Of Mind & Heart Newsletter: February 2005

An update from Whitworth University President Bill Robinson

I don't think whining made the Apostle Paul's "fruits of the spirit" list. So I let nothing bother me. For example, I would be asleep right now were it not for the woman across the aisle in 7D who keeps me awake by refolding her newspaper every few seconds. But I'm delighted that she is able to read the entire newspaper from installments the size of a business card. See? Happy me. I really do feel good this morning. First, I'm on my way home from a nine-day, three-locations trip. Second, Bonnie made this trip with me, and that's always good. Third, as I was trying to talk myself into writing this newsletter I got a great note from a dad named Mike, thanking me for doing this every month. Fourth, Mike also kindly expressed gratitude for Whitworth's influence on his children, and that reminded me that I'll soon be among the students, faculty and staff of Whitworth. I was made for that, not for travel. Thank you so much for the many graces you extend to the Whitworth community. Your prayers, your gifts, your cheers and the sacrifices you make that enable our students to study with us are all deeply appreciated. May the peace and presence of Christ be with you in this Lenten season.

Academics

Professor of Politics & History Michael Le Roy, '89, will be our next vice president for academic affairs and dean of the faculty. After reviewing many strong applications, conducting campus interviews with two other superb candidates, and listening to the feedback of the campus community, the search committee offered its recommendation, which I accepted enthusiastically. A nationally recognized author and teacher, Michael provided leadership for the Wheaton College (Ill.) faculty for nine years before returning to Whitworth in 2002. In fact, I just spoke to the president of Wheaton a couple of days ago. With a smile, he grumbled, "We hated to lose him. He'll be great." Michael assumes his new duties on July 1, and soon we'll celebrate the strong contributions of current dean Tammy Reid, who announced last fall her intention to return to teaching. Among her many accomplishments, she oversaw the adoption of a new general-education curriculum, expansion of the faculty, and construction of our landmark new academic building. I will miss Tammy's excellence and professionalism immensely. But I am very excited about working with Michael's talent, leadership, energy, and love for the Whitworth mission. His understanding of who we are and what we hope to become will serve us for many years.

Happy birthday to The Whitworthian! This year, Heritage Week will highlight 100 years of our school newspaper. At spring semester's Convocation, campus historian Dale Soden will highlight a century's worth of student reporting. Staying with the journalism theme, we will also host a public lecture by Ross Anderson, '69, formerly of The Seattle Times, who was part of the reporting team that won a Pulitzer Prize in 1990 for the paper's articles on the Exxon Valdez oil spill in Alaska. Ross, a former Whitworthianeditor, will speak on environmental journalism and will visit classes. Among Christian colleges, our newspaper is known not only for its excellence but for an unusual degree of autonomy. In the long run, students learn more by taking responsibility for the results of their decisions than they do from following administrative directions. We might all get more flack, but it's worth it. It's Whitworth.

Heritage Week will also honor a wonderful Christian scholar, teacher and international church leader, Sang Hyun Lee, of Princeton Theological Seminary. At Convocation he will receive an honorary doctor of humane letters degree. We're also delighted that the seminary's past president of 22 years, Thomas Gillespie, can join us and participate in the program honoring Sang Lee, one of the country's leading scholars on Jonathan Edwards.

Our adjunct faculty members contribute enormously to the quality of teaching at Whitworth, and too often they go unnoticed. One example of adjunct-faculty scholarship surfaces in the work of Norman Thorpe (Politics & History), who for several years has shared with our students his expertise on Korea. He is the principal author of a new book, 1904: Korea through Australian Eyes. The book focuses on important photos taken in Korea in 1904 by Australian photographer George Rose, using Rose's century-old original glass negatives. Norm uncovered the photos in an archive in California and the book grew out of an exhibition of Rose's photos which Norm curated in Seoul in 2002.

We have another art exhibit for you to enjoy. An imaginative collection of prints by 19 artists, all current or former residents of Idaho, will be on display until March 4. The work deals with the theme of community. Candace Nicol, who organized the exhibit, says the participants were "invited to create imagery that examines the evolution of community through the culture of its people. The artists participating in this print exchange have drawn from their own experiences."

