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President Emeritus Bill Robinson

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  2. President Emeritus Bill Robinson
  3. Of Mind & Heart Newsletter
  4. May 2005

Of Mind & Heart Newsletter: May 2005

An update from Whitworth University President Bill Robinson

When I first came to Whitworth I usually dictated the Mind & Heart. Then reports started coming in that people were actually reading it, so I got a little more careful and started composing it on my computer. This month I'm back to the Dictaphone. In three days I'm scheduled for what I hope will be my final back job. I don't think it's particularly complicated, but I'll be hospitalized and doped up for a few days. So, in spite of the possibility that I might write better on drugs, I'm trying to get stuff out of the way, and dictation is fast. The worst thing about the timing of this surgery has nothing to do with the M&H. During the last two weeks of every academic year I enjoy special moments with graduating seniors, and this year those times could be a bit restricted. Whitworth's Class of 2005 has been wonderful. The Sunday before Commencement, I'll go to the Intranet directory and beam up pictures of the senior class. I won't believe my eyes when I see that this or that student is graduating already. I'll see pictures of friends. I'll see pictures that make me laugh. I'll see pictures of seniors whom I don't know, and I'll feel regret. I'll see students whose growth in mind and heart has been simply stunning. And my prayer for all of our seniors will be that they hear the voice, see the cross and take up the basin. Thanks for participating in the answer to this prayer.

Academics

One of our favorite events is the annual student research conference. This year's program was the third one during which our students shared their work. Twenty faculty sponsors and 51 students showcased research topics that ranged from the future of Title IX athletics to what the U.S. Constitution says about maternity and paternity leave. The conference also included an outside speaker, Jim Frederickson, Ph.D., a microbiologist at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory. During a recognitions lunch following the conference, Jim told the students -- who included his son, Eric, '07, a biology major -- of his personal research journey.

Among this month's notable faculty achievements:

  • Chang-nam Lee (Education) is co-translator, with a Korean colleague at Kyung-Een Education University, of the book Effective Teaching Strategies that Accommodate Diverse Learners.
  • Diane Dempsey Marr (Education) and Noelle Wiersma (Psychology) presented their research regarding therapists and clients at the Western Psychological Association, in Portland.

We've also hosted a number of speakers and academic events this month.

  • The Fingerprints of God conference brought back to campus Steve Meyer, '80, formerly of our theology and philosophy department and now with the Discovery Institute, in Seattle. He spoke on DNA by Design.
  • Our Simpson-Duvall lecturer was Ibrahim Sundiata, professor of history at Brandeis. His very interesting topic was African Americans and Africans: The Vagaries of a Twentieth-Century Relationship.
  • This year's Hans Moldenhauer Memorial Lecture featured Donivan Johnson, who explored the music, mind and spirit of pioneering American composer Charles Ives. Donivan is one of the most amazing people I know. While he teaches music to first-graders in Ione, Wash., his compositions are performed around the world. Visit www.esd101.net/focus/novdec99.pdf for more about him. Special thanks to Mary Moldenhauer for this program!
  • Raja Tanas (Sociology) gave a Great Decisions lecture on The Palestinian-Israeli Conflict after Arafat.
  • Jim Waller (Psychology, Lindaman Chair) presented the annual Lindaman Lecture. This year's title was Never Again? Peacekeeping and Peacebuilding in a Genocidal World. Jim continues to be in demand all over the country as we deal with the heartbreak of hatred and intolerance.
  • Carool Kersten, history professor and Islam specialist at Thailand's Payap University, met with faculty and students and gave a lecture, Contemporary Muslim Thinkers and Islam: Exploring New Ways of Engagement with a Religious Tradition.
  • Jon Bridgman, emeritus professor of history at the University of Washington, spoke on the topic Coddling the Nazis: The Treatment of German Prisoners of War, examining the ways in which the treatment of German prisoners of war became a public issue in 1944.
  • Also in the Great Decisions series, we heard from Sidney Rittenberg, visiting professor of Chinese Studies at PLU, who spoke on China: From Mao to the 21st Century — A Future Envisioned.

