Sketches

Learners, Leaders

With a foundation rooted in leadership, service and education, the Women’s University Club has served the community since 1914. This year, its headquarters turns 100. By Rachel Gallaher

Above, Women’s University Club members in the Malone Room show the club as it is today: a diverse group of accomplished women committed to lifelong learning.

At right, First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt addresses a wellattended 1939 dinner given in her honor by the club. If you’ve lived in Seattle for any amount of time, chances you’ve noticed the three-story red brick building on the corner of Sixth and Spring streets downtown. Built in 1922 and home to the Women’s University Club (a private women’s club that has been active in the region for more than a century), that building is celebrating its 100th birthday. Designed by two prominent turn-of-the-century architects and built in a Georgian Revival style, the clubhouse reflects the spirit and values of the women who meet within its walls.

“The club is full of accomplished women interested in lifelong learning in an elegant atmosphere,” says current president Loveday Conquest, emeritus professor and former associate director at the University of Washington’s School of Aquatic and Fishery Sciences and Quantitative Ecology and Resource Management. She has been a member of the Women’s University Club since 1988. “For many women, it’s a respite in the city. We offer traditional women’s club activities such as bridge, mahjong and art classes, but all of our events, lectures, and activities are member-driven—people are free to pursue their interests and share them with others. Community is important to us.”

Founded in 1914 under the leadership of its first president, Edith Backus, the Women’s University Club attracted service-minded, college-educated women with a passion for learning and launched with 276 charter members. “Given how few women were college-educated in the

United States at the time, that number is staggering,” says club member Karen Lane. Lane researched and put together an informational booklet for the centennial celebration of the clubhouse along with fellow member Trish Early, Grant Hildebrand (professor emeritus in the Department of Architecture at the University of Washington’s College of Built Environments), and his wife, Miriam Sutermeister. (For many years, members

The club attracted service-minded, college-educated women

needed a university degree to join, but that requirement no longer exists, and those with non-traditional, continuing education are welcome to apply).

The Women’s University Club started in a small, one-story building at 1250 Fifth Ave. next to the all-male College Club. In 1920, both clubs faced eviction when the Metropolitan Building Co. announced plans to raze all the structures on the block to develop a hotel (which became the Olympic Hotel). Members decided to erect a new clubhouse from the ground up and engaged two local architects, Abraham Horace Albertson and Édouard Frère Champney. Both men had connections to the club—Champney’s mother was a member, as was Albertson’s wife, Clare. Albertson had already designed the original Fifth Avenue building.

“It was the only collaboration the two ever did,” Early says. “It was an unusual partnership, because their styles were very different.”

The new Women’s University Club headquarters officially opened on Dec. 9, 1922. The building’s exterior, which remains untouched since its completion, is classic Georgian Revival. From the front,

the facade is proportionally balanced, with a centered entry and five bays of windows—all hallmarks of the architectural style. Its simple, elegant appearance is striking but not extravagant—a good match for the milieu of a club full of intrepid, visionary women looking to serve their community. The main floor is the heart of the space, with areas meant for socializing: a drawing room, the kitchen and dining room, the library and meeting rooms. The upper floors, originally short- and long-term rentals for women, are now flexible meeting and activity rooms and offices. The basement holds a ballroom and auditorium for large gatherings and special events.

The club’s charter members were resourceful; individuals, and groups within the club, each took up rooms to decorate (club members from the University of Washington furnished the drawing room). “These women braided all of the rugs for the boarding house and embroidered the napkins and linens for the dining room,” Lane notes. “Anything that could be crafted, they did the work.”

Over the next century, club members continued in the footsteps of their predecessors. The club has a nonprofit foundation that awards scholarships and is involved with numerous charities. Aside from the installation of an elevator—and an architectural addition made in the

WOMEN’S UNIVERSITY CLUB ARCHIVES

1960s to accommodate a new kitchen and dining room—the structure hasn’t changed much since its opening.

“This building is vital to the club,” Early says. “On occasions, members have discussed whether to move or to stay … and we’re still here. It’s part of the legacy of the Women’s University Club and a strong representation of who we are.”

A Poignant Night on the Pitch

Huskies honor their late teammate by beating Stanford on DP Night

By Jon Marmor

Above, Dubs joins the Husky men’s soccer team on DP Night, when it honored late teammate Daniel Phelps (right) and spread the word about sudden cardiac arrest, which tragically took Phelps’ life at the age of 27. When No. 1 Washington hosted No. 5 Stanford on Oct. 6, it was much more than a critical Pac-12 soccer match between two of the nation’s best teams. It was the second annual DP Night to raise awareness for sudden cardiac arrest and honor the memory of the late Daniel Phelps, a Husky soccer alumnus who died from sudden cardiac arrest in December 2015 at just 27 years old.

