Of Mind & Heart Newsletter: December 2003

An update from Whitworth University President Bill Robinson

Warm holiday greetings to all of you. It's early Saturday morning here in Seattle's sanctum sanctorum (Starbucks). My sequence of events today could not be any more pleasurable. In a couple of hours Bonnie and I will join Lee and Ginnie Huntsman for breakfast. Lee shifted from provost to interim president of the UW a year ago. His wisdom and faith always inspire me. My day will also conclude with inspiration, as our choir offers its first Christmas concert under the direction of Marc A. Hafso. I'm sure it will lift Advent in a glorious way. I've been to 55 out of 57 Christmas concerts during my decade at Whitworth, and I feel cheated for having missed two. Before turning in, I will follow my rule of taking the organist out to dinner after the first concert. This rule obligates me only if I'm married to the organist. My Christmas thought this year is more of a Christmas question. When Mary encountered Elizabeth, a bit of an attitude seemed to sneak into her otherwise glorious Magnificat. Utterly understandable is her poetic exaltation of a God who would choose such a humble maiden to bring forth the Messiah. Less understandable to me is why she took a couple of swipes at the upper class. She could have made her point and had a prettier song without the digs. Maybe it was a warning more than an attitude. Evidently, Mary was inspired to make the same point her son made "on the Mount": God's scorecard is pretty much the opposite of culture's. The meek will be rewarded, the proud are in trouble. Hmm. Thank you so much for befriending Whitworth. May the peace of Christ come to us and to our troubled world.

Academics

Politics & History Department professors Corliss Slack and John Yoder have new books out. Corliss has a second volume out, titled Historical Dictionary of the Crusades. John's book, Popular Political Culture, Civil Society, and State Crisis in Liberia, draws upon his extensive research in Africa. With Liberia's recent prominence in the news, this book is very timely. John also has several entries in a new dictionary of politics, Political Theories for Students.

We offer warm congratulations to new special-education faculty member Chang-nam Lee and his wife, Soo. The Lees became U.S. citizens in November. Both are natives of Korea but have lived in the U.S. since Chang-nam started work on his Ph.D at the University of Oregon in the early '90s.

Dan Keberle (Music) has been appointed a senior specialist by the Fulbright Program,which facilitates exchanges of scholars and students between the U.S. and other countries. This appointment qualifies Dan as an on-site consultant for overseas universities that are looking for help with their music programs. By the way, Nicholas Payton's performance with our jazz ensemble, which Dan conducts, was of another world. Unreal.

Jim Waller (Psychology), our Lindaman Chair, has been chosen as one of 20 scholars(out of 150 who submitted proposals) to be included in a symposium next month in New York on the psychological interpretations of war. The meeting will be hosted by the Library of Social Science. Jim is also scheduled to speak about his book Becoming Evil in Kansas, Kentucky, Nebraska, Pennsylvania, and at WSU. I'm not sure that as a lad Jim dreamed of the day his name would come up whenever scholars talk about evil, but that's what's happening. I just read another great review of his book.

David Olmsted, a senior majoring in computer science, will present a paper at a computer science conference in Australia later this month. David's research with Kent Jones (Computer Science) led to a computer program that can learn various logic functions, including voice recognition. While it's quite an accomplishment for one of our undergraduates to be selected to participate in an international conference, David's work does represent a very significant level of research activity going on between Whitworth students and faculty. Speaking of voice recognition and students, it has been so great having freshman Ben King as a student here. Ben is blind, but he sees far more than most of us, and I'll put my money on him over any computer when it comes to voice recognition.

Nearly 250 of our students will scatter around the world for Jan Term. Some of the trips include the study of women's roles in Thailand, business in Thailand, computer science in the U.K., politics and the church in South Africa, music and theatre in London, jazz in Rome, and ancient philosophy in Europe. Additionally, students will head for U.S. sites in Sitka, San Francisco and Hawaii to meet a month-long multicultural requirement.

