Thursday, April 17, 2025

The Center for Global Studies and Hispanic Studies Department will host an event titled “Solito: A Conversation With Javier Zamora” tonight, Thursday, April 17, at 7 p.m. in Maxey Auditorium. (Flyer attached.)

Associate Professor and Chair of Hispanic Studies Aarón Aguilar-Ramírez will lead a discussion with Zamora about his 2022 memoir, “Solito,” which recounts the harrowing journey that Zamora made as an unaccompanied 9-year-old boy from El Salvador to the United States. A 3,000-mile journey that was supposed to last two weeks, stretched into two life-altering months spent among strangers turned guardians as they traveled from El Salvador to Guatemala to Mexico before arriving in the United States. 

“Javier Zamora is the most visible and acclaimed U.S. Latinx writer of the 2020s,” says Aguilar-Ramírez. “His work is a testament to the creative power of Central American cultural producers, whose craft is reshaping and invigorating contemporary Latinx literature.”

The conversation will be followed by a book signing. The Whitman College Bookstore will also have copies of the memoir available for purchase.

Javier Zamora is also the author of the poetry collection “Unaccompanied” (2017) and is the recipient of numerous awards and accolades, including the 2024 Whiting Fellowship, the 2022 LA Times-Christopher Isherwood Prize and many other residencies and fellowships. 

Dennis Crockett, Associate Professor of Art History, Emeritus, has published “Becoming Walla Walla: The Transformation of Cayuse Country, 1805–1879” (WSU Press, 2024). The book covers Walla Walla Valley history from the time of the Sahaptian Peoples’ first encounters with Euro-Americans to the initial expiration of the U.S. government’s treaty with the Cayuse, Walla Walla and Umatilla.

Crockett also recently published “Franz Rohs Nachexpressionismus vor dem Nachexpressionismus, 1921–25” in “Franz Roh 1890–1965. Kunstkritiker, Vorkämpfer der Kultur-Moderne: Eine Kollektivbiographie” (Vienna).

The Film and Media Studies Department, Politics Department and the Whitman Chapter of the American Association of University Professors will host a screening of the documentary “The Palestine Exception” on Thursday, April 17, at 5 p.m. in Kimball Theatre at Hunter Conservatory. The film explores recent protests at schools across the United States and efforts to silence them. The screening will be followed by an opportunity for conversation.

The Taste of Africa week of events continues with a Gansango Drum Workshop on Thursday, April 17, from 6–7:30 p.m. at Reid Campus Center (outside, weather permitting, otherwise in the Young Ballroom). The rhythm-filled workshop will be facilitated by Gansango Music and Dance, a Seattle-based collective specializing in traditional West African music. (Flyer attached.)

The Jewish holiday of Passover is celebrated this year from April 12–20. The student group Kehillat Shalom will host a Passover Seder on Thursday, April 17, at 6 p.m. in the Cordiner Hall foyer. Jewish and non-Jewish students are all welcome. The event will include singing, playing and telling the story of Passover, as well as dinner, drinks and discussion. (Flyer attached.)

The Office of Admission is looking for volunteers for the next Spring Into Whitman Day for admitted students taking place on Saturday, April 26.  Volunteers are needed to direct guests on campus, either from 10–11:45 a.m. or from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. Please sign up in advance.

Photo (@megancaldwellphotography): Megan Caldwell ’27 captured some adorable photos of the first ducklings of the year to be spotted on campus!

Noon–1 p.m.

Northwest ADA Center Training: Service Animals

Virtual Event

Noon–1 p.m.

Off-Campus Studies: First-Year First Step Meeting

Olin Hall, Room 129

Noon–1 p.m.

Research Spotlight: Environmental Traces of Palestine

Olin Hall, Room 243

Noon–1:30 p.m.

Webinar: Advising Students About Job Interviews & Requesting Workplace Accommodations

Virtual Event

12:10–12:50 p.m.

Movement That Matters: Step Aerobics

Sherwood Athletic Center

3–5 p.m.

Open Office Hours: Off-Campus Studies

Reid Campus Center, Lower Level

4–5 p.m.

Art & Soul

Reid Campus Center, All Faiths Room

4–5 p.m.

Off-Campus Studies: First-Year First Step Meeting

Olin Hall, Room 129

4:30–6:30 p.m.

TransVerse

Reid Campus Center, Queer Resource Center

5–7 p.m.

Film Screening: ‘The Palestine Exception’

Hunter Conservatory, Kimball Theatre

6–8 p.m.

Drip Drop Open Dance

Sherwood Athletic Center, Room 114

6 p.m.

Passover Seder With Kehillat Shalom

Cordiner Hall Foyer

6–7:30 p.m.

Workshop: African Drumming & Percussion

Reid Campus Center, Side Lawn

7 p.m.

Open Meeting: Blue Mountain Audubon Society 

Olin 129 [community event]

7–8:50 p.m.

Solito: A Conversation With Javier Zamora

Maxey Auditorium

7–8 p.m.

STILL: Zen Meditation & Learning

Reid Campus Center, All Faiths Room

7 p.m.

Wind Ensemble: Spring Concert

Hall of Music, Chism Recital Hall

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

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