Of Mind & Heart Newsletter: December 2004

An update from Whitworth University President Bill Robinson

Someone goes to the front of the class for scheduling Advent immediately after Thanksgiving. Spared from the typical post-holiday realism, you can ram your spirit right into Christmas gear. It's so great. I just sat down to write and found myself dangerously close to the TV remote control. Remembering that hidden among the 10,000 channels we never use is a "sounds of the season" music station, I beamed up tunes that would embarrass any self-respecting elevator...but they were Christmas tunes. So I'm back in the mood! I hope Thanksgiving lifted your spirits. Four occurrences defined mine. I anguished for a really neat student whose father died. I rejoiced for another student I know quite well who walked away from an auto accident that should have killed him. I spent an entire day with our godson, talking, laughing, playing games and feeling my blood thicken into syrup as I gave him what every kid wants -- menu control. Finally, I meandered with our basketball team toward the Spokane Airport baggage-claim area, wondering why Coach Jim Hayford had sprinted off the plane. Then I spotted 10-year-old Jayme Hayford snuggling with her dad. After 36 straight days of chemical hell in the hospital, where she's being treated for a recurrence of leukemia, she was given a three-hour pass to meet her dad at the airport and check on her pets at home. For me, it was in Jim's eyes that Thanksgiving and Advent met. These two holidays don't bump into each other only on the calendar, or even in the gratitude and longing of a tearful dad. "O Come, O Come, Emmanuel" unites our thankfulness and hope in the advent cry of John the Baptist: "Jesus is coming!" May Christ's peace and healing come quickly to you and to our world. I hope you have a great holiday season.

Academics

Competing against 75 teams from the most prestigious West Coast universities, our computer-science students didn't know how they'd fare when Kent Jones took them to a regional contest in Portland last month. They did well, taking 23rd place. Junior Nathan Backman observed, "It was intimidating going up against students from far larger programs than ours, but we did fine and it was a great experience to tackle successfully one problem after another in a competitive situation."

Whitworth has received two grants in the past month. Keith Kelley, our service-learning coordinator, received one, from the Bonner Foundation, to provide additional funding for activities surrounding the Bonner Leaders Program. And Hans Bynagle, our library director, received the other, from the Washington State Library's Preservation Initiative. This grant provides a consultant to conduct a library-preservation-needs assessment. In conjunction with this project the 100-year run of The Whitworthian will be microfilmed for preservation; the archives is asking for donations of any issues from 1890-1940. In some cases these will replace deteriorating newspapers, and in other cases they will fill in existing gaps. Please contact our archivist, Janet Hauck (509.777.4751 or jhauck@whitworth.edu), if you have any old issues.

Associate Dean Gordon Jackson sent me a note saying, "This may qualify as the least surprising news item of the year: Our School of Education has officially earned renewed accreditation at both the national and state levels." He's right, but the news still carries great importance. The concurrent review last March by the National Council for the Accreditation of Teacher Education and our state's Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction led to both groups' renewal of their "seal of approval" on what we're doing. We owe special thanks to Professor of Education Barb Sanders,'92 MIT, who did an excellent job heading the accreditation project. That the superb work done by Dean Dennis Sterner and his crew impressed their peers pleases us, but our real joy comes from knowing about all the children who benefit from the great teachers we prepare. In that regard, the KHQ Teacher of the Month for November 2004 was M.Ed. graduate Lucien Saurette, a French teacher at Spokane's East Valley High School.

When my musician mother handed me off to my musician wife I'm sure she whispered, "Keep making music for the boy" before she mumbled something about my savage whatever. Well, someone who's never been without great music in the home couldn't have a better job than mine. Tonight I head to Seattle for this year's Christmas Festival Concert titled Magnificat: We Magnify the Lord. Next weekend the concerts will be here in Spokane. Next week we'll also hear from our string orchestra, conducted by Roberta Bottelli. The concert will showcase two beloved pieces for string orchestra: Serenade for Strings, by Elgar, and . . . well, Serenade for Strings, by Tchaikovsky. Roberta, a cellist in the Spokane Symphony, began teaching strings at Whitworth in 2001 and formally established the string orchestra last year.

Also in the music category, we just received word that the Christmas concert and Whitworth Choir Director Marc Hafso will be included in a national PBS program, Religion & Ethics Newsweekly, airing the weekend before Christmas. The show will explore the ways in which Protestants view Mary these days. To see when the program will be broadcast in your area, go to the website www.pbs.org/religion and click on the "TV Schedule" link on the left. This PBS special represents one of many ways in which our music program shines a bright academic light on Whitworth. A couple of weeks ago, the National Association of Teachers of Singing sponsored a competition in which we had five student winners out of the eight divisions. They include two first-place winners, Kyrsten Hafso, '07, and Lindsay Delmarter, '05; and three second-place winners, Heather Botts, '05, Hannah Kimball, '06, and Daisy Nau, '05.