A significant number of our students study in foreign lands for a semester or a full year. Our Office of Academic Affairs sent over recent e-mail excerpts from two such students. Eric Lystad, a pre-med student now in Hong Kong, reports that his experiences include giving a brief speech at a banquet of 3,000 business executives and other leaders who also heard from Tung Chee-hwa, the island's top government executive. Josh Rodland, a Spanish/secondary education major who's now in Costa Rica, wrote, "On Friday night, with two of my friends, I went out to the beach. It was completely dark except for the sky, full of stars, bright and shining, and two lightning storms off in the distance. I felt so completely romanced by God in those moments, with nothing but the sound of the waves, the flashes of lightning in the distance, and the shooting stars above my head. Amazing. I can't really explain it; you'll have to wait to see it in my eyes when I come home."

Two emeriti faculty brought us this year's Ada Redmond Reading, with Linda Hunt (English) and Pat Stien (Theatre) doing a dramatic presentation of Linda's book, Bold Spirit. The book, as I mentioned in the September M&H, tells the remarkable story of a Spokane immigrant woman who made national headlines a century ago by walking across America on a bet. The story has captured the hearts of many in our region. In fact, Linda had a live four-minute interview about her book last week on CNN Primetime.

Enrollment

Parents, watch your mail. Financial Aid Director Wendy Olson reports that renewal FAFSA application information will be sent out from the Department of Education to continuing students this month. For students who listed an e-mail address on the FAFSA last year, the information will be sent directly to the student via e-mail. Families can submit the renewal application starting Jan. 1, and can do so online at www.fafsa.ed.gov. A PIN is required to sign the electronic form. PINs can be obtained any time by going to www.pin.ed.gov.

If you know students who are interested in Whitworth, encourage them to apply early. Space in next year's freshman class will likely fill up faster than ever.

Student Life

If you ever have the chance, make sure you take in a concert by Recycled Percussion.These virtuosos dazzled a packed Graves Gym by wailing on everything from trashcans to chainsaws and even the kitchen sink. Their primal energy brought the students to their feet for the entire 90-minute show. On a more mellow note, the jazz group Telepathy played on Monday night by the fire in Lied Square, with the accompaniment of poetry written and read by Whitworth students. In Boppell Hall, RA Kimmy Benson did a special program called Singleness with Style, addressing the benefits of a single life, and the place was packed. Intramural sports are also winding down, with championship games in volleyball, soccer and basketball. More than 400 students participated in intramurals this fall. There are just a ton of student events right now. On my last night home, I went to a wonderful concert by our Jubilation student dancers, as well as an ASWC Christmas program in the HUB. On my next night home, I'll go to a Christmas celebration in Arend Hall, followed by a candlelight Advent communion. These students never sleep. I never sleep. Eek.

Local merchants are petitioning us to have Parents' Weekend monthly. What is it about visiting your child at college that just sucks the money out of your wallet? Thanks again to all the parents who joined us. Your students loved having you here. (By the way, I had a great time visiting Bailley in Argentina. My goal was to avoid having a measurable impact on the country's gross national product.)

Resources

Thanks so much to all of you who have supported us financially this year. You have put our Whitworth Fund back on track. But to stay on budget we need very generous giving in December. For normal Americans, "Christmas list" refers to what folks can buy for you. For me, it refers to the December gifts printout, over which I whisper "Thank you!" several hundred times. The data gathering for our next strategic plan is identifying some incredible opportunities for Whitworth to have a national impact in areas where our only obstacle is funding. Please let us know if you are aware of sources that would be interested in supporting Whitworth's great mission. And if you can make a year-end gift, we would deeply appreciate it.

Athletics

The Whitworth cross-country teams were well represented at the NCAA Division III Championships. Leslie Nelson became the first NCAA DIII cross-country All-American in Whitworth history when she finished 14th. Michael Chuol (103rd place) and Doug Blackburn (116th place) ran well in their first national championship competition.

The Whitworth football team finished with a record of 4-6 after closing the season with a resounding 35-0 win over Lewis & Clark. Seniors Dwayne Tawney (WR) and Cody Lamens (TE) were named first team All-Northwest Conference on offense, while seniors Matt Meyerson (DE) and Mel Leary (LB) were selected to the first defensive team. RB Billy Condon, LB Jonathan Hook and safety Jeremy Scroggins were second team All-NWC choices, and DT Austin Richard received honorable mention.

