Of Mind & Heart Newsletter: May 2001

An update from Whitworth University President Bill Robinson

I'm stunned. Another academic year has come to an end. Commencement Weekend is always extraordinarily intense. Literally hundreds of goodbyes need to be said. Emotions of happiness and fulfillment suddenly yield to sadness and emptiness. The context of this non-stop activity and emotion seems to be a universal fatigue. Then, abruptly, it's over. I will miss the Class of 2001 very much. Individually and collectively they are wonderful human beings. Many received well-deserved awards for their extraordinary intellectual, social and spiritual achievements, and for some, the simple act of completing their degree requirements was astonishing. I was particularly proud of one student who arrived at Whitworth five years ago. I remember thinking that this kid had little chance to graduate. Other than a certain look in his eye, I didn't find any of the usual predictors of success. He did, however, have two things in his favor: a very stubborn dream, backed up by a loving and fierce mother. (I know more about the fierce part than I wish I did.) So when he smiled his way across the stage on Sunday, I knew there were two people whom I absolutely had to see following the ceremony. I did find them, and now, would the mother who is as proud reading this as I am writing it please send the picture you took? I will hang it with pride, and every time I look at it, I will remember the remarkable against-all-odds Whitworth graduates that you and your fine son represent.

Academics

I got a pretty good view of the entire Commencement Weekend experience. Between Friday night and Sunday night, I attended 14 events and had responsibilities that ranged from giving the Graduate Commencement address to arm-wrestling Saga Chad. Here are a few weekend highlights:

A moving commissioning service in which our seniors participated in a liturgy that included scripture, prayers, warm conversations between four student/professor pairs, communion and anointing with oil.
Graduate Commencement. This is a time of great celebration and accomplishment for folks who have successfully returned to school to earn their masters' degrees.
Seniors Matt Fechter and John Cullings singing the song they wrote as BJ freshmen that trashed Mac Hall - where, of course, they ended up living. This was a part of the Senior Reflections program that was excellent, unlike the skit in which I embarrassed our family name and perhaps all of humankind by participating in the aforementioned arm-wrestling with Saga Chad and re-creating Mr. Rogers' neighborhood.
The Rev. Joe Roberts telling local African-American pastors the story of how his succession of Martin Luther King, Sr., at Atlanta's Ebenezer Baptist Church handed him a great opportunity to lead social and spiritual reform, and how his battles have been some of the same ones they've encountered here in Spokane.
A rich Baccalaureate service in which Assistant Dean of Students Dayna Coleman and Associate Dean of Students Dick Mandeville spoke powerfully about the ways in which stories and questions can bring us into deeper relationships with each other and with God.
A wonderful Undergraduate Commencement ceremony at the Spokane Arena, where students celebrated their achievements and were reminded by Rev. Roberts that we are all "tied together and accountable."

At today's Dean's Brunch, we said good-bye to three retiring faculty members. John Falvey (Master in International Management program) came in 1995, Jay Kendall (Economics and Business) began teaching at Whitworth in 1984, and Michael Young (Music) has been with us since 1976. By the way, my chills from an angry flu bug were replaced with chills of inspiration when I heard Michael's magnificent Visions from the Apocalypse performed by Whitworth's choir and wind ensemble. I will never read the fourth chapter of Revelation again without thinking about Michael. In other ways, Jay Kendall has also greatly inspired us. So we thank him and John Falvey for great service to Whitworth.

We've added two of the world's most renowned pastors to our alumni ranks. In the past week we conferred honorary doctorates upon the Rev. Sam Whan Kim, pastor of the 54,000-member Myung Sung Presbyterian Church of Seoul, Korea; and then, at Sunday's Commencement, we similarly honored the Rev. Joe Roberts, pastor of the historic Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta. Both of these men brought our community great challenges and hope. Special thanks to Dr. Sam Gulley, '59, and his great wife, Linda, and to Dr. Sang Li for their roles in bringing these ecclesiastical leaders to our campus.

Our English Department recently hosted two fascinating events. Actors from the London Stage, a troupe of five British Shakespearean actors, ran workshops, did dramatic readings, and performed Shakespeare's The Winter's Tale for enthusiastic audiences from eastern Washington and northern Idaho. Then, the Endowed English Readings Program brought internationally known poet and activist Adrienne Rich, who has been one of America's finest poets for the past 50 years, to campus. Rich held a question-and-answer session and read her poetry to a rapt audience of about 400 students, faculty, staff and community members.