The PBS special I mentioned comes on the heels of a Scott Simons interview I happened to hear on NPR that featured Anna Schowengerdt, '93, and her experiences in Iraq leading a team for Catholic Relief Services. I hope you were able to hear of the selfless humanitarian work Anna has done on behalf of Iraqi war victims. She was on campus last year and gave a moving account of the horror and hope that she encountered in Iraq as she embodied the Whitworth mission to honor God, follow Christ and serve humanity.

Enrollment

Interest in Whitworth continues to run strong. Our early action freshman-application deadline of Nov. 30 has come and gone, and we have our first indication of the developing fall '05 applicant pool. At this point, both early action and total freshman applications are ahead of last year's record number by approximately 20 percent. Early action applications are currently being reviewed by the admissions staff, and decision letters and e-mails will be sent to these applicants before Christmas.

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 those who listed an e-mail address on the FAFSA last year, the information will be sent directly to the student (not the parents) via e-mail. Families can submit the renewal application starting Jan. 1 and can do so online at www.fafsa.ed.gov. A PIN code is required to sign the electronic form (parents need one too, if their children are still dependents). PINs can be obtained any time by going to www.pin.ed.gov.

Student Life

Activities in November were many and varied. Among the highlights were comic Troy Thirdgill; a bunch of students stuffed into a skybox that ASWC scored for the Spokane Chiefs hockey game; Midnight Madness, set up by Sports Events Coordinator Colin Storm, '07, and featuring the women's and men's basketball teams and a lot of fan involvement (including a chance for two students to win a year's worth of free tuition, which they didn't, making the insurance company happy and the rest of us sad); and discounted group tickets from ASWC for students to see Les Miserables at the Opera House. My two highlights of these events were Les Mis, of course, and a moment in the faculty-vs.-women's team game when I spun around with the ball, and in the same way that centrifugal force projects drool from the mouth of a spinning toddler, the ball flew out of my hands, kissed the glass and dropped in the rack for two points. It was a beautiful thing, ladies and gentlemen.

Actually, one of the best events of the month was the 19th annual International Banquet, Passing the Torch: An International Odyssey, sponsored by the Whitworth International Club and our senior cultural-diversity advocates. Most of the 56 international students (representing 29 countries) currently attending Whitworth participated, preparing and serving a delicious banquet meal, including specialties from Greece, Nigeria, Spain, Germany, Sweden and Egypt. The program featured a fashion show as well as song-and-dance performances by students from Japan, Mexico, Costa Rica, Vietnam, Cambodia, Sweden, France, Korea and the U.S. Loved it!

Resources

I can't give the details, but in November I received the most amazing "gift" phone call I've ever gotten. A great human being whom I admire enormously and who knew of our needs called to inform me of a large gift. If this restricted gift can inspire a few others, we can begin on a deeply needed capital project. We're so grateful for this dear friend.

Thank you so much for the warm notes and generous gifts you have sent for our Whitworth Fund. This regular letter is far easier to prepare than the special one I sent a couple of weeks ago, but your response has been very gratifying. I should mention that this season seems to expose hardships among our students. In the last couple of weeks, many of us have given checks and cash directly to very desperate students. While that kind of gift is not deductible because it supports a specific individual, your gifts to The Whitworth Fund are deductible and can be funneled through our financial-aid office for students hanging by a thread. We are thankful for anything you have done and can still do.

Athletics

Men's soccer earned a Northwest Conference championship and reached the second round of the NCAA tournament with a 16-3-1 record. We also witnessed a stirring win over Colorado College (2-1) in the first round of the national tournament. The Bucs swept the All-NWC awards with Sean Bushey named Coach of the Year, Todd Sabrowski Defensive Player of the Year and Niko Varlamos Offensive Player of the Year. Joining Todd and Niko on the All-NWC first team was Kevin Bostock. Second-teamers included Brad Suhm, Ali Seyedali and Jonathan Carlson. Whitworth is also a recipient of the NSCAA/Adidas Team Academic Award. The Bucs tied with MIT (yeah, that MIT) for the third-highest team GPA (3.43) in the country. Great job, guys!

Women's soccer finished 13-5-1 this season and took second place in the final Northwest Conference standings. The Pirate women also had the third-highest team GPA (3.60) in the country among four-year schools, earning an NSCAA/Adidas Team Academic Award. Jael Hagerott was named to the CoSIDA Academic All-District Team, while Mary Hultgrenn, Ashley Fisk and Jody Rucinski were named to the second team. Jael, Mary and Ashley were also named to the All-NWC first team, along with Ashli Anderson.

Football completed a very successful season with a 7-2 record and an inspiring 38-35 win over Pacific Lutheran in the Pine Bowl. Several players earned All-NWC honors: Jared Thomas, Michael Allan, Tyler Neely, Cam Collings and Jeremy Scroggins were all named to the first team. Joel Clark, Kyle Snell, Chris Gilliam, Kevin Reese, Greg Entel and Daniel Jones were selected to the second team. In addition, the following players were named to the CoSIDA Academic All-District team: Kyle Havercroft, Cam Collings, Nick Kuntz and Austin Richard.

