Of Mind & Heart Newsletter: March 1997

An update from Whitworth University President Bill Robinson

I can't remember if this is the month that's supposed to come in like a lion and go out like a lamb, but we've seen a lot of both these animals in March. We're having a good semester. Thanks for your interest in our college. Last night I was at an Uptown Opera event in Spokane and heard Nermin Gusic, a Whitworth student from Bosnia whose magnificent voice will surely land him on the professional stage one day. I thought about how you help to make Whitworth a college of opportunity - a field of dreams for thousands of students who find their way here to have their hearts and minds enriched. I hope a portion of the blessings you provide to us will return to you.

Academics

Congratulations to Professor of Political Studies John Yoder, who recently received word that the Pew Evangelical Scholar Program has named him one of 16 scholars nationwide to receive a $35,000 fellowship. This stipend will support John's research on African values. He and the 15 other award winners were selected from more than 200 applicants.

This year's Faculty Development Day at Whitworth featured a presentation by Religion Professor Dale Bruner on "Reformed Religion: Calvin's Interpretation of John's Gospel," and a devotional led by Modern Languages Professor Pierrette Christianne Lovrien. I was out of town, but the session was videotaped and I look forward to seeing it. I'm sure it was superb.

The Whitworth College Jazz Ensemble did it again, capturing first place in the colleges and universities division at the 1997 Lionel Hampton Jazz Festival. Taking on the likes of the Universities of Arizona and Utah, Washington State University, Pacific Lutheran and many other excellent schools, the band members were able to continue the success they enjoyed on their recent trip to Australia. Congratulations to Director Dan Keberle and all the members of the ensemble. This band is hot.

Faculty members have been busy during the last several weeks, not only teaching their classes but in other scholarly activities.

The first play in the Whitworth Theatre's 1997 Festival of Christian Drama was Martyrs, by Garth Buchholz. After the performance, Dean of the Chapel Terry McGonigal led a stimulating discussion on some of the spiritual implications of the play. The festival will continue April 6 and May 11.

On April 17th, Whitworth's 1997 Fosseen Distinguished Speaker of International Management, C. William Pollard, will be featured at a banquet at the Davenport Hotel in Spokane. Mr. Pollard is chairman of the ServiceMaster Company, recognized by Fortunemagazine over the past 10 years as the No. 1 service company among the Fortune 500. He is also the author of several books; The Soul of the Firm is his latest. Proceeds from the banquet will support scholarships for Whitworth's Master of International Management students. Please call (509) 466-3742 or (509) 466-3291 if you'd like to attend.

Enrollment

We'll welcome several hundred high school juniors to our Sneak Preview campus visit program on April 13 and 14. During their two days on campus, students will stay in the residence halls, attend classes, meet with professors, and simply experience life at Whitworth. Please encourage high school juniors you know who are interested in Whitworth College to sign up soon. Hundreds of our current students identify Sneak Preview as the experience that helped them most in their college search and gave them the best information about what to expect when they arrived on campus as freshmen.

On March 1, the freshman application deadline, all of our admissions numbers looked good. Freshman applications, acceptances, and deposits were all up compared to last year. We've decided to accept a limited number of additional applications due to last year's slight decline in the number of accepted students who actually enrolled.

Our Financial Aid Office has been extremely busy making freshman awards. Many students who identify Whitworth as their first choice when applying become casualties to a shortage of funds. Director of Financial Aid Wendy Olson wanted me to express gratitude to all of you who contribute to scholarship funds and to the Whitworth Annual Fund. Without your help, many of our current students could not attend Whitworth. 

Student Life

The quality of America's (and probably the world's) work force will rise sharply this summer when Whitworth graduates hit the job market. Last week more than 160 Whitworth students attended Career Expo '97, a collaborative job fair held in downtown Spokane and hosted by Whitworth, WSU, Gonzaga, EWU and Whitman. More than 80 national employers, including Boeing, Andersen Consulting, AT&T and the Peace Corps, were represented at the event. Whitworth augmented the expo with campus activities that included workshops on resume writing, interviewing, traditional and Internet job searches, and even "working" the Career Fair. The final event was our annual etiquette dinner, presented by Marriott Food Services.

During spring break, many of our students will be involved in service projects, ranging from helping with a Native American Church in Idaho to working with kids at Camp Coleman in Seattle.

Speaking of service projects, Whitworth students participated in an effort earlier this month to help hungry people in other parts of the world. As part of a World Vision hunger relief project, 107 Whitworth students fasted during a self-imposed "30-hour famine." Marriott then donated the money saved for the five meals each of the students missed (that's 535 meals) to World Vision's hunger relief efforts.

Finances

Our overall budget continues to be right on track for the 1996-97 fiscal year. We've had several surprise expenses, such as those caused by Ice Storm '96, which have been offset by unexpected revenues in a couple of areas. In spite of volatility within budget lines, we should be balanced at year end.

Contributing to our financial condition this year is the $803,995.73 that you have given to the Whitworth Annual Fund. Thank you so much for your generosity. We still need $350,000 by June 30 in order to meet this year's budget figure. This month, we'll send out an appeal to folks who have not yet made a contribution this fiscal year. We aren't trying to bug people, but we know a reminder can be helpful. For example, last night a friend of mine saw me at an Uptown Opera fund-raiser and said, "When I saw you across the room, I remembered I need to send Whitworth some money." I love it when I have that effect on people. Sometimes when folks see me they suddenly get very poor or they simply grab their wallets and look for a hiding place. Actually, in the years ahead, we need to raise the Whitworth Annual Fund revenue by about 25 percent, so I'm going to be out fund raising even more in the future. Increasing gift revenue and continuing our cost-cutting efforts are the only ways we can keep Whitworth affordable for tomorrow's students.

