Of Mind & Heart Newsletter: November 1999
An update from Whitworth University President Bill Robinson
For the past two weeks, I've had my smile on so much that my face is sore. Two weekends ago we had our board of trustees on campus, accompanied by a bash to kick off our big Faith in the Future Campaign. Then, this past Parents' Weekend, we hosted more than 400 of our students' family members. With both parents and trustees, I feel an acute sense of accountability coupled with a deep appreciation for their confidence in Whitworth. I do enjoy these encounters, my aching face notwithstanding. But in a couple of hours I have a really important appointment; I'm taking four students out to breakfast. Ultimately, it's the students to whom we should hold ourselves accountable. It occurs to me that colleges and universities spend a ton of time courting all the support sources out there. And there's nothing wrong with that. But the best thing we can do for the people we're bent on impressing is to pour ourselves into the life of every student on this campus. And that's a high and exhilarating calling that we're doing our best to fulfill. I hope November brings a strong sense of God's abundance to each of you. There is much for which we owe our thanksgiving.
Academics
We mourn the deaths of two wonderful former professors this month. The passing of Physics Professor Emeritus Ed Olson and Political Science Professor Emeritus Gus Haas has come as a blow to all of us. Ed taught physics and geology at Whitworth for 31 years before retiring in 1991, and Gus was at the college from 1961-1984. Each made a rich and unique contribution to hundreds of minds and hearts over the years, and both men stayed closely involved with Whitworth during their retirements. It is impossible for me to express adequately the Christian dignity with which Ed and Gus went about their tasks. Please pray for their families. Incidentally, when we went to the polls this week, those of us who knew "arch-Democrat Gus" and "mega-Republican Ed" chuckled thinking of how these two guys who have been canceling each other out for years are probably mad they didn't get in one more vote.
English Professor Laura Bloxham recently went to Luther College, in Iowa (where the Dave Matthews Band cut a live CD last year), and served as keynote speaker at a conference on faculty mentoring. Laura is our director of faculty development, a role that entails mentoring our own faculty, especially our newer colleagues. (I like Dave, but Laura has way more to say than the DMB - so I'm hoping they did a CD of Laura Live at Luther.)
Con mucho gusto, 70+ students, friends and faculty recently listened to the poetry of Spanish Professor Connie Palacios, who read from two of her published anthologies. Associate Vice President for Academic Affairs Tammy Reid reports that the readings in Spanish, with translations provided, were "quite dramatic and impressive."
I'll say more below about Parents' Weekend, but you should know that this event goes far beyond cookies and credit cards. We feel it's important to give parents a taste of what we do best - academics. The menu this year featured Associate Dean of Academic Affairs Gordon Jackson on "Censorship: A Stone in the Shoe of a Democratic Society"; Dean of the Chapel Terry McGonigal and Dean of Students Kathy Storm presenting "Faith, Fear and Foundational Assumptions"; Education Professor Randy Michaelis on "Teaching the Net Generation"; English Professor Pam Corpron Parker teaching "In Love with Shakespeare"; and Psychology Professor Jim Waller presenting "Prejudice Across America." Parents gave high marks to these sessions.
We're into serious musical chairs these days due to the forthcoming renovation of Dixon Hall, our main classroom building. The massive makeover of Dixon, which also houses our School of Education and Psychology Department, will make it a state-of-the-art teaching facility. Construction will begin after the fall semester, but we've already begun offering classes in Hawthorne Hall (previously known as Whitworth Elementary School, which we bought last year). When Dixon goes offline in the spring we'll be tighter still on classroom and office space. Anticipating that, we'll move some education faculty and staff into the now-vacant Leavitt Dining Hall. The good news is that when the music stops, all of us will be winners with a beautiful new teaching facility. But even with the Dixon renovations, we will still be in deep need of modern classroom space. For that reason, a new academic building holds center stage in our comprehensive Faith in the Future Campaign (see below).
Enrollment
Alert: The deadline for fall 2000 early action freshman admission is Nov. 30. Though non-binding, early action admission is for top students who identify Whitworth as their first choice. Applicants will be notified by Dec. 24 of their status. High school seniors who choose to submit the regular decision application have until March 1, 2000, to meet their deadline.
