Of Mind & Heart Newsletter: March 2003

An update from Whitworth University President Bill Robinson

It's a sunny Saturday morning. I'm not where I belong, but I'm home, and that's always good. I've had to cancel five trips over the last 16 days due to an unexpected back surgery. The reason it was unexpected is that it was my second such operation in two months. It's not a big deal, but it's pretty inconvenient. I guess I have a disc that started cracking up after a lifetime of sports-related running, jumping and twisting. It was worth it. It's been a good month at Whitworth. We're encouraged to see what's happening in student achievement, employee satisfaction, athletics success, and applications for enrollment. So we're happy, but nobody's doing handsprings in this geo-political climate. I'm ready for Lent, my favorite season in the liturgical calendar. I hope all of you are finding a few spiritual shelters where you can gather yourselves. I've been hearing from a nerve in my back that fragments are bad. Sometime I get the same message about fragments from my soul. May the peace of Christ knit your heart, mind and soul together in this difficult hour.

Academics

For some reason, last semester I failed to mention this past fall's British Isles Study Tour. These semester-long tours are great, and this was no exception. In addition to a rich menu of theatrical productions, students ate great ethnic food, visited a Hindu temple, got a tour of the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts, and toured Hampton Court, Canterbury Cathedral, Stratford and many other historic sites. The students on this particular journey have raved about the experience.

Above the din of daily epithets, syndicated columnist Leonard Pitts, Jr., spoke with grace and candor to a full Cowles Auditorium on the topic of "Choosing Sides." Students, faculty and folks from all over our region applauded often as Pitts' speech and his answers to questions covered a wide range of topics such as racism, affirmative action and the possibility of war in Iraq. He also spent time in classes, with faculty members and our Black Student Union, and commiserated with any Los Angeles Lakers fans he could find (who are now so pleased that their team has won more than they've lost). Other February speakers we were fortunate to host included:

Chithra Sukuamaran, from Cochin, India, who enriched our community with her traditional dancing during a month-long stay as a visiting artist. She visited classes to teach dance and speak about Indian culture and gave several public performances.
David Arnott, professor of management at Dallas Baptist University, who spoke in classes and gave several other presentations related to capitalism, Christianity and corporate behavior.
Kenneth H. Kato, a Spokane resident and acting chief judge of the Washington Court of Appeals, who spoke to a business class on current issues related to international and business law.
Vijaya Pavani, the first female news correspondent for All-India Radio, who spoke at our Great Decisions series.

And in March we look forward to:

Diversity expert V. Robert Hayles will give a presentation on Current Issues of Diversity in Business and is slated to be the keynote speaker at Spokane's third annual Business Diversity Leadership Breakfast.
José Guerrero, a nationally known artist from Chicago, is the Art Department's first visiting artist in printmaking. Guerrero will create an edition of prints and will collaborate on a printing matrix with Scott Kolbo (Art) and students. He will also make a presentation in Faculty Scholarship Forum and will visit art and modern-language classes.

The Founder's Day celebration I mentioned last month turned out to be a wonderful recognition of women who have provided powerful leadership for Whitworth, especially the Women's Auxiliary. Coincidentally, two women won our Founder's Day Scholarship, which was based on essays on how to strengthen Whitworth's heritage. Christina DesVaux, a sophomore majoring in religion, described how we could better use art to beautify and enrich our campus and Sharon Young, a senior in elementary education, proposed that students who cannot meet their multicultural requirement by leaving Spokane be allowed to do so by working closely with one of the diverse communities in our city.

If you're able, make sure you visit the Koehler Gallery for our latest faculty art exhibit, which runs through April 17. Barbara Filo, Scott Kolbo and Gordon Wilson, and two of our adjuncts, Jeff Harris and Carl Stejer, present an eclectic mix of paintings and drawings, mixed media, artists' books, photography, ceramic sculpture and stained glass. Scott Kolbo says, "It is an ideal time for people to see the strengths of the department, and to discover new instructors and media they might not have known they could learn about in our department."

