Of Mind & Heart Newsletter: December 1996

An update from Whitworth University President Bill Robinson

"And darkness covered the face of the city." When I wrote last month's Mind and Heart, I could not have imagined the once-in-a-lifetime events that would take place between then and now. On Tuesday, November 19th, an ice storm hit Spokane with a force that left most of the city without power for periods ranging from two hours to two weeks. Conditions created freezing rain with an adhesive quality that formed layers of ice on everything it touched. Power lines fell under their own weight, and from our windows we witnessed large branches and entire trees tumbling all over the campus. From my office, I looked over to our house and saw that the beautiful mountain ash in the front yard had split into thirds, with barely a stump left behind. A maple tree alongside the Music Building looked like a closed umbrella. We canceled school on Tuesday afternoon. That night, as I wandered around a candlelit dining hall, the mood was festive. When other college officials and I resumed conversations at 5:30 a.m. on Wednesday morning, the novelty of the students' situation had been replaced by shivering bodies, cold water, and declining water pressure. Based on the information we had, the only decision that made sense was to cancel the remaining days of school before Thanksgiving vacation. We are now convinced we did the right thing, but it has left all of us with a compressed workload that is staggering. Students and faculty alike are working hard to accomplish their academic requirements in a very short period of time. We will all work hard to recover from the loss of academic and operational productivity during the storm. I once read John Steinbeck's The Winter of Our Discontent; we'll always remember 1996 as "the Winter of our Disconnect."

Each year we send this December newsletter to an additional 13,000 people beyond the 6,000 folks on our regular mailing list. We hope it finds all of you filled with joy as your hearts see the light of the manger.

Finances

I begin this report with thanksgiving to all of you who supported Whitworth in 1996.You made many students' dreams come true by raising the accessibility and quality of a Whitworth education. They and we thank you.

Most of the money matters on our minds right now have to do with ice storm issues. Until Vice President for Business Affairs Tom Johnson finishes working his way through a labyrinth of insurance guidelines and regulations, we won't know exactly what our net losses look like. At last count, we had lost 115 trees, with one of them demolishing a car when it fell. The buildings were spared and our only real physical plant damage came while covering calls on a frenzied switchboard by candlelight. Evidently, wax dribbled into the board, and it had to be replaced.

One more observation about your financial support. This past Saturday, I heard the Governor of Utah, Mike Leavitt, speak about the proposed Western Governors' Virtual University. One of the principal motivations for the governors pursuing this initiative is the current cost of higher education. We are doing everything we can to hold down our expenses in order to keep Whitworth affordable. But without your support we would not be competitive. I have no doubt that getting on the 'net and clicking on British landmarks is an interesting and inexpensive way to learn (our students and faculty take these beneficial trips daily). But given the choice between a virtual tour as a part of a virtual course in a virtual university, and marching into Westminster Abbey with Leonard Oakland on a study tour, I want Leonard. Electronic learning is a great supplement but a bad substitute, no matter how inexpensive. Our goal is to attract enough financial support to the college that students of all economic strata can choose an education of heart and mind and Leonard.

Academic Affairs

At just about midnight last night, the Christmas-concert entourage arrived home from a magnificent weekend in the Seattle area. The decision to add a third concert this year on the West Side was endorsed enthusiastically by full houses that raved at the music and worshipped with our musicians. A program of majesty and simplicity was performed exquisitely by our students, who rallied to overcome the loss of six practice days to the ice storm. Under these difficult circumstances, Debbie Hansen, our interim choir director, superbly drew together all of the people and ideas needed to make the concert another great success. I have become convinced that the acclaim this concert receives is a result not only of what people hear from the voices and instruments of our talented students, but also of what they hear from within themselves as the reality of the incarnation moves from the hearts of the students into the hearts of those whom they lead in worship. One of the best parts of my job is having an excuse to attend all the Christmas concerts, and this year's performances bring additional joy to me as Bonnie Robinson is filling in on the organ, giving Michael Young a much-deserved year off. Our deep appreciation goes to all of the people who make the Christmas concert a highlight of the Whitworth experience.

