Of Mind & Heart Newsletter: January 2007

An update from Whitworth University President Bill Robinson

Warm 2007 blessings to you! I just looked across the street at the campus. It's very still. Maybe I find it so calm because I had it in my head that Jan Term started today. I'm only five days off. Management at its best. Eesh. My crystal ball says 2007 will be a great year for Whitworth. We have some exciting initiatives ready to take shape. And I'm confident our students and alumni will bring hope, peace and beauty to our world. It would be great if history remembers 2007 as a year in which all God's children began to nurse creation back to health. Our daughter used to work in a home for troubled youth. She loved the kids, but it made her crazy when they abused the facility or mistreated each other. If this behavior upset her, it must have really saddened the home's founder. I doubt if God feels any better when we abuse his creation and mistreat the people to whom he's given such a lovely home. My opening prayer for 2007 is that we and our students will love the earth and all those who dwell herein, and that God can say, "Look at Whitworth: They're being good to my planet and kind to the people I've put there."

Academics

Jan Term, whenever it starts, looks to be great again this year. Here are some sample courses that circle the globe:

Gordon Jackson (Communication Studies) is taking students to study the media in Washington, D.C., and New York City.
Angeles Aller and Kim Hernandez (Spanish) will lead a class on language and culture in Guanajuato, Mexico.
Elisabeth Buxton (German) will take a language and culture class to Germany.
Craig Tsuchida (Biology) has student-scientists doing research in marine ecology at Washington's Friday Harbor Marine Lab.
Rich Strauch (Music) has students in Germany studying the power and politics of art.
Jim Waller (Psychology) will traverse the country teaching his nationally acclaimed Prejudice Across America course.
Raja Tanas (Sociology) will offer Introduction to Cultural Anthropology in Hawaii (the only place any right-minded person would study this subject).

The theology & philosophy department is particularly cosmopolitan this term:

Forrest Baird will trek from Rome to Oxford, teaching Core 250.
Keith Beebe's class will study Christianity in Great Britain. Keith did his Ph.D. in Scotland.
Jim Edwards is teaching Early Christian Sites, in Turkey.
Karin Heller will take her class to France to study European roots of Christianity spirituality.
Jerry Sittser is headed back to Tall Timbers to teach his course in Christian Spirituality.

Whitworth's presence around the world is not restricted to Jan Term. Suman Polepaka, '06 MIM, works with a small Christian startup company in India. The company's goal is to transform healthcare in India through information technology. Suman reports, "I was interested in helping this company not only because I saw some potential but also because it fits my personal calling of working in 'business as mission field.'" Suman submitted a summary business plan for this company for the Urban '06 Conference. His plan will compete against five others for a $25,000 prize.

Even student teaching has gone international. Chelsea Griffith, a math major with a minor in German, is our first international student teacher; she's teaching at the International School of Stuttgart and will be prepared for a Washington state teaching certificate when she finishes. The world is shrinking.

Our musicians are on a tear. In November, Whitworth Jazz Bands I and II and our jazz combos performed at the Eastern Washington University Jazz Festival and hauled in the following awards: Outstanding Soloist (Oliver Walter, saxophone); Outstanding Trumpet Section (Jazz Band I); Outstanding Rhythm Section (Jazz Band I). After that, Joe Jolley, Kyrsten Hafso, Noree Johnson, Kelsey Mason, Ellie Vergowe and Brianne Jensen won awards at the National Association of Teachers of Singing competition at WSU. Finally, violinists Angela Leonardi and Melissa Burgess were selected by audition to perform in a master class presented by William Harvey, interim concertmaster of the Spokane Symphony, and Angela and fellow violinist Mari Thomas performed as scholarship members with the Coeur d'Alene symphony. Bravo!

