Of Mind & Heart Newsletter: September 1998

An update from Whitworth University President Bill Robinson

They're back. And they brought 500 of their friends. It's the second week of class and we're all very excited about the new year. For those of you who are new to the Whitworth community, this Mind and Heart is the first of nine monthly newsletters you will receive from me. I try to report campus highlights, and occasionally I lapse into whining or bragging about whatever. The letter goes to donors, recent alumni, parents of current students and anybody else who wants it. I hope this Mind and Heart finds you refreshed from a good summer. Those of you who are parents of new students, your children are fine. In fact, they're in the library and they come out only to go to the chapel. Trust me.

In the Beginning

I usually begin this letter with academics, but this time of year we get many questions about the start of school. Our student leaders spent a full week of training for the year, then provided an extraordinary welcome for new students as they arrived Labor Day weekend. The theme for Orientation was "Where is the Heart of Whitworth College?" built around a "Where in the World is Carmen San Diego?" motif. Orientation culminated in the Tuesday night Mock Rock, where the new students of Stewart Hall won the hearts of the judges with their bizarre, somewhat ethereal rendition of the hokey pokey.

We don't have the final numbers, but already we have registered the largest number of students in Whitworth history. The only reason we have the space for more students is that the growth has come through retention. This year we had to reduce the size of our freshman class by 10 percent, but the eighth consecutive year of increased retention (10.3 percent above the national average for private institutions) boosted our total enrollment. Because our junior and senior students enroll in upper-division courses and often live in independent housing around campus, we can be a bit more elastic with the number we can accommodate.

Of the 500 new students we welcomed to campus, 375 are in the freshman class, and 125 are transfer students. Just over half of the class is from the state of Washington, with 22 other states represented, including Hawaii, which sent us 35 of its best students. We're also enjoying the arrival of 40 new international students from 16 countries around the world. Whitworth's top three feeder high schools are Mead in Spokane, Kamehameha in Honolulu, and Bellevue Christian in Bellevue, Wash. The average grade point our freshmen brought to campus was almost 3.6, and just under 10 percent of the class graduated as high school valedictorians or salutatorians. My impression is that this class is a fun-loving group, but one that is here to study and grow.

Many of the 34 new students whose parents are Whitworth grads joined with their families on the Auld House lawn for a welcoming luncheon on Saturday, Sept. 5. It was a mini-reunion for many of the alumni parents, as they reconnected with classmates whose children are also attending Whitworth this year.

Academics

Faculty retreat was superb. Over the past several years, a strong campus emphasis on faculty scholarship has resulted in more and more of our faculty members gaining national recognition for their publications. But recognizing that the "whole student" is best educated by "the whole faculty member," the faculty executive committee decided that the thrust of faculty retreat would be an exploration of how we might be more spiritual in our work and in our lives. We participated in panel discussions and small-group conversations, and Gonzaga Professor Dr. Leonard Doohan led us through some methods for demonstrating the love of Christ and deepening our relationships with God. It was a great time together.

The Music Department is on cloud nine these days. The choir, wind ensemble and jazz band have all been invited to perform at the 1999 Music Educators All-Northwest Division Conference in Portland, Feb. 12-14. Each group was chosen via anonymous audition tape as one of the two best regional college/university groups in its category. Incidentally, each of these groups recorded compact discs last spring that will be available by the end of this month. Contact the Music Department office (509-777-3280) if you're interested in purchasing a CD.

This past year, one of our donors made a special gift enabling our theatre students to attend several spring conferences. The students performed superbly, and two of our '98 graduates won jobs with national Christian theatre companies (Kate Hancock with STOP, in Alabama, and Kelly Simon with AD Players, in Houston).

Congratulations to two of our faculty, Assistant Professor of Education Barb Sanders and Assistant Professor of Mathematics/Computing Kent Jones, who completed their doctoral programs this summer.

Kent has another reason for celebration: the completion of the new state-of-the-art computer lab in the Lindaman Center, which will be used exclusively by our computer science students. With the expansion of our computer science program, this high-powered laboratory is essential.

