Whitman College - Student Life

Student Life

About 1500 undergraduate students are enrolled in Whitman College, 56% female to 44% male. There are over one hundred student activities, many of which focus on student activism and social improvement, such as Whitman Direct Action and Global Medicine. A quarter of the student body participates in some for the college's music program, in one of the 15 music groups and ensembles, including three recognized A cappella groups.

Greek life is notable on campus; there is a high percentage of students, around 33% involved in the Greek system. The four women's sororities, (Kappa Alpha Theta, Delta Gamma, Alpha Phi, and Kappa Kappa Gamma) are housed in the Prentiss Hall, while the and four men's fraternities, (Sigma Chi, Beta Theta Pi, Phi Delta Theta, and Tau Kappa Epsilon) are housed in fraternity houses north of Isaacs Avenue.

The Delta chapter of Phrateres, a non-exclusive, non-profit social-service club, also had a brief existance at Whitman. It was installed there in 1930, but became inactive before 1950.

Whitman's Speech and Debate Program is active in policy (CEDA-NDT) and parliamentary (NPDA-NPTE) debate as well as individual events. Each year, 24 to 30 students participate in the program. Students travel to tournaments throughout the west coast as well as nationally.