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Support the MAP Endowed Scholarship Fund Support the MAP Endowed Scholarship Fund by going to www.washington.edu/alumni/clubs/map.html
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Sheila Edwards Lange, Ph.D., ’00, ’06 Vice President for Minority Affairs and Vice Provost for Diversity
Online giving http://uwfoundation.org/diversity Or contact: Greg Lewis, Director of Development for Diversity, 206-685-3013 or at lewisg@u.washington.edu
new American Sign Language curriculum this past fall, is the University’s first deaf faculty member. The ASL classes—which students can use to fulfill their foreign language requirement for graduation—are offered through the UW’s Department of Linguistics. Forshay, who was born deaf and grew up in a mostly deaf family, taught ASL at Puyallup High School and at Bellevue Community College before joining the UW. Forshay’s 20 years of experience teaching ASL will provide UW students with an opportunity to learn about ASL history and engage with the deaf community. Richard Ladner, a professor of computer science and engineering who is the hearing child of deaf parents and is active in working with the deaf community, was instrumental in pushing for the UW’s ASL curriculum.
Professor, Mother, Genius Yoky Matsuoka, who builds lifelike prosthetics that she plans to connect directly to the brain so they can mimic the motions real hands make, was honored in the fall when she was named a 2007 MacArthur Fellow by the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation. The honor— known as a “Genius Award”—comes with $500,000 that Matsuoka can use any way she likes. Matsuoka, an associate professor of computer science and engineering and mother of three, was also named among the “Brilliant 10 scientists” by Popular Science magazine.
Photo by Kathy Sauber.
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Lance Forshay, who joined the University of Washington faculty to teach the
UW coaches honored at “Three Dawg Night” Seattle’s African American community came together
Photo courtesy of the MacArthur Foundation
he road leading to celebrating 40 years of diversity at the UW by the Office of Minority Affairs and Diversity (OMA&D) began with the courageous actions of students and their demand for change. The movement for equity and access at the UW that was ignited by the 1968 members of the Black Student Union touched the lives of thousands of students including my own. Their efforts and the willingness of the UW administration to do the right thing offered me and others who came through the door since 1968 a very different student experience. Although as a student I sometimes felt isolated and faced uncomfortable encounters, I knew there were sources of support like OMA&D and GO-MAP (Graduate Opportunities & Minority Achievement Program). These offices exist to help students because of the 1968 actions of a small number of students of color who put their education and careers on the line for change. I’ve often thought about our responsibility to fulfill the hopes and promise of those 1968 students who struggled to make the UW more inclusive. In my current role as head of OMA&D, I have high expectations of and for students. Students of color should fill seats at the UW, graduate and fulfill their dreams. I believe to do less is to dishonor those who came before us. An education puts us in a much better position to not only care for ourselves but to give back to our communities. My fervent hope is that current students, alumni, and community partners will choose to be engaged with the UW as we build on diversity efforts started in 1968. Together we can maintain the legacy of educational opportunity for future generations.
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Justin Simmons, ’93 MAP President, 2006-2008
UW hires first deaf faculty to teach ASL
Photo by Mary Levin
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n the four decades since the UW Office of Minority Affairs and Diversity was founded, our University has built a national reputation for promoting equal opportunity for all students and celebrating the incredible diversity all around us. And for the last 13 years, the Multicultural Alumni Partnership has worked successfully within the UW Alumni Association to expand that legacy at UWAA and reach out to alumni and the community, in an effort to reengage alums of color and help ensure a welcoming, nurturing environment for UW students of every background. The 13th annual Bridging the Gap Breakfast held last fall was the most successful MAP event to date, with approximately 750 supporters in attendance, new corporate sponsors onboard and record contributions given for student scholarships! We could not have done it all without the support of our campus-wide coalition partners, including the Office of Minority Affairs and Diversity. MAP looks forward to OMA&D’s Friends of the Educational Opportunity Program Celebration on May 7, when the prestigious Charles E. Odegaard Award will be presented to members of the 1968 UW Black Student Union, the group that galvanized the institutional changes that made diversity into policy at the UW. As a university community committed to academic excellence, equity and social justice, we have come a long way together in the past 40 years, but our work is far from over. In the words of UW President Mark Emmert, “We need to recommit to and expand upon our efforts to address the issue of diversity as one of the most important core values of the University of Washington.” Will you join us in our ongoing efforts? MAP meetings are held at 5:30 p.m. on the second Thursday of each month at the UW Alumni House. We would love to see you there!
October 10 for “Three Dawg Night” to celebrate the historic appointment of the UW’s three African American head coaches: Tyrone Willingham (football), Lorenzo Romar (men’s basketball), and Tia Jackson (women’s basketball). The event, held at the First AME Church in Seattle’s Capitol Hill, also honored the appointment of Sheila Edwards Lange as the UW’s vice president for minority affairs and vice provost for diversity. The event was hosted by the UW Office of Minority Affairs and Diversity and the UW Alumni Association in partnership with Eli Lilly, The Breakfast Group, TABOR 100, African American Prosperity Partnership, Greater Seattle Chapter of The Links Inc., Urban League of Metropolitan Seattle and the Washington State NAACP. UWAA President Norm Proctor, ‘74, ‘77, Greg Lewis, ‘94, and Nate Miles, ‘82, spoke at the event. viewpoints