Of Mind & Heart Newsletter: Summer 2006

An update from Whitworth University President Bill Robinson

Special greetings to all of you parents who are about to bid your first college kid farewell. We know your turmoil. While golfing earlier this month, I was right in the middle of a 15-foot putt when one of the guys in my foursome hollered, "Holy smokes!" Trundling across the back of the green was a small bear. We found out in the pro shop that the cub's mother had just kicked it out of her den. That could be, but I don't think Mama Bear would be a very good sport with anyone who started messing with her baby. And that cub is our kids. From the time they're born, we train them to become independent. And then they have the audacity to become, well, independent. And if anything threatens the success of their freedom march, the mother bear in us rages as we force ourselves to assure them and ourselves that all will be fine. Not only that, but after we successfully usher them out the front door, every hard surface becomes a wailing wall where we sob because we are so happy and so lonely and so desperately in need of someone to correct. As for the kids, they go through a week of inevitable homesickness and then they're gone forever…except they're not. Three weeks into the semester, their parents have gotten smarter (although never quite as smart as they), have become better parents, and have morphed into the ones whom they most long to see. It's crazy, but it's a great privilege for us to have a part in this transformation. You'll love it.

Academics

Students aren't the only ones preparing for the fall.  Soon after Commencement, our faculty members tear into their research. The Weyerhaeuser Center summer research fellows are working on projects that specifically connect Christian faith and academic inquiry:

• Angeles Aller (Spanish) is exploring faith perspectives of two authors in light of the major themes put forth in Miguel de Cervantes' Don Quixote de la Mancha.  She will take Unamuno's La Vida de Don Quixote y Sancho and Ortega y Gasset's Meditaciones del Quixote and use the views expressed by these two authors to compare and analyze the changing perspectives on the issue of human nature.
• Karla Morgan (Economics) is examining how social capital, the guide to how society approaches production and trade, can be empirically measured by the level of trust.
• Finn Pond (Biology) is studying "Natural Sexuality: What Christians Should Know about the Biology of Sex." He will examine the current understanding of sexual behavior among animals and the biology of homosexuality in humans, and he will then suggest ways in which biological factors might inform current debates.
• Gordon Wilson (Art) is investigating a series of mixed-media artworks that deal with the subject of human nature as expressed in the response to the crisis of Hurricane Katrina and also in the injustices present prior to the hurricane.

Other faculty work this summer includes the following:

• Frank Caccavo (Biology) is developing new ways of integrating research into the biology curriculum.
• Karin Heller (Theology) is examining ecumenical questions about Catholic and Protestant understandings of the Lord's Supper.
• Alan Mikkelson (Communication Studies) is investigating communication practices that lead to comfort and discomfort when people converse about religious topics and ideas.
• Russ Richardson (Kinesiology & Athletic Training) is creating an instrument to assess academic advising in athletic-training programs across the Eastern United States.
• Corliss Slack (History) is conducting research for her book on the relics brought home to England and Scotland by medieval crusaders.
• Six Whitworth faculty and staff are attending the Summer Institute for Intercultural Communication: Mike Ingram (Communication Studies); Mary Alberts (School of Global Commerce & Management); Pamela Corpron Parker (English); Kyle Usrey (SGCM), who was also invited by the Chinese ministry on foreign experts to teach business ethics in Chongqing and Dalian to MBAs and managers of private and state-owned firms; Sue Jackson (International Education Center); and OJ Cotes (School of Education) are learning at the foremost intercultural institute in the world. This program is part of a larger initiative to lift the level of intercultural appropriateness and comfort on campus.

A new anthology, Watchdogs, Blogs and Wild Hogs, by Gordon Jackson (Communication Studies), includes nearly 1,500 quotes about mass media. The compilation features scholarly and popular quotes by people from Albert Camus to Jerry Seinfeld.  The title refers to the watchdog role of the press and journalists in a democracy, the changing role of technology in the media, and the presence of tabloid journalism and other problem areas in contemporary media.

Past and present Whitworthians have been collecting impressive hardware.

• Loren Ayresman, '95, MIT '98, received the 2005 Presidential Award for teaching mathematics. "It's a testament to my excellent professors in Whitworth's MIT program, and to the power of the Almighty Lord, that I was the awardee for the state of Hawaii," he says. Loren enjoyed visiting Washington, D.C., and meeting President Bush in connection with this honor. The Presidential Awards for Excellence in Mathematics and Science Teaching were established in 1983 by an Act of Congress and are administered for the White House by the National Science Foundation.
• Nine Whitworth students earned high honors at the 2006 Musicfest Northwest competition at Gonzaga. Trombonist Greg Hoff, '07, won a gold medal in the young-artist brass division; clarinetist Stacy Boyer, '06, won gold in the reed division; oboist Mickey Hansen, '09, trumpeter Jared Hall, '08, and vocalist Emily Kelleher, '06, won silver medals; pianist Mary Trotter, '07, and guitarist Jacob Hildebrand, '09, won gold; vocalist Lisa Gilman, '08, won two silver medals; and vocalist Allison Kromer, '06, won a silver medal.
• Jeff Rose, a student in the Whitworth Continuing Studies Evening Teacher Certification Program, was recently named All-Greater Spokane League Soccer Coach of the Year. He coaches the boys' team at East Valley High School.

