Of Mind & Heart Newsletter: January 2006

An update from Whitworth University President Bill Robinson

Somehow the cosmos feels tilted, off-center, confused. If yesterday was Jan. 1, what is football doing on my TV today? The world is a day late. On the bright side, Bonnie and I parlayed this year's tangled calendar into two New Year's Eves. On Saturday night, we attended a black-tie opera event featuring a fabulous cast of singers, most of whom are Whitworth alumni. Last night, 25 alumni jacked up the decibels here in our house at a spontaneous gathering assembled by our Egypt-based son and daughter-in-law, who soon return to the Middle East. Into the worlds of music, finance, medicine, business, education, ministry, law and graduate studies, these young adults carry bright hope. It's impossible to do what I do for a living without being excited about the day when this generation sits down at the controls. I hope things aren't too wrecked by then. I've never celebrated Epiphany without having broken every one of my New Year's resolutions, so I'm due: This year I resolve to pray daily that God's softening grace and peace will drench our hardened world. That's a big prayer, but I'll pray it fervently. All of us at Whitworth extend our gratitude for your support and wish you a great 2006.

Academics

This week begins our fabled Jan Term. On campus, students will plunge into courses with undivided attention. Off campus, they'll spin across five continents, led by the following sampling of professors:

Mary Alberts (School of Global Commerce & Management) and Pam Parker, '81, (English) are taking students in English, humanities and business to study culture and business in Thailand.
Forrest Baird (Philosophy) will work his way from Greece to England, teaching his Core 250 students in the hot spots of early democracy, the Renaissance, the Enlightenment -- and even at the Oxford tavern where Lewis and Tolkien ate lunch daily and dreamed up children's stories.
Tom Hillman (Physics) is taking geology students to Hawaii, where they will do nothing but enjoy the glories of science.
Kent Jones (Math/Computer Science) will lead a new program in India. Students will engage in computer-service projects, meet with officials in the computing industry, and visit Indian universities.
Dan Keberle and Brent Edstrom (both Music) will take jazz students to Brazil to perform and attend master classes with Brazilian artists. Our Brazilian student, Silvia Lazo, helped set up the tour. I love Bossa Nova.
Ron Pyle (Communication Studies), Andi Saccoccio (Theology) and John Yoder (Politics & History) are taking students to meet media, political and religious leaders all over South Africa.
Jim Waller (Psychology) has developed a course through which students examine the historical, political and religious roots of the strife in Northern Ireland -- a conflict that has been news for most of our students' lives.
Karin Heller (Theology) and Rick Hornor, '70, (Theatre) are leading a new study program to Italy. No doubt the highlight will be a private audience with Pope Benedict XVI, at 10:30 a.m. on Jan. 25. Karin knows the pope and set this up. What an amazing privilege! I can see our new admissions brochures: "Come to Whitworth; hang out with the pope!"

From among hundreds of nominations, Jerry Sittser's book When God Doesn't Answer Your Prayer (2003, Zondervan) was recently named the recipient of the 2005 Gold Medallion Book Award by the Evangelical Christian Publishers Association. Jerry (Theology) plumbs our most anguishing questions about unanswered prayer. He goes beyond pat answers and joins in the struggle of those whose prayers seem to bounce off the ceiling.

Last summer, 12 of our faculty members attended a three-week workshop, "Vocations of the Christian Professor." They examined Christian theological traditions, read about faith-and-learning integration, and prepared specific integration projects for implementation in a fall class. Their projects ranged from "the examination of short stories with a theological lens" in Advanced Spanish Literature to "the connection of biblical financial principles with budgeting" in Basic Math.

Our very important and faithful friends at the Murdock Charitable Trust have awarded Karen Stevens and the chemistry department up to $40,000 in start-up funds for the new chemistry faculty position's research projects.

The Whitworth School of Education has again shown its exemplary citizenship.Assistant Professor Lisa Laurier led a collaborative team effort in giving the gift of reading. She reported that the Monday-evening Starbucks Book Night in Spokane's Hillyard district drew 75 families, with each child receiving a new book. Refreshments were provided by both Sodexo and Starbucks, with remaining books and refreshments going to the Hillyard Headstart Program.

