The late spring is a time for change. The summer has nearly arrived, and campuses across Washington buzz with excitement.
Students hastily tidy dorm rooms and pack their belongings into recycled boxes. Nine months of new friends, accumulated class notes, and memories. Instantly accessible through Facebook or Blackboard.
Administrators and faculty are already looking towards the next year, and next decade, to ensure the highest quality educational experience.
Incoming freshman, many just out of high school, dream of what Fall will bring.
Newly-minted graduates and their parents let out a whoop of exuberance at their accomplishments – and breathe a sigh of relief.
We give our hearty congratulations to the 9,000 who have earned letters through Washington’s independent colleges!
Among graduates, many will continue their studies, some through fellowships and awards: 11 (!) Fulbright awards (PLU, UPS, WC, WU) and three Watson fellowships; teaching assistantships from France and Spain; fellowships from Scoville, Pickering, Princeton in Asia, and the National Science Foundation fellowships, among others.
In order of ceremonies:
Gonzaga University graduated a record-size class for the eighth year in a row. GU passed out diplomas to 2,092 students on May 8 (graduate), May 9 (undergraduate), and May 15 (law). Among the esteemed graduates, NBA player Ronny Turiaf returned to Gonzaga to receive his degree in Sports Management. Rev. Charles Currie, S.J., was the keynote speaker at both undergraduate and graduate ceremonies, and received the DeSmet Medal, Gonzaga’s highest honor. Law grads heard a keynote address from Hon. Richard Jones, who sits on the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington. Honorary Doctor of Laws degrees were awarded to Maj. Gen. Dennis Hardy (ret) and Hon. Richard Jones. A video of the 2010 Baccalaureate Mass can be viewed at this link.
At Heritage University, 303 students earned degrees this year, marked with a commencement ceremony on Saturday, May 8. Incoming Heritage President Dr. John Bassett was the commencement speaker, with remarks by retiring President, Sister Kathleen Ross. Heritage alumna Francisco Guerrerro, a graduate with a Bachelor of Arts in Business Administration in 2007, was honored with the Violet Lumley Rau Outstanding Alumni Award during the ceremony.
Saint Martin’s University conferred 341 bachelor’s degrees and 80 master’s degrees at its May 8 ceremony. Reverend William R. Headley, CSSp, Ph.D., founding dean of the Joan B. Kroc School of Peace Studies at the University of San Diego, was the commencement speaker. Internationally recognized as a respected peace-builder, practitioner, and educator, Fr. Headley has a vast career that spans over thirty years and over eighty countries.
On May 15, one month prior to undergraduate and master’s commencement, Seattle University School of Lawconferred degrees to 341 graduates.
Commencement ceremonies at Whitworth University on May 16 honored students receiving 112 graduate degrees and 480 undergraduate degrees. President Bill Robinson was the keynote speaker for both ceremonies. Listen to his undergraduate address “Hanging On and Moving On” Bill was asked to speak by both groups of graduates as this is his last year as President at Whitworth University (read more about Bill below).
University of Puget Sound handed diplomas to 727 graduates on Sunday, May 16. Scott Jackson, a 1980 alumnus of Puget Sound and vice president of PATH, an international nonprofit that works on global health, was the keynote speaker discussing Global Citizenship.
On Sunday, May 23, 353 seniors at Whitman College received their bachelor’s degrees in sunny Walla Walla. Keynote speaker Juan Williams, currently a correspondent for National Public Radio, inspired graduates to “Surprise your parents, surprise your friends, but most of all surprise yourself.” Astronaut Dottie Metcalf-Lindenburger, a 1997 Whitman grad and crew member of a shuttle mission to the International Space Station in April, gave a talk entitled “Growing Up in a Wheatfield”. Whitman grads received one of the widest range of fellowships and awards, with 18 national programs awarding graduates the opportunity to continue their studies after Whitman.
