Telling the Story of Diversity at the University of Washington | Spring 2018
Celebrating Five Decades of Minority Affairs & Diversity and a Legacy of Student Leadership
v
SPRING 2018
FOUNDED 2004
Published by the UW Alumni Association
P U B L I S H E D B Y T H E U W A LU M N I A S S O C I AT I O N I N PA R T N E R S H I P W I T H T H E U W O F F I C E O F M I N O R I T Y A F FA I R S & D I V E R S I T Y
viewpoint
:: Telling the Story of Diversity at the University of Washington
in partnership with the UW Office of
POINT OF VIEW
Minority Affairs & Diversity
Legacy and impact
4311 11th Ave. NE, Suite 220 Box 354989 Seattle, WA 98195-4989 Fax: 206-685-0611 Email: vwpoint@uw.edu Viewpoint on the Web: UWalum.com/viewpoint
viewpoint STA F F Paul Rucker, ’95, ’02 P U BLIS HER
Dolores Sibonga, ’52, ’73 GU EST EDIT OR
Hannelore Sudermann, ’96 M A N A GING EDIT OR
Carol Nakagawa A R T D IRECT OR
viewpoint ADVISORY COMMITTEE Rickey Hall Vice President for Minority Affairs & Diversity Chief Diversity Officer
Eleanor J. Lee, ’00, ’05 Director of Communications UW Graduate School
Tamara Leonard Associate Director Center for Global Studies Henry M. Jackson School of International Studies
Erin Rowley Director for Communications Office of Minority Affairs & Diversity
2
T
HIS IS MY SECOND YEAR with the Office of Minority Affairs & Diversity (OMA&D), but I have known about its legacy and impact for quite some time. Coincidentally, I was here on campus for the 40th anniversary as a member of former vice president Nancy “Rusty” Barceló’s leadership team at the University of Minnesota. Rusty brought us here to learn about the great work that was taking place. OMA&D was considered then, like it is today, to be a national model for supporting access and success for underrepresented minority, first-generation and low-income From left, Rickey Hall with UW Provost Gerald J. Baldasty, OMA&D students. Now, 10 years later, I have the great priviStudent Advisory Board chair Julien Ishibashi and OMA&D 50th Anniversary planning committee chair Jeanette James. lege of being OMA&D’s vice president during its 50th anniversary. As we honor this significant milestone and reflect on the past, it is important In This Issue we do so by first recognizing that our campus sits on Native American land. We 4 News Items should also recognize that we benefit from the work of those who came before 5 Guest Editor us and laid the foundation on which we operate today. Many of you, our val§§ Dolores Sibonga ued alumni and community members, are a part of this legacy. You have been 6 Cover Story: breaking down barriers with us for many years, and for that we thank you. §§ Fighting injustice, This milestone also allows us to examine how our office will continue its catalyzing change impact in the future. When I think about our anniversary, the words “50 Next” 10 Join a club come to mind. What do the next 50 years look like for us, given the changing & change the world national landscape around equity and diversity, and the evolving needs of §§ Student organizations current and future students? through the years We know that we will need to better serve the intersectionality of our stu12 Leading roles dents as they increasingly identify with multiple social, racial and gender §§ Campus leaders across UW backgrounds. We will also focus on how to navigate and negotiate issues 16 Odegaard Award when institutional values and individual rights collide, as well as how we can §§ The Honorable better communicate across difference. OMA&D is undertaking a yearlong Ricardo S. Martinez strategic planning process to map out some of these objectives. On the Cover Evolving and responding to community needs with a student-first focus UW student presidents clockwise has always been at the heart of OMA&D’s work. That is one thing that won’t from top left, Soh Yeun (Elloise) change as we look ahead to the next five decades. Kim, Osman Salahuddin, Arwa Rickey Hall Dubad and Dominick Juarez. Vice President for Minority Affairs & Diversity Photographed by David Chief Diversity Officer Jaewon Oh, ’10.
V I E W P O I N T : : U Wa l u m . c o m / v i e w p o i n t
ROBERT WA DE PH OT OG RA PH Y
Phone: 206-543-0540
Our debt to the “angelic troublemakers”
“
...THAT SPIRIT OF COLLABORATION AND REACHING ACROSS DIVIDES HAS DRAWN OMA&D INEXORABLY TOWARD THE CENTER OF OUR COMMUNITY.
S EAT T LE T IMES -EMILE PIT RE COLLECT ION
”
Student activists demand the University do more to recruit and support students of color in May 1968.
