A central part of the mission is to introduce young people to the performing arts, enhance education, and expose children to new ideas and other cultures.
[4] The rights to the site of Brooklyn College, initially occupied by Native Americans, were transferred to Dutch settlers in 1636 in exchange for one hundred guilders, two-and-one-half tons of beer, three long-barreled guns, and some ammunition.
Since the college served a large, urban, and unusually heterogeneous student body, it became evident that the campus needed a grand assembly hall.
During World War II, Brooklyn College's President Harry D. Gideonse wrote a proposal to the City Planning Commission for auditorium funding.
Among the performers to grace the stage of the Walt Whitman Theatre are Luciano Pavarotti, Isaac Stern, Gregory Hines, Margot Fonteyn, Beverly Sills, Ray Charles, Joan Sutherland, Tony Bennett, Les Ballets Africains, Isaac Hayes, Vladimir Horowitz, André Watts, The Temptations, Arthur Rubinstein, the National Dance Theatre Company of Jamaica, José Greco, the Moiseyev Dance Company, Suzanne Farrell, Peter Martins, and Itzhak Perlman.