Student Life
More than 400 parents descended on campus for this year's Parents' Weekend events.Parents attended a superb performance of our fall theatre production, Brighton Beach Memoirs, enjoyed mini-colleges presented by faculty and administrators (see above), and attended soccer games, worship on Sunday and a Northwest salmon luncheon. For those of you who weren't there, I'll give you our students' top complaints and compliments (which I spoke about to the parents), according to the 1999 ASWC survey (margin of error: + or - , well, considerable):
Complaints (not necessarily in order): Sewer smell outside HUB: Can't deny this one; neither can we figure it out, but we're working on it. Crowded dorms: Go to the library. Forum speakers: They might mean me. Weekend food-service hours: (We don't have grazing hours between meals as we do during the week.) Mandatory Forum attendance:We're taking a very close look at the Forum program. Compliments: Great professors:They got this one right. Friendly atmosphere: There's no question about the warmth of this campus. Laid-back attitude: We'll see how laid-back it is when finals hit in December. Initiation: I suspect this is a political statement designed to influence me; fat chance. Christian environment: I pray they're right about this one.
Overlapping with Parents' Weekend was the National Association for Campus Activities Conference, with four Whitworth students representing the college at this event. Associated Students of Whitworth College President Kevin Benson, on the board of this national association, was his usual dazzling self as master of ceremonies for a number of conference events.
Both turkeys and calendars seem to get stuffed in November. This month brings our annual College Bowl tournaments, a coffeehouse featuring student-written and -performed music, Caedmon's Call playing here on the 14th, Outdoor Rec's popular Wild Walls offerings, discount tickets to the Warren Miller ski film, ultimate Frisbee and volleyball championships, and the start-up of intramural soccer and basketball. And these are only the ASWC events.
Resources
The Spokane kickoff of the Faith in the Future Campaign event was wonderful. We announced our $50-million goal, of which $32.7 million has already been donated or pledged. Included in this figure are three major new gifts. The donations include a $3-million gift from longtime supporters who have requested to remain anonymous; $1 million from Karlyn and Charles Boppell (Chuck is the chair of Whitworth's board of trustees); and $1 million from the Spokane-based Comstock Foundation. Thanks to all the alumni, parents, employees and community leaders who took part in the festivities. Special thanks to students who performed and spoke. You were great. By the way, through the efforts of our new director of communications, Greg Orwig, '91, all four local TV stations, several local radio stations and the Spokesman-Review covered the event. One TV anchor described Whitworth as "one of the best things about Spokane." Visit our website at www.whitworthfuture.com for all of the information on the Faith in the Future Campaign.
Renovations to Alder Hall were completed in late October, and the folks previously housed in Calvin Hall (faculty and staff from our Economics/Business Department as well as several or our Athletics Department professors and staff members) relocated to Alder. It took about a nanosecond to knock over Calvin Hall. The exciting event was immortalized on videotape, and is now available for those of you unwilling to wait for it to reach cult status on the Internet.
The Whitworth Fund is pretty much on track, but we really need some serious year-end support to keep from falling behind our budgeted level. As the end of the year approaches, we appreciate your consideration of Whitworth in your giving plans. If you'd like to donate appreciated stocks, contact Whitworth Fund Director Dolly Jackson (509-777-4447, 800-532-4668 or djackson@whitworth.edu) for assistance. Your Whitworth Fund support has been great. We are really excited about the sharp increase in the number of you supporting Whitworth. Thanks!
Athletics
The women's soccer team celebrated Parents' Weekend with a pair of shutout victories(goalkeeper Stacey Roberts' eighth and ninth shutouts of the year) over PLU and UPS. Junior Suzanne Boyce fired in two goals on Friday for the 2-0 win; then on Saturday, senior Heidi Bohnett capped her sensational career with a midfield missile that curled into the top of the net for the only goal of the game. Heidi's dad told me it was the best goal of her life, and later Heidi told me the timing couldn't have been better. Congratulations to the women for an excellent season.
Men's soccer ended the season against Whitman with a 7-0 Buc victory - goalie Doug Lupton's tenth shutout. Last week the men beat PLU 1-0 on Friday (on a strong shot by Andrew Dickson and a great play by Scott Kerwien), then lost on Saturday by the same score in overtime (for the second time this year) to UPS's 18-1 team. Both the men and the women finished third in the nine-team Northwest Conference.
