Of Mind & Heart Newsletter: March 2006
An update from Whitworth University President Bill Robinson
Well, I'm back to normal, writing from the thin air and friendly skies of United Airlines. I'm also back to Washington, D.C., for a very short trip. It's Ash Wednesday, and I'm trying to figure out how to find my way to a church in the two hours between landing and my first appointment. I don't go back and reread these newsletters because Terry Mitchell (the college's senior editor, who performs surgery on my monthly too-long drafts) lets me know when I've repeated myself...again. But even I remember writing more than once of the meaning I find in Lent. I just can't help myself, so I appreciate indulgence from Whitworth's great students and friends whose beliefs lie outside of the Christian faith. I often get lost in my work, but during Lent Christ's table seems to have more of a pull than my desk. A couple of months ago in chapel I was mindlessly singing a post-communion hymn when it struck me that absolutely no sweeter taste falls on my tongue than plain bread dipped in grape juice. Strange. I've never desired that at home; at home it's not the body broken, the blood shed. At about the same time, I looked over at our daughter singing. She's been singing since the days of begging me into a thousand verses of the wheels on the stupid bus go round and round and round until I wanted to scream. But on this day, watching her sing a simple hymn of thanksgiving swamped me with emotion. In her countenance I saw all of the best hopes and dreams I've ever had for our children. Soggy bread and a young woman singing -- the mundane, transformed by the presence of Christ. May that presence be ever with you in this Lenten season.
Academics
The spring term began with a luncheon that celebrated faculty scholarship from the past calendar year. A few samples of the peer-reviewed work from 2005: Laura Bloxham, '69, (English) review of The Book of Bebb, by Frederick Buechner, Dialog: A Journal of Book Theology 44:3, 315; Nancy Bunker (Library), Primary Source Collections in the Pacific Northwest: An Historical Researcher's Guide (Westport, Conn., Libraries Unlimited); Craig Hinnenkamp (SGCM), "How Clergy Reconstruct Meaning During and After Professional Crisis," International Conference on Arts and Humanities, Honolulu, Hawaii; Margie LaShaw (SGCM), "The Impact of Faith on Ethical Choices in Business," Spokane chapter of the Institute of Management Accountants (Margie needs to take a few lessons from Craig on where to present papers); Todd Sandberg (Kinesiology), "Current Issues in the Management of Head and Neck Injuries," Northwest Athletic Trainers Association Clinical Symposium, Spokane; Kamesh Sankaran (Physics), with E. Y. Choueiri and S. C. Jardin, "Comparison of Simulated Magnetoplasmadynamic Thruster Flowfields to Experimental Measurements," Journal of Propulsion and Power, v.21, #1:129-138; Ann Teberg (Education), "Student Choices: Ownership and Assessment," College Reading Association Annual Conference, Savannah, Ga.; Gordon Wilson (Art), Space and Spirit: Artistic Interpretations of Sacred Place, Juried National Exhibition, Calvin College, Grand Rapids, Mich.; Keith Wyma (Philosophy), "The Thomistic View of Civil Disobedience," Society of Christian Philosophers, Pacific Region Meeting, George Fox University; John Yoder (Politics), "Reconstructing Liberian Political Culture: Tentative Suggestions," Liberian Studies Journal, 30, 2. For a complete list of 2005 scholarship accomplishments, please see our website:www.whitworth.edu/facultyscholarship. Next month I'll include a few samples from our first-year faculty.
Colleges excel at self-congratulation, so it's nice when the kudos come from others.Larry Braskamp, professor emeritus of education at Loyola University Chicago, just published Putting Students First: How Colleges Develop Students Purposefully. The book describes how 10 church-related colleges engage students with excellence. The book highlights many features of Whitworth's academic program, including our commitment to service-learning opportunities, development of faith-learning integration, and student summer-research projects with faculty. The book begins with a quote from Ron Pyle (Communication Studies) who speaks for us all: "I came here to invest in my students."
Keith Beebe (Theology) has been awarded a 2006 Graves Award in the Humanities.This competitive award is given to 10 faculty members from the states of California, Oregon and Washington. In preparation for a book he's working on, Keith will spend the coming summer in Scotland, extending the research he conducted for his doctoral dissertation on the McCulloch Manuscripts. These documents record Scotland's first oral history and provide a fascinating window on the spirituality of laity and clergy in 18th-century Scotland.
