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Welcome

Greetings, Whitworth Parents,

As I write this letter, the bright sunshine outside my office window belies the crisp chill in the air. The gold and red leaves I see across campus prove that autumn has fully arrived in Spokane.

The Whitworth community is savoring the memories of having so many of you on campus recently for Parents' Weekend. We hope you enjoyed the chance to see your student during fall break.

For those of you who are new to the Whitworth family, The Loop is an e-newsletter that is published three times per year and is designed to keep you informed and connected with Whitworth. Through The Loop, the office of alumni & parent relations seeks to provide parents with helpful tips about navigating college life alongside your Whitworth student.

As you read this late-fall edition, we hope you gain a sense of how deeply the Whitworth community strives to provide an environment in which your student will thrive, both in and out of the classroom. From faculty and institutional advancement colleagues to residence life staff, custodial and maintenance teams, those of us who work at Whitworth count it a privilege and high calling to fulfill Whitworth's mission of providing an outstanding mind-and-heart education to your student. We hope and pray that each student is growing and thriving in the relational and experiential learning environment at Whitworth.

Please enjoy this edition of The Loop, and please feel free to send us your comments or questions.

Blessings to you and your family in the upcoming holiday season!

Aaron McMurray, Ph.D.
Director of Alumni & Parent Relations, and Annual Giving

Alumni & Parent Relations

Final Exam Survival Kits
If you ordered an Exam Survival Kit for your son or daughter, the kits will be delivered on Thursday, Dec. 15, during finals week. If you haven't yet placed an order, there is still time to do so. We are pleased to offer two options for your student: the Finals Week Fresh Fruit Bag, which includes fresh and healthy seasonal fruit packaged in a recyclable gift bag, is $25. The Exam Energy Kit, filled with familiar favorites including Act II Kettle Corn microwave popcorn, Planters Peanuts, Reese's Pieces, Rice Krispie Treats, Laffy Taffy, M&M's, and other surprises -- 20 items in all -- comes in an environmentally friendly box and costs $20.

To surprise your student with an Exam Survival Kit, please order online before Nov. 18. We are unable to accept orders after the deadline. Place your order here.

Parents' Council
Did you know that almost 40 parents volunteer on our Parents' Council? These volunteers comprise a representative group of parents of current students who meet on campus twice annually, and whose objective is to generate and maintain the goodwill and support of student families. Parents on the council are located in areas where we have the highest number of current Whitworth students and families. Click here for more information about the Parents' Council.

Robinson Science Hall Advances Student Learning
By Karen Robison, '12

The newly completed and dedicated William P. and Bonnie V. Robinson Science Hall stands as a hallmark of Whitworth's commitment to academic excellence and to providing its students an education of mind and heart. The building's name honors the legacy of Bill Robinson, who served as Whitworth's president for 17 years, and his wife, Bonnie. Over the last decade, Whitworth has seen a 50 percent increase in science majors, who now number more than 600 students -- a quarter of the student body. The 63,000-square-foot building, which opened for classes this fall, houses Whitworth's biology, chemistry, and health science departments. It features state-of-the-art laboratories and instrumentation, animal-research facilities, and classrooms that can be converted to labs to meet the university's science and classroom needs for the next 20 years. For faculty, staff and students alike, Robinson Science Hall is a welcomed and much-needed addition to campus.

Update from the Whitworth Health & Counseling Center
By Karen Robison, '12

The Whitworth Health & Counseling Center provides students with confidential and professional healthcare options. The center is open to all students and seeks to protect and heal students both physically and mentally. The center offers medical exams, physicals, immunizations, lab work, prescriptions, durable medical equipment loans, and confidential counseling sessions. The counseling center also offers support groups for grief and chronic illness.

The health center has seen fewer flu-like symptoms this fall than in previous years. However, the center is prepared for the upcoming flu season and is already issuing vaccinations. "No flu cases or outbreaks have been seen at this point, but the number of minor injuries has increased," says Health Center Director Kristiana Holmes. This trend is typical of the warmer months, when students participate in many outdoor sports and activities. Once the snow starts to fall, "the amount of minor injuries decrease and the cases of the common cold and flu increase," Holmes says. To prepare for this year's flu and cold season, flu shots are being offered for $15. Flu shot clinics will be held in the HUB and shots are also available in the health center.

