Of Mind & Heart Newsletter: September 2006
An update from Whitworth University President Bill Robinson
While on a run this morning, I mentally composed an opening paragraph about our school-year launch. I just decomposed it. Because today we hosted our 14th backyard picnic for our facilities staff. You can't walk on this campus and not be impressed with the pride they take in their work. The first year we held the picnic, it was to say thanks for all they had done to get our campus house ready for us. Being new, I asked them for suggestions about how to make Whitworth a better place. They had great ideas, so I've been asking them ever since. It was very cool to hear V.P. for Business Affairs Tom Johnson and Facilities Director Ed Kelly kick off the picnic with reports on suggestions from last year that were implemented. I'll say more under "Student Life" about the rush of energy and excitement that accompanied the arrival and return of our students, but I want my first words this year to be ones of gratitude to a group that doesn't hear "Thank you!" enough. And thanks to all of you parents who busted your backs last Saturday moving in a record amount of stuff belonging to a record number of new students. Speaking of moving, I noticed that many of you weren't moving too quickly on Sunday. The aches are worth it. Your students love your help, your support, your prayers, your calls and your wallet. It's all good.
Academics
We begin this year with a couple academic changes:
- All new students this year were assigned Tracy Kidder's Mountains Beyond Mountains as summer reading. The book chronicles the life of Paul Farmer, a professor of medicine at Harvard. As a young, raw-boned kid, Farmer graduated from college and worked in the central plateau of Haiti, probably the most impoverished and disease-ridden nation in the Western Hemisphere. After seeing what Haiti and other developing nations are up against in terms of healthcare, he decided to try to change the way the world in general and the United Nations in particular think about infectious disease and poverty. So, after graduating from Harvard Medical School while simultaneously earning a Ph.D. in Harvard's anthropology program, he began work in impoverished regions that has saved countless lives. All of our freshman discussion groups will examine human responsibility through Kidder's recounting of Farmer's extraordinary and complex life.
- We have added to our teaching ranks the categories of lecturer and senior lecturer. These folks carry a teaching load of between 13 and 24 credits during the academic year (fall semester, Jan Term, and spring semester), and their appointments, though not continuing contracts, are renewable at the discretion of the college. Our purpose in establishing these positions is to secure the quality and stability of our valuable part-time teachers who vary their involvement on the basis of our need. Both they and we are helped by this arrangement.
Our faculty members enjoyed active summers. Here are a few highlights:
- Hans Bynagle (Library) completed the third edition of his book Philosophy: A Guide to the Reference Literature.
- Jim McPherson (Communication Studies) completed his book Journalism at the End of the American Century, 1965-Present and is now on sabbatical researching another book about media history.
- Kyle Usrey (School of Global Commerce & Management) published an article about trade with China and Africa in the Financial Times of London. Very supportive feedback has poured in from around the world. He also received a two-year continuation grant from the Herbert B. Jones Foundation for the SGCM's program on entrepreneurship and microenterprise development.
We welcome four new tenure-track faculty members to campus. Dinorah Scott (Modern Languages/Spanish), Brooke Kiener, '99 (Theatre), Patrick Van Inwegen (Political Science), and Drew Budner (Chemistry) all join us with great credentials and enthusiasm.
During the summer I received a great e-mail from Jordan Sand, '06, in which he reported winning a graduate-school scholarship from the Jack Kent Cooke Foundation.This is one of the big kahunas, the scholarships every graduate student is after: $50,000 per year for up to six years. More than 1,100 applicants sought these awards, and only 77 students were chosen to receive them. Jordan will use the scholarship money to earn an M.D. at the University of Washington School of Medicine. What's great about Jordan is his first reaction to the scholarship: He was excited that the freedom from medical-school debt will enable him to practice medicine in underserved communities.
Scholarships help our graduates work on behalf of the underserved, and the Bonner Leader Program allows current student leaders to immerse themselves in service now.This cohort-based program has seen more than 60 students participate in service-learning and leadership development in Spokane and beyond. Last May, it provided support for seven Whitworth students who went to New Orleans to assist in hurricane-related cleanup projects. Keith Kelley provides excellent leadership for this program.
