Interview with a Robinson
On Monday, Sept. 14 2009, Bill Robinson made his announcement to step down from the presidential position. I interviewed him on Friday, Sept. 18 for an article in the Pacific Northwest Inlander, which ran on Tuesday, Sept 24.
Inlander: You’ve made your decision to step down in your presidential role this year. How does that feel for you?
Wow, you know, that’s a really interesting question because going through the process of making the decision was a little bit emotional. You know, I think it felt sorta bittersweet when I was making the decision. When Bonnie and I were talking about and thinking about, it was a hard decision to make. There were reasons for both stepping away and for staying.
Monday night I communicated with the board of trustees and on Tuesday we announced it. Since then, I haven’t had time to feel anything. It’s just created a lot of unplanned communication. I’ve got a couple hundred e-mails. It’s great.
These are people you love, and these are people that made it look like, you know, I was doing probably a better job than I was because they’re great people. The students at whitworth — you were a student here, you know — there’s just some wonderful people, so many wonderful students. You cant’ just say that’s nice and then move on. I’ve been spending a lot of time responding in the last few days.
The question “how do I feel,” will be a more relevant question in May than it is now. Right now, I feel like: “I’ve got a lot of work to do.”
In January, you told me “I don’t have any plans at this point to leave Whitworth. I’m pretty much just trying to do a good job every day and see what happens,” I’m wondering, what’s changed since then? Read more
So, intrepid Googler, you’ve found this web page.
There is a chance, good Internet user, student of the latter-day Whitworth, that some day you will stumble upon (or StumbleUpon) this blog. In some errant Google search, you will run across this mysterious artifact of another time, a day when “East Residence Hall” was just a fanciful dream, when Westminster didn’t have fancy-schamancy “paint on the walls.”
You’ll blow off the dust, you may look around a bit. You’ll see past controversies, past rants. Some of them may still resonate, others will likely seem quaint and humorous, like when we talked about these things called “Saga Trays.”
But the Forum doesn’t have to be over. It doesn’t have to be something of the past.
You have the power. You have the ability to revive the forum once again. You have the ability to begin to use this as an uncensored megaphone to the Whitworth student body. Or to just complain about Core 350. If you would like to be a writer on the Forum, if you would like to revive this husk of a website e-mail me at danieltwalters [ a t ] gmail.com.
The Return of the South Warren Basement
Like most years, next fall brings a lot of new changes to the Whitworth campus. Whitworth will see the opening of East Residence Hall, (named after famed Whitworth Trustee, George P. Eastresidencehall). Schumacher’s brief and torrid life as a dorm will end.Yes, three years from now, most people will be completely oblvious to the fact that Schumacher was once a dorm. In that respect, not much will change.
But perhaps the most interesting change is that the South Warren Basement will go from being full of girls to being full of guys.
Big deal, you say. A simple gender swap, you say. Nothing major, you say.
Ah, but that’s only because you don’t know your Whitworth History.
The South Warren Basement was all-male once before.
The year, was 1984.
And the South Warren Basement was famous. Check that– they we’re more than famous. Infamous, if you will.
The halls were full of guys of the wild and crazy persuasion. They were unsavory, unhinged, and downright untamable.
The South Warren Basement was a whirling dervish of id. It was a non-too-subtle speakeasy on a campus under strict prohibition. It was the seedy underbelly bubbling under the verdant and placid grass of Whitworth College.
Nationally, the mid-80s were the peak of binge drinking, of alcohol poisoning, and, most likely, of porcelain hugging.
The people of the South Warren Basement would drink, yes. And when they were caught — which they often were — they would counter by vandalizing their own hall — and then drinking some more.
This is the hall you’ve seen in a million college movies, the hall that would send the crusty old dean skyward-bellowing and fist-shaking like clockwork.
And like those college movies, an ultimatum was issued. Forget double, triple, secret probations. If there were any more hiijinks — ie, drunken debauchery — the hall would be shut down.