Our accreditation visit is now just a week away. The event for which we've prepared for 18 months will culminate in a three-day visit by a 12-person team, on Sept. 28-30 (which just happens to coincide with "Be Nice to Strangers on Campus Week"). While accreditation focuses primarily on academic quality, the process includes a thorough assessment of how well we carry out our mission, including examination of our financial operations, physical plant and student services. I think we're in good shape on all fronts, and we're expecting good feedback from the Northwest Commission on Colleges team.

Resources

The big news is the opening of Phase II of the Campus Center. Students are raving about the new dining hall. Predictably, the first week of classes brings long lines while students figure out how to distribute themselves. But everyone agrees that the spacious dining area works beautifully and that the presentation, variety and quality of the food are excellent. (In general, college students claim the term "dining hall food" is an oxymoron, so we're very pleased.) Although Phase I opened three years before Phase II, the structure came together seamlessly into one magnificent building. Thanks to all of you who supported these projects.

Another visible campus improvement was completed on the east side of Cowles Auditorium. A circular drive off Hawthorne Road, landscaped beautifully, provides drop-off access and short-term parking in front of a new Cowles Auditorium entrance. I always thought that the little elbow between Cowles and McEachran was particularly ugly, so I'm really happy about this change.

Those of you whose last visit to the Whitworth campus predated 1990 would be stunned. Recently, a college association official remarked to me that we have the prettiest college campus in the Northwest. I apologize for this shameless boasting; I know there are many beautiful campuses in our region, but many of you helped make the campus improvement possible, and I wanted you to know how great things look. Our abundant wooded acreage, through which no public road runs, is maintained by a great crew that does excellent work. This past Monday, Bonnie and I hosted the whole Physical Plant staff for lunch, and we were again impressed with this happy, hard-working group of people who take pride in representing Whitworth's mind-and-heart mission in a very tangible way.

Some of you have asked how badly we've been whipsawed by recent stock market volatility. Our asset allocation is such that it moderates market gyrations to some extent, with our main defense being a long-haul philosophy and a relatively low spending rate. Currently, we draw five percent of the past five-year average as income from our endowment. Frankly, our donors' financial condition is as important to us as our own, because we rely more heavily on gifts to The Whitworth Fund than we do on endowment income.

Our student phonathon teams are gearing up. I'm sure many of you feel that telemarketing is the cultural equivalent of a plague of locusts, but it is a great way for our students to invite alumni and friends to support Whitworth College. You have been so cordial to our students in the past that they sincerely look forward to their conversations with you. Whether or not you make a pledge, we appreciate the interest you show in our students and we assure you that they are grateful for your part in their education.

Student Life

Student activities in the month of September are dominated by various start-up events.Last weekend a sand-court inter-dorm volleyball tournament took place, followed by Stewart Hall's traditional lawn dance. The night before, an interesting group called "Street Nicks" performed in Cowles Auditorium. They are a group of a cappella singers who make all the sounds of a band with their voices. One of our children does that, but not on purpose.

We are greatly encouraged by the abundance of student-initiated service activities.Much of the planning in Student Life centers around helping others rather than entertaining ourselves. A couple of days ago, students held a fair featuring all the service organizations that have been started or supported by students. In amazing numbers, Whitworth students are feeding the homeless, tutoring the educationally disadvantaged, befriending the lonely and doing manual labor that empowers others to serve. Be careful about telling these hard-working, compassionate students that the real world begins after college. Some of them deal with a slice of reality that many of us don't have the courage even to approach.

Athletics

Our football team staged a late comeback against the highly ranked team from Western Oregon University, only to fall a bit short, 38-30. The offense played well the entire game, but the defense had a rough first half. Both the guys and the staff were encouraged, but not satisfied, by the opening game performance. Thanks to all of you who came out to the Pine Bowl on a spectacular September Saturday afternoon. (I just got back from our second game, against nationally ranked Montana Tech, and the Bucs pulled off a great upset, 28-13. The defense was superb. I'll tell you all about the game next time.)