Enrollment

Financial Aid Director Wendy Olson reports that her office is beginning to review files for new freshmen and for transfer students for the 2005-06 academic year. New students who have applied by the March 1 deadline will begin receiving their financial-aid awards in late March. Continuing students who meet the May 1 deadline for submitting the renewal FAFSA (www.fafsa.ed.gov) will receive their awards in June. The deadline for continuing students applying for summer aid (which is extremely limited) is March 1. Merit scholarships are automatically renewed.

Student Life

Students are back from Jan Term, and I'm sure they're bragging about their trips to Hawaii, Europe, Australia, and bunch of other places. I'm back in Spokane now and about to head over to the HUB for lunch. I'll get an earful. Students staying on campus skied -- sometimes on mud -- enjoyed Whitworth athletics, and involved themselves in various campus activities. Now February is here and we are looking forward to a confab of Gospel choirs, a busy Half-Past Nine, and performances including one by the band 2 Skinny Dorks. I checked their website and found rave reviews, but my favorite was from Rolling Stone: "They really are skinny." High praise!

Resources

Why was I so happy to see June Hanson (Institutional Advancement) and her student assistant Suzanne Sherman looking about as energetic as our high-mileage 1993 Aerostar? Because they do gift accounting here, and you pretty much ran them into the ground. So, thanks to them and thanks to you! In December, we set a single-month record with 1,242 separate gift transactions, the first month in Whitworth history to go over 1,000. Because of your generosity, The Whitworth Fund is way up and much closer to our goal. What's so great about this is that our progress is the result of more people giving more, and not just a few monster gifts. Broadening Whitworth's base of support is exactly what we want. Development Director Tad Wisenor, '89, says, "If ever there was a year when every gift counted, this was the year." Thanks!

As president of Whitworth from 1940 to 1963, Frank Warren gave sacrificially to the college right up to the end of his life. He still gives to Whitworth through a legacy of influence that runs through our mission and across our campus. In different ways, his daughters, Joyce Starrett, '45, and Ginny Ainley, '49, give to Whitworth. They can outpray the best of us, and they are generous with their financial support. In fact, Joyce and her husband, Jack, '45, continued the Warren family's bigheartedness by making a very generous contribution last month. Thanks so much to the Warrens across the ages. I don't acknowledge our forebears enough.

To remedy that neglect, I should report on last month's meeting with George and Dorine Weber. George gave of himself to Whitworth for 34 years as a professor in our business program. His and Dorine's love for the college led them to include Whitworth in their will. But when they realized that they could convert highly appreciated assets into a current gift, avoiding capital gains and receiving both a large deduction and lifetime income, they decided to shift their generosity to the present. Both they and we were absolutely delighted as we sat down to sign the papers. Thanks, Webers. May your tribe increase.

Athletics

Thanks to Sports Information Director Steve Flegel, '89, for the following reports.

The swimming teams will host the 2005 Northwest Conference championships Feb. 11-13. The men are heavy favorites to win their third consecutive conference championship. Senior Cory Bergman and juniors Loren Killgore and Rhys Birky won multiple events last season, and all return to defend their titles. The women will take their shot at knocking off UPS, which has won every NWC women's championship since 1997. Senior Serena Fadel has never lost a 200 or 400 I.M. at the championships, and she should finish her career undefeated in those events. Freshman Samantha Kephart has already smashed conference records in the butterfly events.

Women's basketball is 16-1 overall and 7-1 in the conference -- ranked in the top 10 in both Division III polls. All four seniors are having exceptional years: Tiffany Speer and Sarah Shogren rank in the top four in the NWC in scoring average, Dani Bielec is second in the conference in steals and is the Bucs' top three-point threat, and Wenchi Liu is the NWC leader in assists.

Men's basketball has improved to 8-8 overall and 4-4 in the NWC by winning three consecutive games. Sophomore guard Bryan Williams is the NWC's leader in assists, while sophomore guard Jon Young is the conference's most dangerous three-point shooter, sinking more than four per game. Junior forward Lance Pecht has come on to lead the team in scoring in two of the three wins during the Bucs' current streak.