And when the hiijinks inevitably continued, and the hiijinks were inevitably discovered, the Basement Dwellars couldn’t pull off a last-ditch talent show/charity event/stirring speech to make everything all-better again.
In the middle of the year, with a sudden swift hand — the dudes of South Warren Basement were evicted. Every last one of them.
And they were replaced with young women. The thinking was, I suppose, that they would be more prim, more proper, more well-behaved.
“Open Conversation” Undergoes Name Change
Whitworth is making history. Last spring, “Open Conversation: Orientation” became the first officially chartered club to deal specifically with sexual orientation. This past school year I served as President of this club, holding events that encouraged discussion and doing my best to ensure students of all orientations had a safe place to go.
Now we make history again. Whitworth now has a club called “Open Conversation: Gay-Straight Association.” It’s the first Whitworth club to have “Gay-Straight” in the title, and the closest we’ve come to a Gay-Straight Alliance.
Why did I seek to change the name? This past year, I often had people coming up to me, wondering what our club was about. “Open Conversation? What? Is it a speech club?” Or, “Whose orientation? Is it about sex?” I wanted a name with more clarity, while still being a club that would foster discussion.
Of course, it took many years for us to even get as far as “Open Conversation: Orientation.” Mandi Curtain and Erika Prins told me many stories of their talks with various administrators, and their unsuccessful attempts to charter a club for LGBT students and their allies.
Previous attempts included “Open Conversation: GLBTQ&A.” Failed because it was still not inclusive enough.
So this past year I picked up where Erika and Mandi left off. After several conversations with Kathy Storm, we agreed on the new title.
The name is a compromise – many of the administrators felt it necessary for “Open Conversation” to remain in the title, while understanding that the purpose of the club and its inclusiveness is more apparent with the new name.
My first choice was to just have our club called “Gay-Straight Alliance,” and ideally be affiliated with the National Movement. I understand, though, why this can’t happen at Whitworth – at least not yet. The neutrality stance that Whitworth has chosen prevents it from endorsing “advocacy groups,” and as Kathy put it, “You don’t have to look far into the GSA website to find its political agenda. And that’s good – it should have one. But Whitworth can’t share in its mission.” (Not exact quote)
I can definitely appreciate the position that Whitworth and its administrators are in. A lot of faculty and admins want to be supportive because they don’t agree with the traditional or conservative interpretation of certain Bible verses. And the neutral stance is good in this sense – it allows them to work in a place where they don’t have to say “it’s a sin!” Other universities that have official negative stances wouldn’t be a good home for these allies.
Of course, I’d like to see Whitworth go further. I’d like the supportive faculty to be more vocal. I’d like to see more students show up to GSA events. I’d like to see Whitworth hire openly gay faculty.
Still, having a club where we can at least abbreviate it as “GSA” and not be lying is nice. Progress is being made. And who knows what the future will be like? Just yesterday, New Hampshire became the sixth state to offer marriage equality.
I’m often reminded of the words of the brilliant director of the Whitworth Choir, Marc Hafso: “It’s not a matter of if gays and lesbians receive full acceptance, but when.”
Here’s hoping, Marc. One step at a time.
Why a Whitworth Student Might Reject Christianity
There are a number of draws to a non-religious stance. Obviously, students can easily reject Christianity in favor of other religions, but I want to delve into the agnostic/atheistic/naturalist alternative.
Positivity I disagree with the very first premise of Core 350: that we live in a broken world. So in the first 5 minutes of class, I – and I’m not the only one – felt disconnected. Is the world imperfect? Sure – but not because it was once good and then broke. It’s because we live in a world of challenges and we constantly strive to make it a better and better place. Fallenness, sinfulness, Armageddon? These are delusions from an atheistic/naturalistic perspective. As college students and recent grads, we can be optimistic. There’s plenty of time for pessimism when we’re old.
Responsibility No one is guiding your life. There is no ultimate place in the cosmic storyline, no fate, no one holding your hand and helping you make the right decisions. It’s scary at first. But instead of wondering “What is someone else’s purpose for me?” you get to ask “What will lead me to a fulfilling life? What am I passionate about?”
