Of Mind & Heart Newsletter: May 2004

An update from Whitworth University President Bill Robinson

Well, graduation ended about four hours ago and I am now sitting in the SeaTac Airport getting ready to climb on a redeye headed for New Jersey. Ordinarily, this prospect would arouse in me the foulest of moods. But tonight I can't feel anything but great. I wish I were a good enough writer to express the sense of privilege I felt walking with 469 graduates into the Spokane Arena today. Written on the lives of these remarkable graduates were stories of strength, resilience, sacrifice, grace and courage. Not walking across the stage today was the dear and brilliant Cameron Gray. Paradoxically, her every mention stirred an absence that pained us and a memory that made the day brighter.

Here are a few of my more memorable moments from the weekend:

a rich Friday-evening liturgy, communion and anointing service for seniors who wanted to dedicate their educations to the advance of God's kingdom;
an honors breakfast at which families beamed with pride as graduates began the process of forgetting how much homework they'd actually done to get there;
Graduate Commencement, with 92 students receiving masters' degrees, inspired by student speakers Jennifer Van Vleet, MIM; Carolyn Cary, M.Ed., and Jennifer Marshall, M.I.T.;
four seniors diverted en route to Senior Reflections by a basketball game that broke out in my driveway. My attempt to arouse guilt in them by announcing that I, of course, was headed to the event was met with "reflect on us!" as they laughed, kept playing, and tried to cajole me into abandoning the festivities;
Senior Reflections (sans four truant seniors), a poignant and funny hour in which the last four years were demarcated by world events and the various styles in which Charlie Nelson presented his follicles of mass destruction;
a very successful first try at Baccalaureate in the fieldhouse, where some 1,500 in attendance heard Ron Pyle (Communications) challenge grads to lodge their identities in Christ. The Class of '04 voted Ron the Most Influential Male Professor and Noelle Wiersma, '90, (Psychology) Most Influential Female Professor. Because Noelle is soon to give birth, she gladly yielded the pulpit to Ron, who isn't.
great Undergraduate Commencement in the Spokane Arena, with student speakers Jake McCoy and Jena Lee entertaining and challenging their fellow grads after our speaker, Gus Lee, Jena's dad and author of numerous novels including the best-selling China Boy, charged the undergraduates to live their lives with moral courage. Of course, all that set the stage for the stage -- and the biggest class in our history marched across it;
a moving-my-feet-only-once-for-469-handshakes-induced pain in my back that was erased by the sweet sight of Bonnie Robinson, resplendent in a stunning spring dress and a Parisian, UFO-shaped hat. She's great.

Academics

These 2004 grads will head for more than 30 different graduate programs this fall, some among the most competitive in America. The Massachusetts Institute of Technology lucked out this year with two Whitworth grads, close buddies Caleb Hug and Seth Hubbert. I'm sure Seth got a generous scholarship, but I suspect he will still be hitting up Caleb, winner of a lucrative 2003 Goldwater Scholarship, to spring for the pizza. We also just found out that Carla DePriest will defer her full scholarship to Baylor law school, having just received a Fulbright grant to study in El Salvador.

April brought us our second annual Undergraduate Research Conference. Through presentations and posters, 37 students shared with their peers, professors and family members the results of their scholarship. Not only were the presentations strong in content, but I found the students remarkably articulate and polished. Also in April, six English students presented papers at the National Undergraduate Literature Conference in Ogden, Utah: Sid Friedman, Jake McCoy, Tana Trobaugh, Leslie Nelson, Jeremy Cushman and Michael Achterman participated.

We bid grateful farewells to senior faculty members Dick Evans (Music) and Lois Kieffaber (Physics). Dick has completed 31 years at Whitworth, inspiring a generation of musicians and music teachers. One of his passions has been a popular course that introduces students to the fine arts in an interdisciplinary way. Lois joined us in 1984, and has been a mainstay of her department for two decades, in addition to bringing a crucial contribution to our Core 350 and, more recently, Core 250 teams. We will greatly miss these two superb professors.

On April 21, Lindaman Chair Jim Waller (Psychology) delivered the inaugural Lindaman lecture. His speech, Deliver Us from Evil: Genocide and the Christian World, marked the 10th anniversary of the Rwanda genocide. Jim has earned an international reputation for his research on the question of why ordinary people commit extraordinary acts of evil. While Jim has focused on genocide, we are shockingly reminded by Abu Ghraib that lesser acts of inhumanity also demand the explanations that Jim's research explores.

