About page

The Students & Alumni of Color Coalition arose from grassroots student and alumni organizing to address the following question raised at a FUBU* meeting in May 2017: Why would we return to Whitman, a homogeneously white campus? For many of us, being a person of color at Whitman can be draining and isolating. Racism at Whitman is especially experienced by students of color who live along intersections of black, brown, indigenous, first generation, international, disabled, queer, and trans identities. Students of color thirty years ago and students today face many of the same issues.

Community is why we would return to Whitman. Ultimately, what allowed many of us to survive Whitman is the community we have built among ourselves. This is not to erase the differences in our experiences or to ignore the support we have received from allies during our time at Whitman. However, we believe the best way to advocate for ourselves is to build solidarity between students and alumni of color as a group explicitly by students and alumni of color, for students and alumni of color.

We are dedicated to extending and strengthening that community between current students and alumni of color. We are driven to make Whitman a place in which current students of color cannot only survive, but thrive.

The Coalition works towards this goal by first facilitating communication, connection, and community among alumni of color and between alumni of color and current students of color to provide the representation and community support that students of color deserve.