Of Mind & Heart Newsletter: October 2004
An update from Whitworth University President Bill Robinson
I've enjoyed 19 homecoming weekends as a college president, but none as much as this year's. Cloudless skies, perfect temperatures and flaming marigolds framed three days of nonstop, joy-filled activity. I got home Saturday night at 10:30 p.m. from my ninth event, ready to collapse into bed. But faintly (actually, not so faintly), I heard the beat. The Homecoming Masquerade Ball. Should I notch event #10 and break my single-day record? WWJD: What would Jesus do? WWID: What would Ichiro do? Jesus would go to bed. Ichiro would go for the record. Ever the Christian, I went to bed. But images of the day competed with sleep: Those images included the Weyerhaeuser Hall celebration, the happy chaos after our women's soccer team defeated the No. 1 team in the country, and gathering to remember the shining eyes and blazing speed of dear Brent Rice. Brent's life was taken in an auto accident in May, but his memory and string of swimming records now brighten the aquatics center through the Brent Rice Wall of Honor. The most "Whitworth" of all the images that kept me awake had to be the warm satisfaction on the faces of Harry and Marge Dixon as we celebrated Weyerhaeuser Hall's Dixon Classroom, funded by former students who adore both of these great people. Harry's words and deeds provided thousands of students with a living picture of what God's call looks like in the business world and in everyday life. Thanks for your role in helping us carry on the mind-and-heart work of Harry and Marge Dixon.
Academics
Whitworth surfaced in two interesting pieces in the newspaper last week. Kyle Usrey, dean of our School of Global Commerce and Management, wrote an editorial for The Seattle Times titled "Candidates should embrace, not trash, the global marketplace."And here in Spokane, a story in The Spokesman-Review about school principals cited 16 who were beginning new positions. Notably, 11 were products of Whitworth's School of Education.
We'll welcome Yale University philosopher Nick Wolterstorff back to campus on Thursday, Oct. 14, as our first speaker in a series to celebrate the opening of Weyerhaeuser Hall. Wolterstorff's lecture, Educating for Shalom: What Are Our Goals?, draws upon one of his recent books. The presentation is at 7:30 p.m. in the teaching theatre in Weyerhaeuser.
John "Chuck" Chalberg, a professional historian-actor and Fulbright lecturer, gave a one-man performance on the life of G. K. Chesterton, the 20th-century British journalist, poet and essayist, at Whitworth last week. On the following night, David Domke, communications professor at the University of Washington, lectured on the role of religion, politics and the media in the Bush Administration. And the third speaker on campus during Homecoming Week was a close college friend of mine, Wess Stafford, the president/CEO of Compassion International. Wess spent three days here inspiring students to bring physical support and the love of Christ to poor, voiceless children around the world.
A poem, Praise, by Whitworth Associate Professor of English Laurie Lamon, '78, which appears in the October issue of The Atlantic Monthly, was selected by former U.S. Poet Laureate Billy Collins for inclusion in 180 More: Extraordinary Poems for Ordinary Days, an anthology edited by Collins that will be published by Random House in March 2005.
One of the richest elements of the liberal arts is art itself, and we owe a huge "Thanks!" to Barbara Filo (Art), who helped oversee a major restoration of the college's permanent art collection this summer. Together with Clara Woods, a professional art restorer, and two senior art majors, Shelly Williams and Crystal Walker, Barbara cleaned, restored, matted, framed and documented these works. Works from the collection can be seen in the fine-arts building and Weyerhaeuser Hall (along with a beautiful triptych of watercolors by Pauline Haas (Emeritus, Art), commissioned for the building). Barbara reports that the core of the collection came to the college through the gifts of Gordon, '50, and Dorothy (Leavens, '49) Carlson, Clyde B., '50, and Annie (Skeels, '57) Matters, and Floyd and Shirley Daniel. Gifts of art and literature from friends of Whitworth help us enormously. We just received a generous gift from Greg, '54, and Ruth (Jones, '58) Sanford, who contributed their Pacific Northwest history collection, valued at $22,000. Please let us know if you have works of art that would enrich our collection.