The Whitworth swim teams are off to an outstanding start. The Pirate women are 5-0, while the men are 4-0. Five Whitworth swimmers have already posted NCAA qualifying times. Defending NCAA champion Kevin Wang has already qualified for the 400 individual medley. Sophomore Loren Kilgore (1,650 freestyle) and freshman Travis Parker (100 butterfly) have posted provisional qualifying times. Junior All-American Serena Fadel has made national cuts in the 400 IM and 100 and 200 breaststroke, while freshman Katie Klein has made provisional times in the 50 and 100 freestyle.

The Whitworth women's basketball team is off to a strong start at 3-1, including the squad's first-ever win over an NCAA Division I program (64-62 over Utah Valley State). Junior forwards Sarah Shogren and Tiffany Speer have been unstoppable, while guards Dani Bielec and Wenchi Liu create havoc for opponents. Whitworth will have a great opportunity to make some noise when the Bucs co-host the Whit-Ramada Classic with Whitman College Dec. 29-30. Gustavus Adolphus, defending champion of the Minnesota conference, will participate.

The Whitworth men's basketball team is 1-1 this year. Senior forward Bryan Depew continues to climb the all-time career scoring list (1,459 points), and currently sits in fourth place behind former Pirate greats Rod McDonald (1964-67), 1,807 points; Jim Doherty (1951-53), 1,726 points; and Nate Dunham (1994-97), 1,551 points. On Dec.18 & 20-22 the men will again host the Whitworth Hawaiian Classic, at Honolulu's Chaminade University. The Pirates will play on 12/20 and 12/22 against Mount St. Joseph (Ohio) and Thomas More (Kentucky). Thanks to Sports Information Director Steve "Golden Pen" Flegel for this athletics update.

Alumni

Heritage Week 2004 is set for Feb. 3-14 (a long week). It will feature a lecture by nationally acclaimed philosopher, Whitworth alumnus and all-around great guy Stephen Davis, '62; a poetry reading by our own award-winning Laurie Lamon, '78 (English), and the gallery opening of an art show by Lance Sinnema, '99. In addition, we will celebrate Founder's Day at Spring Convocation and will host a day-long workshop, Living on Purpose, with Tom and Christine Sine, on Feb. 14. All of the details on these and many more events will be mailed to Spokane-area Whitworthians and can soon be found on the web at www.whitworth.edu/alumni/heritageweek.

From California to our fieldhouse, alumni and friends are invited to join us for these upcoming basketball receptions: Jan. 3, after the men's 7 p.m. game against UC Santa Cruz at the Cal Tech Invitational, in Pasadena; Jan. 10, annual Alumni Night at the Fieldhouse (free admission for alumni and families as the men and women take on Willamette at 6 and 8 p.m., with an ice cream social following the second game); Jan. 17, between games as the men and women take on UPS at 6 and 8 p.m, in Tacoma; and Feb. 6, between games as the men and women take on Lewis & Clark at 6 and 8 p.m., in Portland.

Visit www.whitworth.edu/alumni/familyweekend.htm for the detailed schedule of events for our 2004 Alumni Family Weekend, June 18-20.

Please send your letters of recommendation for the 2004 Alumni Awards to the Office of Alumni and Parent Relations, or visit the alumni webpages for more details about these annual awards.

Closing Thoughts

It's now Sunday morning, same time, same place, same coffee, and in a couple hours we'll have brunch with another inspiring president, Phil Eaton, '65. Phil and his absolutely wonderful wife, Sharon, '64, are at SPU, and getting together for the concert is an annual ritual we love. Well, the Christmas concert was simply beautiful. With passion, beauty and technical mastery, our students beckoned the Savior. It puts a lump in my throat to think about it. Bravo to Marc Hafso for a great debut. An interesting change has taken place over the last 10 years for me. The emotions that always well up during the concert now also precede and follow the music as I encounter alumni who once stood in the front of the sanctuary and now stand in lives of commitment. Whether by career or avocation, they have said yes to the call. I thank God this Christmas season for a front-row seat that allows me to see more than a concert. And I thank all of you who support these lives through tuition, gifts, prayer and friendship. The richness of their music foreshadows the lives they will lead. May you know our gratitude and Christ's peace in this season.