Of Mind & Heart Newsletter: March 2001

An update from Whitworth University President Bill Robinson

I felt it. Immediately, I made two calls to see if I was the only one who noticed the planet shaking. Neither person I called felt anything, which is to say that the big earthquake that hit the Seattle-Tacoma area just wiggled things a little here. We're thankful, yet sorry for those who weren't so fortunate. On absolutely no theological grounds, I have decided to interpret the Ash Wednesday tremor as God's elbow in my ribs. On the first Sunday of Lent, I thought about what our liturgical calendar reminds us to consider - Christ preparing himself in the wilderness. Regrettably, I thought about it while being delayed in the San Francisco airport (a redundant phrase). Maybe because I was mad at myself for not being in church, I found a certain profanity in the three people near me who were making business phone calls. Then I remembered the elbow and realized how often I seem to wander into these spiritual wildernesses where all the messages violate Christ's declaration that we don't live "by bread alone." Two days ago I had lunch with a student. He prayed that this Lenten season would be one of purification for both of us. Great prayer. So many cultural toxins contaminate our lives and distort our recognition of what's really important. All of us, whether Christian or not, would benefit from Lenten cleansing. Please keep our students and us in your prayers as we deal with these matters.

Academics

I've been thinking that many of you may be wondering about some of our retired faculty facing health challenges. Bill Johnson (Psychology), whose name springs to mind because I'm in Hawaii and he advised the Hawaiian Club for many years, has Parkinson's disease and is having a rough time. You might want to contact him at WJoh759783@aol.com. Bob Bocksch (Chemistry) is also battling Parkinson's and is also struggling. He's closing in on his 70th birthday and I'm sure he'd love to hear from some former students at rdbocksch@sprynet.com. Pauline Haas (Art) recently injured her wrist, but she's mending nicely and is back at her easel. I'll try to insert some of this kind of information from time to time, since I know you care.

Our jazz ensemble finished second and the jazz choir took third in their divisions at February's Lionel Hampton Jazz Festival, in Idaho. Both groups are great. I didn't get to hear our musicians perform, but Bonnie and I did get to the festival on Saturday night to hear Hampton himself and his band. The band swung hard, and though Hampton, in his 90s, may be a moment or so past his prime, his soft smile as he tapped the vibes said to us all, "This is what I'm meant to do; you're welcome to listen in."

The next night, we heard Michael Young (Music) present personal compositions from six decades. It was a grand celebration of his superb teaching and composing at Whitworth. Mike, who joined the faculty in 1976, retires this spring. In vintage fashion he noted that "some 42 years, 94 musical works and 384 mountain summits mark the time between my first and my most recent composition." There will never be another Michael Young, and that's a shame.

Another wonderful presentation on campus came from the full heart and rich voice of Martin Goldsmith. Known for his Performance Today program on National Public Radio, Goldsmith talked about his recent book, The Inextinguishable Symphony. The book, from which he read excerpts, tells how his Jewish parents met and fell in love in Nazi Germany, and played in an all-Jewish orchestra before fleeing to the United States. Clearly, it was the human spirit that could not be extinguished.

The first speaker in this year's Great Decisions series was Michael LeRoy,'89. It was great to have him back on campus. Michael, who now chairs the Department of Political Science at Illinois' Wheaton College, presented his research on political and economic developments in Europe. He was followed the next week by Associate Dean of Academic Affairs Gordon Jackson and Emeritus Biology Professor Dave Hicks, who described the grim AIDS situation in South Africa. They, along with John Yoder (Politics and History), were in that country with 23 students during Jan Term. This is an excellent series, and it's open to the public.

Our art faculty's creative talents will be on display at the Whitworth Faculty Exhibit 2001, in the Koehler Gallery on campus. The exhibit runs from March 21 through April 19. I'm sure it will be a superb show, displaying works from artists like Gordon Wilson, who just won second-place and honorable-mention awards at Arteasel.com's International Internet Art Exhibitions for spring 2000 and had his artwork included in the permanent collection of Spokane's Northwest Museum of Art and Culture.

