about the role of forests place to work.” The ever-present candy basket is often an added in the carbon cycle from incentive to ask for help with structuring a five-pager. an audience of students, faculty, alumni and staff in Gaiser Auditorium. Baron Haber ’08, right, reviews a fellow student’s Across campus, in Kimball paper at the Writing Center. Theatre, Christian Wiman,

editor of Poetry magazine, Eduardo Duquez ’08 is reading from his own Despite hectic academic and activity schedules, students volunteer thousands of hours a work. It’s another weeknight of balance year in the Walla Walla community. Many of those hours are spent mentoring and reading 1:51 a.m. Coffee, please and abundance on to children through the Whitman Mentor Program, the Story Time Project and Dr. Seuss In the basement of Penrose Library is a coffee bar, Café 41. In the bar is a line of students. On the Whitman events Day. Here, Anna Forge ’11 talks to a young boy who is fascinated with her blue “hair” at the south wall near them is a clock that tells correct time: nine minutes shy of 2 a.m. To each of calendar. Dr. Seuss Day, a community event organized by Kappa Kappa Gamma sorority members the students, the time yields a simple conclusion: the night is young, with a little help from a cup of “It is well understood to kick off National Reading Day. liquid enthusiasm. Or assorted biscotti. Or brownies, Café 41’s best-seller. Or all of the above for … that trees store the occasional all-nighter. “We slow down after midnight, but they’re back again before we close carbon,” McDade says. at 2,” says Lindsey Danoth, a Bon Appétit barista. “We sell a lot of food late. A lot. We usually “What is less often 9:02 p.m. run out of brownies. They’re a valuable commodity anytime.” For those on a budget, drip coffee discussed is the fact that is the drink of choice. Cheap and quick. Mocha and chai are spendier favorites. “The students are wood products manufac- Learned visitors serious about their drinks,” says Danoth, too busy frothing a latte to notice that Devo’s “Whip It” tured from the forest also continue to Seven former U.S. poet laureates is playing on her portable radio. “It makes sense. They’re pretty serious about school, too.” sequester carbon.” have come to Whitman through the Though he’ll spend most of this annual Walt Whitman Lecture series. evening articulating the role of forests in Richard Wilbur, 87 and unflagging, the carbon cycle, McDade can’t resist, as is one of them. He is blithely signing 3:00 a.m. Tradition and challenge a prelude to his talk, reminiscing about copies of his book, “Collected Poems “In a real dark night of the soul it is always three o’clock in the morning,” F. Scott Fitzgerald another tradition — rich in variation, 1943-2004,” after a generous reading famously wrote. At 3 a.m. on a weekend, finals just around the corner, there are several souls in the environmental in a twisted sort of way, that often had his audience in stitches. Allen Reading Room of Penrose Library. None, however, seems troubled. On the and now sadly extinct — at his alma Half an hour ago, he was lamenting contrary, all are plugged in — to laptops as well as lecture notes. mater. The game was “laking,” and the “formalist” label that critics have Nate Wells ’11 will be here until 4:38 this morning. For that the object was plain and simple: Dump pinned on him. “I find ‘formalist’ and feat, he will win the Allen Room Challenge, bestowed on the last first-years into the still waters of Lakum ‘formaldehyde’ too close to each other person to leave the reading room each day. As evidence, Wells will Duckum, and let them experience the in the dictionary for my comfort,” sign and date the Allen Room black book on the fireplace mantel. world of pond scum. In 1970, McDade Wilbur allowed. He will not celebrate with song or dance before leaving, as the was among them. More accurately, he Allen Challenge recommends. But he will write these words in the was one of the less fortunate of them. book. “Once again I find myself in the pleasant company of, well, When his rite of passage arrived, it myself. It is quite peaceful and serene, alone here by the crackling wasn’t just the emperor who had no 11:37 p.m. Health haven fire ... Friday night: I find the sweet intoxication of books much clothes. And the emperor didn’t have to Welty Health Center Nurse Jennifer Shields has heard the story before: “Big test preferable to the alternative.” figure out how to get back to Sigma Chi coming up,” a student tells her at the front desk. “And a roommate who just finished Wells won’t set the Allen Challenge record for the month. That house in, well, a state of nature. one.” It’s “fairly full at the inn” tonight — six inpatients, one with high fever and honor will go to Nathan Mallon ’11 who checked in at 7:15 p.m. nausea — but not so full that Shields has to turn away a late walk-in who simply on a Sunday and didn’t leave until 7:30 a.m. Monday. His epic stay needs a good night’s rest. The Health Center is open 24 hours a day during the began with Howard Gardner’s book, “Frame of Mind: The Theory academic year, the only round-the-clock college facility of its kind in the Northwest. of Multiple Intelligences.” Around midnight, Mallon started The reward for Shields’ work? “The students, absolutely the students. To see them so wondering about how computers learn. At 2 a.m., he forgot how excited about being at Whitman, and appreciative of what we do, leaves you with a to write the letter “f.” The lapse, apparently, was temporary. good feeling in your heart.” Mallon’s last words in the black book read: “Fun times.”

24 Whitman Magazine July 2008 25