Spring sports begin in February. Men's tennis opens Feb. 11 at Lewis-Clark State, while the women begin Feb. 19 against the same team. The baseball team opens at the Arizona Desert Classic (Feb. 18-20) again this year, and the up-and-coming softball team opens at home on Feb. 25 against Eastern Oregon and Albertson. And the track-and-field teams will officially take to the turf and track outdoors on March 5 at Linfield.

Save the date Thursday, June 9, for the second annual Whitworth Westside Golf Classic. Like last year, the tournament will be played at The Golf Club at Newcastle, overlooking Bellevue and Seattle. The shotgun start will be at 1 p.m., with both lunch and dinner provided. This year's new format allows participants to choose either a progressive tee scramble or two-person best ball. Please contact Athletics Director Scott McQuilkin, '84, (smcquilkin @whitworth.edu) for further information. This is a great way to gather for a wonderful day of golf with Whitworth faculty and staff, including President Bill Robinson and other friends and alums of the college -- all of whom will be willing to help you track down your golf ball in the weeds and woods.

Alumni

As I mentioned last month, our choir will be performing six concerts in Southern California over Spring Break. Local alumni, parents and friends will receive a postcard with all of the details, including news of post-concert receptions at several venues. The Whitworth website also features the itinerary.

The schedule for Alumni Family Weekend, June 17-19, is on the web at www.whitworth.edu/familyweekend. The brochure, with registration materials, will arrive in your mailbox in March.

Alumni, parents and friends are invited to join Diana Trotter (Theatre) for a pre-play dessert on Saturday night, April 9, before she directs Godspell at 8 p.m. in Cowles Auditorium. Tickets are $10 for dessert and an evening of great musical theater. Contact Annie Severino for more information at 509.777.3772 or check out the alumni-events website.

Join Professor of English Leonard Oakland and Director of Development Tad Wisenor for Core 650 lectures and desserts. They'll be in Colorado Springs on Saturday, April 30, and in Denver on Sunday, May 1. Leonard will present A Life in Film: How We Experience the Movies. More information will be available soon, including online registration.

Miscellaneous

Last month I forgot to mention that Whitworth was featured in a special report in the December issue of Washington CEO, Washington's only statewide business magazine. The reporter did an excellent job of capturing our distinctive mission, history and programs. The magazine also includes sidebar articles on Whitworth's Master of International Management Program, faculty-student research, our computer-science program and the Whitworth CEO, if you can call him that. The report is available on our website at www.whitworth.edu/washingtonceo.

This won't reach you in time for St. Valentine's Day, but you can still give your sweet thing a new CD featuring much-beloved pianist and teacher Margie May Ott,accompanied on a couple of arrangements by a saint who doesn't have a day named after her, Bonnie Robinson. Honorary Professor Emeritus Margie May describes herself as being "as old as the Pope, literally," but none of us can keep up with her. A Juilliard grad and national 2003 Music Teacher of the Year, she is joy incarnate, and it comes out in her music. The CD includes some of Margie May's favorite songs as well as her introductions and reflections for each piece. It's available through the bookstore (509.777.4524), with proceeds benefiting the Margie May Ott Endowed Scholarship.

The 30th Annual Whitworth Institute of Ministry Conference will take place July 11-15.This is a great conference for pastors, church lay leaders and their families. This year's theme is My Peace I Give You: Embracing the Ministry of Shalom. Speakers include John Perkins, Jin S. Kim, John Huffman, Ray Bakke, Amy Sherman, Terry McGonigal and me. For more information or to register, visit www.whitworth.edu/wim or call 509.777.4345. I'll say more next month.

Closing Thoughts

While in Washington, D.C., earlier this week, Bonnie and I went to an exhibit of Rembrandt's late religious art. His splashes of light against dark interiors lead us amateurs to the essence of the painting. In a couple of days I will address our students on bringing light to a world that feels pretty dark. It doesn't do much good to run from the darkness, join the darkness, or condemn the darkness for being dark. Through acts of grace and courage we carry the Light of the World into the darkness of the world. There's a lesson to be learned from the old Dutch master: Light can bring beauty and meaning to darkness. That's what we're working on at Whitworth College. Thank you again for the light you bring to us.