Lindaman Chair Jim Waller (Psychology) has been asked to contribute a chapter on the social sciences to the upcoming Oxford Handbook of Holocaust Studies. Editors Peter Hayes and John K. Roth wrote and asked Jim to join "an international team of outstanding scholars" in providing other scholars, graduate students, and advanced undergraduates with "reliable and thought-provoking points of access to the most significant current themes and controversies in research and reflection on the Holocaust." Jim is admired and respected by top scholars in the field as well as by non-academics who seek to understand more about this horrifying chapter in world history.

Our Leadership Studies Program is relocating to the School of Global Commerce & Management. Jack Burns, who heads up our leadership-studies minor, will move to the SGCM this fall to become part of the undergraduate business and economics department. "Since leadership studies is a new discipline and because of its interdisciplinary nature, academic institutions across the country are experimenting with ways to fold these programs into institutional infrastructures," says Michael LeRoy, '89, academic vice-president and dean of the faculty.

Student Life

This year's orientation theme is Saddling Up and Riding the Range of the Mind and Heart.  I don't know exactly what this means for me in the program skit, although I do recall being photographed on a very obedient or very heavily sedated horse. Orientation for new students begins Saturday, Sept. 2, at 10 a.m. Whether you're a parent or a student, you won't want to miss the Saturday-night program. Orientation schedules will be mailed out to students at the beginning of August, and the schedule will also be on the college's website (www.whitworth.edu) around the same time. Besides a range (as in "Home on the...") of activities for students, there will also be sessions for parents, concluding with a chuckwagon lunch in The Loop on Sunday afternoon.

Speaking of moms and dads, Parents' Weekend is Oct. 13-15 this fall, and it will coincide with Homecoming, the dedication of Duvall Hall, and the fall theatre production of The Pirates of Penzance. Schedules were mailed out to parents in June, and registration for this weekend can also be found on the web at www.whitworth.edu/parentsweekend. Any questions regarding these events can be sent to Assistant Dean of Students Dayna Coleman Jones at dcoleman@whitworth.edu, or by calling 509.777.4565.

Resources

Thank you so much for contributing to the biggest June on record for The Whitworth Fund!  Because ---- and only because -- of your generosity we were able to reach our goal. From $50 gifts to an unexpected $50,000 gift, The Whitworth Fund processed more than 650 gifts from alumni, parents, friends, trustees, churches, businesses and foundations in the final month of the fiscal year (compared with 400 gifts last year). With a year-end total of $1,366,277, the 2005-06 fund provides for student scholarships, faculty resources and campus needs.  It would be so great if all of you who made a gift this past fiscal year would consider making an annual contribution.  You can't believe how valuable these unrestricted dollars are in supporting our students. Thank you all.

Whitworth Information Systems has started replacing our current wireless system with a new Cisco wireless network for the campus. Eventually, this will make the entire campus wireless to serve PCs, wireless phones, and all handheld devices that run 802.11b/g frequencies. The library, Hixson Union Building, Dixon Hall, Weyerhaeuser Hall, and all the dorms will be our main focus in the first phase.

Athletics

Once again, Whitworth was well represented at Spokane's  annual Hoopfest three-on-three basketball tournament.  The largest street basketball tournament of its kind in the world, Hoopfest has been the frequent scene of Whitworth glory.  I decided to protect my back and my marriage by taking one more post-surgery year off, but we had many faculty and staff members, alumni and current students burning the nets. The Ridings sisters, Holly and Amy, and Alida Bower, all of whom played for the Pirates this year, were the subjects of a feature on local TV station KXLY.  Alum Eric Avery (who now plays professionally in Europe) was a member of the under-six-foot open-division championship team for the fourth year in a row. And the alumni trio of Bryan Depew, Scott Bierlink and Chase Williams made the semifinals of the elite open division. These guys were elite-division champions in 2004.

