Of Mind & Heart Newsletter: March 2007

An update from Whitworth University President Bill Robinson

This is the first Sunday of Lent. At once, I am grateful and dumbfounded by God's grace. I am not, however, in church. I had to travel today because I was home yesterday watching our men's basketball team win the conference championship. So I admit to feeling a little more basketball happiness than Lenten contrition. I do, however, have one Lenten thought. Just before I started writing this, my iPod vaulted ruthlessly from 22 sacred choral arrangements to a decidedly non-sacred song about chasing women. Today's text in the liturgical calendar is Matthew 4, Christ's temptations. It struck me that Satan's opening salvo was not tempting Jesus with something bad (like chasing women) but with something good: bread (whole wheat, no doubt). Jesus liked bread. He turned a little of it into lots of it when 5,000 people were hungry. He honored it as the food to memorialize his broken body. We're probably less prepared to resist the temptation of good things than that of bad things. But good things for the wrong reasons can compromise us. Good things in excess can weaken us. Good things at the wrong time can distract us. Good things beyond what we need can deceive us. Good things outside of our calling can divert us. Often the "mission drift" of an organization moves in the direction of good things. As you probably know, we will become Whitworth University in July. With that change will come temptations, most of them in the form of good opportunities. But good is bad if it compromises our calling.  We need discernment in the next few years. We need to be faithful. Jesus knew when good was bad. So must we. Keep us in your prayers.

Academics

Good teaching has always been central to the Whitworth mission. Faculty Development Day this month focused on excellence in the classroom. James Edwards, '67, (Theology) addressed our faculty on identifying and maintaining excellence, and a panel of faculty who received teaching awards last year shared practical insights on promoting high academic standards in the classroom.

Consistent with our commitment to good teaching are various programs that help position students for success. Good Advice brings faculty together for training as academic advisors. Last month, Diana Churchill (Continuing Studies) gave a presentation on ways to assess effectiveness in academic-advising conversations. This semester, Terry McGonigal (Theology) and Dale Soden (History/Weyerhaeuser Center) will lead faculty gatherings to discuss effective ways to mentor students in discerning their vocational interests.

We are very excited about the Whitworth Evening Teacher Certification Program. We have admitted 22 students for Cohort 6, which began last month.  Of the 26 students who have already completed the program, 20 are currently working in education.  Eight graduates have completed, or are currently pursuing, master of education degrees or additional endorsements through the Whitworth Graduate Studies in Education Program.

Complicated issues continue to provide learning opportunities for students and faculty.On Feb. 26, Dean Michael Le Roy, '89, presented the second Dean's Dialogue, a series in which students observe as faculty explore complex issues. This discussion centered on the relationship between evolution and Christianity.  Also, Jim Waller (Psychology/Lindaman Chair) is leading an interdisciplinary group of 10 faculty who meet bi-weekly to discuss perspectives on war.    
Service-learning classes contribute to the Spokane community. This semester, 31 courses incorporate service-learning. A few notable ones:

• Software Engineering, taught by Pete Tucker, '91, will aid nonprofit organizations by creating new websites and strengthening current ones.
• Dawn Bayman's Advanced Television Production will develop a short video for the New Hope Resource Center to use as a promotional and educational tool.
• Rebecca Moss' new Public Relations Campaigns will develop a full-scale, city-wide campaign for Young Life.
• Students from Acting I, taught by Brooke Kiener, '00, are continuing a collaboration with Mead Middle School that Rick Hornor, '70, piloted last spring. The students will perform anonymous monologues, written by 8th graders in an English class at MMS, in front of the entire student body at a school assembly in March.

While providing on-the-job learning, student internships can also serve those in need.For example, communication-studies students Amanda Martinez and Michael Chansavang, both '07, are working at a minority-business association while co-coordinating Havermale Alternative High School's Youth Leadership Program. They are working in the areas of entrepreneurship, civic engagement and cultural-identity development.

The Whitworth Jazz Ensemble finished as runner up at the 2007 Lionel Hampton Jazz Festival, competing against bands from Boston College, Brigham Young University, Washington State University, Central Washington University, Whitman College, and Eastern Washington University. Senior Greg Hoff won first place in the solo jazz-trombone competition, blowing away the competition.

