Wednesday, September 20, 2023
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Feature by: Dr. John Johnson, Vice President for Diversity and Inclusion
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Content Warning: Today’s message contains references to antisemitic activities as well as a link to a video produced by the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. This material is being provided to educate the community about some of the historic and contemporary manifestations of antisemitism. The content herein and the images depicted in the video may be disturbing to those who practice Judaism or align with Jewish practices and identities.
Exactly one month into my time at Whitman, in the summer of 2021, I received notification about graffiti located in a campus building. That graffiti included references to what we believed to be a gang associated with select individuals incarcerated in the Washington State Penitentiary. It also included a swastika. Our institutional response to this incident was swift and involved multiple members of the Campus Security team, the Dean of Students, representatives from Communications, Facilities, the Senior Inclusion Administrator and the President.
Since we did not regard this incident as constituting an immediate threat to public safety, we elected not to send out a campus message at that time. Our Facilities team removed the graffiti. We checked in with folks on our staff who work directly with our Jewish student organization to gauge the climate and assess the impact on students. We also shared information about this incident in a summary of the bias incidents that we responded to in that year in Whitman Today, being careful not to amplify this heinous action.
Read more.
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Sempértegui a Featured Guest in 'Grabbing Back' Podcast
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Andrea Sempértegui, Assistant Professor of Politics, was a featured guest in the Sept. 15 episode of the intersectional feminist podcast "Discourse: the Grabbing Back Podcast." During this episode on "Feminism and Nature," Sempértegui spoke about the trajectory of Ecofeminist Movements in Latin America and explained the relationship between patriarchy and extractive projects.
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Staff Advisory Council Open Office Hours Tomorrow
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The Staff Advisory Council is holding drop-in hours throughout the Fall semester for all staff to learn about the work in progress, share feedback and get to know staff representatives. All are welcome! The next open office hours will be on Thursday, Sept. 21 from 9–10 a.m. in Cleveland Commons, Espresso. Learn more.
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Apply for the David Nord Award
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Applications are open for the David Nord Award for students, faculty and staff. This award encourages the Whitman community to engage in critical issues facing LGBTQIA+ communities through a variety of creative and scholarly mediums. Recipients will receive a cash award of $1,000 along with up to $1,000 in financial support to complete the project if required. (See attached flyer.) Applications are due Oct. 29. Questions? Email lgbtqia@whitman.edu.
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Photo: (Adam Kirtley, Interfaith Chaplain) This past Monday, Jewish students gathered near the creek outside Reid Campus Center for Tashlich––a ritual performed on the afternoon of the first day of Rosh Hashanah that symbolically casts off the sins of the previous year by tossing pebbles or bread crumbs into flowing water. Students incorporated journaling their thoughts before casting them off to promise improvement for the coming year.
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Reid Campus Center, Room 216
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Hall of Science, Brattain Auditorium
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Would you like to share an event with campus? Submit the information to the Events Calendar.
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“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.
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Find us on social media: @whitmancollege
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