We are delighted to report that the M. J. Murdock Charitable Trust has awarded us a grant of $1,013,800 to help us understand better how to teach our students to let their values drive their behavior, both during and after Whitworth. Too often I have discovered various pressures impersonating the voice of my most basic values telling me how to act. Whenever I ask, "What was I thinking when I did that?" I can be pretty sure it was not a value-driven act. This grant, running for five years, will allow us to work closely with a group of freshmen on making the value-behavior connection and to track their progress. Julia Stronks (Politics and History) will oversee this grant.

Enrollment

We continue to be way ahead of last year's application count as we hit March 1 with roughly 1,500. The quality of students is also superb.

Sneak Preview, our Admissions program for high school juniors, is coming up May 6 and 7. This is a great opportunity for prospective students to experience classes, residence-hall ambience, and sleep deprivation.

The Financial Aid Office has begun making awards to incoming students and will continue to do so throughout the spring. Current students with need-based aid should submit their FAFSA forms by May 1. Their awards will be sent out during May and June.

Student Life

Members of the Whitworth community are involved in many social- justice issues.Because our region has sometimes been associated with acts of racism, students and staff alike seek and capitalize upon opportunities to promote ethnic diversity. For example, Esther Louie and Stephy Beans (Student Life) and Elsa Distelhorst (Advancement) have been active in the Spokane Task Force on Race Relations and are currently representing Whitworth on a variety of social-action committees.

Our smart students did themselves - and us - proud at this year's College Bowl, at WSU. The team of Tim Woods (captain), Dave Zemke, Mike VanEngelen, and Ryan Voytovich took 4th place out of nine teams and finished ahead of the teams from WSU, Albertson, Idaho State, Boise State, and Portland Community. Tim Woods also finished third overall out of 40+ participants, so the Buc Brains made quite a showing. In related news, an unnamed Arend Hall student is alleged to be organizing a "Cereal Bowl" team for students wishing to be more "well-rounded."

Resources

This has been a very challenging budget year. Due to cold weather and high prices, our energy costs are rising at the same time as contributions to the Whitworth Fund have taken a little dip. Not a good combination. I think we'll be okay, but we should have a better picture in May, the 11th month of our fiscal year. I'll let you know then how we're doing. I hope you know from the way I've communicated with you that I detest dishonesty in fund-raising. To be sure, we very much need your support - but not at the cost of exaggerating the truth. I have never written about a financial crisis in this newsletter because we haven't had one to report, and there is no reason to think that this year will be an exception. If I'm wrong, you can count on me to do plenty of moaning and groaning. Bonnie and our children say I have a hair-trigger whining mechanism. I'm so misunderstood.

The great ladies of the Whitworth College Auxiliary have asked me to urge you to give the gift of warmth. The auxiliary members are selling lovely cotton throws, designed by Art Professor Emeritus Pauline Haas, that depict many of Whitworth's dorms and landmarks. Proceeds from the sales go to help furnish residence lounges on campus. To order your afghan, contact the Alumni Office at 509-777-3799/800-532-4668, or e-mail atomson@whitworth.edu. The cost is $50, with an additional $5 charge if shipping is required.

I'm pleased to report that we've received $325,000 from the Stewardship Foundation- $225,000 for a three-year renewal of the Weyerhaeuser Center for Christian Faith and Learning and $100,00 for The Whitworth Fund. The Weyerhaeusers and the Stewardship Foundation have been so faithful and generous to Whitworth. We would have a weaker mission without Dave Weyerhaeuser's wisdom and a weaker school without the financial support he provided.

Athletics

Men's Basketball Head Coach Warren Friedrichs' final season came to a close with an 82-60 playoff loss at Lewis & Clark. The following weekend, L&C's Pioneers defeated Linfield for the conference title, and they're now in the regional NCAA Div. III tournament - so we lost to a pretty good team. Senior Ryan Nelson scored 17 points to lead the Bucs; we're really going to miss Ryan and fellow seniors Kelson Ramey and Dave Rusk.

In postseason hoops news, freshman Bryan Depew was named First-Team All-Northwest Conference, based on voting by NWC coaches. Bryan led the Pirates in scoring this season, averaging 15.1 points per game while making 55.1 percent of his shots. He also added 5.4 rebounds per game. Senior guard Kelson Ramey was named to the second team after scoring 11.8 points per game and making 41 percent of his three-point attempts. And junior forward Gunner Olsen, who averaged 10.9 ppg and 6.3 rpg, received honorable mention. Also, sophomore Chase Williams was named to the Verizon Academic All-District VIII Team. Chase, who started all 25 games at point guard for the Pirates this season, has a 3.93 GPA in sports medicine and would have put up big numbers had he not trashed his ankle early in the season.

