But first, let’s take the opportunity to reflect on some big announcements at the College. The 2024 calendar year was filled with newsworthy headlines. Here are a few that celebrate Whittier.
Whittier’s future athletic schedule will soon be even more active. Football is set to return in the 2026-27 academic year, while men’s lacrosse will come back in fall 2025. The programs will build on the College’s long-standing tradition of excellence, creating new and enhanced opportunities for exceptional student-athletes to thrive.
After serving in the interim position, Kristine E. Dillon ’73, Ph.D., was named the college’s 16th President in May. Her formal installation took place during Homecoming.
Other changes in College leadership include Delite Travis’s appointment as Vice President of Development, Xenia Markowitt stepping into her role as Vice President of Student Life and Dean of Students, and Ken Woods ’84 becoming Vice President for Strategic Enrollment Management. Additionally, the Whittier College Board of Trustees welcomed three returning members.
Under the new leadership, enrollment at Whittier went up approximately 45%. The school has also continued to make strides among liberal arts colleges in national rankings, placing among the top 20 national liberal arts colleges for social mobility in U.S. News & World Report Best Colleges 2025.
Whittier was also named one of the top 100 liberal arts colleges in the nation and is included in the top 100 best value schools list for national liberal arts colleges. Whittier also appears in The Princeton Review’s Best 390 Colleges: 2025 Edition and among Washington Monthly’s annual top 100 liberal arts colleges, as well as in the top 35 for public service.
This year’s Homecoming attendance was a strong kickoff to the annual Society Challenge. However, the connected community came out to show their support in more ways than one.
The ninth annual Big Poet Give raised $237,657 from 445 donors — a 65.6% increase in funds and a 73.8% increase in the number of donors. And the Whittier Now! initiative has boosted affordability and career readiness, extended library hours and services, and launched the Poet MoWheel concession cart.
We’re proud of our Poets — past, present, and future — and we highlighted a few this year who are making a splash in Southern California and beyond. Emily Baeza ’13 shared what it was like to work on the Oscar-nominated film American Fiction, while Ketchum Marsh ’16 is the Florida area scout for the Milwaukee Brewers. Fans of the Netflix show Love on the Spectrum will spot Devin Morrissey ’16, and LAist’s Gab Chabrán ’06 was part of NPR’s Climate Solutions Week.
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