We teachers never know for sure where our students will end up. But students can't be sure where their teachers/mentors will end up, either. In 2003, Keith Beebe and Karin Heller joined the theology department in tenure-track positions. Keith earned his Ph.D. with Iain Torrance, at the University of Aberdeen, Scotland, as his advisor. Karin completed her first Ph.D. under the tutelage of Angelo Scola at Rome's Pontifical Lateran University -- upon the recommendation of Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, a personal acquaintance of Karin's. This has been a pretty good year for Torrance and Ratzinger. The former became president of Princeton Seminary, and the latter was recently hired as Pope Benedict XVI.

Speaking of the Pope, student Brandon Behan's time at one of our partner institutions, the University of Maastricht, in the Netherlands, included this unforgettable memory: "I am now a week into my last block here at Maastricht and just got back from a trip to Italy. I was in Rome the night the Pope died and also for his funeral.... We went to the memorial service on Saturday in Saint Peter's Basilica. Sitting through a two-hour service in Italian, listening to hymns being sung in one of the most beautiful and amazing buildings I have ever been in, is really an indescribable experience...."

The Whitworth Wind Symphony performed its spring concert, Colours, May 1. Interim conductor Lee Shook says the theme Colours was selected because it relates to the six-movement work with the same title, by composer Roger Cichy, which comprised a major part of the program. The string orchestra and our student string quartet, conducted by Roberta Bottelli, gave a concert a few days later that featured Mozart's Symphony no. 25, featured prominently in the movie Amadeus.

Having English as their second (or third or fourth) language didn't keep India's Suman Polepaka and Germany's Tobias Mayer from bringing home a second-place trophy in the Hogan Entrepreneurial Leadership Business Plan Competition. Our School of Global Commerce & Management faculty were amazed by our students' performance against a strong field from other regional graduate programs.

Godspell turned out to be a spectacular performance. In fact, it was so special that the cast said they wanted to perform it for the board of trustees and then opened the doors to everyone. Thanks to Director Diana Trotter (Theatre) and the cast for staging this joyful representation of Christ's love.

Enrollment

This has been a prosperous but sometimes agonizing year in admissions. Though we received about 2,200 applications, we admitted only 63 percent of the applicants. We've also had to delay the enrollment of some admitted students. We're thrilled with the interest in Whitworth, but it saddens us when a lack of space forces us to deny admission to students with the ability to succeed. On the upside, the deposited students carry a GPA of 3.68 and an average SAT composite score of 1210. Both could dip by September, but the class of 2010 seems to be pretty bright.

The Financial Aid Office will send out renewal awards to current students for 2005-06 during late May and June.

Student Life

April was crazy. Activities included the Hawaiian Luau, Pirate Idol (won by Paul Lack with a stunning snare-drum performance) a comedian, great varsity-sports weekends, and a superb Springfest, with bands and performers and amazing treats. That I came and went without getting my stomach pumped or lapsing into a sugar-induced coma was a particular point of pride. All proceeds from the various clubs' booths went to the American Cancer Society. Relay for Life, a fund-raising marathon, also contributed to this cause. 

Resources

I'm such a dunce. It just struck me that I never write the May Mind & Heart until after Commencement. Waiting until the last half of the month allows me to report on graduation and to remind you that our fiscal year ends June 30. I then write a summer issue and resume my monthly schedule in September. Oh, well. I'll update you on commencement in my summer letter, and you can draw a circle around June 30 on your calendars.

This has been an encouraging year for The Whitworth Fund. Like most other not-for-profits, many Whitworth donors have shifted from undesignated to designated giving over the past decade. While we do cartwheels over every gift that we receive, The Whitworth Fund (our annual fund) continues to be extraordinarily valuable in helping us with student financial aid and operating expenses. This year you have been especially generous. Thank you so much. But we have to keep pushing ourselves and our friends. Annual giving and alumni participation serve as two of the most important sources and indicators of a college's quality. So if there's anything more you can do to help us reach our goal, we'll be deeply grateful.

A big part of The Whitworth Fund's success this year has been your participation in the fund's phonathon. Thank you! Our student callers had some wonderful conversations with you, and they just wrapped up the most successful phonathon in recent years. Callers began with a goal of $200,000 in pledges, and by January they'd surpassed that goal. They called 14,000 alumni, parents and friends who, all together, gave $245,000. Seventy-four percent of these pledges have been fulfilled, and we need to get the rest of them in by June 30. In an age of telebombardment, you have been very gracious.

