Whittier College
Consistently ranked as one of “America’s Best Colleges” by Forbes, U.S. News & World Report, and The Princeton Review, Whittier College is a four-year, residential college of the liberal arts and sciences, serving about 1,200 undergraduates and more than 15,000 College alumni. Located in Southern California, Whittier offers more than 50 majors in the humanities, social sciences, and natural sciences, and is widely known for its highly diverse student population and federal designation as a Hispanic Serving Institution (HSI).www.whittier.edu
18
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Search complete. 18 mentions across 11 episodes found for "Whittier College".
Nov 2, 2026
David McCloskeyHOST
He gets into Harvard and then famously cannot afford to go.
David McCloskeyHOST
Goes to Whittier College instead, not quite Harvard.
David McCloskeyHOST
Then he goes to Duke Law.
David McCloskeyHOST
He applies to a whole bunch of New York law firms.
Tim FanningGUEST
Yeah.
Tim FanningGUEST
And where'd you go to school? I went to Whittier College in L.A., and I played – Basketball and golf.
Tim FanningGUEST
Awesome.
Tim FanningGUEST
Division III.
Mary Sue YounGUEST
We had a pretty strong set of students every year who came in interested in that.
Mary Sue YounGUEST
Before that, I worked at Whittier College out in California.
Mary Sue YounGUEST
And then in my time here at College Coach, I have worked with a lot of students in a variety of capacities, but have had specialties at certain points of working with some of our pre-med applicants and working with them through the process of applying and helping them kind of figure out what their next steps are going to be.
Mary Sue YounGUEST
Awesome.
A.D. TippettHOST
He excelled academically and developed an early interest in debate, public affairs, and competition.
A.D. TippettHOST
He attended Whittier College, a small institution in Southern California, where he distinguished himself as a student and debater.
A.D. TippettHOST
He later attended Duke University School of Law, North Carolina, graduating in 1937.
A.D. TippettHOST
Although Nixon performed well academically, he did not immediately enter the elite circles of American politics or business, lacking wealth, connections, and, as noted earlier, that certain charisma who enchant people that figures like Ronald Reagan and Bill Clinton had in abundance.
Adryana CortezHOST
The hardworking, ambitious go-getter had to reject the Ivy League offer.
Adryana CortezHOST
In the fall of 1930, he entered the local Whittier College, where he excelled at everything there as well.
Adryana CortezHOST
He signed up for football.
Adryana CortezHOST
He ran for student body president.
Geoff ShepardSOUNDBITE_SPEAKER
And that was a big, big early
Adryana CortezHOST
victory.
Adryana CortezHOST
It was at Whittier College that Nixon got an early taste of the establishment.
Adryana CortezHOST
The well-off of the student body were part of a social group known as the Franklins.
Tim NeyHOST
Mm
Darcy Nancy PironGUEST
... at Whittier College together, um, coming from families, you know, that didn't know a lot about college, and they're really the first to trailblaze for our entire family, which is crazy to think.
Darcy Nancy PironGUEST
Um, and they together made a pact, and they always verbalized this to us, that they-
Tim NeyHOST
Mm-hmm
ScottHOST
Whittier.
ScottHOST
And the, the brother died of tuberculosis, coughing blood everywhere, and then l- Little Dick, as, uh, goes to Whittier College.
ScottHOST
And a- as I've said, I think, before, uh, goes on a date with Pat, asks her to marry him on the first date.
ScottHOST
She says-
Leyla AliHOST
Were you pre-med? Yeah.
Lisa HomGUEST
At one point I was pre-med, but I primarily, so I got my bachelor's in biology and I did undergraduate cancer research at Whittier College.
Lisa HomGUEST
And then I went on to get my PhD in biological sciences where I studied cancer and aging at the University of Notre Dame.
Leyla AliHOST
Oh, okay.
Chris TerrillNARRATOR
But he had to reject this offer because his brother was sick with tuberculosis and his mother had to take care of him.
Chris TerrillNARRATOR
So he decided instead to go to Whittier College, where he would support his family there.
Chris TerrillNARRATOR
He did incredibly well, and then he went on to go to Duke Law School, where he graduated third in his class.
Richard NixonSOUNDBITE_SPEAKER
And then in 1940, probably the best thing that ever happened to me happened.
Sally GangaHOST
But if they didn't have it, that was also completely fine.
Sally GangaHOST
And that was fine for Chicago, just the way it was fine for Reed, just the way it was fine for Whittier College in California.
Sally GangaHOST
But yeah, if you feel more comfortable having that as a prop, if you have a notebook, it's all going to be fine.
Sally GangaHOST
But I want to dive in now to...
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