In February, the Washington News Council came to campus to host a discussion of media ethics and The Spokesman-Review's investigation of former Spokane mayor Jim West. The panel included two journalists, two nationally known specialists in media ethics, the editor from The Spokesman-Review, and Whitworth's Ginny Whitehouse (Communication Studies).
Whitworth will begin offering a master's degree in business administration this fall.Why does the world need another MBA program? Based on our market research, we believe a significant group of people can be served by an intense, rigorous, efficient, high-quality, Christian-based graduate program in business. A fixed curriculum for students who are more into plunging than tiptoeing has been designed by our diverse School of Global Commerce & Management faculty. With their expertise, the program will prepare students to succeed in international as well as domestic contexts. Check out our website for more details.
Our music department continues to rack up honors. Professors Dan Keberle and Brent Edstrom were each asked to present a clinic session at the recent Washington Music Educators Association All-State Conference, where Dan's clinic was titled "Jazz Improvisation, Beyond the Blues Scale," and Brent's was titled "Developing the Ear Within." At this same conference, the Whitworth Wind Symphony gave an outstanding performance at the band-director's banquet, and one of our jazz combos performed admirably at the jazz reception.
Jennifer Holsinger (Sociology) recently defended her dissertation, "Privileged or Deprived? Examining the residential patterns of Arab Americans," at the University of Washington. Congratulations to Dr. Holsinger!
Enrollment
As of March 1, our freshman applications have surpassed 2,600, which represents a 21 percent increase over last year's record number. We are also well ahead in freshman enrollment deposits compared with last year, which is good because the new residence hall (Duvall) allows us to enroll almost 50 more first-year students than last year. Financial-aid awards have been going out to prospective freshmen for several weeks now, and we're very excited about this class.
The first of our two annual Faculty Scholarship Competitions for entering freshmen was held Feb. 19-20. The second will be April 2-3. Overall, 250 prospective freshmen who have been admitted to Whitworth with honors for fall 2006 are competing for our highest academic awards, the Faculty Scholarships.
Recognizing that many Whitworth students have debt related to their education and may need to refine some of their money-management skills, the Northwest Education Loan Association, in conjunction with the financial-aid office, student-accounting services and career services, is sponsoring a financial-literacy program during the spring semester. For more information, visit www.whitworth.edu/financialmatters.
Student Life
Parents, if you think you may have heard your student use the word "job," it probably wasn't your imagination. At the end of last month we had a great Career Week, including our annual Connections Dinner, which gives students an opportunity to network with local businesspeople and alumni. There were also workshops dealing with résumé writing, interviewing skills and table etiquette. The week concluded with an internship-and-employer fair downtown, where more than 110 businesses searched for students to hire. February also included the Festival of Shalom, featuring speakers and workshops dealing with peace, social justice and reconciliation issues. Among these educational activities, the students also heard comedians, watched new-release movies, played in hundreds of intramural games, and yelled hard for our athletics teams.
Resources
If it weren't for all of our friends who support Whitworth, we'd be closing up shop right about now. This year Whitworth students celebrated Tuition Freedom Day on March 1. Roughly 70 percent of the way through each academic year we host a gathering to remind our very grateful students that 30 percent of the cost to attend Whitworth is covered by sources beyond tuition. I think this also helps them understand how much we need their support after they graduate.
Athletics
The Bucs' Samantha Kephart broke the NCAA Division III women's record in the 200 butterfly while winning the event at the 2006 Northwest Conference Championships.Her time of 2:01.45 broke the old record of 2:01.84, set in 2001. Kephart's record was part of an amazing performance at the NWC championships, where she won all three of her events in record time. She was the women's Outstanding Swimmer of the Meet, leading the Pirate women to a third-place team finish. Freshman Brittany Gresset was also a conference winner, taking the 50 freestyle and finishing second in the 100 freestyle. Sam and Brittany have both qualified for the NCAA Division III Women's Swimming and Diving Championships March 9-11 at the University of Minnesota.
The Whitworth men's swimming team won its fourth straight NWC title and its fifth in six years, a streak unprecedented in Pirate athletics history. Senior Loren Killgore and sophomore David Dolphay were the Outstanding Men's Swimmers of the Meet; each captured the maximum of three individual titles. Both are likely headed to the men's NCAA Division III Swimming and Diving Championships March 16-18 at the University of Minnesota. Head Coach Steve Schadt was named NWC Men's Coach of the Year in only his third season leading the Pirate swimmers.