We're very grateful to those of you who have sent in money to replace the many trees lost in Ice Storm '96. As I mentioned in the last Of Mind and Heart, it costs us about $85 per tree and you have funded 20 new trees. We will be especially pleased to plant 10 trees in memory of Ray F. Bower, who "would be pleased to know that these 10 trees will enrich the lives of Whitworth students and friends for many years."

The Phonathoners are back at it, and I figured out the key to their success. They like what they're doing. When their totals first started rolling in, I thought we must have a school of piranha in that back room. After I got to know them, I realized their effectiveness is a product of how much they enjoy talking to you. They love calling Whitworth alumni and talking about campus life in 1997. Thanks so much for taking their calls.

We're getting excited about the construction of Campus Center Phase II. We will get final approval from the Board of Trustees in April, and we'll begin turning dirt in July.

In the last Of Mind and Heart I mentioned a problem we encountered with our National Science Foundation grant for the renovation of the Johnston Science Building. It looks as if shrinking the scope of our original project will enable us to proceed with significant NSF funds and will result in a project that will assist our science faculty and students in conducting research and strengthen an infrastructure that is more than 30 years old. I should be able to provide the final grant numbers in next month's Of Mind and Heart.

Athletics

Our men's and women's swim teams had another great national tournament, with the men taking third in the country, and the women earning fifth. The Whitworth men grabbed three individual national championships: John Rasmussen won the 200 breaststroke, Jeff Rice the 200 IM, and Jerry Rice the 400 IM. The women were led by Shannon Braun, who finished third in all three of her events, setting school records in each, and Jan Okada, who was third in the 200 breaststroke. Congratulations to all the swimmers who participated in the National meet, and especially to seniors Lea Stenerson, Jan Okada, Shannon Braun, Guy Mikasa, John Rasmussen, Jeff Rice and Jerry Rice. And for the fourth time in 10 years, Tom Dodd, 1996 NAIA National Coach of the Year, was named Northwest Conference of Independent Colleges Coach of the Year.

Our men and women had excellent basketball seasons, but neither made it to the national tournament. The men finished the season 18-7 (11-5 in the NCIC), a great record for a team that lost three of its starting five, two of them All-America players. Our women came on strong at the end of the year and finished the season 13-11 overall, 9-7 in the conference. On the men's side, Nate Williams and Ben Heimerman were named first-team All-Conference, with Jeff Mix earning honorable mention. Among the women, seniors Jennifer Tissue and Sherry Northington earned second-team All-NCIC honors for the second year in a row, with Jennifer finishing her career as the fourth all-time scorer in Whitworth history and Sherry wrapping things up as the second all-time rebounder. Senior guard Rebecca Moore earned NCIC honorable mention. Thanks to the basketball teams for another unbelievably exciting winter in the Fieldhouse.

Jo Wagstaff has her women's tennis team off to a 3-1 start after an opening win against Whitman. The men stand at 1-3 under new Head Coach Sean Bushey. Both teams will spend spring break competing in California. I'll give more details on men's and women's tennis in the next Mind and Heart.

New Head Coach Toby Schwarz got his track and field squad off to a good start with the men winning an NCIC quadrangular at Lewis and Clark and the women finishing second. Women who won their events include Trina Gumm, who led the field in the shotput, discus and javelin; Rosalee Pope, who won the triple jump; and Betsy Slemp, first-place winner in the hammer throw. On the men's side, Chet Doughty won the long jump and the triple jump; Ben Vaday took the hundred-meter dash and anchored a victory in the 4x100 relay; Aaron Posey won the 110M hurdles; Dan Kepper was victorious in the high jump; and throwers Jeremy Wellham and Bob Gumm won in the javelin and hammer respectively. The next meet is another NCIC quadrangular at the University of Puget Sound.

If you like baseball without boycotts, lockouts, owners and bazillion-dollar salaries, you'd love the Whitworth nine. Although Coach Rod Taylor's team is off to a 1-3 start, the hitting and pitching looks great. If the Bucs can tighten up their defense, we should be in for a good year. Incidentally, there was a sigh of relief yesterday in Pullman when the Washington State Cougars found out that bad weather had saved them from having to get their lunch from the Mighty Bucs. No make-up date has been set, but I'll let you know the outcome when the game is played. Next week the baseball team will be in California on its spring break trip.

Dates to Remember

April 4 Whitworth Choir Spring Concert, First Presbyterian Church, Spokane, 7:30 p.m. 
April 5 & 12 Women Composers Series Concerts, Music Recital Hall, 8 p.m.
April 6 Festival of Christian Drama, Stage II, Cowles Auditorium, 7:30 p.m.
April 12 Hawaiian Club Luau, Fieldhouse, 5 p.m.
April 12 Men's Alumni Tennis Match (Cutter Courts)
April 13-14 Sneak Preview

Miscellaneous

Spokane is a wonderful place to live and work, and its spirit of community enriches us all. But as a hateful and hurtful letter that recently appeared in The Spokesman-Reviewreminded us, people of conscience must be diligent in their efforts to combat racism. Whitworth has joined Spokane's call for racial equality both on campus and in the community. Through working on the mayor's task force and participating in the Intercollegiate Racial Concerns Consortium, Whitworth is battling the disease of racism that demeans humanity and surely grieves God.

Closing Thoughts

We at Whitworth College send you rich Easter greetings. We have been commissioned to teach a wide body of knowledge to students of many backgrounds and faiths. We exalt curiosity and protect the freedom to explore new ideas. But all of us who have been called to this mission have experienced the forgiveness of the cross and the power of the resurrection, and now we look through eyes of faith. Thank you for enabling us in this calling. We are blessed by God.