Pirate volleyball also surprised the pundits by finishing the season with a 19-5 record,taking third place in the Northwest Conference. Whitworth ended with impressive 3-0 road sweeps at Whitman and George Fox. Julie Marsh was named first-team All-NWC and All-West Region. Bekah Hornor was also named All-West Region, second-team All-NWC, and CoSIDA Academic All-District team. Finally, Julie Marsh was named AVCA Third Team All-American.

Wrapping up a "no team worse than third in conference" fall season, the Whitworth cross country women took second place at the NWC Championships and third at the NCAA West Regionals, just missing a team berth to the NCAA national championship meet. Kristi Dickey, Elaine Heinemann and Julie Lauterbach all earned All-NWC honors by finishing in the top 14 places at the conference meet. Dickey went on to finish second at the regional meet, earning an individual spot at the NCAA championships were she finished 56th of 215 runners. The Whitworth men were third at the NWC championships and fifth at the regional meet. Doug Blackburn was the NWC runner-up; he went on to take fifth in the regional meet, also earning an individual spot at the national championships. He placed 54th among 215 runners at the NCAA meet, which was hosted by the University of Wisconsin/Eau Claire. What a great fall for Whitworth Athletics!

Success continues in our winter sports. The swim teams both hold 3-1 records through the fall dual-meet season. The women have been led by All-American Serena Fadel, who has already posted an NCAA qualifying mark in the 200 breaststroke, and Samantha Kephart. Samantha has been nothing less than phenomenal in her first year as a Pirate, shattering team records in the 100 and 200 butterfly, along with the 200 and 500 freestyle. She has qualified nationally in all four, as well. Whitworth's men are getting the usual outstanding performance from All-American Cory Bergman, who has also posted a national qualifying time in his best event -- the 200 breaststroke. Fellow All-American Loren Kilgore is close to qualifying in the 1,650 freestyle. It's just crazy for these individuals to be putting up numbers like this so early in the season. Whoa.

Women's basketball went 2-0 in the season-opening tournament at Wilmington College (Ohio), home of the defending NCAA Division III national champions. Though the champs lost in the first round, the Pirates beat Kalamazoo, the team that ousted Wilmington, handily (72-58) in the championship game. Tiffany Speer was named MVP, while Sarah Shogren and Dani Bielec earned all-tournament honors. I saw the women thump Eastern Oregon a couple of nights ago, and they have now run their record to 5-0. Clearly, they continue to aim for the high standard we faculty gazelles set for them at Midnight Madness.

The men's basketball team is young, but I think they'll come around well after getting off to a 1-3 start. I saw them drop a pair of games in San Antonio during Thanksgiving weekend, to very good teams from Trinity and Southwestern. Bryan Williams played very well and was selected to the all-tournament team. Jon Young tied a school record by making seven three- pointers in the game with Trinity. Trinity's coach told me that he warned his guys not to give John a single good look at the basket; but John came out smoking and went 7-for-10 with guys in his face.

Alumni

Join fellow alumni and their families on Saturday, Jan. 8, at 6 and 8 p.m., as the Pirate basketball teams take on George Fox in the fieldhouse. This is a free event, followed by our annual midwinter ice-cream social.

Alumni Family Weekend, set for June 17-19, 2005, will be filled with great food, fun and opportunities to reconnect with classmates. See the details at www.whitworth.edu/familyweekend.

Nominations are now being accepted for the four awards to be presented to worthy alumni at Homecoming 2005. All of the details are available on the Whitworth alumni website or by contacting Tad Wisenor, '89, our director of annual giving, alumni, parent and church relations, at 509.777.4401 or twisenor@whitworth.edu.

Miscellaneous

Activities that symbolize the beneath-the-surface life of our students include our sacred-dance troupe, Jubilation, which will present its winter recital in a couple of days. The troupe provides a wonderful means of expression for its participants and a blessing to us all. Another project that includes many of our students is a service-learning project supporting Christ's Kitchen, an organization dedicated to helping women in need in the Spokane area get back on their feet without government aid. Christ's Kitchen raises funds by selling soup/drink/dessert mixes prepared by the women involved in the organization. Our office and the folks in institutional advancement buy wonderful soup packages from Christ's Kitchen to use as Christmas gifts. Let us know if you'd like to do the same and we'll put you in touch with our students.

Closing Thoughts

Well, I'm late for a meeting, out of space and scolding myself for allowing Advent to begin frenetically. But I am not without longing and hope. At the end of the month we will visit our son in Cairo, Egypt, where he serves young people in an Anglican church. While my life begs for personal serenity, his surroundings prompt him daily to pray for world serenity and peace. We need both. We need the Prince of Peace. May you feel his presence richly in this season as we celebrate his coming.