Wednesday, February 22, 2023

Feature by the Power & Privilege Symposium Organizers:

Photo: Hip-hop collective Sounds of the People will perform live tonight at 6:30 p.m. in the Reid Campus Center, Young Ballroom.

Dearest co-conspirators,

We are writing to you in the midst of this year’s Power & Privilege Symposium. We made it! This series of events (keynote speaker Loretta J. Ross last night, guest artists Sounds of the People tonight, and a full roster of Whitman community-led sessions tomorrow) was brought to you by months of hard work by our student leadership team, and the support of campus and community collaborators. This is community work, and it is just beginning.

Our theme this year is “No More Allies,” because we hope to encourage people to act as co-conspirators or accomplices in social justice work. This means taking risks, acting collaboratively, and moving in solidarity. As much as accompliceship may feel like a bold step forward, it is rather a simple acknowledgement of a human truth—our existence, experience, and freedoms are all deeply enmeshed. As the poet Luis Valdez said, “You are my other me.” As the activist Lilla Watson said, “if you have come because your liberation is bound up with mine, then let us work together.” To be a co-conspirator is to embrace the beautiful collectivity of our experience, and to move together towards liberation. 

We encourage you to joyously engage in this year’s symposium. For those of you who attended Loretta J. Ross’ keynote speech, we hope you keep her same energy of critical care. For those of you who come to the SOTP show tonight, dance together! Move in collective effervescence! And for those of you who come to sessions on Thursday, engage with your whole hearts, and allow our session leaders to move you into new places, new ideas and new relationships with one another. 

We can’t wait to see you all at the Power & Privilege Symposium this evening and tomorrow. We can’t do it without you—together we make this possible. 

Zahi Zalloua, the Cushing Eells Professor of Philosophy and Literature and Director of Indigeneity, Race, and Ethnicity Studies, recently published a book titled, “Solidarity and the Palestinian Cause: Indigeneity, Blackness, and the Promise of Universality.” Zalloua was also recently interviewed about the book by Mouin Rabbani, co-editor of Jadaliyya, an ezine out of the Aram Studies Institute.

Rev. Ann-Marie Illsley of the First Congregational Church of Walla Walla will be in the All Faiths Room (Reid 110) from 3–5 p.m. today to provide ashes for those who practice the Ash Wednesday tradition.

Take a few minutes today to plan which Power & Privilege Symposium sessions you will attend tomorrow. The schedule includes four session blocks with three or four options per block, complimentary lunch for Whitman students in Cleveland Commons and an end-of-day celebration in the evening. 

David F. Schmitz, the Robert Allen Skotheim Chair of History, will present a talk at 4 p.m. on Thursday, Feb. 23 at the Fort Walla Walla Museum as part of the free Museum After Hours event series. Schmitz will talk about his book (the third volume of Whitman’s official institutional history), “The Transformation of Whitman College: From a Regional to a National Liberal Arts College, 1975-2015." Copies of the book will also be available for purchase.

Seniors, place your orders for commencement regalia (cap, gown, tassel) between now and April 8 for delivery during the week of May 8–12. A limited supply of recycled caps and gowns will be available to use at no cost on a first come, first served basis, April 3–7 at Whitman College Technology Services. (You will still need to purchase tassels, which will be available in the campus bookstore.)

In accordance with Washington State Labor & Industries employer requirements, we are notifying the campus community that since yesterday, one person with Whitman access was confirmed positive for COVID-19.

Please continue to follow all our campus COVID-19 protocols to help prevent transmission. If you have any symptoms that may be COVID-19 or know that you may have been exposed to coronavirus, please be tested. Additional masks and rapid test kits are available in the front entryway at the Welty Student Health Center during normal operating hours. 

8 a.m.

Post-Board Meeting Open Forum for Faculty and Staff

Maxey Auditorium

12:10–12:50 p.m.

Movement That Matters: Stretch & Strength

Multipurpose Gym

3–5 p.m.

Ash Wednesday: Drop-In Ashes Distribution

All Faiths Room

4 p.m.

Information Session: Washington Semester Program

Maxey 119

4 p.m.

Workshop: Whitlife 101

Reid 202

6:30 p.m.

Power & Privilege Concert: Sounds of the People

Young Ballroom

7 p.m.

Dharma Talk and Meditation

Reid G-02

7:30 p.m.

Queer Coded

Glover Alston Center (The GAC)

8–10 p.m.

Open Kayak

Harvey Pool

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

“Whitman Today” is produced by the Office of Communications and is emailed Monday through Friday to Whitman College staff, faculty and students.

All submissions are welcome! If you have accomplishments to celebrate, an event to publicize or other content to share with the Whitman community, email whitmantoday@whitman.edu. Submissions of 125 words or less are due by noon for the following day’s newsletter. Submissions may be edited and/or held for a later date according to space and editorial needs. Your submission also authorizes use on Whitman's social media unless otherwise specified.

Previous issues of Whitman Today are archived on our website.

Find us on social media: @whitmancollege