Whitworth is again in the top five in U.S. News & World Report's rankings of 123 regional universities in the West. We tied for No. 5 on the list of best colleges, and we stand at No. 3 on the list of best values. Increased selectivity (thanks to a 141 percent increase in freshman applications since fall 2000), SAT score averages that exceeded 1,200, and retention and graduation rates that are way above national averages contributed to the high rankings. Now that I've bragged about this, I have to admit my skepticism over these lists. It's ridiculous to claim that this ranking proves we're a better school than one ranked below us. "Better" can't be defined in the absence of individual student needs. What I do know is that we are very clear about our mission, and we accomplish it with a deep commitment to excellence. I also know that rankings sell magazines.
To mark Constitution Day 2006, the Whitworth Communication Studies Department will inaugurate its newly established Alfred O. Gray Freedom of Expression Fund by presenting a lecture by David Mindich, a former CNN assignment editor and current professor of journalism at Vermont's St. Michael's College. Mindich will address the challenge to democracy and Constitutional protections presented by civic disengagement. The Gray Fund is named for the late Al Gray, Whitworth's first professor of journalism, who received national recognition in 1979 for championing free expression and student journalism on campus.
Our campus is all ready for our new students, and extensive academic preparations preceded student arrivals. Everything comes together each year at the faculty-staff picnic, a week before classes begin. At this year's event we visited the new Duvall Hall following V. P. for Student Life Kathy Storm's poignant (and funny) tribute to Fenton Duvall. On Thursday evening a faculty barbecue preceded a gathering in the chapel, where new faculty were introduced (with a little roasting) and commissioned. V. P. for Academic Affairs and Dean of the Faculty Michael Le Roy, '89, urged us to "accompany" our students in their scholarly pursuits, and we all celebrated our Lord's supper. On Friday, the faculty gathered at Camp Spalding to focus on strengthening community. This was particularly interesting for me, because I had been invited to speak on this topic at Wheaton College's faculty retreat, and then at Whitworth's. It's a lot easier traveling 1,500 miles to tell folks how to build community when they don't have to live with your inconsistencies; but it's a lot richer talking with people who have contributed so deeply to your own life in community. Three of us demonstrated what community really means later that night when, in an outdoor pickup basketball game, poor Lyle Cochrane (Math) ruptured his Achilles tendon, and Helen Higgs (Athletics), Scott Kolbo (Art) and I made the noble decision not to pick up the ball and score while Lyle rolled around clutching his leg. His surgery went well, and he'll be teaching from a sitting position this week. Lyle has maintained a great attitude through this, although he lost a little color when Coach Higgs was attending to him and pulled out a roll of duct tape. (True story.)
Enrollment
We don't have our tenth-day numbers yet, but we know we have more students than we've ever had before. I'll give a full report in October. We do know that students have arrived from France, Sweden, Austria, Switzerland, Japan, Saudi Arabia, Chile, Honduras, Uzbekistan, and Thailand.
Student Life
A wild-west theme had leaders in cowboy hats and bandanas herding new students onto campus during Orientation Weekend. Families were treated to a chuckwagon feast, and several of us demonstrated our utter lack of shame with a crazy orientation skit that new students seemed to enjoy and that surely had parents second-guessing their children's college choice. Traditiation featured our annual Yell Off and Mock Rock competitions among residence halls, with the Warren men and women coming in first and second, followed by Arend Hall in third place. I found the mood at Mock Rock, well, crazed. It is simply astonishing to witness the camaraderie that students develop in 72 (mostly awake) hours, led by our student-life staff (with Kathy Storm, Dick Mandeville and Orientation Weekend architect Dayna Coleman Jones at the helm). We have especially good student leaders this year, and for us that makes all the difference in the world. Dayna sent me a list of all of this month's events, but they are too numerous to list. I'll give highlights next month.
The western theme was fitting this year: The stampede into the residence halls was a sight to see. The ranch hands --- RDs and other student leaders -- were just as eager as the incoming students for the 10 a.m. check-in to begin. One of the huge benefits of adding 100+ living spaces (in Duvall Hall) is the dramatic increase in the numbers of juniors and seniors who'll live on campus. Because we have a residency requirement for freshman and sophomore students, space for upper-division students has been limited. As the quality and number of spaces go up, the percentage of juniors and seniors choosing to live off campus goes down -- and that has a positive impact on campus life. I should also mention our three new residence directors on campus: Kari Dykhouse, Katrina Golden and Sean Mulcahy are already doing excellent work.