The women's soccer team picked up that first big win this week. The Pirates beat Northwest Nazarene convincingly, 4-1, but struggled offensively against PLU last Saturday. Senior Heidi Bohnett and freshman Jessie Butte each scored a goal and an assist in the victory against Northwest Nazarene. The women play three NWC road games this week, and then it's back to the Pine Bowl for some more conference action.

Men's soccer got off to a fast start with a couple of wins in the season's first weekend.The Bucs defeated Northwest College by a whopping 7-0, with seven different Pirates scoring goals. The men were also victorious over the Geoducks from The Evergreen State College, 2-0. Junior Ben Wickert scored the first (game-winning) goal 10 minutes into the second half, and sophomore Mark Lupton booted in another one for good measure. In league action, the Pirates lost to PLU 1-0 in a heartbreaker. Next week, the guys take on George Fox, an early favorite for the NWC title, and Pacific.

The volleyball squad is 2-6 at the beginning of NWC play. The Pirates defeated Pacific (15-4, 15-1, 15-ll), led by senior Sonya Schaumberg's nine kills in 16 attempts with no errors. Freshman Jennifer Kann also shone for the women, with 26 assists and seven digs, and freshman Sarah Temple added eight kills and three assists on blocks for the Pirates. In a tough loss to the women of George Fox University, seniors Katie Jo Borgmann and Mary Hubele led the way, killing and digging all over the place. The tough Oregon schools are next on the roster for the Bucs.

The cross-country teams competed last week at the University of Idaho Invitational, with the women finishing second out of three non-Division I teams, and the men finishing at the bottom of the non-D-I pack. Sophomore Annie Scott captured eighth place for the women, senior Dana Ryan finished ninth, and sophomore Katie Schlotfeldt, hard on their heels, came in 10th. For the men, sophomore Peter Metcalf was the high finisher in 19th place. This weekend the Pirate runners travel to Richland to compete in the Big Cross Invitational.

Next month I'll tell you all about our latest class of Heritage Gallery Hall of Famers. The Crimson Club will be welcoming these new Heritage Gallery members at this week's football game.

Miscellaneous

"There's No Place Like Home" for Homecoming '98. All alumni and friends are invited to return to campus the weekend of Oct. 2- 3. There will be a benefit coffeehouse for Habitat for Humanity on Friday at 8 p.m. in the Campus Center, and the annual Homecoming football game (this year vs. UPS, one of the teams the Bucs vanquished last season) takes place Saturday at 1:30 p.m. We look forward to a big alumni turnout.

Friday night, Oct. 30, enjoy dessert and conversation with director Rick Hornor before the fall musical production of Rodgers and Hammerstein's Cinderella. Dessert will begin at 6:45 p.m., and the play will begin at 8.

On Oct. 17, professors Jim Waller and Jerry Sittser will lead an afternoon of lecture and discussion for California alumni at Walnut Creek Presbyterian Church at 2 p.m. Please contact the Alumni Office (509-777-3799 or 800-532-4668) for more information.

Spaces are still available for 1999 Core 650 tours - to spring training in Arizona with Ross Cutter in March, and to Paris with Leonard Oakland in June. Please call the Alumni Office (see numbers above).

Dates to Remember

Closing Thoughts

A couple of weeks ago, I received four very gratifying letters. Three were from graduates of the Class of '98, and one was from the parent of a '98 grad. All four letters reflected on the experience of beginning at Whitworth in the fall of '94 and the importance of the four years that ensued. These letters serve as a reminder of the significance of our mission and the privilege of our calling. All of us who work at Whitworth feel very clearly the call of Christ to open minds and fill hearts. To all of you who have chosen to participate in this mission through your prayers and support, we extend our deepest gratitude. As one alumnus wrote this summer, "Whitworth changed me and I will be forever grateful.... Thank you for your time, love, and interest in me and in all the students." And thanks to all of you.