The QC, Vol. 90, No. 14 • January 15, 2004

              The Voice of Whittier College Since 1914
Quaker Campus
FAMOUS SOCIETY ALUMNI
Don't worry guys, even Richard Nixon was rejected by
the Franklins • Campus Life, Page 8
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BASEBALL PLAYER HONORED
Junior pitcher Randy Sobek was named
Handicapped Athlete of the Year • Sports, Page 14
Thursday, January 15, 2004
Issue 1 4 - Volume 90
Web.Whittier.Edu/QC
President Will to take presidency at Gettysburg
College; to leave Whittier at Spring term's end
Whittier College President
Katherine Haley Will announced
that she will leave the College at the
completion of this academic school
year, and has accepted the position
of President at Gettysburg College
in Pennsylvania. Will has served as
president of Whittier College since
1999. and is the first woman in the
College's history to hold the position.
"There are rhythms and
progressions in any career.
1 was at a place where I
might have stayed for five
more years at Whittier easily, in which case I would
have considered a new capital campaign to be a major
project for that next five
years," Will said. "But it is
better not to have a president leave during a campaign, so that was a key
consideration for me." Will also
cited personal reasons for making
her decision to take the new presidency job. "Gettysburg is a new and
attractive opportunity that is nearer
to my husband's and my families,
and to our farm in New Hampshire."
Will also said that she was attracted to Gettysburg by its rich
history, and the opportunities that
Patrick Holmes
QC News Co-Editor
working there.will provide. "I like
the way they have connected their
mission as a liberal arts college to
the sense of place and history that
one finds on the Gettysburg battlefield, where the college is located,
by featuring leadership, public service and values," Will said. "It has
a long, distinguished history and an
endowment of $175 million."
As "Will looks to her future at
"A strong foundation has been built
for the next president, and the College community should feel confident
in our ability to continue moving
forward under new leadership in the
future."
Richard Gilchrist, Chair
Whittier College Board of Trustees
Gettysburg, she cites a strong career as President at Whittier. "The
things I feel best about accomplishing at Whittier [are] building a very
strong senior management team,
revamping and strengthening the
budget, leading a strategic planning
process that set the course for the
next 10 years, reducing our draw on
endowment, raising the money for
and building (on time and on bud
get) our beautiful Rose
Hills Center for Library
and Information Resources, improving our investment strategy, reorganizing our alumni program
and building our Board of
Trustees."
According to Chair of
the Whittier College Board
of Trustees Richard Gilchrist: "Starting
with her arrival in
1999, Kate's
achievements impacted the College
across the board."
In addition to the
accomplishments
that Will mentioned, Gilchrist
also stated, "During her first year,
Kate participated in
completing our successful
$70M campaign: Endowing the Tradition."
Professor of English
andChairof Whi ttier College Faculty Bill Geiger
said "[Will] helped us
weathertroubled financial
times, brought in a group
See WILL, page 7
QC FILE PHOTO
Katherine Haley Will is the 13th president of Whittier College.
Societies pledge new members
PAUL GALLAHER / QC ASST. PHOTO EDITOR
The Rock as painted by the Metaphonian Society.
On Tuesday, Jan. 6, New
Member Education for students
pledging societies began with a
mandatory meeting for all new
members at 6:00 p.m. in the Science Building, and was followed
by the Coke Acceptance for women joining societies at 8:00 p.m. in
the Memorial Chapel. Pledging
will continue until Sunday, Jan.
25, when the New Member Education ends with the New Member
Convocation in the Ruth B. Shannon Center at 7:00 p.m.
"There are over 60 students in
the New Member Education this
year. There has been some change
to that number, but very few students have changed their minds
Tammy Marashlian
QC Assistant News Editor
and 'de-pledged'," said Dean of
Students Tracy Poon Tambascia.
This year the Palmers have the
most pledges on campus with eighteen girls. It has been the largest
pledge class in over 20 years. The
Athenians have four girls, along
with eight pledges for the Meta-
phonians, four forthe Ionians, and
eleven for the Thalians. For the
male societies, the Penns have
three men pledging, the Franklins
have two and the Orthogonians
have three pledges. Even though
the Lancer Society began with four
pledges, they currently have none.
As with each year of pledging,
the societies and pledges follow
the guidelines in the Whittier Col
lege New Member Education Information pamphlet. "There were
no additional requirements imposed this year that were different
from last year," said Tambascia.
"I met with all of the NME
organizers from each society last
semester and discussed all of their
activities and projects, including
those that take place off campus.
There is no rule about how many
activities must be on campus versus off campus, but we talk a lot
about safety. The societies list contact information and addresses for
all off-campus activities," said
Tambascia. Of the activities, the
See PLEDGING, page 5