Of Mind & Heart Newsletter: January 1996

An update from Whitworth University President Bill Robinson

Too often I find myself writing this newsletter en route. I need more inertia in my life. Chances are that January will never be particularly sedentary. As students and faculty fan out around the world for Jan Term, the number of campus meetings recedes, and it becomes a pretty harmless time to be gone for those of us who need to travel. This weekend, I'll be meeting with alumni, friends, prospective students, and current students in the Southwest United States ... extremely southwest ("aloha" southwest). I hope those of you in the East are digging out successfully. In Spokane, we've had zero snow and warm temperatures -- bad for skiing, good for utility bills. But apparently that changed last night -- I hear the mercury has plunged and the campus is now covered with an eight-inch white blanket. Timing is everything. We send you warm wishes for a very happy new year.

Academics

I thought you might enjoy a listing of the Jan Term courses being offered off campus and led by faculty. They'll make you wish you were still in college. The courses are listed in the order in which they appear in the catalog. In the next M & H, I'll report additional activities in the academic areas.

• Prejudice Across America," with Dr. Jim Waller, is an Amtrak tour for 16 students traveling around the country to the sites historically connected to the sickness or cure of prejudice (primarily racism, sexism and anti-Semitism). This class has received a good bit of media attention, so you might see reports on CNN or CBS.
• Field Ecology: Baja," with Dr. Dean Jacobson, provides an opportunity for 22 students to study the ecology of the Baja Peninsula. The students work from a base camp located in a small coastal village on the Sea of Cortez.
• Multicultural Education: San Francisco," with Dr. Ross Cutter, focuses on the history, contributions and traditions of minority cultures through teaching and observing children of other cultures. San Francisco has proved to be an excellent setting for this course.
• Domain of the Arts/English: San Francisco," with Dr. Laura Bloxham, allows students to experience musical, dramatic, cinematic, artistic and dance events firsthand and then integrate those experiences into their daily class sessions.
• American Studies: San Francisco," with Ms. Ann Dentler, is offered exclusively for our international students and uses the laboratory of San Francisco to explore American culture.
• CORE 250 -- Western Civilization II: The Rationalist Tradition," with Drs. Forrest Baird and Tammy Reid, has become a very popular Jan Term offering. This course explores the development of Western intellectual history "on site" in Italy, Switzerland, France and England.
• British Culture Through Music," with Dr. Randi Von Ellefson, takes our students to London, Stratford, Oxford and Coventry to hear and discuss the performances of some of the world's best orchestras, choruses and soloists performing music from the Renaissance through the 20th century.
• British Culture Through Theatre," with Dr. Rick Hornor, is, like the class mentioned above, sensory overload at its finest. Every day brings a different performance and an examination of some aspect of theatre. The crowning event of this tour may be the time the students spend in Stratford with the Royal Shakespeare Company.
• Multicultural Education: Hawaii," with Dr. Gordon Watanabe, is for students in the School of Education. I'm pretty sure this class is a large boondoggle for Gordon, so I'll check up on him this weekend.
• Cross-Cultural Psychology: Hawaii," with Dr. Bill Johnson, is a Jan Term staple that has been offered for many years. This class studies culture's influence on human behavior and development , particularly from the perspectives of the six primary ethnic groups.
• Jazz Workshop: Rome," with Dr. Dan Keberle, takes Whitworth's award-winning Jazz Ensemble to Rome for studies and performances in conjunction with the American University, where Dan's brother, David, is an instructor. While in Rome, the Jazz Ensemble will perform with some Italian jazz stars at Big Mama's, one of the top jazz clubs in the city.
• Christian Spirituality: Tall Timber Ranch," with Dr. Jerry Sittser, takes place in a beautiful setting on the edge of the Glacier Park Wilderness overlooking Leavenworth, Wash. There the students study the history, theology and practice of spirituality.

Admissions & Enrollment

Our indicators look as though we will be in good shape when we start a waiting list for fall enrollment on March 1. Because we will have 50 fewer freshman spaces than we had this year, we will close admissions at a lower number of acceptances. Our biggest problem this year has been that several personnel changes, along with changes in postal handling, have lengthened the time between our receipt of an inquiry and the inquirer's receipt of his or her admissions materials. We hope this gap doesn't cause a significant decline in the inquiry- to-application ratio. Ken Moyer, our very able director of Admissions, says we'll be caught up in that office by the end of the month; so we should have a better picture by the next newsletter.

This fall's retention rate of last year's freshman class was a record-setter, and we have an unusually high number of Jan Term registrations. This registration situation is the first indicator that we'll maintain this very positive retention trend.

Student Life

It is with deep grief that we report the death of freshman Karen Gallaway, a glowing and loved member of our Whitworth family. Karen was killed over the holidays in a tragic accident when she was struck by another skier at the 49 Degrees North ski area. Please pray for her family and for us all as we adjust to life without Karen.

We're very pleased with the first semester feedback on the new Campus Center. It is proving to be all that we had hoped. We're still learning about staffing, hours and usage, but the entire campus community has enjoyed this great new gathering place. Our next job is to complete Phase II, which will give us a much-needed new dining commons. Last month, Board Chair Chuck Boppell and I made a call during which a supporter of the college pledged $1 million toward the completion of Phase II. This commitment leaves us only $1.5 million short of the funds needed to cover Phase II's $4.5 million price tag. In the coming months, we will be pouring our fund-raising efforts into this project.