Pacific Lutheran University celebrated Spring Commencement on May 30, in the Tacoma Dome.This academic year, over 875 students will have graduated from Pacific Lutheran University. Among the esteemed graduates were David Akuien , a “Lost Boy of Sudan” and Najib Abbas , who will be Saudi Arabia’s first Marriage and Family Therapist. William C. Bell, President and Chief Executive Officer of Casey Family Programs, was the keynote commencement speaker, and received an honorary degree from PLU.
Seattle Pacific University began honoring students with the 88 year-old Ivy Cutting tradition (featured in the Seattle P-I) on Friday, June 11, and finished with Commencement ceremonies at Safeco Field on Sunday, June 13. In total, about 800 bachelor’s degrees, 180 master’s degrees, and 21 doctorate degrees were awarded. The 2010 Commencement speaker, and recipient of honorary letters, was Dr. Richard J. Mouw, president of Fuller Theological Seminary.
On June 13, Seattle University graduated the largest class among member colleges, conferring 1,112 baccalaureate and 955 masters degrees, in addition to 341 law degrees on May 15. This also was one of the most diverse graduating classes. Almost half of graduates represented communities of color, and 17 percent were the first in their family to earn a degree. Bob Craves, CEO and co-founder of College Success Foundation (and 2007 recipient of ICW’s Stanley O. McNaughton Award), and Cheryl Crazy Bull, president of Northwest Indian College received honorary doctorates at Seattle University’s commencement ceremonies at Key Arena.
On the other side of Washington state, Walla Walla University conferred 247 bachelor’s degrees and 129 master’s degrees. Dr. Eric Anderson, president of Southwestern Adventist University in Keene, Texas, was the commencement speaker and recipient of an honorary degree from WWU.
In 2010, over 9,000 students graduated from Independent Colleges of Washington member institutions, with 80% completing in four years or less.
This calculates to nearly a quarter of the baccalaureate and higher degrees earned in the state each year. At the same time, ICW member institutions receive less than two percent of the state’s higher education budget, and all as financial aid given to students.
A wise investment in Washington’s future.
Giving it all away!
We love the late spring! For ICW, it is the time of year when our endowed scholarships are awarded to some fabulous students, all selected from a larger-by-the-year stack of applications received from deserving candidates. After a year of fundraising, especially in a tough economic climate, this is certainly a welcomed and anticipated activity – giving it away!
This year, the committee awarded over $25,000 to students. This is in addition to raising about $1 million in scholarships and in-kind support for our colleges.
Scholarship committee members are always inspired by the students’ applications. They read each one and learn of their stories of success and often times, the hardship they endure, to get them to this next step in their life of reaching a goal they’ve always dreamed about – a college education.
Amy Alderman said it best in a recent letter sent to ICW:
“Your generous financial support is helping me afford tuition at Walla Walla University. During my first year here at WWU, it has been both challenging and exciting. Academically, I am off to a great start, having made the Dean’s List each term thus far this year. Thank you for your continued support so that I am able to attend a wonderful university.”
There are so many worthy students, but not enough dollars to help them all. The committee must make the agonizing decision of who will receive scholarships to help them with their education expenses for the next academic year.
It’s not too late to inspire your own giving-it-away story by contributing to ICW’s student scholarship fund. 100% of all gifts received will be distributed to our member colleges to help students with the cost of their tuition. Your gift, when combined with the generosity of others, has a larger than life impact on the student who receives it.
For more information, please contact Anne Cassidy, Anne@ICWashington.org, 206.623.4494.