The Whitworth Health & Counseling Center's trained, professional staff members work diligently to meet students' needs and to ensure a healthy campus throughout the year. For more information about the center and its services, please visit its website.

Note from Student Life

Meet Kyle Lantz, Resident Director for East Hall
By Rachel O'Kelley, '12

Kyle Lantz hails from Milford, Ind., a town near a small lake and lots of corn fields, two-and-a- half hours east of Chicago. He attended Taylor University in Upland, Ind., where he earned a bachelor's degree in business management systems and a master's degree in higher education and student development.

After two years working as a director of a study-abroad program in Greystones, Ireland, Lantz was sure he wanted to continue his work with students, and he decided to apply for the resident director position that had opened at Whitworth. Though unfamiliar with the university, he soon became encouraged and excited by the school's mission to equip students with an education of mind and heart.

"Honestly, the Lord seemed to clear a path for us to come here and serve," says Lantz about the journey he and his wife, Kelsey, have made to Whitworth. "There's really no other explanation I have."

So far, Lantz has enjoyed building meaningful relationships with students, spending time interacting with students each night during Prime Time, and continuing to develop a unique culture for this relatively new dorm through programs. He and Kelsey are working to grow closer with the students by hosting "Late Night with the Lantzes" in their East Hall home to interact with all of the residents.

Lantz wants each student to know he or she is cared for and valued individually. "I want to be able to welcome people home by name," he says.

Prime Time Highlights
Every night on campus, students in each residence hall have the opportunity to participate in Prime Time activities between 8-10 p.m. in the residence hall lounges. These activities are planned and facilitated by hard-working student leaders, with social, multicultural, intellectual and physical components. A few highlights from Prime Times this fall, according to members of the residence life team, include conversations about diversity; Skyping with former hall mates; indoor campfires (around the microwave!); relaxation night; conversations about healthy sexuality; awkward family photos; and Nerf gun wars. Ask your student about his or her favorite Prime Time from this fall!

Parent Perspectives

Parents' Council members Nancy and Rick Erickson have three children, two of whom are Whitworthians: Katelyn, '08, and Amy, '12. Their son, Reed, is a senior at Baylor. The Ericksons live in Colorado Springs, Colo.

Do you have any tips for parents of new students on how to deal with the Thanksgiving and Christmas breaks?
Have realistic expectations about just how much time you will get with your student over the whirlwind Thanksgiving break in particular. When our oldest daughter (Katelyn, '08) came home her freshman year, we had not seen her since Orientation Weekend. We expected that "coming home" would mean she would want to spend all of her time at home. But for her it meant reconnecting not just with family, but with her community of friends. Because we live in Colorado, our younger daughter (Amy, '12) has opted not to travel over Thanksgiving, but instead to spend the holiday with Whitworth friends or faculty who live near Spokane. So for us, the holidays have sometimes meant letting go of expectations.

What conversations have been most helpful to have with your student before or after holiday breaks?
Our students needed encouragement to build some margin into holiday time. It is tempting to over-schedule and over-commit to the point of exhaustion. Holidays can also be an emotional time, and some of the homesickness that may have been an issue early on can resurface when students leave home again. We also have learned to flex and lighten up about some of the former house rules surrounding curfews, car use and chores. Our college students had tasted freedom, so the first holiday homecomings required that we renegotiate some of the former ways we parented. In short -- communicate, adjust, and adapt to some new ways of relating and parenting.

Have the holidays changed or developed since your daughters left for Whitworth?
We have tended not to travel over Christmas break in recent years, knowing that our college-age children needed that time to reconnect at home. And Christmas in particular has been much less about presents and much more about presence.

Any fun family traditions for the holidays that you have kept? Any traditions that have developed since your children began college?
Home-cooked meals are huge after a few months in the dorm, so the traditional holiday meals and menus have stayed constant. We have always had a lot of family Advent traditions, which we have tried to export to Whitworth, including sending our students chocolate Advent calendars and a sneak preview of the annual family Christmas newsletter. And we wait until they are home to do some of the decorating that they enjoyed helping with when they were younger.

