Greek alumni offer glimpse into yesteryear

by Helen Jenne Staff Reporter

When football was cut in March 1977, after a sudden decision by the board of trustees without any student input, Whitman lost more than just a sport.

Football was an important part of Whitman for nearly 80 years, although it was never consistently a winning team. According to Thomas Edward’s “A Sketchy History of Whitman Foot-ball: Excitement and Controversy,” in 77 years, Whitman’s winning record was only 37 percent.

But “it brought the campus together,” said Associate Director of Alumni Rela-tions Nancy Mitchell.

Any Whitman yearbook from the

’50s or ’60s shows the culture that came with football. For the homecoming game in 1958, there was a barbecue, a pep rally, and a parade that consisted of 13 floats contributed from different social groups. There was a homecom-ing dance, complete with a queen and two princesses. The homecoming queen even got featured in the “Royalty” sec-tion of the yearbook, a full page devoted to a close-up picture of her.

The football team also benefited the athletes. “[Football] drew out the best in them,” Mitchell said, “They learned to do things they never thought they were capable of doing.”

Mitchell said that football brought a different kind of personality to Whit-

man. Students came to Whitman who would not have come if they couldn’t play football. In “Football players tackle memories,” an article in the “Walla Walla Union Bulletin” by Alfred Diaz, former Whitman football player Dave Harts-field says that he wouldn’t have traded his years at Whitman for anything, but he wouldn’t have chosen Whitman if there wasn’t a football team.

Because of the small size of Whit-man, football just didn’t have the num-bers to continue. It was also a financial strain. “Budgets were very, very tight then,” Mitchell said. Football was an ex-pensive sport; by 1977, 42 other colleges had already cut their football teams, ac-cording to Edward’s history of Whitman

football.The money saved from cutting foot-

ball was used to provide “opportunities for more student athletes,” said Dean Snider, athletic director. This meant de-veloping other sports programs, espe-cially women’s sports, after Title IX was passed in 1972.

Today, there are fourteen varsity sports at Whitman. “All . . . have been part of the program now for numerous years,” Snider said. He estimates that to-day, Whitman is in the top three or top half of the conference in most sports.

“I see Whitman athletics as build-ing to be very strong,” Snider said. He said that he feels that there has been a change just in the last fifteen years, in

that Whitman is “pursuing the same type of excellence that is also evident in our academic programs.”

Snider pointed out that this is made possible by greater resources, such as improved facilities, and more support from trustees. “A lot of these things that we have going for us now did not exist in the past,” he said.

“[Football] had just a tremendously positive effect on campus,” Snider said. But the positive effect of varsity sports can still be seen today—Snider cites the example of the women’s volleyball game several weeks ago against Willamette University, at which hundreds of spec-tators sat in the bleachers, cheering for Whitman.

Missionary football: a ghost of Whitman’s past

Wh i t m a n th r o u g h t h e ag e s

Armed suspect apprehended by

campus securityOn Oct. 14, 1999, there is a large front

page story about an armed suspect who

was apprehended by campus security.

After a series of burglaries, during which

a backpack, a leather jacket, a purse and

two unnamed items were stolen from

various people on campus, 20 rounds of

ammunition were found in the garbage.

Mike Austen, then a senior, found a .380

semi-automatic pistol in the grass the next

morning.

by William Witwer Staff Reporter

How much has life at Whitman really changed in the last 10 years? In the last 30? To find out, The Pioneer traveled back in time—or maybe just to the Penrose Library archives—and dug up some front page news from Octobers past.

“Shangri-La” fire injures four

On Oct. 4, 1990, the front page report examines how a campus-owned house burned down in a fire. There was an es-timated $40,000 worth of damage to the house, which was affectionately known as “Shangri-La,” and was leased to two Whitman students (Jason Jercinovic and Mike Berger). There were several inju-ries, and the building was too severely damaged to be rebuilt.