The Cherry Orchard, by Anton Chekhov, directed by Diana Trotter (Theatre), will be on the Cowles Auditorium stage on March 9, 10, 16, 17 at 8 p.m., as well as on March 11 at 2 p.m. Chekhov was one of the greatest playwrights of the 20th century. In 1904 he wrote The Cherry Orchard, the story of one family's futile attempt to save its beloved family estate (along with its famed cherry orchard) during the decline of the Russian aristocracy. I read this play and found it both funny and deeply moving. It has to be one of Chekhov's finest works.

The 2006 edition of our yearbook, Natsihi, was included in Taylor Publishing's 2007 Yearbook Yearbook. This publication features the top 5 percent of yearbooks published annually by the company, as chosen by a panel of industry experts. The 2006 Natsihi was the first all-color Whitworth yearbook ever.

One obligation of the Christian liberal arts college is to present words, music, images and ideas that offer hope to an anguished world. The Whitworth Choir does just that. In its Christmas Festival concerts, the choir explored themes of darkness and light. For its 2007 spring tour in Colorado, the choir will present "Songs of Hope, Joy, and Peace." The concert program will include Palestrina and Richard Nance settings of Psalm 42, director Marc A. Hafso's Missa Pacem (Mass of Peace) for mixed chorus, piano, and percussion, selections from Benjamin Britten's Five Flower Songs, Charles Ives' delightful Circus Band, and Daniel Pinkham's setting of the Thomas Campion poem Author of Light. Here's the schedule: 3/25: 10:30 a.m. and 7 p.m., Wellshire Presbyterian Church, 2999 S. Colorado Blvd., Denver; 3/26: 7 p.m., First Presbyterian Church, 219 East Bijou Street, Colorado Springs; 3/27: 7 p.m., First Presbyterian Church, 531 South College Ave., Fort Collins; 3/28: 7:30 p.m., First Presbyterian Church, 1820 15th Street, Boulder; 3/30: 7:30 p.m., Central Presbyterian Church, 402 Kimbark Street., Longmont.

Enrollment

We've decided that students applying for admission after this year may choose to be interviewed rather than to have us include their SAT or ACT scores in our admission decision. Although the vast majority of students will elect to have their scores considered, we know that some very intelligent and driven students don't do well on standardized tests. Data indicate that the most accurate predictor of college success is a student's high-school grade-point average; when we combine that with recommendations, an interview and other application criteria, we can make a good and fair decision. We are not doing this to get more applications (we had almost 5,000 for fall 2007) or to boost our average SAT scores (1,201). We're doing this to get better applications and to make better decisions. We've found that many excellent liberal arts colleges around the country have taken this step.

Student Life

February's short but busy. The Black Student Union began Black History Month with Gospel Explosion, an invigorating evening filled with the music of gospel choirs. Students were also treated to weekly speakers, including alums Frenchy Lamont, '69, and Frances Jones-Baker, '70, who shared what life was like for African Americans in the '60s at Whitworth. I'm very sorry I couldn't attend this talk. Many folks have commented on the power of the stories told. Clearly, Whitworth has made great progress in some areas of diversity and meager progress in others. We must do better. Career Week introduced students to internships and summer-work experiences, and featured a connection dinner with alumni, as well as a career fair in downtown Spokane with Inland Northwest businesses. Our newest student residence held its first-ever Duvall Hall Disco. Thomas Ruble, student-activities coordinator, kept the bands and comedians coming. And as the snow stayed on Mt. Spokane, Outdoor Rec took students tubing.

We've just wrapped up National Eating Disorders Awareness Week. The goal of the week's events is to raise awareness and support in the Whitworth community for folks who struggle with body image. Students explored the effects of bowing to arbitrary, market-driven definitions of attractiveness, and focused on how God sees us versus how we see ourselves and on how culture tries to define us. The week also included speakers, documentaries and discussions centered on medical information regarding health and appearance. Several ongoing groups emerged from this important time of learning and reflection.

Resources

This year we celebrate March 6 as Tuition-Freedom Day – the day when student tuition stops paying for the cost of the school year, and gifts and other income (including our endowment returns) kick in. By our calculation, the cost of an individual student's tuition would be about $6,500 more than it is right now were it not for these other significant sources of support. Thanks to all of you who make the cost of a Whitworth education a little more affordable for these great students.

Our new V.P. for finance and administration is Brian Benzel, the current superintendent of Spokane Public Schools. Brian succeeds Tom Johnson, who concluded 17 years of excellent service at Whitworth recently and is now with Spokane Teachers Credit Union. Brian has a great financial background and is one of our most highly regarded community leaders. He also enjoys enormous respect from educators across the state. He begins Aug. 1.