Homecoming Weekend celebrates academic life along with sports and memories. Many alumni and friends gathered to enjoy lectures on Augustine, Freud, and the Christ of culture, as well as to hear directly from Aristotle and Plato (though there's a certain loss of authenticity when Plato breaks out his PowerPoint). We were also privileged to see the premier of a remarkable film about the experiences of Japanese-Americans in the Inland Northwest during World War II. In Time of War features narration by Doug Sugano (English), and was written, directed and co-produced by Andrea Palpant, '00, and Rose (Sliger) Krause, '02. The project began 15 years ago, thanks to the curiosity of Dale Soden (History), who came across a photograph of five Japanese-American players on the college's 1944 basketball team. The film is a moving oral history built around the reflections of those displaced by world events some 60 years ago.
Enrollment
Our 10th day figures show new freshmen at 471, total enrollment at 2,382, and full-time undergrad enrollment at 2,034 (1,789 of whom are traditional day students). All of these figures, along with SAT scores and the mean GPA, are record highs. Our graduate numbers are pretty much the same as last year. More impressive, however, than record numbers is the character of our new students. Whitworth provides a superb education in a great environment, and that creates demand. But we can't get complacent with the quality of our education or in our efforts to recruit strong students. So please keep recommending us to people looking for a top Christian liberal arts college.
We absolutely could not serve this many students if it weren't for you. For example, this fall more than 200 students received endowed and restricted scholarships. Further, virtually all of the funds we receive from annual gifts go to financial aid, as federal financial-aid funds have flattened and state funding faces huge challenges. Sometimes state policies get in our way, too. It's ironic that a citizen of this state cannot receive state aid if s/he is a religion major, but the wonderful Christians of the Myung Sung Presbyterian Church, in Seoul, South Korea, have provided Whitworth with an endowed scholarship for these same students, blocked by statute from state funds.
Student Life
I've already used too many words to list all of September's activities, but here are a few highlights: Bingo Night was a huge success, with more than 400 students waiting to scream "BINGO!" and win a microwave or a George Foreman grill; Outdoor Rec has supported tons of students with rock-climbing trips to our local Minihaha; Community Building Day involved 15 buses taking students all over town for a day of community service with and for Spokane's outreach organizations, and that evening hundreds of students gathered for the presidential debate. There was also the party our next-door-neighbor students threw. At their invitation, I wandered into this concentration of humanity at 11 p.m., and instantly my glasses fogged, I turned into a puddle of sweat, and, mercifully, the music deafened me. But I was able to hear one of my neighbors yell to me, "How great is it that college students can have this much fun without alcohol?" Finally, Homecoming Week was a blast. I don't know how many events there were, but on Saturday alone, I went to the Heritage Hall of Fame breakfast, the unveiling of the Brent Rice Wall of Honor in the aquatics center, the Weyerhaeuser Hall celebration, women's soccer, a book-signing, the football game, men's soccer, back to football, the Dixon dinner, the 10-year reunion dinner, a five-year reunion party, and, almost, the masquerade ball.
Resources
For helping us lift off on a slightly oversold flight, hail to our facilities-services and information-technology staff. During the first few weeks of classes, the IT people worked day and night to connect more than 800 student computer systems as quickly as they could. Thanks also to students and parents for their patience and cooperation. The inevitable horror stories have been minimal.
John, '51, and Judy Scotford are heroes, particularly to the west end of Whitworth's campus. Having already built us the Scotford Fitness Center, they and their friends Ed and Bev Stirm have now provided funds for a beautiful pedestrian corridor that the college will create on the north side of The Loop, and over half of the funds needed for new tennis courts and additional parking. The institutional advancement staff is working with the athletics folks to find donors willing to provide an additional $300K for this new tennis and parking project.
Athletics
It's been an incredible fall already. Below is the report from Sports Information Director Steve Flegel. But as I write this on the Monday morning after Homecoming Weekend, I can add that women's soccer went 2-0, men's soccer went 1-0-1, men's cross- country won a meet at Central Washington while our women took a close second in the women's meet there, volleyball went 1-1 on the road, and football beat a high-powered scholarship program from Eastern Oregon University, 31-28. Three of our teams are currently atop the Northwest Conference standings.
The football team is 2-0 after sweeping Redlands and La Verne on the road in California. The Pirate offense has been high octane, led by QB Joel Clark and a veteran offensive line, averaging 47.5 points and 455 yards per game. The defense is improving all the time behind veteran linebackers Jeremy Scroggins and Daniel Jones.