Marek Zaranski's exhibit Daydreams will be on display Jan. 3-24 in the Koehler Gallery, sponsored by Whitworth and the Floyd and Shirley Daniel Photography Fund. Zaranski has a unique approach: His large images feature vibrant color and cibachrome printing, a new experimental approach to photography. We're fortunate to be the first gallery to feature his innovation.

U.S. Representative Cathy McMorris, congresswoman from our own 5th District, visited Whitworth's School of Education in December. After a brief reception, she participated in a panel discussion with program directors and students. McMorris had questions for us about our program, and the audience had questions for her about No Child Left Behind legislation and other current education issues. This is McMorris' second visit to Whitworth this year, and we appreciate that greatly.

Students often experience a delayed appreciation of our Core Curriculum. And I suppose some are still waiting. But the fall 2005 issue of the academic journal Christian Scholars Review featured an article, "Whose Story? Which Identity? Fostering Christian identity at Christian and church-related colleges and universities," which highlighted Core 150 as a required general-education class that both focuses on Christian and church history and exposes students to the Christian identity of the college. I think it is very important for our students to understand the theological foundations of a Whitworth education, and Core 150 does a great job of helping them do that.

Enrollment

We've calculated our space availability for next fall and it looks like we'll have room for roughly 485 freshmen and 100 transfer students. We expect 2,300 freshman applications with an admission rate of approximately 60 percent. Of the admitted students, we look to enroll about 35 percent. The 65 percent who don't attend will be lost to finances, geography, first-choice schools, romances (alas), and other factors. But the students who arrive next September will be eager, smart, and, of course, men and women of uncommon discernment in choosing a college.

Student Life

Whitworth junior Michael Chansavang, of Tacoma, recently won the CASE District VIII Multicultural Internship Award after competing for the position against students from Western Canada, Washington, Oregon, Alaska, Montana and Idaho. I had "Chan" in a leadership class last year, and he'll do a great job.

The third floor of Duvall Hall is almost done. Because of the number of students returning from study-abroad trips and the number of transfer students entering at Jan Term, the residence halls are expected to be nearly full for Jan Term and spring semester.

Resources

Since we'll still be counting gifts postmarked in 2005 for the next week, it's too early to update you on December giving. Contributions are lagging a bit compared to last year, so we hope to see a few end-of-the-year motherlodes arrive in the mail. Thanks so much to those who support our students so faithfully. I'll give you an accurate update next month.

We offer huge thanks to John, '51, and Judy Scotford and their family. The Scotfords donated $300,000 in December to help us continue our aggressive schedule of campus improvements. John has been so great to Whitworth, both as a wise trustee and as a faithful donor. Frankly, the beauty and usefulness of the west end of campus can be traced back to John's vision and generosity. Later this month I have to be in Florida and look forward to taking John and Judy out to dinner. Such a deal. Give us $300,000, and get a free dinner. This very special offer is available to everyone forever. Thanks, Scotfords!

Lou Livingston recently donated an additional $50,000 to the charitable-remainder unitrust that he established with Whitworth in 1979. He must have chuckled back then when they quoted him the favorable interest rate for 78-year-olds. In September I attended his 105th birthday party!

Athletics

The swimming teams competed at the Husky Invitational, in Federal Way, and the Northwest Invitational, in Portland. Unfortunately, the meets took place during the same weekend, so the squad had to split into two groups. Competition at the Husky meet was stiff. The Pirates swam against some of the best NCAA Division I and age-group swimmers in the Northwest. On the men's side, freshman Steve Garka established the best sprint times in the Northwest Conference so far this season in the 50 and 100 freestyles. Senior Loren Killgore has the conference's best 400 I.M. time by more than 12 seconds, while fellow senior David Lillard leads the NWC in both the 100 and 200 butterfly. For the women, sophomore Samantha Kephart leads the NWC in every freestyle distance from the 50 through the 500, as well as in both the 100 and 200 butterfly. Whitworth's women have the best medley relay times this year, as well.

