Interviews

To explore the oral history interviews in full detail, here is the entire archival collection. 

The interviews summarized below were conducted in 2019 and 2020 with interested LGBTQ+ Whitman College alumni, staff, and faculty. Interviews touch on childhood memories and life after leaving Whitman, but primarily focus on the experiences of community members while at Whitman College, including their realizations and/or explorations of gender identity/sexuality, interactions with other community members, and their relationship/involvement with campus LGBTQ+ community and activism. 

Alexis "Alex" Cofield: 

A 1993 History major, Alex Cofield came out as a lesbian in her first year at Whitman. As a founding member of Whitman's Coalition Against Homophobia, she played a big role in LGBT activism at Whitman during her time as a student. In this interview, she reflects on the confidence and leadership skills she gained as a result and the impact they had on her life after graduating. Cofield also discusses her experiences as a LGBTQ+ student in Walla Walla and her academic achievements. 

Listen to or read the interview here. 

Bex MacFife:

A 2011 graduate who majored in Rhetoric and Film Studies, Rebecca "Bex" MacFife is a former intern for GLBTQ, the LGBTQ+ students only group at Whitman. In this interview, MacFife discusses her complicated relationship with her gender and gender expression throughout her life, leading to her current non-conforming style. She also explains how her internship and her experiences as a LGBTQ student at Whitman inspired her career path that has focused on sex education and sexuality. 

Listen to or read the interview here. 

Chris Wolf: 

A 1998 Psychology major, Chris Wolf was involved in theatre, dance, and the Whitman Gay Lesbian Bisexual Association while a student at Whitman. She credits the GLBA for giving her a space to explore her feelings and find community that supported her in coming out as bisexual while in college. Throughout this interview, Wolf discusses her interest in different kinds of activism and her perspective on the changes in LGBTQ+ activism and community over time. 

Listen to or read the interview here. 

Colleen Boken: 

A 2019 History and Art History double major, Colleen Boken discusses her journey toward accepting her identity and her experiences at Whitman. After coming out, she found the community to be very supportive and made a lot of friends. In this interview, she talks about her relationships in the community, her Voices of Whitman speech in her senior year, the groups that she was involved in and the art exhibit that she put together thanks to the David Nord Award. 

Listen to or read the interview here. 

Elana Stone: 

A 2006 graduate who designed their own independent major that they called Social Power in the US, Elana Stone was a leader of Coalition Against Homophobia and a Resident Assistant while a student, then stayed on as a Resident Director for two years before leaving Walla Walla. In this interview, Stone reflects on their circuitous journey to Whitman and their long-held interest in social justice, and especially LGBTQ+, activism. Near the end of the interview, they discuss how being openly nonbinary in the workforce has impacted their life in recent years.

Listen to or read the interview here.  

Jed Schwendiman: 

Most of this interview is dedicated to the experiences that Jed Schwendiman, a 1992 Psychology major, had while working as a staff member for Whitman College from 1992 - 1995 and 2000 - 2011. Mainly working in Residence Life, Schwendiman got involved in the Whitman LGBTQ+ community for the first time by advising GLBTQ. He also discusses his own journey toward accepting his sexuality during his youth and coming out when he and his partner moved back to Whitman in 2000. 

Listen to or read the interview here. This interview is currently restricted to Whitman community members only. Please log into Arminda to listen to it. 

Kate Bracher: 

A professor from 1967 to 1998, Professor Kate Bracher was the sole Astronomy professor at Whitman College for much of her career. Although Bracher was not openly out during her time at Whitman, many colleagues and students knew. In 1998, she retired to live with her formerly long distance partner. In this interview, Bracher reflects on her experiences as one of Whitman's few female professors, the changing norms and attitudes in terms of gender and LGBTQ+ issues over that period of time and her relationships with students. 

Listen to or read the interview here. 

Lynn Greenough: 

A 1986 German major, Lynn Greenough was a student before there were any official LGBTQ+ student groups at Whitman. In this interview, she reminiscences on how many of her friends from her first year turned out to be gay and how they developed their own gay social network. They held semi-formal meetings with allies like Sharon Kaufman-Osborn as well as gay faculty and went to gay dances held by local community members. Greenough comments on what it was like to be gay in the eighties, in particular the pressure to not talk about one's identity, and how things have changed since then. 

Listen to or read the interview here. 

Maxx Fidalgo: 

A 2018 graduate from Whitman College, Maxx Fidalgo is from a large Azorean-Portugese immigrant family. Growing up in Massachusetts, he came out gradually over his teenage and young adult years as a trans man. At Whitman, Fidalgo was heavily involved in the theater department as well as interning for GLBTQ. He reflects on the support that the queer community provided him, especially the mentorship of Prof. Susanne Beechey, her husband Everett Maroon, and staff member Kyle Martz. Fidalgo also comments on his experiences as a trans guy at Whitman, both positive and negative.

Listen to or read the interview here.

Michael Flannery: 

A 1976 History major, Michael Flannery grew up in Spokane, WA and has lived much of his life there. Now a current member of Whitman's President's Advisory Board, Flannery also participates in local politics in Spokane to promote LGBTQ+ issues. In this interview, he discusses his life at Whitman, being in a fraternity and coming out in his 20s. He spends a significant portion of the interview talking about his life after Whitman, living in Spokane as a gay man and his involvement with Whitman since his graduation. 

This interview is still being processed and will be uploaded when finished. 

Robert Tobin: 

A former German professor, Professor Robert Tobin came to Whitman out of graduate school in 1989 and stayed here until 2008. Soon after his arrival on campus, Professor Tobin became involved with the fledgling LGBTQ student group, the Gay Lesbian Association, and helped found the activist group, Coalition Against Homophobia. In the first interview, Tobin reminisces about his first months at Whitman. He comments on the creation of these two groups and their impacts on campus. He also discusses his role in LGBTQ+ activism and as an gay professor, including his class "Sexuality and Textuality," one of the first sexuality-focused classes at Whitman. 

In the second interview, Tobin expounds further on his class "Sexuality and Textuality" aka "Sex and Text" and other achievements for LGBTQ+ research at Whitman like the creation of the Gender Studies Department and the David Nord Award.  Looking back at life in Walla Walla, he reflects on the homophobia that he remembered in the community. The interview ends with his thoughts on the future of LGBTQ+ community and activism. 

Listen to or read part one here. 

Listen to or read part two here. 

Tristen Shay: 

A 2004 Art History and Gender Studies double major, Tristen Shay grew up in a rural area of Oregon and faced homophobia for being openly queer and gender non-conforming. At Whitman, Shay found that they still stood out but were accepted by most to their surprise. Quickly getting involved in LGBTQ+ life here, he navigated the mostly closeted social networks while leading Coalition Against Homophobia. In this interview, Shay also reflects on how they and a friend founded the Gender Studies major by being its first graduates. Throughout the interview, he discusses his evolved attitudes about LGBTQ activism as well as his own gender identity. 

Listen to or read the interview here.