Bayard Rustin was a chief organizer of the March on Washington, at which Martin Luther King Jr. delivered his “I Have a Dream” speech, and a civil rights giant in his own right. He once wrote, “We need, in every community, a group of angelic troublemakers.” By “angelic troublemakers,” he meant the people who catalyze systemic change by refusing to accept an unacceptable status quo. Fifty years ago, the University of Washington was home to its own band of “angelic troublemakers” — student activists who challenged the University to make diversity, inclusion and representation a true priority here. In the years since, the Office of Minority Affairs & Diversity, a huge part of their legacy, has served as a community hub, an agent of advancing equity and a model of leadership here at the UW and at colleges and universities across the country. In the five decades since OMA&D was created, the organization has embodied the inclusion that it set out to encourage, and that spirit of collaboration and reaching across divides has drawn OMA&D inexorably toward the center of our community. OMA&D has produced extraordinary leaders, both on campus and beyond it. Above all, it has nurtured the talents of students who have gone on to change the world. OMA&D helped produce students like Elva Arredondo, ’97, who
first found her passion for psychology research here while studying substance use and HIV risk among homeless youth. She is now a professor at San Diego State University studying health disparities. And Tyrone Porter, '03, who, while earning his Ph.D. in bioengineering, led student protests of Initiative 200, an antiaffirmative action initiative in 1998. He now leads his own lab in Boston University’s College of Engineering , where he develops therapeutic applications for ultrasound. OMA&D developed the leadership talents of students like Elese Adele Washines, ’05, a Mary Gates Scholar and co-chairperson of First Nations while at the UW. She now teaches high school in her native Yakima Valley and is a respected leader in the Yakama Nation. So many students—more than I can name here—took some of their first steps toward leadership, activism and social justice work through their association with OMA&D. I am deeply proud of this ever-growing legacy. The ongoing work of the students, staff and faculty who lead the office inspires me every day. At this moment, when we face profound challenges that threaten to divide our community, OMA&D’s record of committed, peaceful, inclusive work for equity and diversity is a beacon. I’m grateful to everyone who has made the last 50 years of OMA&D possible. As a community, we dedicate ourselves to ensuring that 50 years from now, we have even more to celebrate. Ana Mari Cauce Professor of Psychology President of the University of Washington
the story of diversity at the UW
3
RACE & EQUITY INITIATIVE
Making changes across the UW
Guest contributors
BY LE I LANI LE WI S
Join the celebration Historical Display May 1-June 13 Allen Library (North) A visual display immerses visitors in the story of the OMA&D.
The History of OMA&D: A Talk with Emile Pitre May 17, registration required The longtime staff member covers the decades from his time as a student to the present. uw.edu/omad/50th
Other events Tribal Leadership Summit May 11, 12-3 p.m. – Intellectual House uw.edu/diversity/ tribalrelations/summit
Celebration May 16 | HUB Ballroom OMA&D and the Friends of the Educational Opportunity Program host the annual dinner and scholarship fundraiser. uw.edu/omad/celebration
Save the Date MAP Bridging the Gap Breakfast Oct. 20 | HUB Ballroom Join alumni and friends for this annual Multicultural Alumni Partnership’s scholarship fundraiser.
I
N 2015, University of Washington President Ana Mari Cauce called upon the tricampus community to reach out across difference and take actions large and small that would create a more equitable and inclusive university environment through the UW Race & Equity Initiative (R&EI). Three years later, President Cauce’s vision and the efforts of the initiative’s steering committee have inspired the Board of Regents, executive leadership, schools and colleges, faculty, staff and most importantly our students to confront barriers to equity. Through campuswide trainings, investments in student programming and policy review, the initiative is helping to change the culture of the UW together with the support of partners across all three campuses.
For students, by students For the past two winter quarters, undergraduate and graduate students received R&EI funding to create events that align with initiative goals. While learning with and from each other, students are using these funds to dialogue across difference, find their voice and move the culture of inclusion forward on their campuses. In doing so, they are engaging with the work in innovative ways.
