Whitman is an independent, co-ed, non-sectarian residential liberal arts college. It was originally established in 1859 as a seminary in honor of the late missionary Marcus Whitman but was re-chartered in 1883 as a four-year, degree granting college. Whitman currently has about 1400 students and a 10 to 1 student-faculty ratio.
Whitman college is widely regarded as having a very strong educational curriculum which includes the requirement to orally defend one's mastery of a major to the professors of the major before graduation will be allowed. The college prides itself on allowing very few professors to use teaching assistants, thus allowing students ready access to their professors.
Socially, Whitman College has a very strong fraternity/sorority system which encompasses more than half of the student body in most years, and focuses on leadership sound learning as much as the inherent social aspects. The campus fraternities include Phi Delta Theta, whose alumni includes actor Dirk Benedict of Battlestar Galactica and The A-Team television programs, and Beta Theta Pi whose alumni includes actor Adam West of the Batman television program.
External link