Our business/economics, English and journalism students have been bringing home the hardware. In business, the Whitworth chapter of Phi Beta Lambda competed at the Washington State Competitive Events Conference and came away with 24 of the 72 awards given for outstanding performance. The next stop for Phi Beta Lambda's first- and second-place winners (Chantel Lindquist, Kristy Colgan, Harry Donkor, Amy Olson, Henry Yan, Rebekah Nelson and Brad Norleen) is Orlando, Fla., for the national competition. English students Katelyn Broweleit, Tim Moore, Stacy Nelson, Rose Sliger, and Necia Valenchenko presented with great success their creative and critical work at the National Undergraduate Literary Conference at Weber State University in Ogden, Utah. Finally, journalism students Kelly Schanzenbach, Kelly Siebe and Meagan Stirling were first-place winners in the Greater Northwest Student Journalism Awards.

After spending this past week recognizing the accomplishments of our students, I thought you might be interested in faculty recognitions. I'll send you an impressive sample of faculty awards in the July Mind and Heart.

Enrollment

In a perfect world of numbers, this summer would bring us 35 cancellations of deposited freshmen and 35 additional transfer students. I suppose it's greedy in a year that smashed our applications record to want an ideal distribution of students, but it doesn't hurt to hope. Actually, I'm already excited about greeting next year's freshmen - no matter how many.

The Financial Aid Office has been busy sending out awards for the 2001-02 academic year and hopes to have all awards out to those who applied on time (May 1) by the first week of June. Endowed scholarship decisions will be made by then as well. If you have any questions about financial aid, please call the Financial Aid Office, (800) 533-4668.

Student Life

April was packed, ending with 30 students and staff facilitating small groups as a part of Spokane's Congress on Race Relations. The weekend also included Springfest, which raised more than $2,700 for Parkinson's research in honor of beloved Math Professor Howard Gage, who died in December. Thanks to the trustees who bought $170 worth of candy bars to sponsor me in the 5K race, and thanks to the fine students who paid to throw pies in my face. The day ended with the Senior Boat Cruise on Lake Coeur d'Alene and the Spring Formal in downtown Spokane.

I got quite a bit of feedback from you on last month's references to racial profiling and Internet pornography. We've had several good meetings with police officials about profiling. Clearly, they find the practice deplorable and want it to stop; but they know that their history hasn't always been proud. One of our black alums of the '50s sent me a note telling of how he arrived for his freshman year and spent his first night in Spokane behind bars. He'd been stopped for going five miles an hour over the speed limit and didn't have enough money to post bond. Unbelievable. For those of you interested in the Internet filter decision, we've posted the letter I sent to the Whitworth community on our website. Go to the president's home page link at www.whitworth.edu/ and you'll find a link to the letter.

Resources

Boppell Hall is rising at a startling pace. It was exciting for all involved when Whitworth Board Chair Chuck Boppell and wife Karlyn turned shovels of dirt to kick off construction in April. Now, one month later, we have a three-story structure rising on the northeast corner of campus. Special thanks goes to Spokane County Commissioner Phil Harris for assisting us with a zoning issue so that this project could proceed without delay. We anticipate completion by mid-October and have a full contingent of 81 excited students who will be the first to enjoy life in Boppell Hall.

It looks like a $250,000 June is needed to reach our annual budget in The Whitworth Fund. Our fiscal year ends on June 30, so we want our supporters to do next week the same thing our students did last week for finals - cram. Cramming is a beautiful thing when it comes to stuff like this. We still have too many outstanding pledges from Phonathon, and almost 100 of the 1999-2000 President's Club members haven't yet rejoined this social register of elite people who meet the club's select membership standards ($1,000 and a stamped envelope). HUGE THANKS to all of you who have already given generously.

Athletics

Whitworth's track and field teams pulled off an historic sweep in April, earning both the men's and women's Northwest Conference Track and Field championships. The titles are the first ever for the Whitworth women and the first for the men since 1972. Now, many of them are off to nationals, so I'll do the track season summary in July, when I have those results.