This year we celebrate the 100th year of Whitworth College football, with three Pirate players as preseason Division III All-Americans. Michael Allan, Ryan Marshall and Joel Clark have all been named to at least one national publication's preseason All-America first team. Allan, a senior tight end, has been named to the first teams of Lindy'smagazine and Don Hanson's Football Gazette, and is also a D3football.com second-team choice. Marshall, a junior cornerback and 2005 All-American, has been named to the Football Gazette and D3football.com first teams. And Clark, a senior quarterback, has been named to the Football Gazette first team. He shared first-team All-NWC honors last season, completing 63.8 percent of his passes for 2,234 yards, with 29 touchdowns and only seven interceptions. The season opens Sept. 9 at the University of Redlands, and Whitworth's 100 Years of Pirate Football celebration will include a Homecoming Weekend reunion for players from all eras.

Alumni

I'll report more soon, but it looks as if our alumni-giving percentage has improved again this year. Thanks so much to you graduates who support current students, even as you were supported, with gifts to the college.

Believe it or not, football is just around the corner -- and the Pirates will be in Southern California to take on Redlands under the lights at 7:05 p.m. on Sept. 9. We're putting together a pre-game barbecue, so look for more details soon.

Planning for the big weekend of Oct. 13-15 is well under way, and the Parents' Weekend and Homecoming websites have all of the details. While there are too many activities to mention here, if you have an interest in football, Gilbert and Sullivan, the Class of 1996, Fenton Duvall, and/or a current Whitworth student, you'll want to be here. Parents' Weekend details were mailed in June; Homecoming brochures will be in the mail soon.

Miscellaneous

After a terrific 2006 Whitworth Institute of Ministry with Dale Bruner (Theology Emeritus), Jim Edwards (Theology & Philosophy), Iain Torrance (Princeton Theological Seminary), Leanne Van Dyk (Western Theological Seminary), Jerry Sittser (Theology & Philosophy), Mark Labberton (First Presbyterian Church, Berkeley), Ben Brody (Music), Ron Pyle (Communication Studies) and me, we're already gearing up for 2007. Our theme next year will be Wisdom from the Scriptures, Wisdom from the Elders, and we've scheduled Eugene Peterson, Roberta Hestenes, and Earl Palmer to lead us.

I've been waiting for space to thank the people who send me information for the Mind & Heart every month. This is a good issue in which to do that because a tight schedule has me doing less rewriting than I normally do. So I am very grateful to Terry Rayburn Mitchell, '93, who edits all this crazy stuff, and to our regular contributors, Steve Flegel, '89 (Athletics); Mike Ingram and Michael Le Roy, '89 (Academic Affairs); Dayna Coleman Jones (Student Life); Wendy Olson (Financial Aid); and Tad Wisenor, '89 (Alumni, The Whitworth Fund), for supplying me with grist for my mill!  Thanks also to occasional contributors Mary Alberts and Paul North (School of Global Commerce & Management); Kathy Ayers and Dennis Sterner (School of Education); Dee Anna Christiansen (Art); Joe Dinnison and Stacey Kamm Smith, '86 (Institutional Advancement); Rick Hornor, '70, and Jennifer Toulouse-Lee (Theatre); Tom Johnson (Business Affairs); Dan Keberle (Music); Joan Lack (Music/Fine Arts Tours); Jack Miller and Terry Norton (Information Systems); Greg Orwig, '91 (College Communications); Fred Pfursich (Enrollment Services); Michelle Seefried (Weyerhaeuser Center); Toni Sutherland (Chapel); and Steve Thompson (Facilities Services).

It saddens me greatly to write that 1st Lieutenant Forrest Ewens, '04, died in battle in Afghanistan June 16 when his armored vehicle hit a roadside bomb.  He was buried with full military honors at Arlington National Cemetery, with a number of Whitworth alums in attendance. I don't usually report alumni deaths, but Forrest's campus leadership is so fresh in our memories. We ache for his family, including his wife, Megan (also an Army 1st Lt.), and his twin brother, Oaken, who attended Whitworth for two years, then graduated in May from West Point as an Army 2nd Lt. So many of us admired Forrest; there is just nothing to say other than that we are confident, because of his deep faith in God, that he will fulfill the wish written by one of his soldiers at Fort Drum, N.Y.: "Climb to Glory, Sir!"

Closing Thoughts

Again this year, the Whitworth Institute of Ministry provided deep wells of spiritual water that offered refreshment, cleansing and cold splashes in the face.  Following WIM, I hosted university presidents and their spouses from Pepperdine, Trinity International and Wake Forest for three days of discussion, sponsored generously by the Murdock Charitable Trust. Besides being extremely informative, our connections were warm and empathetic. For me, these two experiences represent bright hope above and behind us.  Above the anguish of famines and wars, God's sovereign reign moves toward the ultimate redemption of creation. And behind us rises a generation of students with an unprecedented commitment to serving and reconciling humanity and the planet it occupies.  One of the coolest parts of being at Whitworth is working with the author and the executors of promise. Thank you for joining us in this mission.