The men's basketball team went into Christmas break with a 5-2 record after winning the Whitworth-hosted St. Vincent de Paul Invitational, in Burlingame, Calif. The Pirates came back from a 10-point first-half deficit to defeat Cal Lutheran 74-69 in the championship game. Senior Lance Pecht leads the NWC in scoring average at 17.9 points per game. Junior transfer Kevin Hasenfus has become a force inside, averaging 15 points and more than nine rebounds in the two games in California. The Pirates are 1-1 in the conference after a road split at George Fox and Linfield. Whitworth will open 2006 with two more non-conference tournaments in Southern California before returning to NWC play at home on Jan. 6 and 7, against Lewis & Clark and Willamette.

With five new starters this year, women's basketball continues to develop. Nine of the 13 players on the roster are either freshmen or sophomores. Whitworth went to Montana to play a couple of tough NAIA Division I opponents and came away with a hard-fought loss to Montana State-Northern and a nice win over Great Falls to even the women's record at 4-4. Early in December, the Pirates opened NWC play with a couple of tough road losses to highly ranked George Fox and undefeated (at the time) Linfield. Sophomore Holly Ridings is the Pirate leader in scoring, steals and assists. At just 5'6", sophomore Emily Hendrickson leads the team, and ranks fourth in the NWC, in rebounding. Whitworth and Whitman co-hosted the Quality Inn-Whit Classic late last week, and both teams went 2-0 against California schools.

Finally, Whitworth leads the NWC All-Sports Trophy race after the fall sports season.The Pirate teams, defending McIlroy-Lewis Trophy champions, currently hold a five-point lead over Puget Sound in the 2005-06 standings.

Alumni

Go to London in 2006! There are still a few spaces remaining for next June's Core 650 theatre program in London with Professor Rick Hornor, '70. If you receive this newsletter, you are one of 20,000 people (pretty select, eh?) who are eligible to enroll as part of the greater Whitworth family. All the details are on the alumni website, at www.whitworth.edu/alumni.

If you attended any of Whitworth's semester-long France Study Programs over the past 30 years, mark your calendar now for Alumni Family Weekend, June 16-18, when you are all invited to gather on campus and celebrate with former faculty of the program. More details are on the alumni website, or contact Director of Alumni Tad Wisenor, '89, for more information.

Come yell for the Bucs at our annual Alumni Night in the Fieldhouse on Saturday, Jan. 28. Admission is free for families, and we will have door prizes and a kid-friendly dessert reception after the game. The women play at 6 p.m. and men tip off at 8 o'clock against Linfield.

All members of the Whitworth family are encouraged to join in the festivities as we celebrate our 116th anniversary during Heritage Week 2006 this February. I'll kick things off during Convocation on Jan. 31, followed by 11 days of events under the banner of this year's theme, Art at Whitworth. All of the details are available at www.whitworth.edu/heritageweek.

Washington, D.C.,-area alumni are invited to join me for a no-host dinner on Tuesday, Feb. 7, at 6:30 p.m. at the La Tasca Restaurant, 722 7th St. NW, in the Penn Quarter. If you can attend, please respond on the alumni-events site so we'll know how many to expect. I'm looking forward to seeing you there, having missed a chance to get together last year.

Miscellaneous

If any of you would rather receive the Mind & Heart electronically, let us know.Sometimes you get the printed version after a few of the highlighted events have occurred. To keep that from happening, you can get the M&H delivered to your e-mail box as soon as I finish writing it. Just visit www.whitworth.edu/mind&heart to specify how you want to receive this newsletter. Thanks.

Closing Thoughts

This has been a great day! I've pretty much been rotting here on this couch since early morning. Watching five football games and dreaming up 2,450 Mind & Heart words gave way only to 50 or 60 trips to the kitchen and two brutal games of racquetball with Mr. Shakeman. I'm pretty sure I self-actualized today; I was one with the universe, although I still think the universe is a day late. It's been a nice respite; because when I'm not in Fairyland, world violence is wearing me down. I hit my one-movie-per-year 2005 quota last week when we went to see The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. I loved the book, and I found the film absolutely charming. But during the Lion's battle scenes, I longed to see some peace scenes led by the Lamb. I hope we don't forget "Peace I leave you, my peace I give unto you...let not your hearts be troubled." It would be so astonishingly great if historians someday wrote about 2006 as the year when a strange peace descended on hearts and borders and relationships and nations and tribes and you and me. Well, we probably won't be included in anyone's history book, but I hope the peace of Christ is. Again, happy new year, and thank you for your friendship.