The Four Factors that Led Me to Westmar College

I am planning a return visit to Northwest Iowa -- this has long been on my list of things to do. It has been 40 years since I've been there. Am I anxious -- a little as things have changed so much. But I feel the need to acknowledge that I grew up so much at Westmar. I was a shy, naive country kid that never lived in a town before going to Westmar, and the community of Westmar College changed me to who I am today. 

Occasionally, you gotta recognize your roots to know where you are.

I recalled my high school senior year the other day about choosing a college. I only applied to United Methodist colleges and did not submit one application to a public college or university. I did want to apply to one public college in New Mexico, but my parents nixed that idea lol. I think being a UMC PK, applying to UMC colleges seemed to be the right thing to do; but, I really never had a conversation with my parents about college. It was up to me. My choice.

When the push came to shove about deciding where I was going, three colleges were left: Baker University, Southwestern College, and Westmar. Two colleges in Kansas and one in northwest Iowa.

Baker dropped out early for all of us -- they weren't that interested in me and offered a really nonchalant financial aid package. I did run into quite a few Baker students when I began graduate school at KU in Lawrence as Baker was just down the road -- by whom I ran across, I really was not a good fit for Baker four years earlier.

We visited Southwestern College first in Winfield, Kansas. I was not impressed. And I don't recall any excitement from my parents either.

Then came Westmar. Did they pull out all of the stops for us or what! But it was two states away and a bit further than either parent wanted me to be.

Four factors influenced my decision to go to Westmar:

1.  A very persistent and personable Director of Admissions. Valda Embree called me several times and sent me letters. I felt welcomed.

2. By far, the best financial aid package given with an academic scholarship, a PK discount, a large scholarship for Kansas residents attending Westmar, and much more. 

3. During my overnight visit placement at Westmar, Valda was smart. She placed me with a student on the 1st Floor, Wernli Hall. Not only welcomed but felt included too. Wernli became my college home for 4 years (minus my off-campus studies in D.C.)

4. And then the deciding factor, one that I did not share with my parents because it might have hurt their feelings some. This was before the advent of the Web and social media. Westmar provided the opportunity to escape the bubble-wrapped PK fishbowl that many PKs find themselves in. I could become who I wanted because no one knew who I was before attending Westmar. That freedom set me on my life journey.

Now, I have the opportunity to say goodbye to Westmar College, which died in 1997. Westmar alumni numbers have been dwindling the past 25 years as no new alumni have been added. For me, closing the chapter.

Mapping Thornburg to Westmar

Me at Westmar College, 1984

When I decided to go to Westmar College in Iowa, I could tell my dad wasn’t exactly thrilled I was moving that far from home. Most of my classmates were going to much closer institutions in like Hays, Colby, Concordia, Manhattan, even Lawrence and Wichita. I think in hindsight he might have been worried too about the cost of private college versus public in-state tuition.

But Thornburg was only four miles from the state line with Nebraska, so it wasn’t like I really going a great distance in leaving Kansas. But it was still much further than going to Winfield, south of Wichita, and the home of my second choice, Southwestern College.

Well - to the gist of the blog post - there wasn’t Google Maps back then to give you options of different routes to compare time and mileage. I loved looking at maps, something I picked up from my Dad. The summer before going to Westmar, I had already tried a different couple routes: all interstate (except Thornburg to Hastings) and Highway 81 to Highway 20. Both were about six hours drive and I wasn’t a fan of going through Omaha. [Back then Interstate speed limits were double-nickel unlike today]

But I thought to myself, there’s got to be something better than Highway 81 and getting blown off the road by semis. So, I found a diagonal route - diagonal routes usually are the best way to get from point A to C by bypassing point B.  So out of curiosity I plugged my old route into Google Maps and was pleasantly surprised.

The third route choice was my route. It was 331 miles long and took 5 hours and 50 minutes to travel. That was right. Almost always about 6 hours to get back home or to get back to campus. I was pretty pleased with myself.

The number one route choice picked by Google Maps had the most miles to drive but the shortest time - that was the aforementioned interstate route. Again, Google Maps is figuring in today’s speed limit and not back then because back then - it was still about 6 hours to drive. Have to remember back then in big cities, the speed limit dipped below 55.

The number two route surprised me. In fact, if I had known that this route was both shorter and faster than my route, I would have used it. But back then, I didn’t think anything could beat a diagonal route - not true in this scenario.

So the second route option from Google Maps was to take Highway 77 straight north out Lincoln, through Fremont, and across Highway 20 to Highway 20 Business through Sioux City to Highway 75. That route never even occurred to me to being the better route. It was only six miles shorter than my route at 325 miles but it was 30 minutes faster! Wow - I would have loved that.

Decisions that come back around - Librarian

Thirty years ago, I was a graduating college senior heading to one of the toughest graduate journalism programs in the country (at that time).

First, let me say something about that graduate school: ROCK CHALK, JAYHAWK!!!

Okay - back to where I was. Thirty years ago I was heading to KU graduate level J-school. The best. Because as a writer, I wanted to be challenged by the best.

But this young, fresh-behind-the-ears career counselor at my low-level, small, tinyish college said something to me that at the time I did not respect. He said rethink about KU and journalism - you should get a graduate degree in library science.

Library science, really? How would library science further my goals into politics or political writings or effect change in social justice? A librarian - please.

Eight years later - I was an out-of-work, dejected writer looking for a job. Any job.  I landed a support-level job at a college library. And I became an active volunteer in my schools and community.

Fast forward twenty-three years later. I'm back in graduate school. VFL. UTK. Working for that graduate degree in information science. At a much older age - past the prime for advancement in the field.