Finances

Thanks to all of you who made gifts to Whitworth in December. It turned out to be a very good month, as we exceeded our fund-raising goal by over $50,000. At the halfway point of our fiscal year, we are right on track with the budget. Of the $1.2 million we've budgeted in the Annual Fund, we've received approximately $630,000. Thank you so much!

Many people are working hard to bring closure to the New Era situation. At the Board of Trustees meeting last fall, the Board voted to set aside the surplus we received through our relationship with New Era. Not only did we anticipate a time when we might have to return these funds, but we were also morally uncomfortable retaining money that was extracted from other charities rather than given by donors. Although there have been several erroneous reports in the media concerning the bankruptcy trustee's expectations, we have hope that the trustee will support a plan in which a payback of these funds will end our involvement in this situation. I'll let you know if something definitive happens.

I would like to offer an explanation and an apology. Both last year and this year, I've received a few comments from supporters of Whitworth who were offended by our inclusion of an Annual Fund return envelope in our Christmas card mailing. We do this as a convenience and as a reminder. Personally, I don't interpret reminders of a college's need for support in a negative way (and you wouldn't want me to). But we can see how some people might find this inappropriate, and the last thing we want to do is offend the generous people who support us. We apologize if you were discomforted by this.

Athletics

(Because I'm traveling, I asked Terry Mitchell to pen this section. We both have a fondness for hyperbole when it comes to Whitworth Athletics.)

The men's basketball team is ranked seventh in the country. With a 12-3 record (4-1 in conference), the Bucs are just a game behind Pacific for the NCIC lead. Senior Nate Dunham is leading the charge, with 17.3 ppg (seventh in the NCIC), 8.4 rbg (first), and a terrific 62.6% field goal percentage (second). Senior Roman Wickers and junior Nate Williams are also playing well; Roman averages 14.5 ppg and is third in the conference in assists with 3.9 per game. Nate (perhaps that should be Nate II) follows with 13.5 ppg and a 54% three-point field goal percentage; he's right behind senior John Beckman, who leads the NCIC with an excellent 58.3% success rate from three-point land. With a homestand coming up in early February, Bucs fever is taking over the campus.

Helen Higgs' women's team is struggling a bit. After a big OT win over nationally ranked NCAA Division II Seattle Pacific, Coach Higgs' team is ironing out the kinks and getting ready to shine in the second half of the season. Junior Sheri Northington leads the team with a 55.9 field goal percentage (first in the NCIC), 10.4 rpg (tied for first) and 13.6 ppg (eighth). Junior Jennifer Tissue heads up the Buc scorers with 16.5 ppg (third in the NCIC); her 4.3 assists-per-game average gives her another third-place spot on the conference stat sheet. With no seniors and lots of new players, the team is just getting it together; the home crowds will be out in force to cheer the women on during their February homestands.

Our swimmers are gearing up for several impending home meets. After their holiday sojourn to Santa Cruz, where they very nearly beat a University of California team with 50 swimmers to our 19, both the men's and the women's teams are ready to go up against our tough NAIA competition. On the women's side, Jan Okada, Shannon Braun and Carley Bush are setting high standards for their teammates. For the men, Guy Mikasa and the Rice brothers, Jerry and Jeff, continue to provide strong team leadership. Our next home meet is February 10 against the Whitman Missionaries -- and we love to beat the Missionaries.

The ski team is ecstatic about all of this new powder. They've begun their season, and Coach Jim Nendel is pumped to see a good turnout and a lot of promising skiers. In men's Alpine competition, Tait Knowles, a top-ten finisher last year, is a strong team leader. Alison Knowles, Tait's sister, is also a promising downhiller, finishing 19th out of 80-plus skiers at the team's first meet. This year's team also welcomes one of the Northwest's best Nordic skiers in Jake Ostman; Jake won the freestyle event and came in third in the classic 15K at McCall, Idaho, last week. According to Coach Nendel, "We need all kinds of help, from more skiers to support for our Nordic team's trip to Nationals in March. We're looking forward to a great season!"

In addition to hitting their opponents, our football players also hit the books. Junior defensive lineman Scott Hanson, a history major, was named to the NAIA Academic All- America Team, along with junior quarterback and math major Jake Haley. And sociology major Travis Torco, a sophomore defensive back, received Academic All-America honors from the Columbia Football Association. Congratulations to these fine scholar-athletes. 

Miscellaneous

During the week of January 15th, Whitworth joined the Spokane community in a stirring celebration of the life of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. From singing in a massed choir to participating in an end-to-racism march downtown, Whitworth students, faculty and staff devoted their time and energies to remembering the work of Dr. King and spreading his message of love, respect and acceptance throughout the community.

Local barber Paul Duffy called this morning to say that Whitworth students are "the best." I agree!

Closing Thoughts

Thanks again for your support. With awe and gratitude, we sense the hand of God on Whitworth College. I hope 1996 brings you a steady awareness of God's caress.