The baseball Bucs finished their best season in recent memory with a 15-7 record in the NWC (20-20 overall). After tying for last in the NWC standings last season, the Pirates jumped this year to second place, their highest finish since winning the title in 1991. Whitworth's outstanding baseball season earned some outside recognition as three players - junior catcher Brian Savery, freshman outfielder Josh Taylor, and senior pitcher/DH/outfielder Matt Squires - were named to the 2001 All-NWC team. Sophomore second baseman Jake Krummel and senior pitcher Matt Neill received honorable mention.

Softball finished up the season at 3-18 in the NWC, 7-28 overall. The Bucs lose only one senior, outfielder Ginger Ewing, to graduation, so the team is ready to regroup and move up in the NWC next year.

The women's tennis team finished fifth at the NWC tournament, going 2-1 to end the season with a 10-8 record. Their record and conference finish are the team's best since they won the conference title in 1997. Like the softball team, women's tennis loses only one senior, Amy Austin, so the future looks bright. Sophomore Jill Huibregtse was named to the All-NWC team after going 3-0 at #1 singles during the tournament.

Men's tennis finished the season by placing 6th at the NWC tournament. The Pirates finished their season 7-12. Senior Matt Lemberg concluded his career by winning all three of his singles matches and being chosen by the coaches as Co-Sportsman of the Year in the NWC.

I'm happy to report that former Whitworth soccer standout Jennifer Tissue has made the Boston Breakers soccer team of the Women's United Soccer Association (WUSA), the highest level of women's professional soccer in the world. Not only does the league include the top players from the United States, but it also has many of the best players from the rest of the world. Jennifer went through arduous tryouts before being drafted by the Breakers, who currently stand at 2-1-2, third place in the league.

Alumni

Don't forget this summer's reunions! Registration forms were mailed last month, so if you don't have one yet for next month's reunion (June 29 to July 1), please contact the Office of Alumni and Parent Relations immediately (800-532-4668). This is the 50th reunion for 1951, the 45th for 1955-57, the 35th for 1965-67 and the 25th for 1975-77.

Spokane-area Whitworthians will have two opportunities to see our local pro sports teams in action this summer: Look for info in your mailbox about outings to see the Spokane Shadow (soccer) on July 14 and the Spokane Indians (baseball) on August 16.

Closing Thoughts

We learned earlier this week that Jim O'Brien, general manager of Sodexo-Marriott Food Services (a/k/a "Saga"), and his staff are on the honorable mention list for Sodexo's "Heroes of Everyday Life" award. The award, given annually, recognizes Sodexo employees who have invested their time, talent and spirit to help some of the 35 million North Americans who go hungry every day. According to Jim, he and his staff were recognized in part because of their support for En Christo, a Whitworth student organization that provides meals and personal support for residents of low-income housing in Spokane. We applaud Jim and his staff for great service to Whitworth and for their great heart for those in need.

At our Graduate Commencement, I gave a speech titled Back into the Cave. I used Plato's allegory of the cave to help the graduates think about how to re-enter the former places and spaces in their lives that now seem rather dark. For the most part, I used Plato's definition of "the cave" as a place of past "unwisdom" (Plato's term). But on the Monday morning after graduation, it became clear that our old caves are not only intellectual, but social and spiritual as well. Our son told me about a phone conversation with an unnamed student who had just arrived home after his first year of college only to discover darkness and discomfort when he was with his old friends. Emotionally, he was having a very hard time finding his way around the cave. I'm sure this is a huge problem for many Whitworth students, particularly sophomores. And for some students who go to college and become quite full of themselves, even home can feel like a cave. To students and parents alike, I commend grace to you. Students, be strong and compassionate with your old friends. Resist being judgmental, but don't let your eyes get used to the darkness. Parents, when your students walk through the door and start rearranging the social and intellectual furniture in your cave, try to smile as you remind them whose cave it is. Be sympathetic to the difficulty of forfeiting any measure of the independence they have been enjoying as college students. Well, enough advice. Maybe I'll post the "cave" speech on the president's page at our website. Thank you for your part in a great year. I'll write you again in late July. May Christ's blessings abound for you this summer.