Senior tenor Wade Baker and junior pianist Rebecca Uejio both won major music competitions recently. Wade's award allows him to compete at the national level for the Metropolitan Opera Award, and Rebecca will perform with the Washington-Idaho Symphony.

Preparation for our 10-year regional accreditation visit has begun. Communication Studies Professor Gordon Jackson has been named chair of the accreditation steering committee that will help prepare Whitworth for the September 1998 visit. I'm confident we will see our accreditation renewed, but it is important that we use the self-study process for benefits that go beyond external validation.

This fall, for the first time, the English Department is offering an honors section of Reading Literature. This special section is open to those students who receive a score of four or five on their advanced placement English exams. Fifteen students have accepted the challenge and have found the course, led by English Instructor Mary Elliott, to be rigorous but great fun.

We received a wonderful report from English Professor Leonard Oakland outlining the activities of this semester's British Isles Study Tour. Highlights included visiting all the medieval castles ever built by Edward I in Wales (part of a course led by History Professor Corliss Slack); studying artworks and sketching cathedrals in Edinburgh, Glasgow, Durham, and London (a course taught by Art Professor Barbara Filo); backstage tours after performances given by the Royal Shakespeare Company in Stratford; five days in Oxford, including choral evensong worship services in several Oxford chapels; and traipsing all over London with Leonard to fill the requirements of his English course, "London from Charles Dickens to Virginia Woolf." Whitworth semester-abroad study tours have become an important and distinctive part of the college curriculum.

Thanks to those of you who have made contributions to the Whitworth Jazz Ensemble's Australia trip. The group will be representing the United States at the Melbourne Jazz Festival during the week of January 21-27, and members are busy raising money to fund the trip.

Admissions & Enrollment

As of December 1, we had received 160 applications for "early decision" for the fall of 1997, and an additional 172 regular applications. We are right where we hoped to be in the size and quality of this year's application pool. In this vein, we are grateful to you for putting a mind-and-heart education within financial reach for many of these students who very much want to attend Whitworth College.

Parents, our Financial Aid Office is gearing up for 1997-98 awarding. Be watching for Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) renewal forms to arrive by mail during December and the first part of January.

"Whitworth Night" in Honolulu on November 26 was a great success. As I mentioned in the last Mind and Heart, this is a very important event, and this year's was well attended by students and parents alike. Thanks to all the Hawaii alumni, parents and friends who worked so hard to make our week in Hawaii successful. I felt somewhat guilty about the fact that I felt no guilt whatsoever about missing out on the last half of the power outage in Spokane. Our home was without power for nine days and, frankly, I can think of no better place to ride out the storm than on a tropical island.

Student Life

At the moment, I suspect most of the students would say the term "student life" is an oxymoron and the term "student panic" is redundant. In other words, 90 percent of our students are studying 90 percent of the time. Lost classroom time, coupled with end-of-semester pressures, doesn't leave much time for soap operas and bridge. So they're working pretty hard - at least that's what they're telling you parents and us. I do notice that the sound of Christmas carols and a couple of inches of fresh powder tend to divert them toward less rigorous activities, but the students are really working right now, and for the most part, they're getting their breaks at the athletic, musical, and Christmas events that are part of the season.

Athletics

(Thanks to Terry Mitchell for doing this section. Her schedule today is only slightly less chaotic than mine.)

The men's 1996 NAIA National Runner-Up basketball team is off to a fast 5-1 start. After winning the Lewis-Clark State Tournament (where junior transfer Ben Heimerman was named tournament MVP after a 26-point, 17-rebound championship game), the guys were off to Hawaii to play NAIA Division I teams Brigham Young University Hawaii (ranked fourth in the nation) and Hawaii Pacific (ranked seventh). After a slow start against BYU, the Bucs took on highly favored Hawaii Pacific. Junior point guard Sean Weston lit it up in his best game as a Buc (so far), and his teammates responded to his leadership by thumping HPU 89-79. The headline in the next morning's Honolulu paper read, "HPU surprised by little Whitworth." If these first few games - and last Saturday's hard-fought 79-73 conference win over Whitman - are any indication, "little Whitworth" will be surprising quite a few people this year. 