Athletics

The Whitworth men's basketball team is the Northwest Conference champ and is headed to the NCAA Division III tournament. The 23-3 Pirates are going to St. Louis (as am I at the moment) to play DePauw (Ind.) in the first round. Whitworth wrapped up a great regular season at 23-3 by winning a number of honors. Jim Hayford was named NWC Coach of the Year for the second time. Bryan Williams was selected Conference Player of the Year, and James Jones and Ryan Symes joined Bryan on the All-NWC first team. Quick note from St. Louis: In the first round of the NCAA tournament, our guys beat DePauw in overtime on a three-pointer by Bryan Williams. We lost the next day to the host, 8th-ranked Washington University, by two points. More in April!

The Pirate women finished the season with a record of 14-11 and a conference mark of 8-8, which is good for such a young team. Alida Bower was chosen to the All-NWC second team. Head coach Helen Higgs has led the Pirates to six straight winning seasons, seven in the last eight years.

The Whitworth men's swimming team won its fifth straight NWC title in dramatic fashion. After a Pirate relay was disqualified on the first day of the three-day championship meet, the team came from as many as 48 points behind to overcome Linfield and Puget Sound for the title.  David Dolphay defended his titles in the 200, 500 and 1,650 freestyles to lead the effort. Bryan Clarke was also a conference champion in the 200 breaststroke. Amazing.

The Pirate women won 12 of 18 events at the NWC championships, but came up just short to Puget Sound, finishing second. Natalie Turner dominated the meet individually, rolling to easy victories in the 200, 500 and 1,650 freestyles. Samantha Kephart won the 100 and 200 butterfly races for the third straight year. Brittany Gresset dominated both sprint freestyle races, winning the 50 and 100. Katelyn Erickson won the 200 I.M. Whitworth also won four of the five relays, three in meet-record time. And Steve Schadt was named NWC Women's Coach of the Year.

Baseball has begun, but the Pirates are still trying to get outside to practice. Though the team has played nine games, Whitworth has been on its own practice field only once this spring. Senior pitcher Brandon Webb will lead the Bucs on the mound, while senior outfielder Van Lierman will lead the offense.

Softball is in the same practice boat as baseball. The Pirates have been stuck inside all month. Despite that, Whitworth swept a season-opening series at Albertson behind junior infielder Heather Case and senior catcher Lindsay Davis.

The tennis teams have played a few matches, and are anxiously awaiting the new bubble for the Cutter Court and Scotford Tennis Center. Once it's in place, the Pirates will be able to practice and play on campus in any weather. Senior Rachael McCoola is playing first and second singles each match, and junior Ed Anegon is back to play No. 1 singles for the men.

While Whitworth's track-and-field teams are getting ready for the outdoor season, two Pirates already appear to be headed to the NCAA Division III Indoor Championships.Junior Brandon Howell has the country's seventh-fastest time in the indoor 800, and freshman Cody Stelzer is tied for seventh in the high jump. The meet will be held March 9-10 in Indiana.

Alumni

Join us at the arena April 21 for Alumni Night at the Spokane Shock. We have a block of seats in the upper deck for $5 each; order tickets at www.whitworth.edu/alumnievents. Game time is 5 p.m. Arena football is great fun.

Spring Play Dessert. Join alumni, parent and friends for the theatre department's production of Chekhov's The Cherry Orchard on Saturday, March 10, preceded by dessert and an introduction to the play by director Diana Trotter. Cost is $12 and details are available at www.whitworth.edu/alumnievents.

Miscellaneous

We invite you to the 32nd annual Whitworth Institute of Ministry, July 9-13.  Institute speakers on this year's theme, Wisdom from the Scriptures, Wisdom from the Elders, include Eugene Peterson, Bible Hour; Roberta Hestenes, Convocation Hour; and Earl Palmer, Evening Worship. I'll offer closing meditations after our Communion & Commissioning Service. Register (before May 1, if you'd like to receive a discount) online at www.whitworth.edu/wim or by phone at 509.777.4345.

Closing Thoughts

I've written this newsletter on five different airplanes over two trips. I'm out of space. That's good, because I'm also out of thoughts. Please pray for Whitworth and pray for peace. Maybe you could join me this Lent in thinking about temptations that masquerade as good. Blessings to you.