From October 9-19, the phone lines were buzzing at Seattle Pacific University. The University Fund's Phonathon 2000 was underway and by its end, alumni and SPU supporters around the country had pledged $364,228.
Their donations are vital. "The money goes to student scholarships, academic programs, faculty and staff salaries, library resources and upgrading facilities," says Dean Carrell, associate director of development and The University Fund. "These gifts help keep an SPU education more affordable."
Emeriti professors Donald McNichols and Fan Gates helped host the event, joining more than 100 volunteers. Volunteers included alumni, students, staff, faculty, parents of students and alumni, friends of the University, and residents of Queen Anne Hill. "It was really an all-community event," says Gates.
"Thank you to all the people who took time out of their lives to volunteer," says Carrell. "And thank you to all those who made a pledge. Your influence on SPU is great."
Seattle Pacific University Provost Bruce Murphy has left the Pacific Northwest for another Northwest. In January he became the eighth president of Northwestern College in Orange City, Iowa.
Murphy and his wife, Diane, began their academic careers at Northwestern in the early 1970s. He served on Northwestern's history faculty and was part-time dean of campus life. Diane taught in the Physical Education Department.
Murphy headed west in 1978, joining the faculty of Spokane's Whitworth College and finally coming to Seattle in 1991. After serving as senior pastor at Bethany Presbyterian Church on Queen Anne Hill, Murphy became SPU's provost in 1997.
Since then, he has worked with the Seattle Pacific faculty on the educational component of the University's Comprehensive Plan for the 21st Century. He also began development of the Center for the Scholarship of Wisdom, a new program to recognize the work of Christian intellectuals, scholars and artists.
Although he says he's sad to leave Seattle Pacific colleagues and friends, Murphy is looking forward to a new partnership. "One of the best parts about my new position is the chance to work closely with my wife, Diane," Murphy says. "She will share in the presidential duties and we'll teach a course together." The Murphys will also mentor faculty in the same way they were mentored at Northwestern 30 years ago.
"We will miss Bruce and Di a great deal," says SPU President Philip Eaton. "I am grateful to Bruce for the years he spent with us and wish him all the best in this new challenge."
To help in the transition to a new provost at Seattle Pacific, Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences Joyce Erickson will provide academic leadership on the President's Cabinet and chair the Provost's Cabinet. A search for a new provost is currently underway.
The church has long claimed that human beings are made for community, and now scientific research seems to support that conclusion, says Jay Uomoto, Seattle Pacific University associate professor of clinical psychology and director of graduate clinical psychology. He will explore this theme in the 2001 Weter Lecture, titled "The Neuro-psychology of Awareness: A Rapprochement of Neurobiology and Community Theology."
"The brain seems to benefit directly from community," says Uomoto. He notes that new research with stroke victims shows that the brain recovers better and more quickly when the patient is not isolated from others.
"The way the brain works, it has some capacity to reorganize and bring about improvement if injured," the Weter Lecturer explains. "It turns out that people with neurological problems actually heal faster when they're in a social environment. We can show that something is happening at the cellular level. The theology of community almost predicts these new findings in neurobiology."
Uomoto has been considering these issues since working on his master's degree in theology at Fuller Theological Seminary. He says his findings offer a relevant role for the church. "This mandates a responsibility to maintain community, especially with those at the margins of society." Free and open to the public, the Weter Lecture takes place March 2 in Demaray Hall 150 at 7:30 p.m.
In partnership with Emerald City Outreach Ministries (ECOM), the Seattle Pacific University Counseling Center opened a sister clinic this fall in the Rainier Valley in south Seattle. "Bridges: A Center of Individual and Family Development" provides the local, largely African-American community with high-quality, low-cost counseling.
"We took President Eaton's challenge to engage the culture," says Associate Professor John Thoburn, director of clinical services at Seattle Pacific. Working closely with Shawna Easterly, ECOM director of family services, Thoburn and Nathan Brown, dean of the SPU School of Psychology, Family and Community, organized Bridges to mirror all the therapeutic services found in a group private practice.
"We're doing a full range of individual and family services on a sliding-fee scale," explains Brown. Therapists include SPU clinical psychology doctoral graduates and therapists-in-training. Under discussion are ways for undergraduate psychology students to participate.
The hope, says Thoburn, is not only to serve the Rainier Valley community, but also to increase the diversity among SPU's student body by drawing students of color who'd like to work at Bridges. That's already happening. "I had one student who said he knew he'd made the right decision to come to SPU when he heard about the program," says Thoburn.
Easterly agrees. "We really have a heart for racial reconciliation, and this partnership with SPU will help in that area," she says.
Although therapists are already seeing clients, Bridges celebrates its grand opening March 24, 2001. Participants and guests will include SPU President Philip Eaton, ECOM Director Harvey Drake, and ECOM Board of Trustees members.
