Of Mind & Heart Newsletter: Special Edition 2004
An update from Whitworth University President Bill Robinson
What follows is not my typical Mind & Heart. As I mentioned in the November letter, I write this newsletter to inform and thank you, not to solicit you. But in this special edition I am bringing before you an important financial need.
At a very early age I noticed a pesky little parasite sinking its teeth into my sunny disposition. I'm pretty much natural-born happy, but as a kid I'd get these little stings that would agitate me. For example, June 22 was always a grumpy day for me, in spite of it falling soon after summer delivered my pardon from elementary school. Even with two full months remaining before the glorious summer furlough would end with my return to incarceration with Miss Tiffany, I could not escape the sadness of knowing that, alas, on June 22 the days started getting shorter.
I have to say that working at Whitworth feels like nonstop summer. By all measures, Whitworth prospers. I don't know why God favors our work at some times more than at others, but the hand of God seems very present here. I am, however, increasingly aware of the role we all play in Whitworth's health. My reason for this special M&Hmight be one of those June 22 parasites, but I think it goes deeper than that.
Put simply, I'm concerned about Whitworth's annual-giving program (The Whitworth Fund). Both the total giving and the percentage of alumni who give to the fund fall below an understandable level for a school of Whitworth's quality. We have a wonderful group of folks who oversee our fund-raising program, with Tad Wisenor, '89, assuming responsibility for The Whitworth Fund in addition to alumni, parent and church relations. But I thought this message should come from me, and I hope it will provide you with information that helps you understand where annual gifts go and why we so appreciate and need your support. I've used the M&H format because it's how I organize my thinking. I'd be honored if you'd read on.
Academics
Remember when you were a chalk aficionado? Soft yellow sticks on green boards presented your teacher's beautiful, smooth handwriting. But white chalk on blackboards grated on your entire nervous system, and seemed always in the grip of long-nailed people with bad handwriting. Today's equipment has evolved a bit. Our academic-technology budget would buy enough chalk to oversupply China. Furthermore, the number of majors in our superb computer-science program has skyrocketed. Our information-technology costs have shot out of sight, but all those dollars serve a worthy cause. As far as I know we are one of just a very few schools in the country that can claim that every one of our classrooms is equipped with computers, high-resolution projectors and full access to our network. Your annual gifts go toward maintenance and replacement costs for those computers, computer labs, servers, firewalls and more than 1,000 residence-hall ports.
It might surprise you to know that while the number of computer-science majors has risen dramatically, we have seen even greater growth in the number of science majors overall -- from 214 to 335 since 1999. Further, as faculty numbers have increased to keep pace, a pedagogical shift toward greater student research has elevated our operational costs and put pressure on our facilities. This progress carries a hefty price tag, but it's great for our academic reputation.
It's not surprising that faculty compensation represents our greatest academic cost. By world standards, we are all paid lavishly. But, in fact, the average faculty salary at Whitworth consistently lags behind our comparison group. So recruiting and retaining good faculty is challenging, in spite of the fact that money is far down the list of factors that attract them to Whitworth. Take the two new professors who gave devotions at our last board meeting: Karin Heller (Religion), who holds three doctorates and has taught in five languages (though not all at the same time), recently came from Paris to teach here. Kamesh Sankaran (Physics), with a Ph.D. in astrophysics from Princeton University, passed on many lucrative opportunities in private industry to come to Whitworth this year. Karin, Kamesh and the rest of our faculty love their students and feel called to teach at Whitworth. But we can't take that for granted. Every additional $75,000 that comes to The Whitworth Fund would enable us to increase faculty salaries by 1 percent. I can't think of a more important investment.