Do you have any additional wisdom or advice for parents and students on navigating the holidays?
Our students have often been pretty anxious during Thanksgiving break about the amount of work/studying they have to complete in the brief interlude before finals. It is far from a stress- free time, and sleep may be a huge priority. On the other hand, Christmas break is a time to really let down and revel in a reprieve from the rigors of studying. Jan Term begins before you know it, so make sure to intentionally plan and communicate well with your student about their priorities for how time is spent in December. It flies by!

Student Perspectives

Amy Erickson, '12, is a theology major with a biblical languages minor, and is preparing to graduate in December. Amy plans to remain in Spokane for the short-term after graduation.

What was your first holiday break experience during your freshman year?
My first holiday break was different than most college students'. My family moved to Colorado Springs, Colo., from my hometown of Austin, Texas, the summer before my freshman year at Whitworth. We moved into our new house two weeks before I flew up to Spokane, which gave me just enough time to reorganize my belongings and pack for college. Christmas break was my first time to come home since school started, so I didn't experience the common struggle of most college students of coming to a place that was once a familiar home but that had come to feel a little different. Instead, I had the challenge of coming back to a place I had not grown up in and making it into a new home. During my first break back, it was neat to see how different the new house looked after my parents had had a few months to unpack everything and settle in, and it was fun to get to experience a familiar season in a different setting and to explore our new city with my family.

Has your holiday experience changed or evolved since you began at Whitworth?
Colorado Springs continually feels more and more like my home. A huge blessing is that there are a lot of Colorado Springs students at Whitworth, and some of them have become some of my closest friends. I have also made other close ties with people from my church and my summer job, which has made Christmas break a meaningful time to reconnect with people.

Do you and your family still have long-lasting traditions?
Yes. At some point in December my siblings and I always decorate Christmas sugar cookies using the same cookie-cut outs, and I think I can safely say that our cookie-decorating skills have improved over the years, resulting in more aesthetically appealing cookies than in our younger years. My family also has a tradition of hiding a pickle (yes, a pickle) ornament somewhere in the family room by Christmas morning. The first of the three Erickson offspring to spot it gets an extra gift. As of last year, at ages 21, 21, and 24, it was still a running tradition. I guess some people never grow up...

Do you have any new holiday traditions?
My dad and I have a near New Year's Day tradition of hiking the Manitou Incline, an old railway-turned-killer-workout at the base of Pike's Peak that gains 2,000 feet in just one mile.

Any advice for new students on how to deal with their first holiday break?
Use your time well to rest from the intellectual rigor of the school year (read for fun, even!) and to simply be with your family. Don't hesitate to spend some time with friends from Whitworth who are from your hometown as well, even if you can see them at school. I've found that it's refreshing to know that there are people at school who know who I am at home, too, and who can relate to both contexts.

Parent Resources

Your Voice Can Save Student Financial Aid
With the economic decline and federal and state revenues down, federal and state student financial aid is on the chopping block as our legislators meet to create budgets for 2012-13. You can help our legislators understand how important financial aid is to our students' futures and to the future of our country by contacting your state and federal legislators. The links available at the following websites make it quick and easy to contact your legislators.

For state and federal financial aid information and ways to write your representatives, visit Save Student Aid. This site has templates to create your e-mails. For federal financial aid information, visit Student Aid Alliance.

Thanks so much for your support of federal and state financial aid, as well as the education of our students.

Residence Hall Closures
Residence halls will be closed for Christmas Break and Spring Break. Before making travel plans, your student should check his or her exam schedule and residence-hall closing and opening times. For Christmas Break, students are required to leave their halls within 24 hours of their last exam, or by 10 a.m. on Saturday, Dec. 17, whichever comes first. If there are special circumstances, your student should contact his or her resident director as soon as possible. Find specific opening and closing dates and times here.

Update Your Information
Have you changed your address, phone, primary e-mail address or other personal information? Please keep us updated so we can keep you updated! E-mail updates@whitworth.edu to update your information.