Ben Brueggemeier '97, became the second of our music education graduates to be named the Q6 Teacher of the Month this academic year. Ben, who's now teaching at Spokane's Ferris High School, nabbed the February honor given by one of our local TV network affiliates. It's not at all surprising to me that Ben and Mike Jones, '00, the December winner, were chosen for this award. These guys provided leadership in many areas when they were students here, although I seem to remember them as hackers in intramural basketball; in fact, I'm pretty sure our faculty team thumped their teams. Sure, that's probably what happened.

Whitworth educates many wonderful teachers like the two alumni I just mentioned. I'm positive we say too little about our superb School of Education. More than 85 percent of our students passed all three parts of the state basic-skills test in November. That compares to a state average of 78 percent. And each year we have one of the highest job-placement rates in the state for our first-year teachers.

Whitworth senior Kelsey Rice was recently selected as a finalist for the prestigious Davies-Jackson Scholarship, which provides two years of graduate-level study at St. John's College of Cambridge University, England. Kelsey, a resident of Dryden, Wash., has a 4.0 grade point average and is a history and English double-major at Whitworth. She is one of only five students nationwide chosen as Davies-Jackson Scholarship finalists.

Enrollment

Registrar Gary Whisenand keeps sending us reports telling us what we already know -- our enrollment is inching upward. This spring we have 1,783 full-time undergraduates, up 123 from last year. Our total enrollment is up to 2,141. Retention keeps improving, and that thrills us. I think one of the reasons for Whitworth's popularity is our desire for our students to graduate and succeed. When I went to college and heard an administrator give the hackneyed, "Look to your left, look to your right; one of you won't make it" welcome-to-college speech, I thought it was a dumb thing to say. Now I know it is. To lay success and failure exclusively at the feet of our students is arrogant. We're in this together, and you parents, friends and supporters are instrumental in making it possible for students to succeed.

The 6th annual invitation-only Faculty Scholarship Competition program for high-achieving prospective freshmen will be held March 14-15. The two-day event allows participants to compete for two four-year, full-tuition academic scholarships.

Student Life

February activities centered on the start-up of the second semester, winning basketball and swim teams, Black History month, and the Middle-East crisis. ASWC began a column in all residence-hall newsletters that gives students week-to-week information on decisions being made in our country. Debates and discussions help students get perspective on world tensions. Some students have been involved in peace marches, some have attended their ROTC classes, and some are just trying to cope with the anxiety that we all feel when we think about weapons of mass destruction, terrorism, 20 million Christians in the Arab world, our soldiers, seven Presbyterian churches in Baghdad, a wicked dictator, kids in Iraq and the future of all our children.

Resources

The countdown to April's board meeting has us all hunting for the final funds needed to start work on Weyerhaeuser Hall. The site is just begging for a building, and, as I mentioned above, we desperately need the space. Delighting us on that front is news that the legacy of Marty and Jean Polhemus will continue through sales proceeds from their retained life estate. A challenge-match program is being developed for the Polhemuses' friends and colleagues to participate in this classroom-naming opportunity in the new building. I know this brings great joy to Jean, who, by the way, is looking just great these days. And speaking of people who look great, Margie May Ott (former music faculty member, widow of trustee Franklin Ott, the grand matriarch of music in Spokane, and the one who called me every day after my operation to make sure I was behaving) was named Teacher of the Year by the Music Teachers National Association.

One of the ways we have tried to deal with the rising cost of tuition is through participation in a top-quality prepaid program. We recently received word that Tuition Plan has been approved by the IRS. This will allow parents/grandparents to set aside funds now to pay for a child's future education at Whitworth or one of the many partner schools. We can at this time take names of those interested, but the program requires board approval and won't be ready to roll out until this summer.

Athletics

Shakespeare might have had a winter of discontent, but our winter has been awfully good over on the west end of campus, with three Northwest Conference titles (in four sports), three Northwest Conference Coach of the Year awards, and five Northwest Conference Player/Athlete of the Year awards.

The men's swim team had outstanding performances at the Northwest Conference championships. The men won 15 of 18 possible events to gain their second conference title in three years. Senior Ryan Freeman and junior Kevin Wang each won three individual events to earn Co-Men's NWC Swimmer of the Year awards. Freeman set a new meet record in the 200 backstroke, while Wang demolished the old records in the 400 individual medley and the 1,650 freestyle. Whitworth also set meet records while winning the 200- and 400-medley relays. Tom Dodd was named the Northwest Conference Men's Coach of the Year. Along with Ryan and Kevin, Cory Bergman, Loren Kilgore and Brandon Johnson have qualified for nationals, and other potential qualifiers include Chris Holmes, Josh Andrew, and Rhys Birky.

