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At our recent Parents' Council meeting, members took a moment to introduce themselves and to speak a little bit about their Whitworth students. There was pride and joy in the faces of each parent in that room whether his or her student was switching majors for the twentieth time or graduating in a few short weeks. This is what I love about my current job and what I look forward to in my future job. Students who enter as freshmen, or even as transfers, don't leave Whitworth the same as when they arrived. It's so exciting to see students making decisions for themselves and figuring out what works and, sometimes, what doesn't. They're growing as adults. All the while their biggest supporters, you, are cheering for them! One of the goals of this newsletter is to support you, whether you are just beginning this stage of parenting a college student or you are sending a final care package. Along the way, please feel free to ask questions, send suggestions, or just drop us a note. We look forward to serving you.
Warmest regards,
Kari Dykhouse
Resident Director of Baldwin-Jenkins, Tiki, and Akili Residence Halls
Assistant Director of Alumni & Parent Relations (As of June 1, 2008)
Please Note: As we were putting the finishing touches on this issue the campus experienced a significant loss when a first-year student died from injuries suffered in an automobile accident. The entire campus continues to deal with this tragic loss, and your students may have been significantly affected. Please encourage them to seek assistance from professional campus staff for any questions or concerns they might have. Students also have access to six free counseling sessions each year from the on-campus counseling center. For more information on services available, please visit the Health & Counseling Center page on our website. Our thoughts and prayers continue to be with the student's family and friends.
Parents' Fund
Parents of current students have given significantly to The Parents' Fund this year, and with only two months left in the fiscal year, we hope more of you will choose to participate. The Parents' Fund helps to underwrite the university's annual financial-aid budget and helps to keep a Whitworth education in reach for many of our students. For more information on The Parents' Fund, please visit our parent website for more information; to make a gift to The Parents' Fund, visit www.whitworth.edu/give.
Parent Update Form
If you are reading this second issue of The Loop on the Whitworth website and you did not receive an e-mail notice, it's likely that we don't have your e-mail address in our system. Please click here and make sure we have all of your current information in our database.
Jyngle Update
Whitworth completed a test April 10 of the Jyngle broadcast text/voice message service the university may use as part of its overall communications strategy in the event of a campus emergency. The test message was sent to all students, staff and parents who have registered with the Jyngle service to receive emergency messages from Whitworth. The test went well, with most recipients we were able to contact reporting they received the message within minutes. We also learned some valuable lessons on how to refine the service.
If you haven't already done so, you can register for with the Jyngle service by going to www.whitworth.edu/emergency and clicking on the "Sign Up for Emergency Text/Voice Messages" link at the left.
In order to maintain a current and accurate phone list, Whitworth will delete all parent records after each academic year (around Aug. 1). Parents of returning students can then re-register with the service for the coming year. We'll be sure to send you a reminder.
Coming Home:
As the sun comes out, so do the students. Some come planning to study in the great  outdoors, and others simply come armed with a Frisbee and a pair of sunglasses. But regardless of the weather now, summer is indeed coming.
There is a bittersweet feeling in the air as summer approaches. The desire for a break from academic rigor is evident, yet many students will be leaving strong friendships behind. If your student is coming home for the summer, be prepared for three months that are quite different than the three weeks of Christmas break. More…
Summer Tips for Parents
Listen. Stories will likely come freely if you're willing to listen. If you wait to give advice until it is solicited, it will probably be received better than if you try to solve your student's problems when all s/he wants is a listening ear.
Communicate clearly and often. If there are family vacations or other events that you want your student to attend, be clear early and often regarding your expectations regarding those events.
Be flexible. The student coming through your door may not be the same student you dropped off in the fall. First, check to make sure that this person is not an impostor looking for a free meal. Once you're sure it is indeed your student, work with him or her to balance family, friends, church and work.
Visual Arts Building Update
The new Ernst F. Lied Center for the Visual Arts is in the final months of construction and will be occupied beginning in late July as we prepare for students' arrival in September. The facility will be filled with natural light and will provide better space than the Whitworth Art Program has ever had before. With two gallery spaces, six studios and a computer lab, the building will be a showplace for art as well as a place for art to be created. We hope you will take a moment to stop by and visit the facility the next time you're on campus.
New Residence Hall to Open in 2009
Construction will begin on a new 160-bed residence hall as soon as students move out of the dorms in May. To be located next to Duvall Hall, the boomerang-shaped East Residence Hall will be one of the most architecturally interesting on campus, with a soaring entry and multi-story lounge space at the center hinge of two long wings. It is Whitworth's hope that a donor will step forward with a large enough gift to name the $11 million building. The additional beds will allow us to keep pace with growth of the undergraduate population and will allow us to remove two more of the Village buildings once construction is completed next summer.
Parenting Through Senior Anxiety
By Janelle Thayer, Director of Counseling Services
Many parents hope that when their college senior graduates, there will be an easy launch into the world of work. They think, "We have done our part in giving everything we could to our student; she should be ready to go!" While some students do go on to graduate school, get married, or move to another country to work for the Peace Corps, there are many more who will come home after graduation and not have a plan in place. And, whether or not you can discern anxiety in your student, s/he is certainly anxious about the next year in a way s/he has never been before. More…
Randy and Carol Cate have one son, Evan, who will be graduating from Whitworth in May. They are from Vancouver, Wash.