Our women's basketball team beat Whitman last weekend, routing the Missionaries 85-48. The women are 3-2 overall, 1-0 in the conference, with seniors Jen Tissue, Sherri Northington and Rebecca Moore leading the way. The women lost a close one to the Montana Tech Orediggers (yes, that's really the team's name), then played in a tournament at Lewis-Clark State, beating Eastern Oregon State 93-80 in the opener and losing a squeaker to L.C. State in the championship game. Then came Whitman in the aforementioned conference opener on the snowiest night of the year (so far). The Bucs sent the Missionaries packing with a decisive Whitworth win, and last night the Pirates went on the road and beat Seattle U. The women are aiming for a trip to Nationals in March, and the early returns look good.

The swim teams are gearing up for a return to action. After a 115-90 loss in their meet against last year's NAIA National Champion UPS Loggers (the only team to finish ahead of the Pirates), the men's team beat Evergreen State handily, winning every event. Standouts for the Bucs in these two meets included Jeff and Jerry Rice, Guy Mikasa and Ben Swinehart. The women also lost at UPS, 129-74, and they, too, went on to shut out ESC. Jan Okada won three events and Shannon Braun took the 100-meter freestyle vs. UPS; Jan, Sarah Ewan, Meagan Williams and Leah Stenerson excelled at ESC. Both teams will compete at home on January 11 against Lewis & Clark College. Many of our best swimmers are returning this year, and they're ready to make another run at that national championship.

Our athletes are winning awards right and left. In women's soccer, senior Jen Tissue was named NCIC Player of the Year (her fourth consecutive year on the All-Conference first team); joining her on that team are seniors Haley Nichols and Amber Young, junior Marilyn Piduch and sophomore Chrisanne Roseleip. In men's soccer, senior Rio Three Stars and sophomores Matt Leonard and Craig Ito were named to the All-NCIC first team. In volleyball, seniors Sherri Northington and Renee Williams and junior Brenda Clinesmith received All-NCIC honorable mentions. And in football, seniors Travis Ernst and Ryan Buxton and junior Travis Torco received All-NCIC first-team honors; seniors Brion Williams and Casey Clark and junior Dave Glenn were named to the second team; and senior Cody McCanna and freshmen Andy Clark and Mitch Ellerd earned honorable mentions. Congratulations to these student-athletes!

1996 Highlights

This is the first time I have had a section like this in Mind and Heart. I thought it might be fun for you to know some of the things that we found especially pleasing in 1996:

• The record-breaking retention rate for the 1995 freshman class
• An extraordinary number of honors going to music students and music ensembles
• Our ranking, once again, in the Top 10 out of 140 regional universities in the West (U.S. News and World Report)
• Our men's basketball team's run at an NAIA National Championship (we lost the championship game in overtime) and the men's swim team's finish as NAIA National Runners-up
• Tom Dodd (men's swimming) and Warren Friedrichs (men's basketball) being named NAIA National Coaches of the Year
• Our balanced budget and the addition of $3 million in gifts and pledges to our plant fund, as well as the growth of our endowment by $4.6 million through gifts, bequests and capital appreciation
• Reports from many of the finest universities in the country that textbooks written and edited by Whitworth faculty members are receiving heavy use
• Several coveted grants coming to the college in areas that will enable continued strengthening of our academic quality
• A parade of students who walked across the Opera House stage with diplomas in hand and with the Whitworth mission stamped on their hearts and minds.

(I'm sure I've left off a number of notable events from this spontaneous list, but it does identify several moments of joy we experienced this past year.)

Dates to Remember

Dec. 21 - Jan. 5 Christmas Break
January 6 Jan Term Begins
Jan. 22 - Feb. 1 Chancel Drama Tour to California
February 3 Spring Semester Begins

Closing Thoughts

I received a thank-you note yesterday from a mother whose son reported to her that during his first semester at Whitworth, he was simultaneously stretched and strengthened both intellectually and spiritually. I pass this expression of appreciation on to you. Without the involvement of the alumni and friends of Whitworth, we would not witness these kinds of successes. So thanks to you and God bless you during this holiday season.