The Diploma in Lay Pastoral Ministry Program, sponsored by our Weyerhaeuser Center for Christian Faith & Learning, has become quite popular. It's designed for people who live outside of the Spokane region and can only come to campus for concentrated learning periods. The program, which can be completed in as little as two years, helps train, equip and support laypeople for paid and unpaid lay-leadership positions in the Presbyterian Church (USA) and other denominations. Our next program takes place June 11-15 and June 18-22. For more information, visit www.whitworth.edu/faithcenter.

The American Institute of Physics has recognized our physics department as one of its top 30 departments in the nation for growth in the number of majors during 2002-04.

Under the heading of Whitworth literary activity, look for a poem by Laurie Lamon, '78, (English) that just came out in Ploughshares and one that is imminent in The New Republic. Also, English department alum Russell Working, '82, recently received the 2006 University of Notre Dame's Sullivan Prize for his collection of short stories, The Irish Martyr. Russell is a reporter with the Chicago Tribune.

Works by Spokane-area artists Mary Farrell, Gina Freuen, and Wendy Franklund Miller will be featured in an exhibit Jan. 8-30 in the Koehler Gallery. Scott Kolbo (Art) says the exhibit will expose students to three of the best artists in the Spokane region. For more information, call Dee Anna Christiansen at 509.777.3258.

Enrollment

This has been an interesting (monster) year so far in admissions:

To date, we have received more than 2,200 completed applications.
We received our highest-ever number of early-action applications, and we strongly encourage those admitted to submit the $350 enrollment deposit by Jan. 31. The deposit, refundable until May 1, gives early-action applicants priority in course selection and housing. The general deposit deadline is May 1; housing applications are sent only to students who have submitted deposits, and it's helpful to get going on that process.
Eight sets of twins have applied for fall admission. This has to be a sign of something. Probably global warming.
On Feb. 18 & 19 we will host the first of two Whitworth Faculty Scholarship Competitions for prospective freshmen admitted with honors. Invitations and competition schedules have been sent through e-mail and regular mail. Please contact the Whitworth Office of Admissions (509.777.3212, 800.533.4668 or www.whitworth.edu/admissions) for further information.

Student Life

Christmas Break helps us all recover from the celebrations and tests of December. But we roar back in January, well-fed and -rested...especially well-fed. Snow-covered mountains beckon skiers, boarders, hikers and pikers. Fieldhouse basketball and fast swimmers will have us cheering, while Martin Luther King Day will give us time for reflection. Jan Term is always rich, both academically and socially.

A recent ice-skating fund-raiser sponsored by the Whitworth Medic Team, Arend Hall, and ASWC raised funds for Women Rizing, a ministry run by Stephy Nobles-Beans (Ministry & Multicultural Affairs). One of the ministry's projects involves going into prisons to record mothers reading children's books; the recordings are then given to the women's children, and this helps to keep the bond between mother and child strong. The money raised at the skating event will go to purchase books for this ministry.

Resources

I could not be more grateful for your willingness to speak with our Whitworth Phonathon students. Telemarketing companies must have satellite contact with our refrigerators - because no matter when we eat, they call. So we couldn't blame you for putting off our phonathoners. But you haven't, and the phonathon is experiencing a great year. More than $175,000 in gifts and pledges were received in the fall, and we're already within striking distance of our $200,000 goal for the year. I crashed the phonathoners' Christmas party and was thrilled to hear how much they love talking with you. Again, thanks!

It's too soon to tally December gifts, but early indicators tell us that you were most generous. If you have questions about our needs and how you can help Whitworth, please visit the Donors & Friends section of our website (www.whitworth.edu/supportingwhitworth). You'll find phonathon and reunion giving updates, a matching-gift search engine, a list of our designated gift priorities and a new planned-giving online calculator. And while you're there, discover how great if feels to make a contribution to help build our new visual-arts building.

Athletics

My main athletics mole, Sports Information Director Steve Flegel, '89, isn't around, and I have to leave town tomorrow; so I'll just wing it.