German Defense Minister Visits Campus

On Oct. 6, 1988, the front page story details a campus visit by a member of the German De-fense Ministry the previous Tuesday. Deputy Chief of Policy Planning Dieter Mahncke ar-gued that U.S. troops not be withdrawn from Germany: “Without this deterrent, he believes, West Germany could risk ‘Finlandization’; the Germans would be forced to acquiesce to Mos-cow’s political demands.” The troops were also there to prevent what he called “outright attack” in which the Warsaw pact apparently had the ad-vantage.

Writer Jack Anderson captivates crowd with humorous political rhetoric

On Oct. 4, 1984, the front page story

outlines a humorous lecture on politics

by Pulitzer Prize-winning writer Jack

Anderson, discussing “the upcoming

presidential election, American politics,

the Soviet Union, communism and gov-

ernment spending last Saturday.” Today,

there is no Soviet Union or communism

to worry about, but the other issues are

exactly the same.

For almost a century, the greek system has played a prominent role in Whitman cul-ture. Providing opportunities for social connections, leadership, philanthropy and fun, every greek has stories to tell. Here are a few glimpses of greek life from the past.

Compiled by Kristen Coverdale Staff Reporter

by Hanna OryFeature Editor

William O. Douglas ’20Douglas was sworn in as a U.S. Supreme

Court Justice in 1939. With a term lasting 36 years, he is the longest-serving justice in the history of the Supreme Court.

Ralph Cordiner ’22From 1950-1958, Cordiner served as Presi-

dent of General Electric Corporation. He later went on to become Chairman and CEO of the company.

Walter Brattain ’24Brattain was a physicist and co-inventor of

the transistor, for which he won the 1956 Nobel Prize in Physics.

Al Ullman ’35Representing Oregon’s 2nd congressional

district, Ullman served as a member of the United States House of Representatives for 24 years.

Lucile Lomen ’41Lomen was the first woman to ever serve as a law clerk for a Supreme Court justice. She

served under William Douglas, a Whitman alum himself.

Adam West ’51West, an actor, is best known for his lead role

in the 1960s TV series and film “Batman.” Since 2000, West has made regular appearances on the animated series “Family Guy,” on which he plays Mayor Adam West, a parody of himself.

Webb Miller ’65Miller is a professor and computational biol-

ogy pioneer. He was recently featured in Time Maga-zine 100, 2009: Scientists and Thinkers, amongst the most influential scientists in the world.

Morten Laurisden ’65As a vocal composer, Lauridsen was previ-

ously the composer-in-residence of the Lost Angeles Master Chorale. Lauridsen’s vocal compositions are featured regularly in concerts worldwide.

Ryan Crocker’‘71Crocker is a former U.S. Ambassador to Iraq,

most recently, and previously to Lebanon, Kuwait, Syria and Pakistan. He is also a recipient of the Presi-dential Medal of Freedom.

Ingrid Backstrom ’00An internationally ranked professional

skier, Backstrom has been featured in Warren Mill-er’s film “Impact” (2004) and was the only female to

be featured as one of Powder Magazine’s Fu-ture Big Mountain Heroes in 2002.

TOP 10 notable Whitman alums

by Hadley JolleyStaff Reporter

In the 1950s, Whitman women had a curfew and a dress code. Men were not allowed past the Great Hall in Prent-iss. Men either lived off-campus or in a fraternity after their first year. Women did not live off campus at all, and their rooms were inspected weekly.

“This was the point when colleges made all the decisions,” said Associate Dean of Students and Student Ser-vices Barbara Max-well. “In the 1960s things started to break down.”

In his book on the history of Whitman, “Tradi-tion in a Turbulent Age,” alumnus G. Thomas Edwards’ outlines a philoso-phy called “In Loco Parentis,” where the college takes the place of a parent in keeping watch over students.

“From 1964 to 1971 at smaller col-leges and universities across the nation, the practice of in loco parentis—espe-cially with regard to women students—drew more attention and involvement than any other single campus issue,” Edwards wrote.

