Tuesday, September 17, 2024

Feature by:  Career and Community Engagement Center

The Community Engagement leadership team volunteered at the Blue Mountain Action Council during a recent leadership retreat.

As August faded into September, energy and vibrancy returned to Whitman’s campus with the start of the academic year and the welcoming of new and returning members of the Whitman community. With the pomp and circumstance of officially opening the year behind us, the ongoing work of building and sustaining community begins. As with many parts of campus, the Career and Community Engagement Center (CCEC) is here to support this important work—on and off campus—through myriad opportunities including volunteering, internships, connections with alumni mentors, and the pursuit of competitive fellowships and grants.   

During a student leadership retreat at the end of August, the fifteen student leaders of the CCEC’s community engagement program shared in reflection and conversation about what “community” and “community engagement” mean and how they wish to engage with, and encourage their peers to engage with, the Walla Walla community. We explored many different understandings of “community”—ranging from personal to academic definitions—as well as the different forms it can take, such as communities of affinity and proximity. We discussed what it means to be “in community” with people and how they, as students, can be engaged, compassionate members of the Walla Walla community. 

The CCEC offers several ways for students, staff and faculty to engage with our community through volunteer events and programs. From campus-wide activities like Tri-College Community Day and the Holiday Gift Drive, to specific projects for student clubs and organizations, and student-led community engagement programs—regardless of limits on your availability—there is a way for you to participate. Currently, our student leadership team is recruiting students for six different ongoing volunteer programs. 

Read more.

Want to learn about upcoming events on campus? Visit the Events Calendar on the website to find upcoming athletic events, theater and musical performances, information sessions, lectures and more!

Are you organizing a campus event? Once your venue is confirmed with Conferences, Events & Scheduling, you can submit your event to the calendar! Due to recent software updates, the website calendar is now more visual, so add an image or event flyer to help it stand out from the crowd. (Most items on the website calendar are also included in the Whitman Today daily calendars.) 

Today is Constitution Day, commemorating the 1787 signing of the Constitution. Want to test your knowledge of the Constitution? Take Whitman’s Constitution Day Quiz! There may or may not be a prize for the person who gets the best score on this quiz, but at the very least you’ll have bragging rights for the next 365 days. (Please play fair. No looking up the answers on the internet!)

The budget and finance meetings for faculty and staff, previously scheduled for today, have been rescheduled to Monday, October 7 from 8–9 a.m. and again from 4–5 p.m. in Maxey Auditorium.

The Center for Global Studies will launch a series titled “The Press in Times of Peril” with a roundtable event on Thursday, Sept. 19 at 4 p.m. in Olin Auditorium. Panelists will include Deepa Kumar, Professor Journalism and Media Studies at Rutgers University and Gabriela Martínez, Professor of Journalism and Communication at University of Oregon. The discussion will be moderated by Nazaaha Penick ’25, Editor of The Wire, and Nicole Simek, Director of the Center for Global Studies. (Flyer attached.)

As a reminder, the Welty Student Health Center is operating with extended hours this semester:

If you have any questions or would like to make an appointment, please call the Health Center at 509-527-5281.

Photo (@whitmanmsoccer): The Whitman men’s soccer team returned from a successful 2–1 road trip. See pictures from their time away on Instagram. The Whitman women’s soccer team also won a home game this weekend. Both teams will compete at home this upcoming weekend.

Noon–12:50 p.m.

Movement That Matters: MELT

Sherwood Athletic Center

Noon

OCS Predeparture Meeting: You’re Accepted, Now What?

Olin Auditorium

3 p.m.

Moving Forward with Social Anxiety

Welty Student Health Center

4 p.m.

First Gen Too! Launch Event for Students

Glover Alston Intercultural Center

4 p.m.

Irish Dance Club

Sherwood Athletic Center, Room 106

4 p.m.

OCS Predeparture Meeting: You’re Accepted, Now What?

Olin Auditorium

4:30 p.m.

Basics Clinic

Climbing Center

5–7 p.m.

Battle of the W(h)its Trivia Night + Sips & Suds

Reid Campus Center

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

Produced by the Office of Communications, Whitman Today is emailed to Whitman College staff, faculty and students each weekday during the academic year and twice a week during breaks. An archive of previous issues is available online.

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