Resources
Oklahoma businessman Bill Welch and his wife, Peggy, both active leaders in the Presbyterian Church (USA), pledged more than $1 million to complete funding for an endowed chair in theology. I know Bill, and he is very smart, very committed and very generous. It's an honor to receive his and Peggy's support. The chair will be named in honor of F. Dale Bruner, who retired in 1997 after 22 years as one of Whitworth's most influential and popular theology professors. With the unanimous recommendation of the Whitworth Department of Theology & Philosophy, V.P. for Academic Affairs Michael Le Roy, '89, has announced James Edwards, '67, as the chair's first occupant. Jim is an internationally recognized biblical scholar who carries on Dale's legacy with great distinction.
Everyone agrees that our campus has never been in better shape, but we wouldn't have physical resources without financial resources. To that end, you'll be hearing from Whitworth students asking you to support The Whitworth Fund. Annual support plays a huge role in helping us provide financial aid while meeting rising costs (like healthcare and energy). Thank you so much for accepting these calls. Our students love talking to you.
Athletics
Fall sports are off and running (literally, for the cross-country teams). The Pirate men won their season-opening meet at the Whitman Invitational, where Jake Deitz won the men's six- kilometer race, edging teammates Jeff Grassley and Dusty Caseria and giving the Pirates a 1-2-3 finish. Whitworth's women finished second to the host Missionaries in the team competition, and Julie Lauterbach finished second in the race to former Pirate All-America distance runner Kristi Dickey, who won as an unattached competitor. Andrea Carnahan was the next Pirate over the line, in sixth place, followed closely by Emily Hurd.
Women's soccer is off to a solid start. Competing in California against a pair of schools that won a combined 25 matches last season, Whitworth beat Pomona-Pitzer 3-2 and tied U.C. Santa Cruz 1-1. Greta Thibodeau had a goal and an assist in the first match, while Kara Tisthammer scored in the first match and assisted in the second. The Pirates open Northwest Conference play Sept. 16.
The men's soccer team finished 1-1 during its season-opening trip to Southern California. The Pirates gave up an early goal at Cal Lutheran, but came back to win 2-1. Chris Johnson scored the team's first goal of the season, and Adam Loeffler added the winner in the second half. But the Pirates lost 1-0 to Redlands, a team that the Bucs beat twice last year. Whitworth continues non-conference play with a tournament at Simon Fraser in Burnaby, B.C., this weekend.
The volleyball team is faced with rebuilding after graduating all six 2005 starters. The Pirates opened the season with a 3-1 win over U.C. Santa Cruz, then dropped four matches (three to nationally ranked opponents) at the Pacific Boxer Kickoff Invitational. Nikki Bardwell and Angie Florence led the Pirates in kills over the first five matches, and Jena Hays and Jenna Serrat have played well, splitting time at setter. Whitworth heads to California this weekend for the Pacific Coast Classic, co-hosted by Claremont-Mudd-Scripps and Pomona-Pitzer.
The football team rolled over Redlands in its season opener, 28-3. Eighty players are ready to make a run at the Northwest Conference title, and, for the first time, the Pirates have three preseason All-America picks in seniors Michael Allan (TE) and Joel Clark (QB), and junior Ryan Marshall (DB). Whitworth's home opener is Sept. 16 against California's University of La Verne.
The Pirate golf teams will begin the fall half of their schedules on Sept. 16, when they play a dual match at Whitman.
Alumni
Oct. 13-15 will be the biggest weekend of my 13-plus years! An unusual alignment of schedules means that those three days will include the end of our board of trustees meeting, as well as Homecoming, Parents' Weekend and our fall theatre production, Pirates of Penzance (Oct. 13 & 14 -- as well as Oct. 20 & 21 --- at 8 p.m.; Oct. 15 at 2 p.m.). The list of other events scheduled throughout that weekend is too long to mention. So just be there!
Closing Thoughts
Yesterday in Opening Convocation, I spoke to the students about perseverance (www.whitworth.edu/fallconvocation06). In an attention-deficit culture like ours, great rewards await those who persist. Many of you have stayed with us for generations and have been the agents of God's faithfulness. Thank you. Today's remarkable students reward us all. We at Whitworth wish you the fullness of Christ's peace and the joy of his redemption as we begin this new year.