In women's hoops honors, senior forward Jamie Wakefield earned a pair of post-season awards. Jamie, whose great play throughout her Whitworth career brought excitement to every game, was named First-Team All-Northwest Conference for the third consecutive year. She was also named to the Verizon Academic All-District VIII Team (again for the third year in a row). Jamie retires after making the all-time lists at Whitworth in career scoring (3rd place, 1,331 points), rebounding (6th place, 696) and assists (8th place, 227). With a GPA of 3.96 in biology/education, Jamie will graduate in May with dazzling numbers. But the best of Jamie Wakefield will never be captured by a number. She is a confident, caring woman of faith who achieved as much personally as she did in the classroom and the Fieldhouse during her Whitworth years.

The baseball Bucs stand at 3-7 after opening the season against top-notch competition at a pair of tournaments. The Pirates have been competitive in each of their games, and with a couple of breaks they could easily be over .500 right now - amazing considering they haven't practiced on their field in this unusually inclement year. The team is showing some new and improved offense and is getting solid pitching from Matt Squires and George Pettigrew.

Track and field officially opened its outdoor season at the Linfield Icebreaker last Saturday. More than 20 Pirates qualified for the conference championships at this unscored first meet. Whitworth had 55 competitors in the meet, and more than 25 others are waiting in the wings, giving the team its greatest depth ever.

Women's tennis won three matches last weekend, to improve to 3-2 overall and 3-1 in the NWC. Addi Norman is undefeated in singles play so far this season, and senior Amy Austin has not lost to an NWC opponent.

The men's tennis team bounced back after a rough start, also winning three matches this past weekend to improve to 3-4. Unfortunately, the individual results from this past weekend aren't available right now.

Softball season opens this next weekend at Lewis & Clark. So let's just say we're undefeated at this point.

Alumni

As announced in the latest issue of Whitworth Today, there are now four annual alumni awards to be presented at Homecoming. We would love to have you call or e-mail us at 509-777-4401, 1-800-532-4668 or twisenor@whitworth.edu for information.

Come to Spokane on Bloomsday weekend! Alumni visiting town for the race are invited to come to campus on Sat., May 5. If you haven't been on campus recently, you'll be astounded at the changes. Student-led tours will depart from the Admissions Office (MacKay Hall on Hawthorne Road) at 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. Then, after you stuff yourselves with carbohydrates, come back to campus for a joint concert featuring the wind ensemble and the choir. The concert will feature the debut of a new Michael Young piece commissioned by the college.

If you graduated with the Class of 1941, we hope you can join us for a Commencement-Weekend reunion, May 19 and 20. The celebration will be attended by many Northwest-area members of the 50+ reunion club. Contact the Alumni Office at the numbers/address above for more information.

Closing Thoughts

A couple of weeks ago, several of us went to Victoria, B.C., for the District VIII conference of the Council for the Advancement and Support of Education. And it's nice to report that we brought home a bit of award hardware. The prospective students portion of Whitworth's website won a gold medal in the group's annual communication competition. Kudos to Garrett Riddle and Chris Nickerson of our web team. Check out their work at www.whitworth.edu. It's really well done and fun. Also, I gave Communications Director Greg Orwig the Hyperbole Award for the imaginative nomination he wrote that resulted in my receiving CASE's Leadership Award for college/university presidents. Actually, it was quite nice for Bonnie and me, and it speaks highly of the Whitworth Institutional Advancement Office that assigns and supports what I do in these kinds of activities.

Well, I made it to Hawaii after begging my way onto a six-hour delayed flight, which departed three hours after my scheduled flight, which for all I know still hasn't left. I'm only here for two days, but warm tropical breezes carrying the aloha spirit soothe the travel sting. Our Hawaiian students and alumni are great. When I spend time with them here, I am renewed in my gratitude for the warmth I often hear prospective students mention when they visit Whitworth. May this spring bring warm breezes into each of your lives. Thanks for all you do for Whitworth. We couldn't get along without you.