And if I wanted, I could wallow in the "what ifs" because there are plenty of them. What if thirty years ago? What if I started information science school 15 years earlier?  But I know my life would not be what it is now. I would never give up being a Rock Chalk alum for nothing (double negative, don't care).

So, this story is more about decisions that come back around. Brandishing idealism replaced by living serenely. A decision came back around. This time, the answer was different.

Happy Birthday, Westmar 1984 Editorial

I consider the editorial below as one of the best on-side editorials written while I was editor-in-chief of the college student newspaper, The Gleam. Possibly one of the best in The Gleam during my four years at Westmar.

By spring semester 1984, it was obvious that Westmar was struggling financially. I didn't know how much longer it would last as a college [it closed in November 1997]. So the idea came about to write an editorial celebrating Westmar's birthday.  We stuck our cynical, tongue-in-cheek attitude in the line "Considering the Darwinist struggle in the field of higher education,..." to address what we saw as the survival of the fittest among higher educational institutions.

This issue of the paper came out Wednesday afternoon. The topic of the message that night during Chapel by the college president: Westmar and more birthdays. I think we struck a nerve, which is what a good editorial does.
Dwight Hunter

EditorialWritten by the Editorial Board [on-side editorial, The Gleam, March 7, 1984, p.2]

Happy Birthday, Westmar!

Not knowing when it is and afraid of missing it, this is a private celebration to wish Westmar a happy birthday! Considering the Darwinist struggle in the field of higher education, this birthday celebration is significant. Here then is a presentation of our 94 birthday wishes for the coming decade:

1. A renovated Thoren Fine Arts Performing Center.
   
2. Endowed faculty chair.
   
3. A liberal arts college.
   
4.  A renovated Thoren Fine Arts Performing Center.
   
5. Generic textbooks.
   
6. Lifesports-Industrial Education Complex.
   
7. A liberal IRV policy.
   
8. A Student Life Committee which studies the spectrum of student life.
   
9. A copy of de Tocqueville's “Democracy in America" for all administrators.
   
10. A consistent college motto.
    
11. Consistent school colors.
    
12.  Housing policies with the students in mind.
    
13. A trip to Kansas City in mid-March.
    
14. Fluorescent lights for the Richardson's house.
    
15.  Incadescent lights for the dorms and classrooms.
    
16. Wernli Hall.
    
17. Ex-lax for the campus mail system.
    
18. Kaopectate for the steam pipes.
    
19. Taller students.
    
20. Shorter students.
    
21. Students.
    
22. Presidential Winnebago for Art Richardson.
    
23. Richard M. Nixon Division of Justice and Morals.
    
24.  Ronald Wilson Reagan Division of Government and Performing Arts.
    
25. An endowment which is more than what the federal government spends on paper clips.
    
26. An endowment.
    
27. Black students.
    
28. Black professors.
    
29. 40% of tuition and fees for instruction and academic expenses.
    
30. Parking.
    
31. A Commons serving more than food on a bun.
    
32. A chicken with lips.
    
33. Good looking men.
    
34. Good looking women.
    
35. Good looking students.
    
36. Students.
    
37. A REAL student newspaper.
    
38. A REAL Board of Trustees.
    
39. A REAL Student Guide.
    
40. ASWC Senate not infested with group think.
    
41. Candidates for student government elections.
    
42. A non-flammable couch for Harnack.
    
43. Double beds in dorms.
    
44. Candy machines that put out.
    
45. The ASWC's Publications Board.
    
46. No 8:00 classes
    
47. No classes on snowy days.
    
48. No classes on warm, sunny days.
    
49. No classes.
    
50. Heat in the winter.
    
51. Heat.
    
52. Air conditioning in the summer.
    
53. Discovery of oil in the Lifesports Center.
    
54. Extermination of bugs.
    
55. Calculators for ASWC budget-planners.
    
56. An ASWC.
    
57. Readers for The Gleam.
    
58. Books for the library.
    
59. Higher salaries for instructors.
    
60. Lower salaries for administrators.
    
61. ASWC Senate meetings that last 5 minutes.
    
62. Faculty Senate meetings that last 2 minutes.
    
63. Teaching requirements for administrators.
    
64. More pigeons than squirrels.
    
65. Meal tickets that can be used in the S.U. at reasonable hours.
    
66. Yearbooks delivered on time.
    
67. A cure for herpes.
    
68. A male birth control pill.
    
69. A Wind Ensemble that does not practice in a banquet room.
    
70. Administrators in one building.
    
71. A Muslim priest.
    
72. Commercials that DO jog your mind.
    
73. Vents over cooking stoves.
    
74. A REAL alcohol policy.
    
75. A REAL commitment to the student developmental vectors.
    
76. Decrease in Briar Cliffs admissions standards.
    
77. A college song.
    
78. Sidewalks that run west to east.
    
79. A college community.
    
80. A college.
    
81. Golf course, of course.
    
82. Charmin in dorm bathroom stalls.
    
83. Unemployment insurance for Westmar employees.
    
84. Unemployment insurance for Westmar graduates.
    
85. Unemployment insurance for Hunter . . . just in case.
    
86. Westmar Master Plan that works.
    
87. Emphasis on academics not brick and mortar.
    
88. The Beatles (with Julian Lennon as Lennon's replacement) for the Spring Formal.
    
89. Anybody but Spyro Gyra for the Spring Formal.
    
90. The Who for the commencement speaker.
    
91. A conscience.
    
92. A justifiable, student-reviewed tuition increase.
    
93. Shredded wheat in every room.
    
94. A little luck and a lot more years . . . Happy Birthday Westmar!