When Evan was in elementary school, what did he want to be when he grew up?
He wanted to go to Stanford for college for most of his early years. He had strong verbal and writing abilities early on, so we thought he might be a writer, too.
What are you most excited about as Evan graduates from Whitworth?
We are most excited to see him progress to the life and career he wants. We have also been excited about the quality of education he has received at Whitworth. He has made wonderful friends along the way who will, no doubt, be lifelong friends after their graduation. It was fun for us to have him bring his friends and youth group (from his church in Spokane) home to stay with us over the years. We hope that will continue after graduation.
What do you know now that you wish you had known when Evan was a freshman?
How fast this college time goes and how to speed up our "letting go" of the boy we sent to Whitworth. The transition to the man he has become has been wonderful, but it happened so fast.
What advice regarding parenting a college student would you share with other Whitworth parents?
Support their interests, encourage them to travel during Jan Term, breaks and/or summers, because travel broadens their thinking and enriches their lives in wonderful ways, and encourage them to send/e-mail their favorite class assignment papers home so you can witness their growth and stay connected with what they are learning.
Evan Cate is a senior from Vancouver, Wash., who will be graduating in May with a bachelor's degree in theology. In August, he will begin work in a master's program at Duke Divinity School, in Durham, N.C.
When you were in elementary school, what did you want to be when you grew up?
I never really knew what I wanted to be when I grew up. I didn't want to be a professional athlete, a firefighter or an astronaut. For a while, I wanted to be the President of the United States, but that idea certainly didn't last long!
What are some of your hopes or goals for the next five years?
I would like to complete my master's degree, and go into either church ministry or on to a Ph.D. program. If I were to do the latter, I would like to study church history, especially the history of doctrine – that is, the ways that the church has understood and thought about its proclamation of the gospel over the last 2,000 years.
What do you know now that you wish you had known as a freshman?
I wish I had known how to cook things besides pasta – macaroni, and so on. This would have helped a lot once I moved off campus!
What is your favorite memory of your years at Whitworth?
It's hard to pick only one memory, but the best was probably my Jan Term trip to Turkey my junior year. I went with almost all of my closest friends and with one of my favorite professors, and the sites and topics were fantastic. The trip was illuminating, edifying, challenging, and a continuing source of joy through the relationships we developed there.
The Quarterly Question is an opportunity to share your perspective as a parent and to hear from other parents, as well. The results of this quarterly question will be published in the next edition of The Loop. Please note that this is not a scientific study and that, therefore, the results are an informal indication of perspectives.
Results of the Spring 2008 Quarterly Question
On which of the following topics did your student most often seek advice from you in the past year?
- Finances: 30 percent
- Academics: 15 percent
- Career planning: 25 percent
- Romantic relationships: 0 percent
- Roommates and friends: 5 percent
- Health: 15 percent
- Time management: 5 percent
- Faith: 0 percent
- Politics: 5 percent
- None of these: 0 percent
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Summer 2008 Quarterly Question
What is your student up to this summer?
- Taking summer classes
- Relaxing at home
- Living at home and working
- Working at a camp
- Working elsewhere
- Traveling
- Doing an internship
- Participating in volunteer work
- Who knows?
- Other
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Vote here.
Regional Core 650 Events
Colorado, we're coming to you!
As we host events up and down the West Coast (and, on occasion, in other venues like Colorado and Alaska) we hope you will join representatives of Whitworth for one of our Core 650 regional programs, during which we bring faculty members to churches near you and invite them to present on a topic of interest. These programs allow you to experience firsthand the high-quality teaching your children are enjoying every day, while you meet other parents and alumni from your area.
Parents in Denver and Colorado Spring are invited to hear Professor of Psychology Jim Waller present Deliver Us from Evil: Genocide and the Christian World on Saturday, May 31, at 7 p.m. at Denver's Wellshire Presbyterian Church or Sunday, June 1, at 2 p.m. at First Presbyterian Church Colorado Springs. Both presentations will include dessert and an audience-participation discussion. Each event will last two hours; the cost is $7 per person.
Registration for each of these Core 650 events can be found at www.whitworth.edu/alumnievents.
Commencement – May, 18, 2008
Undergraduate Commencement will take place at 3 p.m. on Sunday, May 18, 2008. Please visit the commencement website for information regarding schedules, pictures, DVDs, hotel accommodations and more.
Parents' Weekend
Mark your calendars! This fall, Parents' Weekend will be Oct. 18-19. Watch for more information regarding registration and various events taking place on campus that weekend. We look forward to seeing you!
Featured Book
In Big Questions, Worthy Dreams, Sharon Daloz Parks, ’64, says, "too many of our young adults are not being encouraged to ask the big questions that awaken critical thought." Drawing from her background in theology and human development, Parks explains faith development among emerging adults, and explores the role mentors play in guiding their search for meaning, purpose and faith.
Featured Article
Though parenting a college student is different than parenting an elementary student, your relationship with your student has a strong impact on his or her everyday decisions. This article from Science Daily suggests that parental influence has a significant effect on college students' behavior when it comes to sex, drugs and alcohol.
www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/02/080210094643.htm
Important Whitworth Links
Whitworth University Office of Alumni & Parent Relations
509.777.3772, 800.532.4668
parents@whitworth.edu |