The volleyball team had the turnaround season they've been looking for. After season records of 5-23, 9-19, 5-19 and 3-20, the women finished with an 11-14 record, including a record of 8-8 in the NWC. The highlight of the season has to be last Friday's match. Whitworth made a dramatic impact on the NWC with its five-game win at PLU, dropping the Lutes into a first-place tie in the conference. Freshman Lindsey Wagstaff had a match-high 18 kills and hit .425 to lead the Pirates. She also had 18 digs. Sophomore Abby Jo Hornstein finished with 13 kills and 21 digs, and freshman Nicole Weedman had 59 assists and 18 digs. With a win in its final match, against Linfield, this very young team finished fifth in the NWC under first-year coach Steve Rupe. Great job!
The Y2K bug can't be much worse than the one that hit our football team. A rash of injuries left the squad in pretty rough shape, and the guys, playing the toughest schedule in anyone's memory, dropped to 3-5 after their game at Willamette. But last week they beat a really tough Eastern Oregon team, 31-28, on a last-second touchdown at EOSC, and now they're preparing for their closer against Lewis and Clark. Actually, there have been many great moments this season, but our seniors had very high expectations, so they were a little down before the Eastern Oregon game. These are great guys, and I suspect they'll finish the season with energy and pride. I'll give you a good summary of the season next month.
Our women's and men's cross-country teams both improved their places in the Northwest Conference championships last week. Whitworth's women took home second place, the team's highest finish since 1992, when they were also runners-up. The men finished sixth, up one spot from last season's finish. Junior Annie Scott earned All-NWC honors by finishing fifth overall, and juniors Holly Weiler and Julia Lucas received honorable mention All-NWC by finishing in eighth and 12th place, respectively. Freshman Ben Robinson was the top Pirate finisher on the men's side, in 35th place. In addition, 11 Pirates earned NWC Scholar-Athlete Awards by competing while holding at least a 3.25 cumulative GPA. Even more impressive, the Pirate cross-country teams swept the men's and women's awards for best total team grade-point averages.
Alumni
1999 Christmas Festival Concerts: Voices Resound
Fri., Dec. 3, 8 p.m. First Presbyterian Church, Bellevue
Sat., Dec. 4, 7:30 p.m. University Place Presbyterian Church
Sun., Dec. 5, 3 p.m. First Presbyterian Church, Seattle
Fri., Dec. 10, 8 p.m. and
Sat., Dec. 11, 3 p.m. and 7 p.m. First Presbyterian Church, Spokane
Following the Dec. 5 concert at First Presbyterian Church in downtown Seattle, alumni, parents and friends of the college will join together for dinner at the nearby Crowne Plaza Hotel. The event will include student performances and a round of Christmas carols. Bonnie and I look forward to seeing you there. Contact the Alumni Office at 800-532-4668 for details.
Forget Neiman-Marcus. Alumni merchandise is now available on the web. Visit www.whitworth.edu/alumni to see the new Alumni Collection. From clothing to license-plate frames, these items make great Christmas gifts. (Order by Thanksgiving to guarantee Christmas delivery.) All proceeds go to support Whitworth's Alumni Scholarship Endowment Fund.
Miscellaneous
Here's a timely reminder from Tom Johnson, our vice president for business affairs.Generally, people just send me information for the Mind and Heart, and then I put it into my own words. But Tom was waxing so poetic here, especially for a numbers guy, that I offer his words to you untouched: "While the beautiful flowers of summer have faded, the campus is rich with the subdued colors of fall as I look out the window. The golden red hue of the maples is prominent across the Loop, which will turn prematurely dark by late afternoon now that we've set the clocks back. Remember to be of encouragement to our students during these days when the light is short and the list of papers to write is long." Parents, in accord with Tom's reminder, I hope you'll give your student an extra call this week.
Closing Thoughts
I spoke with a student tonight who feels so blessed that she's whipped back and forth between thankfulness and guilt. I don't think that's such a bad place to be if she can manage to feel "obligated" rather than "guilty." Those of us who work at Whitworth feel blessed, thankful and obligated. We're blessed by God's abundant grace. We're thankful for our students and for all of you who support them. And we're obligated to use our blessings to provide the best mind-and-heart education possible. I hope that this Thanksgiving all of us will count not only our blessings but also our obligations. Certainly, you are a blessing to us.