Notes from the capital
Financial aid takes some cuts in state budget;
State Need Grant Program spared
As you may have read it took the legislature an additional 30-day special session beyond its 60-day regular session this year to grapple with a $2.8 billion budget shortfall. Ultimately, lawmakers did four things to bring the budget back into balance:
CUT $755 million from the current budget, including $73 million in support of public higher education institutions
RECEIVED $618 million in federal funding
USED $690 million from the state’s “rainy day” account
RAISED $757 million in new revenue, including taxes on beer, soda pop, candy, and cigarettes
The best news for students is that the State Need Grant Program, the state’s main financial aid program, was spared the budget axe and funded fully at the level enacted last year. Our biggest disappointment was a 30 percent cut in the State Work Study Program, achieved by making nonresident students ineligible and asking employers to pay a greater share of the student’s wage. This will cost some students their work study jobs and the valuable experience they could have gained. Other programs such as Washington Scholars and WAVE were pared back, but students who receive aid from those programs will continue to get that help. Other resources:
So long, good friends: Bill Robinson and Sr. Kathleen Ross retire
With nearly 50 years (combined) at the helm of Heritage University and Whitworth University, Sister Kathleen Ross, snjm Ph.D. and Dr. Bill Robinson, will be retiring from their posts this summer. If a picture says 1000 words, these videos filmed at the March ICW Board meeting and related media links, will demonstrate their impact on higher education across the state and nation.
We warmly welcome the newest members of the ICW board: Dr. John Bassett, Franz Lazaras, Rick Linneweh, John W. O’Halloran, and Dr. Beck Taylor.
Dr. John Bassett, former President of Clark University (MA) and NAICU board chair, will lead Heritage University and join our Presidents’ committee this summer.
Franz Lazarus, Senior Vice President, Costco, will join our Audit/Finance committee.
Rick Linneweh, CEO, Yakima Memorial Hospital and Yakima community leader, will join our Visibility committee.
John W. O’Halloran, Chairman and CEO of Rainier Funds, will join our Audit/Finance committee.
Dr. Beck Taylor, dean of Samford University’s Brock School of Business in Birmingham, Alabama will lead Whitworth University and join our Presidents’ committee.
Website Renewal
A renewed ICWashington.org will relaunch on July 1, the start of our fiscal year. The new site will look similar to the current site, but with a streamlined interface and site structure. With the expert guidance of Meta Consulting and Nancy Bruner, we have reduced the number of active pages by 80% and centralized the content that is most popular and relevant. Test drive the new site prior to launch.
Connecting with the next generation
Independent Colleges of Washington, with assistance from the Ben B. Cheney and SAFECO Foundations, created ProjectOpportunity.net to answer the questions frequently asked by high school students and parents, potential transfer students, and Spanish speakers:
In 2010 we reached out to students using media in which they felt comfortable. Though active in using social media tools for an adult audience, such as Twitter, Facebook, and our Legislative Action Center (CAPWIZ), we found that communicating with high school students was tough; Parents of teens and tweens are subjected to this on a daily basis!
We started our enhancement campaign in September 2009 with an online user survey, (still available for comments). A contest for an Amazon Kindle or college bookstore credit enhanced the popularity of the survey, but helped us gather hundreds of data points and dozens of low-cost usability suggestions from visitors.
In April, Independent Colleges of Washington partnered with Zinch.com, an online college recruiting and scholarship portal, to help spread the word about ProjectOpportunity.net. We are still optimizing our campaigns and analyzing the results, but we love the dozens of “shout outs” we have received so far.
Cyreen, a sophomore from the Peninsula, said it succinctly: “Knowing I have your support is reassuring.”
To Cyreen and the tens of thousands of other students we have reached through ProjectOpportunity.net, “We’re here to help!”
Thank you for your support of students, our member colleges, and higher education in Washington.
Photo Credits: Excited Student: Kirk Hirota/Whitworth University; Thayne McCulloh and Ronny Turiaf: Gonzaga University; Three grads: St. Martin’s University; Two grads: University of Puget Sound; Group of grads: Whitman College; Ivy: Alan Berner Seattle Times; Amy Alderman: Walla Walla University; Video: Greg Scheiderer/ICW
Amy Alderman said it best in a recent letter sent to ICW:
