Vice Provost's Message

Dear colleagues,

I hope this summer gave you something you needed, even if it looked different than in years past. For my family, it was again a mix of family time and plenty of work projects. We piled in cars the last week of July to spend a week in the San Juans again. This year, we added more cousins and my parents, which nearly doubled the population of the island. No one graduated in the Hill family in 2026, so we took the year off from hosting big events. Instead, we decided to bring home a puppy. Check out next summer’s newsletter for an update on how that went. 

I won't pretend this has been an easy year. Whatever your department, your research or your own life has served up, I'm grateful you're here, still showing up for our students and for each other. That matters more than any newsletter can say.

And still, August turns us toward something good: the arrival of new colleagues and new students, and the chance to be the kind of community that makes Whitworth the remarkable place that it is. New faculty orientation remains one of my favorite times, which is a full Whitworth welcome of a dining hall lunch, a residence hall tour, a library tour, and breakfast with President Scott and Janice McQuilkin. I hope you'll join us in extending that same hospitality to them at the faculty retreat, Thursday, Sept. 3, in the HUB MPR starting at 11:30 am, and at the new faculty installation & worship service and the faculty family picnic, also Thursday, Sept. 3, beginning at 4 p.m.  

Faculty mentorship remains one of our most important traditions. So many of you have guided new colleagues with generosity even while carrying your own full plates. We will again compensate mentors for their time. If you've mentored before, or told me you'd like to, I'll be in touch.

And soon, we welcome our newest students. On Sunday, Sept. 6, at 1 p.m., the Whitworth community will gather on The Loop for the Crossover Ceremony, where students and families hear from President McQuilkin and students walk through the pinecone arch into their Whitworth journey. It remains one of our most moving traditions and a reminder of why this work is worth doing. I warmly invite you to join us. Please see New Student Orientation 2026 for this and the full week of events.

Thank you for teaching, for mentoring and for believing in this place. I'm grateful to begin another year alongside you, and I look forward to what we'll build together.

With gratitude, 

Stacy Withrow Hill, Ed.D. 
Vice Provost Academic Affairs