Enrollment
I was just interrupted by an e-mail from a student pleading on behalf of her friend, a freshman with virtually no family support who's unable to cover his school bill. I contacted Financial Aid Director Wendy Olson and received this reply, "These students with large unmet needs are absolutely heartbreaking... We have all been agonizing over his situation, but have really reached the end of what we can do..." When I'm asked what looms as Whitworth's biggest challenge, I always respond, "affordability." It's a matter of both justice and educational quality that Whitworth remains within financial reach for students from diverse ethnic and socio-economic backgrounds. I don't care if we get 10,000 applications: We cannot allow this school to become a place only for the privileged. We need to structure financial-aid packages that enable students long on potential and short in the pocketbook to attend. Here are some interesting facts:
- Charges for 2004-05 at Whitworth: $20,980 for tuition and $6,500 for room and board (almost exactly the national average for independent colleges)
- Average financial-aid package: $18,583
- Average scholarship/grant funds from all sources: $11,705
- Average student-loan funds: $5,135
- Average work-study award: $2,407
- The average 2004 grad who borrowed money finished with more than $17,000 in loan debt, not counting money that may have been borrowed by parents.
Some of Whitworth's financial aid comes from endowed-scholarship earnings, but most of it doesn't. The Whitworth Fund makes up the difference and, therefore, is hugely important. Last week a student sat in my living room and told me how, as a child, he never dreamed of going to college. Nobody in his neighborhood did. A teacher urged him to dream of college, and Whitworth made his dream a reality. Now he takes time out of his busy schedule to volunteer in programs that bring hope to folks in Spokane who hold few dreams.
There is no question that the upturn in the quality and quantity of applications to Whitworth rests on our ability to provide aid. More than anything else, your support of The Whitworth Fund provides financial aid that helps our students to realize their dreams. I could fill a dozen of these letters with stories of benefactors and students doing amazing things to make attendance at Whitworth possible.
Student Life
While visiting the campus of another church-related college, I was asked by its president how many staff members we employ in our chapel program. After adding pieces of four people's workloads, I calculated "almost two." He was stunned. "For 1,800 students? Why, we have six people for only 2,500 students." We hire and train more than 25 students to do largely the same work his college is doing through staff. Why? Because peer-to-peer, well-trained students are better at this work than staff -- and they need the money. Many of our professors, our student-life staff, and virtually every office on campus would like to expand student-worker budgets. We employ more student leaders per capita than other institutions by far, but we need to do more.
Athletics
Last week I had the fun of giving a campus tour to the board members of the Independent Colleges of Washington, a group that includes 10 college presidents and more than 20 business leaders. Winding under a sun-streaked canopy of Ponderosa pines bordered by proud red-brick buildings, I heard more than a few oohs and ahs. But the wows came when we walked down onto our athletics fields. I heard it all: "I've been on worse putting greens," "Where's the clubhouse?" "How can you do this?" To the last question, I responded, "Talent, pride and lots of gasoline." We strive for uncommon excellence in areas where our resources allow, and we do the best we can where resources restrict us. Athletics offers an example of the difference. We simply do not have the funds for a state-of-the-art athletics center; Graves Gym came on line with FDR's New Deal. But where pride and effort can convert a modest addition of funding into showpiece quality, we can boast athletics fields that are as well manicured as any in the country. Our student-athletes benefit, along with Whitworth's reputation, whenever folks encounter excellence on our campus.
Roughly 30 percent of our graduates enjoy membership on a varsity athletics team while they're at Whitworth. We do not apologize for the rich role and tradition of athletics at Whitworth. They provide arenas not just for games, but for growth, discipline and achievement. This fall, all of our six intercollegiate teams finished higher than third in the nine-team Northwest Conference. That's hard to do, folks. Travel, equipment, coaches and facilities require funds. Last time I checked, we weren't receiving much in the way of TV or bowl receipts. For us, the term "non-revenue sport" is redundant. We don't have bowls, but we have you. And without you, we don't have sports.