Avoiding Distasteful People With the exception of a few bad historical characters, the worst atheists are people like Richard Dawkins, Christopher Hitchens and Daniel Dennett. What’s wrong with them? They are wickedly smart and they can be insulting to religious people. Well whoop-dee-do! Compared with some of the unsavory religious people out there – Bush, Cheney, Bin Laden – those guys aren’t such bad company. It’s much easier to criticize the “God Hates Fags” church when you’re actually on the other side of the fence, and that can be an appealing and morally soothing perspective.
Moral Sense Ever feel bad about people being punished for “crimes” that don’t have any victims? Like homosexuality? Or not hearing the gospel? All the questions that begin with “How could God-” are easily answered from an atheistic perspective. All the atheist has to figure out is “What on earth is morality, and where does ethics come from?” And sure, that can be challenging. But rather than thinking of what we need to do to please a watchful deity in the sky, we think about how to make the world a better place. All we humans have is each other, and the world is a tough place. If we figure out a way to get along we have the best chance to succeed. Oftentimes, religious dogma is no help at all.
No Dogma or Rituals All the Creeds and This-We-Believes go away. No more reconciling ancient manuscripts with scientific understanding. No more arguments about which sects truly understand which sacraments the best. No more praying to the right saint. Nothing binds an atheist to a particular, unified set of beliefs. Nothing tears them apart and causes strife over interpretations or practices. Isn’t that nice?
A Lot of Tough Questions Start to Make Sense Why does the human eye have a blind spot? A vestigial tail? Why the billions of years of cosmic evolution leading up to the infinitesimal existence of the human species? Advances in neuroscience and psychology provide so many answers to so many questions. And that is not to say that atheism does not create its own difficult questions, but, generally speaking, the explanations all occur within the realm of the natural world. It makes everything seem less complex – at least to someone who holds that perspective, like me.
That’s all I can think of at this point. Anyone have any to add?
Whitworth Forum: The feedback thread.
Sometimes, people will have thoughts or ideas about how the forum should be run. We encourage this type of feedback. The forum, after all, is premised on openness. But we do not want it cluttering up other threads.
From now on, any feedback should go in this thread. Put feedback in other threads, and it, most likely will be deleted or moved.
Thank you. And you can look forward to the forum continuing to thrive next year.
-Daniel
3 Things Whitworth Should have Taught You About the World Outside the Pinecone Curtain
Congrats, seniors! Six and a grisly half out of ten of you (65%) will be moving back in with your parents after graduation. Juniors, the clock is ticking. Are you scared?
In the year since I was graduated, I have learned about a trillion times as much about the real world as I learned at Whitworth. So here are three basic tips I’m going to assume they didn’t teach you well enough.
1. Don’t be afraid to ask (for help, for knowledge…)
People will generally like you more if they get to do you a favor. So, ask the career center, professors; counselors. This is self-explanatory, but I didn’t take full advantage of this excellent resource when I was at Whitworth.
Ask your friends: Make it common knowledge on Facebook that you’re looking for a particular kind of work. If your friends, their families, and their families’ connections don’t know anybody looking to hire someone like you, I’ll be surprised. Just don’t beg pathetically or anything.
Ask professionals: Request an interview with a local person who has the job you wish you had. How did they get there? What surprised them along the way? Is it really lonely at the top?
2. Know your strengths: (technology, integrity…)
You are part of Generation Y, and people have assumptions about you.
Some are negative: They think you are not loyal to companies (statistically speaking, you may work 11-14 jobs in your life) and you prefer to ask what your company can do for you; not what you can do for your company.
Some are positive, so know your strengths: They assume you are more tech-savvy than they are (after all, you’ve spent 20,000 hours online already). You can bring new ideas. No more ‘business as usual.’ Stress that you are an ethical person. That is hugely important. These days it’s actually becoming cool to be ethical. So keep your copy of Boondock Saints hidden away.