How does Seattle Pacific communicate the critical importance of financial gifts to the University? One way is to present dollars-and-cents graphs; another is to tell the stories of those who give so much to SPU. That's why Seattle Pacific has launched a newsletter called Engage.
"The people we want to feature in Engage are those who have decided
to invest in SPU's
vision," says President Philip Eaton. "We want to celebrate their giving and
their stewardship."
Two companies featured in the inaugural December edition of Engage are Boeing and Bank of America, both of which have helped to fund a minority scholarship program at Seattle Pacific. Another article tells the story of an alumna who spent her career as a nurse in Africa, yet managed to save thousands of dollars -- money which now generates scholarships for nursing students.
In addition to the newsletter, the Office of University Advancement has created a Web site for potential donors with information, stories and a way to make gifts online. "Our goal is to foster and promote wise philanthropy and Christian stewardship," says Bob McIntosh, vice president of university advancement. "The Web site and Engage make that easy as well as informative."
To log on, go to SPU's home page, and click on "Giving to SPU" or click here.
The Autumn 2000 Response incorrectly printed that two Alumni Legacy Scholarship recipients, cousins Paula Marston and Myron Marston, are the great-grandchildren of former Seattle Pacific Professor C. May Marston. In actuality, Paula Marston and Myron Marston are first cousins three times removed from C. May Marston. Professor Marston never married and had no children.
One of eight children, Professor Marston was the daughter of Martin Marston and cousin of Frank Marston. Frank Marston was the father of Merrill Marston, who was the father of Jay Marston '62, Marvin Marston '64, Loren Marston '68 and Philip Marston '70.
Philip is the father of SPU students Paula and Timothy Marston; Loren is the father of SPU students Myron and Matthew Marston and SPU staff member Michael Marston '99.
Marston family members have played significant roles throughout Seattle Pacific's 109-year history. Our records show that 16 Marstons have graduated from Seattle Pacific since 1898, and six others are currently students. That doesn't count the many Marston relatives, not carrying the family name, who have attended SPU -- or alumni who married a Marston after graduation, such as Frank Marston's wife Blanch Mann '01.
We apologize for our error and extend our thanks to Juanita Walter Therrell '47, a former student of Professor C. May Marston, for alerting us to the mistake. Thanks also to Philip Marston and to Darlene Hamilton, senior librarian in the genealogy department of the Seattle Public Library.
As part of its academic offerings for working adults, Seattle Pacific University has launched an innovative way to earn a bachelor's degree. The Professional Studies Program is aimed at students who have earned technical degrees at the community college level, but have not acquired the necessary general education credits for a bachelor's degree.
According to Ruth Adams, University Registrar, the need for this kind of degree is increasing. At a time when high-tech employment is plentiful, many students choose to earn a two-year degree that makes them employable, but then find themselves "stuck." "Surveys show there are thousands of people who have technical skills in a variety of areas, but can't get ahead since they lack a bachelor's degree," says Adams.
The University's new evening degree program works like this: Students transfer to SPU and complete their general education require-ments plus choose a minor in computer science, organizational behavior or electrical engineering. The program is available to those who have an associate degree or an associate of arts in technology degree in a dozen different disciplines including accounting, early childhood education, information technology and marketing management.
For more information, call the Office of Admissions at 206/281-2021.
For many teenagers, a trip downtown is a shopping trip. For YouthQuest 2000 teenagers, the time spent in inner-city Seattle one week last summer was a never-to-be-forgotten crash course in reality.
Seventy-five junior and senior high school students and their 25 adult leaders spent one entire day just observing life on the streets and meeting people their age whose lives are so much different than anything most of the teens have ever encountered. "We get too wrapped up in ourselves," says YouthQuest 2000 camp coordinator and Seattle Pacific University sophomore Jonelle Judy. "We wanted these kids to see the consequences that result from experimenting with alcohol and drugs, and to appreciate their own blessings."
YouthQuesters spent nights in SPU residence halls and days serving a variety of helping agencies through chores like painting, food bank assistance and sprucing up the yards of elderly citizens.
YouthQuest, patterned closely after Seattle Pacific's successful annual CityQuest new student orientation, is part of YouthFest Ministries. Begun by 1995 SPU graduates Chris Hill and Jeff Judy (Jonelle's brother), YouthFest has sponsored Christian youth rallies, with this their first foray into more extensive urban service.
"What a great partnership for SPU to be the place of training and equipping for kids reaching out to the urban area," says Ken Cornell, assistant vice president for marketing and admissions at Seattle Pacific. "Who knows, maybe we'll see several YouthQuest students come back to SPU for their college experience."
YouthQuest 2001 is scheduled for June 24-29. For more information, call 360/563-2346.
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