The Whitworth men's basketball team finished the regular season with a 10-game winning streak, defeated Willamette for the third time this season in the first round of the NWC playoffs, then lost a tough contest at Puget Sound in the NWC tournament final, coming within one game of making the NCAA Division III tournament. The Pirates finished the year 20-7. Lance Pecht was selected NWC Player of the Year and George Tucker was named to the All-NWC second team.
The Pirate women finished the hoops season with a 13-11 record. It was a solid year for a team with no returning starters from 2005 and with four sophomores in the starting lineup for much of the year. Emily Hendrickson, whose season ended early with an injury, was named All-NWC second team, while Holly Ridings won honorable mention.
The Whitworth baseball team is 3-6 after beginning the season with a tough non-conference schedule. Danny Pecka is Whitworth's leading hitter, and transfer Brandon Zimmerman has been impressive on the mound for the Bucs.
The Pirate softball team is excited to get going under new Head Coach Fuzzy Buckenberger. Senior pitcher Jo Sonnett, who holds virtually every career pitching record in the Whitworth record book with a full season to play, will lead a young squad against the always-challenging Northwest Conference.
The men's tennis team is off to a 3-3 start. Ed Anegon is doing a solid job of playing No.1 singles and has teamed with Ben Works for a 4-0 doubles record so far. Michael Carlson is 4-2 in his six singles matches to date.
The Pirate women's tennis team features strong freshman talent. Jamie Kneese and Linh Aven are playing No. 1 and No. 2 singles for the Pirates this year, and the team should only get better as the season goes along. Whitworth is 3-1; the team's only loss so far came against defending NWC champion Linfield.
Track and field opens its outdoor season this weekend. Kristi Dickey and Brandon Howell were both very strong in their indoor performances and should be strong national-championship qualifiers by the end of the spring.
Alumni
Watch for Core 650 events April 29-30 in greater Sacramento and the Bay Area with Scott Kolbo (Art) and Diana Trotter (Theatre). Details will be mailed soon.
Alumni Family Weekend brochures will be in the mail in the next few weeks, and online registration will begin March 15.
Whitworth Theatre will be touring this month, as will the wind symphony and the jazz ensemble. Call 509.777.3280 or visit the "Spotlight" section on our music/theatre websites for information about dates and times.
We hope you local folks will catch the Robert B. McMillen Foundation Artists Exhibit between March 27 and April 21 in our Koehler Gallery. Artists Tom O'Day, Tom Dukich and Michael Horswill will present a lecture March 28 at 7 p.m. in the Robinson Teaching Theatre in Weyerhaeuser Hall, at the end of the opening reception (which begins at 5 p.m.).
You'll also want to see In Search of Green Pastures, an exhibit by Nicholas Sironka, a Maasai tribesman from Kenya who has taught as a Fulbright Scholar at Whitworth on a number of occasions. His batik work will be featured in Fine Arts Gallery II March 27-31, and his exhibit will share its opening reception with the McMillen Foundation's. (See details in the previous item.)
Whitworth Theatre will present Mirror, Mirror: The Body Image Show on March 9 and 10 at 8 p.m. and on March 11 at 2 and 8 p.m. in Cowles Auditorium ($5 admission). This play, which the theatre folks will take on the road during Spring Break, was developed by Whitworth students a few years back; it now has a new cast, which has revamped the script, as well. The performance I saw was very moving.
Closing Thoughts
Okay, I'm back up in the air with the south to my left and my spine pointing toward the U.S. of A. Not even getting up at 12:50 a.m. (PST) can douse my adrenaline when I'm headed back to Spokane. I wouldn't blame the gracious Walt Oliver -- trustee, friend and last night's host -- if he's a bit low on energy after dropping me off at the airport and heading straight to work. Speaking of energy, I just spread a fair number of liquid BTUs evenly across my lap in the form of an entirely full cup of coffee. The good news: it didn't hit my laptop and I'm going home. The bad news: something very wrong could happen when I walk outside into cold air. D.C. is, at once, a big and a small place. On my last trip I met with 25 alumni. Present were two graduates from 2004 who were both runners at Whitworth. Neither realized the other had moved east, or that they had both run recently in the same marathon, or that they lived in the same apartment building! The Bucs are everywhere. Thanks for your part in sending them to Washington, D.C., and for your interest in Whitworthians all over the world.