• Birthday & Gift Service
• On Bended Knee
• Mind & Heart (President's Newsletter)
• The Whitworthian (Newspaper)
  
  
  

Upcoming Events

Whitworth Christmas Festival Concerts

The annual Christmas Festival Concerts featuring the Whitworth Choir, Whitworth Women's Choir, and student instrumentalists will be held in the Seattle area and Spokane in early December. Concerts will take place at First Presbyterian Church in Bellevue on Saturday, Dec. 3; Seattle First Presbyterian Church on Sunday, Dec. 4; and The Fox's Martin Woldson Theater in Spokane on Saturday, Dec. 10 and Sunday, Dec. 11. For tickets and additional information, please contact the music department at music@whitworth.edu or 509.777.3280.

Alumni Night at the Fieldhouse
Are you both a parent of a current Whitworth student and an alumnus? Please join us for Alumni Night at the Whitworth Fieldhouse on Saturday, Feb. 4, as the men's and women's basketball teams battle it out against Pacific Lutheran. Find us at halftime for refreshments and a time to reconnect with other Whitworth alumni!

On the Road
Stay tuned for information about upcoming events to be held in February and March 2012 in a city near you! This year we will host laid-back and fun gatherings featuring some of your student's beloved professors. One of the following faculty members will each host an event: Forrest Baird (Philosophy), Leonard Oakland (English), Ron Pyle (Communication Studies), Kathy Storm (Vice President for Student Life), Dick Mandeville (Associate Dean of Students), and Julia Stronks (Political Science). You won't want to miss out -- On the Road events will take place in Seattle, Portland and Denver, and in northern and southern California.

Alumni & Parents Calendar
Campus Events Calendar
Academic Calendar

Final Words

Defining hope is an extraordinary challenge -- unless you address it with perceptive Whitworth students. This was my privilege during a faculty-in-the-dorm program earlier this fall called Big Ideas in the Dorm.

I had proposed the topic of hope and was eager to hear students' ideas. At first we chuckled and were moved by the hopes we had as five-year-olds and as adolescents. Then we all wrote a definition of hope. What mature insights students had, understanding hope in terms of waiting, of longing, and of faithfulness.

After exploring our own definitions, we looked at ideas and imagery from a variety of sources. First, we tackled the ideas of Jurgen Moltmann, a German theologian, who wrote The Theology of Hope. As a POW during WWII, he discovered that we have a God who has entered into suffering with us. Therefore, the agonizing isolation of hopelessness is powerfully addressed by the companionship of our suffering Lord.

Then we explored the power of friendship for dark times of hopelessness. I told students that right now, in this place, they were investing in the "insurance" against hopelessness by the quality of their investment in friendships. We looked at the story of the paralytic in Matthew 9, where Christ notices -- not the faith of the needy one -- but the faith of his friends. Those that can hope for us during our times of hopelessness are an invaluable gift. I shared my experience of hopelessness when I discovered I couldn't have children. Many friends kept hope alive for me. After a long wait, I was given a daughter through adoption. She is now grown and just last week received two foster daughters who need love and hope. Hope will always be the victor -- as we learn to wait together.

Finally, we explored what I call "The Ornithology of Hope." The imagery of birds makes its way into the ideas of hope from every angle. Emily Dickinson created a poem that invokes bird imagery by calling hope "a thing with feathers" whose song never stops. The author J.R.R. Tolkien, in Lord of the Rings, chooses to swoop in hope in the form of eagles to let the faithful Frodo and Sam live on. As vivid and insightful as these images are, my favorite bird imagery of hope comes from scripture. In Romans 5:5, the Holy Spirit -- the heavenly dove -- is our hope "that does not disappoint."

After my evening with such perceptive Whitworth students, I have every hope for this season of hope and for many, many generations beyond!

Anne Wilcox joined the Whitworth School of Education in summer 2011 as Teacher in Residence. Her expertise is in preparing undergraduate and graduate teacher candidates for English Language Learners in all classroom content areas, from kindergarten through 12th grade.