Friday was our luncheon for the 20+ recipients of this year's McDonald Opportunity Scholar Awards. By endowing this creative program, Bob and Claire McDonald provide money each year so that a group of students can afford to work in their chosen fields of study rather than at any job they can get to help pay for school. I love the McDonalds. Their spirit, warmth and friendship provide joy to Whitworth and special meaning to Bonnie and me.

Athletics

My thanks to Steve Flegel, '89, our sports information director, for writing this month's athletics section.

The baseball Bucs finished fourth in the Northwest Conference standings, winning six games in a row late in the season. The Pirates swept UPS in their series with the Loggers. Dan Lundeberg threw eight solid innings to win the first game, while Ben McCracken shut out the Loggers for seven innings in the finale. Dan Gebbers led the team in RBI.

Pirate softball finished the year with a sweep of Lewis & Clark. Three of the four wins were shutouts, giving the Pirates a new school record of 14 shutouts this season. Alana Klaus, Amanda Norwood and Kristin Hanson each hit home runs in one game to set another team record. Whitworth finished the year in third place in the NWC with an overall mark of 23-14 and a conference record of 18-8.

Men's tennis pulled off a big victory over UPS in the opening round of the NWC tournament to clinch an upper-division finish. The Pirates' 7-10 record earned them fourth in the NWC standings. Chad Dierickx was voted All-Conference second team, and Mike Shanks was voted NWC Coach of the Year.

Women's tennis came back to win two of three matches at the NWC tournament, upsetting Whitman, which defeated the Pirates 9-0 earlier in the season. Senior April Brast was selected to the All-NWC second team.

Women's track & field finished second at the NWC championship meet. Sarah Marken had another stellar performance, scoring in seven events. She was runner-up in the 100 hurdles and the long jump, and she finished third in the 100 dash and the heptathlon. Kristi Dickey led a 1-2 finish in the 10,000-meter run, edging teammate Julie Lauterbach.

Men's track & field took fifth place at the championship meet, just eight points out of third. Doug Blackburn was All-NWC in two events, taking second place in the 10,000 and third in the 5,000. Brandon Howell was runner-up to two-time national champion Nick Symmonds in the 800. Other second-place finishers included Ian Hinton in the triple jump and Austin Richard in the shot put.

The men's golf team won its first NWC title in only its second season as a varsity program. Warren Friedrichs was named NWC Coach of the Year, his fifth such trophy after winning the award four times in men's basketball. Mike Van Wingerden and Andrew Parrott earned All-NWC honors, finishing among the top five individuals. They also had the team's best final-round scores to lead the Bucs to victory over two-time defending champ Willamette.

Women's golf missed the NWC championships because of a short roster, but Kelli Parker finished seventh individually in the tournament.

Save Thursday, June 9, for the Second Annual Whitworth Westside Golf Classic at The Golf Club at Newcastle. The shotgun start is scheduled for 1 p.m., and both lunch and dinner are provided. Please contact A.D. Scott McQuilkin, '84 (smcquilkin@whitworth.edu), for further information.

Alumni

The 1963-65 reunion numbers are through the roof, thanks to the work of Kathie (Koopmans, '64) Neir and her committee, but there is plenty of room for everyone at Alumni Family Weekend, June 17-19. See the schedule and the list of attendees, and register online at www.whitworth.edu/familyweekend.

Miscellaneous

The Weyerhaeuser Center for Christian Faith and Learning invites you to Effective Preaching in a Postmodern World, a conference July 7-9 at Whitworth. Speakers include M. Craig Barnes, Ph.D., of Pittsburgh Theological Seminary; and Charles L. Bartow, Ph.D., of Princeton Theological Seminary. Contact Tim Dolan, 509.777.4676 (tdolan@whitworth.edu), or Michelle Seefried, 509.777.3275 (mpace@whitworth.edu), for information.

Closing Thoughts

As I walked out of the recent Whitworth College Board of Trustees meeting I felt both grateful and terrified. The board approved a very ambitious five-year strategic plan. We deeply appreciate the board's confidence -- but delivering on this plan is not exactly a chip shot. We believe that Whitworth's mission and distinctives are needed today more than at any point in our history, and the time seems right for Whitworth to take bold steps in strengthening the quality of our educational experience. The measures outlined in this plan will solidify our place among the finest Christian colleges in existence. I hope I'll have a chance to share our vision personally with everyone who reads this letter. In the meantime, please keep Whitworth and her students in your prayers. And thanks again for your care and support.