Whitman College, Princeton University
Encyclopedia
Residential college
A residential college is an organisational pattern for a division of a university that places academic activity in a community setting of students and faculty, usually at a residence and with shared meals, the college having a degree of autonomy and a federated relationship with the overall...
s at Princeton University
Princeton University
Princeton University is a private research university located in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. The school is one of the eight universities of the Ivy League, and is one of the nine Colonial Colleges founded before the American Revolution....
, New Jersey, United States. The college is named after Meg Whitman
Meg Whitman
Margaret Cushing "Meg" Whitman is an American business executive. She is the President and Chief Executive Officer of Hewlett-Packard. A native of Long Island, New York, she is a graduate of Princeton University and Harvard Business School...
, former CEO of eBay
EBay
eBay Inc. is an American internet consumer-to-consumer corporation that manages eBay.com, an online auction and shopping website in which people and businesses buy and sell a broad variety of goods and services worldwide...
, following her $30 million donation to build the college. The structure was designed by architect Demetri Porphyrios
Demetri Porphyrios
Demetri Porphyrios is a Greek architect and author who currently practises architecture in London as principal of the firm Porphyrios Associates. In addition to practice and writing, Porphyrios has held a number of teaching positions in the United States, the United Kingdom and Greece. He is...
. Construction of Whitman College was completed in Fall of 2007; 2007–08 marked the inaugural academic year for the college.
Whitman is a four-year residential college, open to students of all four academic classes. Its sister two-year college is Forbes College
Forbes College
The Malcolm S. Forbes Jr. '70 College is one of the six residential colleges that house all freshmen and sophomores at Princeton University. The College was a gift to the school by Malcolm S. Forbes Sr. '41 in 1984 in honor of his son, Steve...
. Although it is possible for any upperclassman to live in Whitman, priority for housing is given to those upperclassmen who lived in either Whitman or Forbes as underclassmen.
The master of Whitman is Harvey S. Rosen
Harvey S. Rosen
Harvey S. Rosen is the John L. Weinberg Professor of Economics and Business Policy at Princeton University. His research focuses on public finance. He attended the University of Michigan for his undergraduate studies and Harvard University for graduate studies...
, the John L. Weinberg
John Weinberg
John Livingston Weinberg was an American banker and businessperson, running Goldman Sachs from 1976 to 1990.- Biography :...
Professor of Economics
Economics
Economics is the social science that analyzes the production, distribution, and consumption of goods and services. The term economics comes from the Ancient Greek from + , hence "rules of the house"...
and Business Policy. The Dean is Dr. Rebecca Graves-Bayazitoglu, the former Director of Studies for Rockefeller College
Rockefeller College
John D. Rockefeller 3rd College, or "Rocky", is one of six residential colleges at Princeton University, USA. It was founded in 1982, making it the third residential college to be established at Princeton. It is named for John D...
. The Director of Studies is Dr. Cole M. Crittenden, the former Allston Burr Resident Dean of Currier House
Currier House
Currier House is one of twelve undergraduate residential Houses of Harvard College, in Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA. Opened in September 1970, it is named after Audrey Bruce Currier, a member of the Radcliffe College Class of 1956 who, along with her husband, was killed in a plane crash in 1967...
at Harvard University
Harvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, established in 1636 by the Massachusetts legislature. Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and the first corporation chartered in the country...
. The Director of Student Life is Christina Davis. Josue Lajeunesse
Josue Lajeunesse
Josue Lajeunesse is one of the main subjects of a documentary called The Philosopher Kings, which discusses the life stories of several American university custodians....
, a custodian at Whitman College, is a main subject of the documentary film The Philosopher Kings, and is also an active humanitarian working to make clean water accessible to the people of his home village of Lasource, Haiti.
The residential college comprises seven dormitories: South Baker Hall, Hargadon Hall, Fisher Hall, Lauritzen Hall, Class of 1981 Hall, Murley-Pivirotto Family Tower, and North Hall. The college's dining hall is called Community Hall, so named not for the University community but rather for the eBay community .
One of the more unusual aspects of the Whitman College system is its tradition of weekly "College Night" dinners, sponsored by the Whitman College Council and open to Whitman residents only. College Nights involve a number of different themes including Carnival, Halloween, and even a dinner themed after the NBC series "The Office". College Night dinners are popular among Whitman students but have sparked some controversy among the rest of the Princeton community.
Whitman College participates in seasonal intramural athletics, including soccer, volleyball and Ultimate Frisbee. Whitman also organizes a variety of other recreational activities, including a craft circle and the Jane Austen
Jane Austen
Jane Austen was an English novelist whose works of romantic fiction, set among the landed gentry, earned her a place as one of the most widely read writers in English literature, her realism and biting social commentary cementing her historical importance among scholars and critics.Austen lived...
literary society.
In 2007, the college was criticized in a Bloomberg Businessweek article for its "over-the-top comforts."