Thursday, April 24, 2008

W Club: Enhancing Whitman Athletics

WALLA WALLA, Wash. — Four decades removed from his days as captain of both the football and baseball teams, Jim Moore has lost none of his zest for Whitman College athletics.

Whitman's Jim Moore

A former quarterback who also played catcher, first base and centerfield on the baseball diamond, Moore is ready to step to the plate one more time for Whitman, this time to call signals of a different sort.

Moore, a 1966 graduate, is serving as the first president of the W Club, a new alumni group dedicated to support of Whitman varsity athletics. Membership is open to all 'friends of the college,' in addition to alumni and families of students.

"The purpose of the W Club is to provide support – both in terms of enthusiastic alumni and booster attendance at athletic events as well as financial support – for the Whitman varsity athletic programs," Moore said. "My fondest hope is that the W Club will be a vehicle for the development of a strong spirit of support for Whitman athletics."

The first meetings of the W Club’s board of directors are set for this Saturday and Sunday, April 26-27, on the Whitman campus. In addition to Moore, an attorney living in Salt Lake City, Utah, other board members are:

• Susan Buxton (Class of 1985), board vice president, Boise, Idaho
• Jock Edwards (Class of 1966), Walla Walla, Wash.
• Julie Gaisford (Class of 1965), Seattle, Wash.
• Jerry Hillis (Class of 1961), Seattle, Wash.
• Becky Kennedy (Class of 1996), Walla Walla, Wash.
• Jim Michelson (Class of 1983), Walla Walla, Wash.
• George Osborne (Class of 1966), Kirkland, Wash.
• Cathy Williams (Class of 1974), Auburn, Wash.

If Whitman is to field varsity teams on a par with its outstanding academic programs, and that can compete at a high level within the Northwest Conference, more support is needed on a regular basis, Moore said. "Although Whitman teams have been successful at times, the support they have received and their subsequent success has been far from consistent."

"From my own experience at Whitman, I know it can be very difficult and frustrating as a varsity athlete to invest the necessary time and effort unless you feel you have a fair chance to compete," Moore added. "On one hand, battling against the odds can build character, but Whitman student athletes deserve more than that; they deserve the opportunity to further develop their athletic and competitive skills in a supportive environment where they have a chance to win every night."

W Club membership is open to alumni, families of students, and other friends of Whitman athletics, Moore said. Membership dues will be minimal, but when combined with various fund-raising activities, will support the athletic program in a variety of ways. One way the club can help is by defraying the cost of athlete recruiting visits as allowed by the NCAA.

"Whitman necessarily competes with other very high-quality colleges and universities for students who can meet both its academic challenges and contribute significantly to the athletic programs," Moore said. "Getting these prospective student athletes to campus is essential to our recruiting efforts."

Dean Snider

Moore, a member of the college Board of Overseers, is testament to a simple truth that many of Whitman’s most accomplished alumni learned life lessons on its athletic teams. An economics major and recipient of the Borleske Trophy as Whitman’s outstanding male athlete of 1966, Moore earned his law degree at the Duke University Law School. The latest stop in his legal career has him serving as environmental counsel for the Huntsman Corp. in Salt Lake City, where he lives with wife Kathryn (Lindquist) ’66.

Earlier in his legal career, while still fresh from law school, he was an assistant U.S. Attorney and worked for U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. In 1970, he filed the first enforcement case ever brought on behalf of the EPA, responding to pollution of the Cuyahoga River, which caught fire near Cleveland, Ohio.

Construction of the new Baker Ferguson Fitness Center, which includes an outstanding swimming pool facility, and imminent renovation of the Sherwood Athletic Center are recent indications of Whitman’s increased support for varsity athletics, said Dean Snider, director of athletics and the W Club’s executive secretary. "The W Club can help us build additional momentum, and its fund-raising activities will make a critical difference for an athletics program that has a variety of needs."

"When comparing our athletics budget to other NCAA Division III schools, either within our conference or in such areas as southern California and Minnesota, we face a competitive disadvantage related to our geographic location," Snider noted. "Because we are relatively isolated, we might spend 75 percent or more of our dollars on team travel alone, whereas schools in Portland and Seattle might be spending 10 to 15 percent. The California schools, given their close proximity to one another, might spend as little as five percent of their budgets on team travel."

Formation of the W Club caps years of alumni discussions that intensified over the past several months. A working group of alumni, along with Whitman Provost and Dean of the Faculty Lori Bettison-Varga and Vice President for Development and College Relations John Bogley, hammered out the club charter. Whitman President George Bridges appointed Moore to lead the group and tabbed Buxton to serve as vice president. Buxton, who played basketball and competed in track & field at Whitman, is a past president of the Whitman Alumni Board and currently its representative on the Board of Overseers.

"The W Club will be a great help as we work to improve the competitive experience of our student athletes," Snider said. "The club will also play a very important role in terms of strengthening the connections between Whitman and the alumni and current students who share a common interest – their love for athletics."

Anyone interested in joining the W Club, or learning more about it, can contact Snider by email (sniderdc@whitman.edu) or phone (509 527-5288).

CONTACT:

Dave Holden, Sports Information Director
Whitman College, Walla Walla, Wash.
(509) 527-5902; holden@whitman.edu