With more than 2,000 fans in attendance, including Seattle Sounders teammates Cristian Roldan (a UW alum) and Jordan Morris (Stanford alum), the Huskies defeated the Cardinal 3-0 on a night where hearts and minds were focused on paying tribute to the fallen player whose work ethic, charisma and outlook on life made him the kind of person everyone wanted to be around.

“DP Night is special because all the players wear tops with No. 19 to honor Daniel, and it brings the alumni back together to share stories and reflect on the love and laughter Daniel added to our lives,” says Adam Lang, ’10, Daniel’s Husky teammate and best friend.

Fans at Husky Soccer Stadium were able to get autographs and pictures with Roldan and Morris, the Seattle Sounders stars and U.S. World Cup squad members. And throughout the match, stats on sudden cardiac arrest were displayed on the big screen and fans could learn CPR and see just how simple it is to use an automated external defibrilator (AED).

The DP Foundation, which runs DP Night and an annual charity golf tournament called the DP Open, was created by Lang to honor Daniel and save and support young lives. They save lives by placing AEDs in the community and donating money to the Nick of Time Foundation to help fuel their youth heart screening program in Western Washington.

Newsroom Star

Former Daily reporter turned Pulitzer Prize-winning editor Suki Dardarian honored for George Floyd coverage By Rachel Gallaher

JEFF WHEELER/STAR TRIBUNE

Suki Dardarian is most proud of the honors her Star �ribune team won in the Online Journalism Award competition. In her four decades as a journalist and editor, Suki Dardarian has led newsrooms across the country in producing cutting-edge, community-driven content that has won numerous awards. Among those accolades are two Pulitzer Prizes in the Breaking News category; Dardarian managed award-winning teams at The Seattle Times and at the Star Tribune in Minneapolis, where she is currently the editor and senior vice president. And while Dardarian recognizes those honors, she admits that when she looks at her career, she’s particularly proud of the Star Tribune’s recognition by the Online News Association, a nonprofit membership organization for digital journalists that holds the annual Online Journalism Awards. The paper has won twice in the Explanatory Reporting, Large Newsroom category, and once in the Breaking News, Large Newsroom category.

“We nail the print stuff,” says Dardarian, ’80, who was inducted into the UW Communication Hall of Fame in October. “The Online Journalism Awards value the show-and-tell aspect of storytelling on a digital platform, which has always been the hardest thing to do. It’s impressive to see what kind of work can be done digitally.”

Like many journalists who entered the field in the ’80s and ’90s, Dardarian navigated the industry’s seismic changes with curiosity and optimism. Processes and procedures rapidly evolved around the turn of the millennium, from the impact of the internet age on news cycles to the production of newspapers. She remembers working at The Daily: “You’d type your story up on a typewriter, roll it up, secure it with tape, then put it in these plastic tubes that would take it down to the printer.” Technology has advanced, but Dardarian’s unwavering commitment to fair, ethical reporting hasn’t budged. After graduating from the UW, she worked at a series of regional papers, including The Daily Herald in Everett, The News Tribune in Tacoma, and The Seattle Times. In 2014, she joined the Star Tribune as managing editor and vice president. She was promoted to her current role earlier this year.

Under her leadership, the paper, which is available in print and online, has become one of the largest digital-only subscription news platforms in the country (and one of only six U.S. newspapers to exceed six figures). In 2021, the Star Tribune won a Pulitzer Prize in Breaking News Reporting for its coverage of George Floyd’s murder and the aftermath. According to Dardarian, success comes from collaboration. She wants journalists who are willing to share ideas, push each other’s abilities and work together. “The advent of digital media fostered new ways to collaborate,” she says. “All of these changes have been for the better when it comes to storytelling. I think it’s kept me in the business. While some people have fled because of [the turn to digital], it engaged me more. I love trying to convey information using new tools such as video or linking to original documents to strengthen credibility.”

She didn’t initially set out to be a journalist. Before transferring to UW, Dardarian enrolled at Western Washington University to study psychology. To make some extra money, she took a job proofreading the student newspaper and soon found herself reporting, and loving it. Dardarian possesses the traits and skills—fairness, accountability and a dedication to pursuing the facts—that make for a strong leader in the newsroom. She also prioritizes listening to reporters, readers and the community to make her publication stronger and more relatable.

“The essential elements of being a good journalist haven’t changed,” Dardarian says. “That includes having ethics, a commitment to accuracy, diversity and credibility, and being able to weigh the cost and benefits of what you do. What I’ve typed on may have changed over the years, but my commitment to these things has not.”