Don’t believe me about the negative assumptions? Peruse some contributions to Brazen Careerist, the top career site for people our age.
3. Social media is incredibly important to understand. (facebook, twitter, LinkedIn, youtube, flickr, feedburner/google reader…)
Facebook has made recent changes that allow businesses to connect and interact with their fans/followers/potential customers. If you can think of a creative way to make that work for your company, you are a valuable asset.
Twitter is a site you probably don’t understand. If you’re like Daniel Walters and any of a myriad of other people who don’t ‘get it’ yet, don’t feel bad. I can return and write a quick twitter guide, discuss in the comments, or have a facebook conversation about it. I’m happy to advise.
LinkedIn: If you don’t have a professional page on this site (basically an online resume) you’re on a ride into the fail-zone. Get on it!
RSS reader: Check out Feedburner or if you have a Google account, Google Reader. Subscribe to CNN or BBC news, Mashable, The Onion, all your friends’ blogs, Google Alerts for your name etc. The list goes on!
I currently have 49 feeds in my Google Reader. I’d never take the time to visit each site, but with an RSS reader I know any time something new is posted. Then I can read a quick summary and decide whether I want to read the whole thing.
Network, network, network. Join a professional association, find meet ups and events. Stay connected with your college friends. Do these things, O graduate, and leave a comment about how you’re preparing for Life Beyond. Fellow alums – what advice would you add? Did I miss anything?
An UpsideDown Cake Defense of My Favorite Ethos
The curtain goes up. The lights are dim. A small figure paces…and speaks.
“Ladies and gentlemen, I’m here to speak with you about a real problem in today’s world. It causes orphans to starve to death. It causes pretty girls to cry in front of crowds. It causes pretty guys to buy loose shorts because they are afraid to show off the proof of God that is evident in that subtle curve where backbone and pelvis fuse.
It causes those who write well to try and tone it down so they won’t annoy others. It causes those who speak well to speak quietly. It causes those gifted with good ears to shout before they listen. It causes guys who shower with the bathroom window flung wide to throw rocks at girls in frosted glass skirts.
It causes throwing rocks.”
At this point the figure stops and stares intensely at the audience. The voice is low.
“It created rocks.
In such a world, as a far greater questioner than I postulated, was there not possibly a need, somewhere, sometime, then, for rocks to be thrown?
Perhaps.”
At this point the figure stops. The audience realizes that their eyes have adjusted. The speaker is female.
“And yet I cannot help but disagree.
For I remember being innocent. I remember when rocks were fossils. I remember when sticks were something to carry and not something to stab other people with. I remember crying and getting over it as soon as I was apologized to. I remember not understanding the concept of grudges.
Sadly, all good things much come to an end, in this world. Mustn’t they? For the Age of Reason began, for me, then: a time dominated by Logos.
And I excelled. And I ignored my Ethos.
For in the age of Reason, Ethos is not only discounted, she is mocked. And thus is born her sister.
Pathos.
The logistician’s least favorite way of arguing, and the dramatist’s least favorite way of pulling strings.
And yet I am afraid it is to Her that I must appeal.”
The audience realizes that the small figure can see them, then – but they do not know what gives them this impression. It is unnerving. She paces. She paces with the haunting determination of something dead.
“Forum Community, I cannot and I shall not stand for the kind of ignorance that I have heard expressed here and elsewhere.
Good for you, Whitworth. You went shoeless to raise awareness. You sold cacti to raise awareness. And T-shirts. You sold so many things this year it was dizzying.
But there were rocks thrown, too.
I shan’t bring up the most obvious one, nor make the victim a bloody shirt to base my revolution on. No, my people, les Miserables, tried that a time ago. We learned. Never again.
Instead I have another.
As Jack S. Lewis asked, why are there rocks? Perhaps The Great I AM saw in His infinite wisdom that there would be need of things hard enough to smash skulls with.