Resources
Whitworth's operating budget runs at about $40 million. With 60 buildings, 2,300 students and 335 full-time employees, we stretch dollars everywhere and still fall short. In fact, we currently face a list of well over $1 million in urgent capital needs representing maintenance that has been deferred for lack of funds. And most projects fail to touch the hearts of alumni or the criteria of foundations when it comes to restricted-gift support. For example, current "must fix" items include leaky steam distribution lines, deteriorating sidewalks, inadequate signage, outdated technological equipment and worn-out athletics facilities. Who wants to name a steam line in honor of a beloved relative? Our budget needs to cover these projects, and we flat do not have the money. Again, the unrestricted dollars that flow through The Whitworth Fund must come to the rescue.
I'm not going to bore you with all of our escalating costs, especially when we're one of those escalating costs for you parents. But I want you to know that we have only three ways to cover the burgeoning expenses: more students (we're already too tight); tuition increases (it's already high) and more gift revenue. On U.S. News and World Report's Best Colleges list, out of 124 Western regional universities, Whitworth ranks 5th. We need to rank that high on more people's annual-giving lists. For example, the percentage of our alumni who contribute is roughly half of Whitman College's percentage. Although it's a smaller institution, the college I served as president before I came to Whitworth received more for its annual fund 15 years ago than Whitworth received last year. God bless all of you who give so generously, but Whitworth is just soaring in so many areas right now, I can't understand why we're mediocre in this one. Enough whining. Let me give you a report from Kenna Klempel, '05, a four-year all-star and a can't-miss inductee into Whitworth's Phonathon Hall of Fame.
I absolutely love the conversations I have with alumni and parents. Every night I work, there's at least one conversation that makes me think, "Wow, I just love this." A lot of people don't realize that even $10 makes a big difference.
Kenna plans on donating to The Whitworth Fund after graduation, because she understands the role of alumni in keeping costs down for current students. And as a recipient of financial aid, she looks forward to helping future students. Whitworth Fund gifts allow Kenna to keep making progress toward her goal.
Alumni
This afternoon, at the Whitworth Wind Symphony concert, I ran into Ben Brueggemeier, '97. During the concert it occurred to me that eight or nine years ago I hosted two of the Independent Colleges of Washington board members who visited last week, and Ben joined us for dinner. I'll never forget the look on the board members' faces when Ben, a senior, told them the debt load he would carry at graduation. "That's terrible!" they said. "It's totally worth it," Ben replied. I'm so proud that Ben is in his eighth year leading the Ferris High School bands. Everyone says he's great, and I know he directs excellent students our way. But it bothers me to think that he still has big educational loans hanging over his head. I wish we could have given him and thousands of other students more financial aid that didn't need to be paid back.
Closing Thoughts
Well, I've run out of space before I've run out of stories about how our students could benefit from your help. After more than 11 years of thanking you, it still doesn't feel like I thank you enough. Last year I looked with appreciation at the report of every gift. That was more than $6.4 million in total gifts (including restricted gifts from individuals, foundations, estates, businesses, etc.), and more than $1 million you sent to The Whitworth Fund. Many of you have joined the President's Club by making generous annual gifts of $1,000 or more. Thank you for that, and for everything else you do for Whitworth. It's probably important for you to know that I'm not asking you to give in a way that's foreign to Bonnie and me. We believe in Whitworth so strongly that it's hard NOT to be aggressive in our giving. But no matter how much we give, you'll never hear me use the term "sacrifice." Our two children who graduated from Whitworth now find themselves at Princeton Seminary, in New Jersey, and The Evangelical Theological Seminary, in Egypt. Both are preparing for lives of service, and both uncovered their callings at Whitworth. It is no sacrifice to take a pass on various material things in order to support a place that brings purpose and grace to the lives of our children and to the lives of thousands of other students. It isn't easy writing the Mind & Heart, especially this one. But it will be worth it if I get to read your name in our December Whitworth Fund gift report. You can participate by returning the enclosed envelope or by visiting www.whitworth.edu/give. Thanks for reading. I'll be back to my normal irreverent, irrelevant self in the December letter. God's blessings and our thanks to you.
