Thursday, October 2, 2025

By Danna Lorch

When Noah Stern ’16 catches up with his Whitman College friends about his work as a legal clerk to the Honorable Judge Lucy Haeran Koh, he inevitably gets asked this question: “So do you want to become a judge one day?”

“My reason for wanting to clerk is much more than that,” Stern explains. He has been clerking for Judge Koh, who sits on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit in San Francisco, since 2024. “It’s an incredible opportunity to learn from more experienced lawyers and judges.”

And it’s a chance to put his values of fairness, empathy and reason into action in an impactful way every day.

The best analogy for a clerkship Stern can think of is a medical residency. Just as med students cap off their schooling with a residency where they gain on-the-job experience, attorneys apply for clerkships while they are still in law school. After graduation, many, like Stern, work for a law firm for a few years, then pause to clerk for a year or more.

“The judge mentors the clerk, and in turn, you help them with their work and get to see behind the curtain and learn what it’s like to be a judge,” he says “This helps you to do your job better as a lawyer.”

Read the full story in the Fall 2025 issue of Whitman Magazine.

The Whitman women’s tennis team performed well at the ITA Northwest Regional Championship. Nana Vang ’28 won the singles title and, together with Sascha Wells ’26, won the doubles crown. Leah Lovato ’29 won the B draw consolation championship. Vang and Wells earned ITA All-American status and qualified for the ITA Cup held in mid-October.

The Indigeneity, Race and Ethnicity Studies (IRES) program will host a roundtable discussion titled “Teaching Anti-Racism in Fascist Times” on Thursday, Oct. 2, from 5–6:30 p.m. in Olin Auditorium. Panelists will include Khalil Saucier, Professor of Critical Black Studies at Bucknell University, and from Whitman, Giramata (Assistant Professor of Gender Studies), Tarik Elseewi (Associate Professor of Film and Media Studies) and Zahi Zalloua (Cushing Eells Professor of Philosophy and Literature, Professor of Indigeneity, Race, and Ethnicity Studies). The event will be moderated by Nicole Simek (Cushing Eells Professor of Philosophy and Literature, Professor of Indigeneity, Race, and Ethnicity Studies and Gender Studies).

All members of the Whitman community are invited to an anti-hazing talk on Monday, Oct. 6, at 6 p.m. or 7:30 p.m. (encore presentation) in the Reid Campus Center Young Ballroom. Keynote speaker Jolayne Houtz will share a personal story as a parent survivor and will discuss the importance of building safe, inclusive spaces for all. (Flyer attached.)

Professor Elizabeth Sepper, the Crillon C. Payne II Professor in Health Law at the University of Texas at Austin School of Law, will deliver this year's Justice William O. Douglas Lecture, titled "Sex in Public: The Movement for Equality in Public Accommodations From the 1960s to Today," on Tuesday, Oct. 7, at 6 p.m. in Olin Auditorium. This campus event is approved for the Law, Culture, and Humanities minor and is sponsored by the Robert and Mabel Groseclose Fund. (Flyer attached.)

Stop by the Fouts Center for Visual Arts to see “The Transfer Collective”—an exhibition of artwork by Whitman transfer students. A closing reception will be held on Friday, Oct. 3, from 4–6 p.m.

12:10–12:50 p.m.

Movement That Matters: Step Aerobics

Sherwood Athletic Center, Room 106

2–2:50 p.m.

Information Session: Oxford University

Olin Hall, Room 301

4–6 p.m.

Open Office Hours: Off-Campus Studies

Cleveland Commons

5–6 p.m.

Archaeology Hour: “Beer in Mesopotamia”

Maxey Hall, Room 207

5–6:30 p.m.

Roundtable Discussion: “Teaching Anti-Racism in Fascist Times”

Olin Auditorium

5–7 p.m.

Volunteer Opportunity: Pepper Glean

Birch Creek Farms

7–8 p.m.

Law & Punishment Film Series: “Quilters”

Maxey Hall, Room 204

Would you like to share an event with campus? Submit the information to the Events Calendar.

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