Volleyball is now 10-2 overall and tied for first in the conference with a 3-1 mark.Sophomore Rebekah Hornor has been phenomenal at setter, not only distributing the ball for a high assist average, but becoming an offensive and defensive threat with high numbers of blocks and kills. Katy Schrader, the only senior on the team, leads the Bucs in attack percentage and blocks per game.
The women's soccer team is 6-2 overall, 5-0 in the NWC, and ranked 24th in the latest Top-25 poll. The Pirates started 5-0 and won at Willamette, in Salem -- both close-to-impossible feats. Sophomore Jael Hagerott continues to be the offensive leader of the team, with five goals and four assists. The defense has been extremely stingy. Led by goalkeeper Jenn Miller, a junior, and senior defenders Jody Rucinski and Ashli Anderson, the Pirates allow only .99 goals per game.
Men's soccer is 7-1 overall and 4-0 in conference. The Pirates have matched their best start since their NWC-winning 2001 season. The Bucs are especially tough in the second half, outscoring opponents 14-3. A testament to the team's balance on offense is the fact that freshman Niko Varlamos leads the conference in goals and junior Todd Sabrowski leads in assists. Overall, Whitworth is outscoring opponents 3.25 goals to one.
The cross-country teams are deep and well-rounded. The women, with 26 runners, have competed well in meets at Whitman and Seattle. Junior Kristi Dickey and senior Elaine Heinemann have consistently run 1-2 for the women. Junior Doug Blackburn has developed into a challenger for the NWC men's title. The Pirate men are carrying 25 runners on Whitworth's deepest team ever.
Buc fans around the country, check the athletics website for games in your area. Just to name a few events for this fall, we'll be in the Bay Area for football, Boston and San Antonio for men's basketball, and Ohio for women's basketball.
Alumni
Enjoy A Man for All Seasons, dessert, and a pre-play introduction to technical theatre from Michael Westenskow on Saturday, Oct. 23. Dessert's at 6:45 p.m. and showtime's at 8. For details and reservations, go to www.whitworth.edu/alumnievents. Play dates/times are Oct. 15, 16, 22, 23 at 8 p.m., and Oct. 17 at 2 p.m. Call 509.777.3707 for reservations to see this modern classic that dramatizes the conflict between King Henry VIII and Sir Thomas More -- a confrontation between church and state, theology and politics, absolute power and individual freedom.
Join us for refreshments at halftime when the Pirates take on the Menlo College Oaks,in Atherton, Calif., Oct. 23 at noon.
Professors Michael Le Roy, '89 (Politics & History), and Keith Wyma (Religion & Philosophy) will each provide an insider's look at the new Core 350 in a series of Core 650 programs. The first two programs will be in Portland, on Nov. 6, and Seattle, on Nov. 7. For details and reservations, go to www.whitworth.edu/alumnievents.
On Nov. 6, hear from Eric Reed, jazz piano virtuoso, who'll speak at our annual pre-concert dessert at 6:45 p.m. and play with the acclaimed Whitworth Jazz Ensemble at 8. Tickets are $15. Go to www.whitworth.edu/alumnievents for details and reservations.
Miscellaneous
As I mentioned above, internationally acclaimed jazz pianist Eric Reed, who has released 12 CDs and performed with several of Wynton Marsalis' award-winning groups, will appear with our great jazz ensemble on Saturday, Nov. 6, at 8 p.m. This year's jazz band is one of our best ever; they won the Lionel Hampton Jazz Festival, at which Whitworth has placed first in five of the last eight years. And Reed's appearance continues the tradition of incredible fall jazz concerts at Whitworth. Tickets are $10 at 509.325.SEAT, at ticketswest.com, from the Whitworth Music Office (509.777.3280), and at the door. Reed will also present a jazz clinic, sponsored by grants from the Lilly Foundation and The Principal Group, on Friday, Nov. 5, at 5:15 in the music building.
Closing Thoughts
On Homecoming Sunday, I got up early, did deskwork while waiting for the sun, and then ran the back 40. The grounds had stopped rattling and seemed to be sleeping in, as if to get ready for a royal send-off to those of you who visited. As the campus and I sort of woke up together, I thought about the invisible nature of Whitworth's best quality. Everyone knows I get revved up by our students, but when I see what our alumni are doing, I am reminded that Whitworth's fullness cannot be understood without knowing the lives of its alumni. We're so proud of what all of you who walked this campus are doing to honor God, follow Christ and serve humanity. Thanks for coming back to your college. It was good to be with you.