Whitworth's swimmin' women also performed well, winning eight of the 18 events. Senior Kristen Satterfield was named the Co-Women's NWC Swimmer of the Year (with Breanna Trygg of UPS) after winning all three of her individual events (100, 200 and 500 freestyles). Sophomore Serena Fadel set meet records while winning the 200 and 400 IMs. Both were also part of three winning relays. For the first time ever, four women will be heading to the NCAA Division III Swimming and Diving Championships. Along with Satterfield and Fadel, Jillian Harbuz and Megan Lambuth were part of a 200-medley relay that has qualified for the meet.

The Bucs are NWC champs in women's basketball. Sophomore Tiffany Speer put an exclamation point on the championship-clinching win over Lewis & Clark by scoring 38 points, the second-highest single-game total in Whitworth history. Speer was named NWC Player of the Year, and senior Chrissy Oneal and sophomore Sarah Shogren were named to the All-NWC Second Team. Helen Higgs was selected as Northwest Conference Coach of the Year for the third time in her nine seasons. Though the Bucs ran up against a juggernaut in a PLU team that seemingly couldn't miss a shot in the game that decided who would go to the NCAA tournament, they had a great year and finished their championship year with a record of 20-6, 13-3 in conference.

The men (22-3, 13-3) clinched their own NWC basketball title with a hard-fought win over defending champion Lewis & Clark in the regular-season finale. They then went on to take care of Willamette, 74-63, gaining an automatic berth in the NCAA Div. III tournament. Junior Bryan Depew was selected NWC Player of the Year, senior Chase Williams was voted to the All-NWC first team, and freshman Paul Hafford garnered honorable mention. In addition, Depew and Williams were two of only five players selected as Verizon Academic All-District honorees. Each will now be considered for Academic All-America status. In his second season as head coach, Jim Hayford was voted NWC Coach of the Year.

I'll cover spring sports in the next issue. Despite the cold weather, baseball, tennis, track and field, and softball are up and running.

Alumni

Join Dick Evans (Music) for a Core 650 presentation, Humor in Music. The program will take place in the Los Angeles area Saturday evening, March 22; then it's on to San Diego for a Sunday-afternoon gathering. To register online, go to www.whitworth.edu/alumni and click on "Alumni Calendar."

Jim Waller (Psychology) will offer a lecture for New England area alumni, parents and friends before a Whitworth dinner on Saturday, March 22, at Gordon College, outside Boston, Mass. More information has been mailed and online reservations are being taken.

Members of the Parents Council will meet Saturday, April 12, for lunch and a business meeting. Director of Admissions Marianne Hansen will be on hand to discuss ways in which council members can be of assistance to the Office of Admissions.

Bigger and better than ever before, Alumni Family Weekend 2003 is set for June 20-22. The revised schedule and online registration form are now available at www.whitworth.edu/alumni/familyweeeknd2003.htm, and brochures have been mailed to all alumni. Make sure to reserve the weekend for an on-campus experience you'll never forget.

Closing Thoughts

I believe strongly that if Whitworth is a great place for people to work, there's a good chance that it will be a great place for students to go to college. So it was really encouraging to discover that in the largest survey ever conducted on the attitudes of employees at Christian workplaces, Whitworth was named the best workplace in its category of colleges, universities and seminaries. The survey, commissioned by Christianity Today magazine and administered by the Best Christian Workplaces Institute, included responses on various aspects of institutions' management practices, including recruitment and retention, communication, environment, performance management and benefits. For 10 years I've watched the people of Whitworth unite around our mission -- a mission that contributes to their sense of satisfaction far more than any of our management practices. I'm sure we all struggle with elements of work life at Whitworth, and I imagine this is a particularly hard place for some, but students always come to the rescue. In silence, whispers and shouts they remind us of our mission, and that for us, following Christ means serving them. So this warm recognition felt good, acknowledging all the people who, like so many of you, make Whitworth a good place to work.