Whittier College is a private liberal arts college in Whittier, California. As of 2003, the college has 1,535 enrolled students. The liberal arts university was founded in 1887 by members of the Religious Society of Friends, who named it after Friends (Quaker) poet John Greenleaf Whittier. Student athletes at Whittier College are known today as the Poets in his honor. The college is no longer affiliated with the Friends, though it does retain some of their ceremonial traditions.