Some students may not even know it, but our campus has the position of presidential spouse. While it is a role that isn’t a direct visible position on campus, Dr. Wanda Whitmore brings a whole new meaning to the role.
For Whitmore, she views her standing as an opportunity to enhance Lasell’s environment in her supporting role.
“I think that the fact that this place goes from toddlers to senior (citizens) is extraordinary in what it can do both internally and externally. And that’s actually what is most exciting about partnering with him in this,” Whitmore said.
Whitmore is originally from Turner Station, a town in Baltimore County, Maryland. Her Massachusetts roots started at Harvard University, where Dr. Whitmore double majored in English and American Literature, and African-American studies.
While at Harvard, Whitmore went on to meet her future husband, Eric Turner. Dr. Whitmore continued her education at the Columbia School of Journalism, which allowed her to discover her passion: documentary filmmaking.
While at Columbia School of Journalism, Whitmore shared one of the stories she covered for one of her classes, to enhance her storytelling abilities, “I joke about the places that they send you in New York when you first are trying to learn these things. I remember being sent into the subway, getting attached to Kareem Abdul-Jabbar’s father, who was a transit cop, and doing the story on him for the first couple of weeks of school. So everything is to me an exploration in the story.”
After wrapping up her degree at Columbia University’s School of Journalism, Whitmore supported her sister’s production company as a writer when she was freelancing in New York.
Eventually, Whitmore and her sister Valerie Whitmore decided to combine their talents and create their own independent production company, which is called “Legacy Inc.”, which produces a variety of documentaries, television news, and corporate stories for audiences to consume. One of their first pieces was about Kenyan long-distance runners, which was produced in partnership with National Geographic television.
“For us, it’s important to give people who don’t have a voice and give them one, you know, we both had network experience. And if you can bring that to somebody who has no voice, then you’re giving them a way to communicate at a level that’s high and wide and targeted.” Whitmore said.
The most recent project that Dr. Whitmore produced was a documentary called ‘Grounded’.
“It’s about six African-American couples in Boston who have contributed to the city. They came here for school. Most people leave, they stayed. These couples are working in business, philanthropy, law, everything you can think of, and that story brings Boston to people through collaboration as partners,” Whitmore shared.
With her love of storytelling, Whitmore shares that with her mother, who was the church clerk at New Shiloh Baptist Church in Turner’s Station and wrote obituaries for those who passed in her hometown.
“She had written these incredible obituaries for these people. And I thought, Wow, my mom could be writing anything. She could have continued writing, having this big family. And what her gift was, [to] this community, was to tell people’s life stories. The solo doctor practitioner, the school teacher, the steel worker, and seeing her make these simple things become more grand and more accessible to everybody, and to honor them,” Whitmore said.
Whitmore, President Turner, and their family have been living in Newton since 1991, and she supported President Turner’s involvement on Lasell’s Board of Trustees. From his first internal role as Vice President of Graduate and Professional Studies to his selection as President, Whitmore has been a key part of the entire journey.
“The first conversation he had with me about perhaps pursuing the presidency was almost like every other thing we do. ‘Are you in for this journey?’ and ‘Are you in for this journey?’ I believe in President Turner, he can run anything and to run something that’s so close to his heart means it’s going to get the benefit of everything he has and so it wasn’t a hard thing [to decide],” Whitmore said.
Although Whitmore’s role is one built on the foundation of Lasell’s president, she has transformed the role into something more than just a title, and she is honored to serve as a partner with President Turner.
“When people say you want to have a partner in life, you want someone who is alive and has heart and has outreach to other people, we’re similar in that regard,” Whitmore commented. “He makes you want to help innovate and protect traditions, and that is something that I think is unique about Lasell.”
–Oct. 7, 2025–