Many of the protests challenged rules and policies about who had to live on campus and what rules they had to fol-low. One of the first sources of discontent was the double standard that allowed men but not women to live off-campus. Other issues included visiting hours, curfews, confidential reports on stu-dents living in residence halls and alcohol policy.

Today, there are no cur-

fews or restrictions on visitors to dorms and some dorm rooms are coed.

“Recently, we have allowed coed roommates with the acknowledgement of a guardian, although not for first-year students,” said Associate Dean of Students and Director of Residence Life Nancy Tavell.

But current residence life policies show the influence of the 1960s and ’70s: Whitman still requires students to live two years on-campus.

“Most of our peers, small liberal arts col-leges, have at least a two-year residency requirement,” said Tavelli. “It’s a way to get the residence expe-rience.”

Of course, not all students spend those two years in residence halls. Interest houses are also popular among sopho-more students.

“ I n t e r e s t houses have become more important over the past ten years,” said Tavelli. “It’s a great opportunity and the greek sys-tem has gotten less popular.”

According to Tavelli, the first interest house was the French house, which was founded in 1968. Other language hous-es were also early starters, while more houses were founded in the 1980s and 90s. They provide a smaller community than the residence halls, as well as the opportunity to dedicate time to an in-terest. Any student of sophomore status or higher can apply to live in an interest

house.

In Loco Parentis

From 1964-1971 at smaller colleges and universities across the nation, the practice of in loco parentis–espe-cially with regard to women students–drew more attention and in-volvement than any other single campus is-sue.

G. Thomas Edwards, author of “Traditions in a Turbulent Age”

When I was a junior at Whitman, my mom passed away and it was right in the midst of finals and my sorority sent around an emergency note in everyone’s mailbox to let them know that she had passed and asked everyone to come if they could and right in the middle of finals about 30 girls came to rest her in the Tri-Cities. For me, that was an amaz-ing show of support that I hadn’t expected at all.

Deanna Laidler, Delta Gamma

When I was a freshman, we had a pledge project. Dwight Eisenhower was campaigning for president of the United States and he came to Walla Walla. Our pledge project was to go down to the parade that was being held for the candidate Eisenhower and sell these cigarette light-ers with his image engraved on it. Can you imagine asking freshmen girls to do that in this day and age? We sold them—we went up to total strangers, “Would you like to buy this lighter for $5”, and that’s how we raised some money for, I don’t know, a dance or something.

Karen Elder Pribilsky, Kappa Kappa Gamma

I remember when the TKEs, before they bought the house on the corner, there was a driveway that went around behind the TKE house. Some guys got the idea [that] it’d be fun to divert traffic around in that very narrow [driveway]. So they got a bunch of straw, piled it across Isaacs Avenue, and then had detour signs. This was done at about midnight when the traffic was pretty low, and as the traffic would come down around Isaacs, there were detour signs around the TKE house, and that lasted for about an hour or so until a guy in a big trick [drove up]. There was no way he could get through that, so he stopped and investigated the barricade and opened it up to traffic, but while it lasted it was interesting. I remember one year, they got a team of Shetland ponies and the candidates for the Betas in through the chapel, which was the only auditorium on campus, and they came run-ning in in a chariot drawn by ponies and that created quite a sensation.

Pete Reid, Phi Delta Theta

alden

alden

Kappa Kappa Gamma’s pledge class of 1961 poses outside of their section in Prentiss Hall during recruitment.

contributed by Kristen coverdale

Chinese speaker still absent

On Oct. 5, 1989, The Pioneer’s front

page story profiled the then-native

speaker in the Chinese interest house,

Jian Xu-Fai, in a riveting account de-

tailing his failure to report to campus

on Sept. 28, the day he was scheduled

to arrive. Visa restrictions “brought on

by violent civil unrest in the People’s

Republic of China,” probably relating to

the incident at Tiananmen Square, pre-

vented him from doing so.

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Conceptions of acceptable student behavior has evolved considerably in recent decades, as college pol-icy reflects

The class of1969 football team makes a last effort in their final successful season.

Greek By the Numbers

12 FEATURE 13

This month in Pioneer history