Our men's basketball team is ranked 6th in the nation in NCAA D3 hoops. I checked out the website last night. The team is 10-0, they're first in the nation in field-goal percentage at 54 percent, and point guard Bryan Williams leads the country in assists. Conference play resumes this weekend. These guys are good. They have victories against some very good teams (such as Wheaton College, in the Top 20) but their toughest game was against our alumni. It was fun to see the guys who made it back. It's a good thing third-year UW med-school student Chase Williams came back to play; he was able to treat Gunner Olsen's knee when Gunner banged it on the rim.

The women's basketball team is 8-3 and, like the men, they take on Linfield and George Fox this weekend. When I've seen them play, Alida Bower has provided great all-around play and leadership, but they've gotten very strong play from a number of different players on different nights. They're very young, but they play hard and smart.

I've only been to one swim meet, as there haven't been too many at home, but the men and the women looked dominating. The women I remember hitting the touchpads early include Samantha Kephart, Brittany Gresset, Natalie Turner and Katelyn Erickson. On the guys' side, I've seen David Dolphay, Luke Stocker and Bryan Clarke's names a lot, but I'm sure the list of strong performances from both teams includes many more swimmers.

Our fall athletes received a bunch of athletic and academic honors. There's no way I can remember them all, but our record-breaking football team had two All-Americans. Michael Allan was named first team at tight end and Joel Clark was the 2nd team quarterback. What an honor. Also, along with the honors accorded to our many all-conference football players, John Tully was named Northwest Conference Coach of the Year. Forgive me for a ton of left-out information here.

Michael Allan has also accepted an invitation to participate in the 2007 NFL Combine (where scouts from the pro teams find some of their best players) and the Dell East-West Shrine Game, one of the premier showcase events for college football players in the U.S. The Shrine game will be telecast Jan. 21 in prime time on ESPN 2. Mike had to forego the Hula Bowl for this game, but he says, "there will be more NFL coaches and personnel at the Shrine Bowl." It would be interesting to know how often DIII players receive either of these honors. We've heard that Mike is the only one this year.

Alumni

Information on this summer's Core 650 tour of historic Paris with Professor Leonard Oakland is now available at www.whitworth.edu/alumni/paris. From June 24-July 3, participants will enjoy daily lectures and several day trips to the French countryside in addition to all that the City of Lights has to offer. Registration is now available for all Whitworthians, and spaces are limited. I would love to do this!

Feb. 8-16 is Heritage Week, celebrating Whitworth's 117th anniversary. All of the details for Heritage Week events, including a lecture by '82 alumnus Stan Borg, M.D., on the U.S. healthcare crisis, can be found at www.whitworth.edu/heritageweek.

Miscellaneous

There is no word I hear more frequently associated with Of Mind & Heart than "actually," as in "I actually read the thing." I very much appreciate the time you take to check in on Whitworth through this newsletter. And now you can tell your friends who feel the letter is good for nothing, they're wrong! This very issue will get you and your household into our basketball games on Feb. 2 and 3 as the men's and women's teams take on Linfield and George Fox at 6 and 8 p.m. in the fieldhouse. Just bring this issue of M&H and show it at the door. You will demonstrate your discriminating taste in literature -- and get in for nothing.

Closing Thoughts

It sounds like presidential rah-rah, but I really believe our students and alumni are changing the world. Here's a recent note from a parent: I just wanted to let you know about a conversation I had with my son yesterday. I asked him what he wanted for Christmas. I have been racking my brain for a good idea as he is now in college and any gift I give him will have to be transported back to his dorm room. "I know what I want, Mom," he told me. "I want a cow or a well for a village in need." I have just finished purchasing his cow. It will be delivered to a village in Haiti in March. I have always thought he was an amazing young man. But even his proud mom has been surprised at the deep and profound changes we have seen each time he comes home. He is kinder, more open-minded and now more generous than ever before.... We are so glad that he is where he is. I'm starting this year with great hope. All over the world, young people like this give of themselves to those in need. May Christ's peace be with you and with our world in 2007.