Enrollment

We're very excited about the incoming class of new students. If you have any questions whatsoever, please give us a call or send us a note. If you don't know where to direct your inquiry, e-mail it to me and I'll forward to the right office.

Award notices for 2004-05 renewal applicants are going out this month to students' home addresses. If a student filed the FAFSA form (Free Application for Federal Student Aid) by the May 1 priority deadline and has not received an award by the last week in June, please give the Financial Aid Office a call (800-533-4668). As always, students who only receive merit scholarships do not need to file the FAFSA form.

Student Life

Graduating senior Jena Lee received this year's Servant Leadership Award. I literally do not have enough room to list all the ways in which she has given of herself during her years at Whitworth. A faculty member remarked, "This student has offered our community a model of maturity and grace, a heart for service, and a keen mind attentive to the needs of the world." Next year Jena will work full time for the music group Jars of Clay, leading them in an effort to inspire activism and generosity from their fans in addressing the continuing threat and tragedy of AIDS.

I hear Springfest was a great success. In order to avoid the many ways in which I have had stuff thrown at me at this event, I was out of town. But live bands, a mechanical bull, sumo wrestling, a professional hypnotist, decadent food, and great weather generated substantial proceeds for Big Brothers Big Sisters of Spokane.

Resources

Loath as I am to use this newsletter to ask you for money, I'd now like to ask you for money. Our fiscal year ends June 30 and we're staring at a too-close-for-comfort margin. Some uncontrollable expenses imposed themselves rather rudely. We've teased out the remaining discretionary expenses, but we still need every penny of revenue. I'm aware that many of you hear from us regularly about your contributions, and we are so thankful for the ways you help us. I want you to hear that even more than I want you to send extra dollars, but if you haven't made a gift yet this year or if you have an outstanding pledge, any support of our annual fund before June 30 would be huge. Also, if you'd like to make a gift online, you can do so at www.whitworth.edu/supportingwhitworth. It's very secure and simple to do (easy for me to say).

Athletics

(from Sports Information Director Steve Flegel)

Pirate softball broke through with an amazing season. Whitworth finished 29-8 overall and 21-7 in the NWC. Junior Andraya Robertson, who led the team in batting average (.406), doubles (13) and runs batted in (21), pulled off an impressive double, earning First Team All-Northwest Conference honors and First Team Academic All-Region honors. Senior Laura Romag and sophomore Jo Sonnett were also named to the All-NWC First Team.

The Whitworth baseball team concluded its season with a record of 13-26 and a 9-15 mark in conference. Junior Kyle Henderson pulled off the same impressive double as Andraya Robertson, earning First Team All-Northwest Conference and First Team Academic All-Region. The designated hitter led the Pirates with eight home runs and 32 runs batted in. Senior Josh Taylor was named Second Team All-NWC.

Men's golf completed its re-inaugural season (last competing in 1983) by finishing second at the NWC tournament. Leading one of the most remarkable debut seasons in any sport in NWC history was junior Joe Finley, who finished third individually at the tournament to earn all-conference honors. The Pirate women finished sixth at the tournament in their first year of varsity competition.

The men's tennis team showed dramatic improvement over the course of the seasonand finished fifth at the NWC tournament. The Pirates had a 9-8 overall record. Justin Swanson, a junior, was named Second Team All-NWC.

The women's tennis team went into the final tournament missing April Brast, one of its key players, who injured her wrist the week before. The Pirates ended up seventh in the NWC, finishing with a record of 8-10. Freshman Katie Troxell was named Second Team All-NWC.

Our final team still competing is track and field. Seven Pirate women and one women's relay have posted qualifying marks for the NCAA Div. III championships May 27-29. The only Whitworth athlete with an automatic qualifying time, however, is senior Kristen Shields, who posted a blistering 11.70 in the 100 meters on May 8 to shatter her own school record. Shields led the Whitworth women to a second-place finish at the NWC championships, earning the Women's Outstanding Athlete of the Meet award after winning the 100 dash and 200 dash and anchoring the winning 4x100 relay. Senior Leslie Nelson also had an amazing meet, winning both the 5,000 and 10,000 meters, the latter in a school and meet record time of 36:23.88. The Whitworth men finished fifth at the NWC Championships. Junior Austin Richard won the shot put to lead the men's effort.