And then Cain acted against his brother. And the world shuddered. And the course of history changed. And the coming of The Christos was delayed.
How long, my sisters and brothers?
How long before we put down our rocks…and pick up our crosses?”
The lights rise abruptly. It is a girl with wild hair and a cap pulled down over her eyes. She wears large sunglasses and keeps her head pointed at the floor. Still she paces. She paces. She trips. She falls.
The audience hears the sharp intake of breath and a cry. Barely discernable.
She waits.
They do not move.
She rises. She paces. She turns her back on them. She laughs to herself.
“It’s not like I honestly expected you to come and help me up. After all, you are just an audience.”
Whitworth Community.
This stone is on your doorstep. Will you let it in? Or will it have to pick the locks and enter by force?
The world was not meant to be so broken.
And it will not remain so within the reach of my arm.
Will you join me?”
Lights out. Curtain falls. Lights up. Audience exits.
Silence.
Nadine Chapman, in Memoriam
By now many of you have probably read the e-mail sharing with the Whitworth community about the death of beloved English professor Nadine Chapman. She was gracious, generous, and well-loved. She will be greatly missed.
I want to open this up for people to share thoughts, remembrances about Nadine, encouragement, whatever you want to share. Grief is never easy, but it is even harder when we’re apart. So let’s come together and testify to the amazing impact that Nadine left on those at Whitworth who were privileged to know her. I’ll go first.
I took only one class from Nadine: Creative Nonfiction in fall of 2006. Students from that class still reminisce about how it was the perfect mix of people, the perfect class atmosphere. I suspect that for many of us, that was the class or semester in which we first felt that we had a real home in the English department—that we were somehow at the heart of what was going on there. I know it was that way for me. And a lot of that is owing to Nadine, whose classroom management was one of maximal involvement. Students felt at home in that classroom because Nadine was always asking us, each single one of us, to share our input in every class session. This was pure seminar style, pure Nadine style: not didactic, but exploratory.
One of my most vivid memories of Nadine is of the first day of class. Not having taken a course from her before, after signing up for the class I had looked her up on stalker-net so I could keep an eye out for her around Westminster. Her most striking feature from the photograph was thick, dark, curly hair. On the first day of class, however, she walked into Westminster 102 sporting short, spiky, white-blonde rocker hair. Nadine gingerly set her things on one of the miniscule desks, sat down, smiled at us with her sweet broad smile, and simply said, “Everyone needs a change sometime.” And that was that.
I never really knew what was going on with Nadine’s health during the time when she was on medical leave. All I knew was that every once in a while, Nadine would show up in Westminster (to the heart-felt and emphatic chiding of Laurie Lamon) and sit in on a class or two or chat with Lisa in the department office, sometimes walking, sometimes in a wheel-chair. I could sense that in Nadine there was a heart of strong tenacity. She couldn’t stay away, or wouldn’t. She loved us as much as we love her.
Nadine, we miss you and cherish our memories of you. You are well-loved.
KMV
Top Ten List Commemoration #10a
To all of you who participated in these lists and to all who merely took a glance at them, thanks for the support these past ten weeks. The reason for doing these lists was to give us all a chance to catch up with the world. Many times life after college seems like a shotgun race when it’s actually a relay, which means we’d better have some semblance about where the real world is heading. That doesn’t mean, however, that our time at Whitworth was for nothing. So finishing off the Top Ten List Series is the Top Ten Whitworth Moments of 2004-2008.
More than any other of my lists, the readers on this blog will already have an outstanding background on this topic. As soon as I say “Whitworth Moments” we all have five or six in mind. The September morning you walked into your dorm room. That midnight trip to the store, driver’s license in hand, to buy a bottle of wine for the first time ever. The study session for the 250 final that by 3:00 am had transitioned into a cribbage tournament. These are the great moments of the past one two three four years. So after reading the more all-encompassing list I have here, throw down a comment or two on which moments you’ll personally remember that no one else has ever known about. Meanwhile, here’s a more general recap of Whitworth as it was.