After $10 million gift, Whitman College to meet full demonstrated financial need for WA students

Whitman College said it will meet the full demonstrated financial need for students from Washington, following a $10 million donation to create a new scholarship.

The scholarship will be available to students starting college in fall 2023. When the scholarship is available for all four class years, it will help about 500 students, which is one-third of all students, according to Whitman College.

“We are deeply grateful for the impact this scholarship will have on future generations of students and are so appreciative of the Weingarts’ generous philanthropy, which makes this long-held aspiration a reality,” said Whitman College President Kathleen Murray in a news release. “This magnificent gift is especially meaningful as it comes from members of the Whitman and Walla Walla community.”

The donation was made by the family of a long-time faculty member and is named in honor of J. Walter Weingart and Kathie Weingart. The two married in 1967 before moving to Walla Walla, where J. Walter Weingart taught history at Whitman for 35 years and Kathie Weingart was a psychology instructor at Walla Walla Community College for more than 30 years. J. Walt Weingart retired in 2002 and died in 2021.

Previously, the Weingart family also established an endowment to provide need-based scholarship assistance to students transferring to Whitman from community colleges.

Financial aid at Whitman has grown by 50% since 2015, according to the statement.

The gift “will eliminate any remaining barriers to make a Whitman education within reach for Washington state students,” Interim Vice President for Admission and Financial Aid Adam Miller said in the statement.