Whitworth's Department of Athletics selected four outstanding recipients for its end-of-the-year awards. Swimmer Kevin Wang, a two-time national champion, and Leslie Nelson, Whitworth's first-ever NCAA Division III All-American in cross-country, were the 2004 Senior Athletes of the Year. Record-breaking basketball player Bryan Depew and trackster Kristen Shields were named the 2004 Spurlock Award Winners in memory of Denny Spurlock, Whitworth's All-American quarterback known for his leadership and commitment to his teammates.

Alumni

The inside back cover of the latest issue of Whitworth Today includes some incorrect class years for this summer's reunion. While all alumni are invited to attend Alumni Family Weekend, this is the reunion year for the classes of 1944, 1949, 1954, 1959, 1969, 1974, 1979 and 1984, as well as all choir members. Past choir directors including Randi von Ellefson, Bryan Priddy, Tom Tavener and Milton Johnson will be in attendance, so it will be a wonderful weekend of music and memories. Register online at www.whitworth.edu/familyweekend.

On Sunday afternoon, July 11, join Religion Professor Jim Edwards, '67, for the riveting story of his recent climb of the Eiger and for his insights into the ways in which this Swiss mountain has become, for him, a powerful illustration of the gospel. Brochures will be mailed soon. Online registration is available at www.whitworth.edu/alumnievents.

Save the date for all of the fun of Homecoming 2004, including the second annual George F. Whitworth Honors Banquet, the grand opening of Weyerhaeuser Hall, and the 10-year reunion for the Class of 1994. More information, including a complete schedule, is available at www.whitworth.edu/homecoming.

Miscellaneous

For the second year in a row, Whitworth has been named the best Christian workplacein its category of colleges, universities and seminaries. Based on a national survey of employees at Christian businesses and nonprofit organizations, the top 50 workplaces were announced last month at the Christian Management Association conference in Dallas, Texas, and are listed in a feature article in the May issue of Christianity Todaymagazine. Since I had been invited to lead a workshop at the CMA conference, I was there to receive the award. Pretty cool, but not nearly as cool as knowing our people really like working at Whitworth. We are still far from satisfied, but it's easier working hard when people appreciate the effort. I suspect this will be the last time we participate in the survey. It's rather labor-intensive, and I'm not sure how much new information can be gained by doing it again next year.

Don't miss the 29th annual Whitworth Institute of Ministry Conference July 12-16.The conference this year, The Church and the Marketplace: The Relationship between Work and Christian Faith, is sponsored in part by the Lilly Foundation. Speakers include Vic Pentz, Sr., of Peachtree Presbyterian Church, in Atlanta (preacher); Richard Mouw, of Fuller Theological Seminary (Bible teacher); Rebecca Pentz, of Winship Cancer Institute of Emory University, in Atlanta (convocation); and Jack Fortin, of the Center for Lifelong Learning, Luther Seminary, St., Paul. For more information or to register, call (509) 777-3275 or e-mail mpace@whitworth.edu, or visit www.whitworth.edu/wim.

The First Annual Westside Golf Tournament is coming Sept. 13. Because the Spokane tournament is always at capacity and has always proven to be a great event, we are bringing the tournament west. It will be held at NewCastle, which I hear is a great course. Presumably, Jim Hayford (Athletics/Men's Basketball) and Jim Bennett, '89, (Board of Trustees) the event's organizers, will do their obsequious duty and stick low handicappers in my foursome so that I can win the first trophy. The tournament is filling up fast thanks to the work of alums in and around Seattle, but we still have room for parents, friends, and more alumni. Contact Jim Hayford by e-mail at jhayford@whitworth.edu or by phone at (509) 777-4422 for more information.

Closing Thoughts

It's Tuesday night and I'm back in the air, headed west. Less than a week before graduation, I sat with one of my most inspiring friends. In the 60 years since she graduated from high school, her uncompromising integrity, street-smart brilliance, no-nonsense approach to business, and most tender of hearts have all teamed up to enrich college for tens of thousands of students -- including those whose hands I shook on Sunday. But she was never able to go to college herself. Our students enjoyed her gift to them every day they were on campus. But I want her to know this: the gift of your example -- that the degree of one's commitment is more important than the degree on one's wall -- is one I hope our graduates will never forget. Thanks to all of you who sacrificed, supported, cheered for and prayed for this amazing Whitworth Class of 2004; and thanks be to God.