UW organizations take the lead Equity and inclusion work is not always visible. However, many UW departments, schools and colleges are building for change. UW Advancement (UA) is just one example of a department that has responded to the initiative by embedding the values of equity and inclusion within the organization. The UA equity team members—led by Christina Chang, assistant vice president for University Advancement Finance and Talent Management; Jan Harrison, ARCS liaison and the Graduate School’s director of diversity stewardship; and Seija Emerson, Advancement human resources coordinator—convene monthly meetings to explore ways to foreground equity in their day-to-day work. By facing the hard conversations and challenging moments that often scaffold conversations about race, the team is doing its part to confront individual bias, transform practices and accelerate systemic change. In addition to the trainings, other units across campus have created their own committees and steering bodies to focus on policy review and develop new tools for hiring and retention. The work is complex and ongoing, but the groundswell of positive change will continue as more of the UW community deepens its commitment to equity and inclusion.
In Memoriam Harold G. Booker, a Seattle area attorney and chemical engineer, had retired after 40 years at Boeing where he worked as a research chemist and later as a contracts attorney. Booker was born in 1933 in Spring, Texas, and graduated high school as valedictorian at age 15. After completing an undergraduate degree at Wiley College, he earned his Masters of Science in organic chemistry at the UW. His other degrees included a MS in systems management from USC and a JD from University of Puget Sound. He was a reservist in the U.S. Army Chemical Corps and a frequent volunteer and pro bono attorney. He held in leadership roles and received recognition for his community service in the Seattle area: the Jaycees, Federal Way Human Rights Committee, Therapeutic Health Services and King County Housing Authority, among others. He passed away peacefully in the care of his family and Kaiser caregivers on Feb. 14.
4
MARQUIS J. WRIGHT is a junior, studying creative writing and communications. He is president of the UW chapter of Delta Lambda Phi social fraternity, vice president of Queer People of Color Alliance and a writer for The Daily.
V I E W P O I N T : : U Wa l u m . c o m / v i e w p o i n t
MANISHA JHA is a sophomore majoring in health sciences. She also covers science for The Daily.
DAVID JAEWON OH, ’10, graduated from the UW with a BFA in photo media. As an artist, he uses his photography to examine identity and show unexpected points of view.
A long view on leadership | Guest editor Dolores Sibonga
DAVID JA EWON OH ' 1 0
Dolores Sibonga, ‘52, ’73 led the state human rights commission and served 12 years on the Seattle City Council during a time of significant progress for social justice in our region.
I’m honored to serve as guest editor for this issue of Viewpoint, which celebrates the establishment of the Office of Minority Affairs & Diversity. It gives me the opportunity to share what it was like to be a journalism student at the University in 1948 and—22 years later, thanks to OMA&D—an entering law student in 1970. My experiences may help provide context for what’s happening today. The critical backdrop, of course, was the Civil Rights Movement. It was the late 1960s, and communities of color were protesting for equal rights. My husband, Marty, and I owned and published The Filipino Forum, a community newspaper dedicated to “United Minority Action.” We were a staff of three: Marty was editor-publisher; our teenage son, Marty, Jr., was part-time photographer, and I wrote the news. At the University in 1968, the Black Student Union confronted the administration, demanding better recruitment and support structures. The following year, Asians challenged their exclusion from the special-education program that recruited “Black, Mexican, Indian and ‘poor White’ students.” As a result, OMA&D was formed. I covered demonstrations throughout the city and county. Coalitions of African Americans, Asian, Latino and Native peoples fought for equal access to education, health care and jobs. At SeaTac Airport, authorities threatened to use water cannons and other violent methods to disperse the crowd. It was too much. That was when I went from reporter to demonstrator, and our lives changed. I never intended to be an activist. When I first attended the UW, I wanted to get good grades and graduate. Like most children of immigrant parents, I was expected to get an education and make my family proud. Most of my classmates wanted to be foreign correspondents or reporters for The Seattle Times or Post-Intelligencer, or editors of small-town newspapers. My goal wasn’t as lofty, but I got a jolt one day when three of us were lingering in the Daily Shack after deadlines. My favorite professor came by and mentioned that the faculty had discussions about whether to
admit us to the program because we might not be able to get jobs. The three of us were Asians. However, two of us—both women— could also find employment in the industry, though our male colleague did not. For me, a career in broadcasting and print, along with marriage and family, followed. By the time I returned to the UW for my law degree in 1970, my view of the world had changed and so had the campus. I was one of a group of students of color, the largest number ever admitted. My goal the second time was to learn the skills that would enable me to work for social justice, and if that meant changing the law, I was in the right place. After graduation, I eventually became deputy director of the Washington State Human Rights Commission, where we investigated and took to court cases of discrimination in employment, housing, disability, insurance and other areas. In 1978, I was appointed to fill a short-term vacancy on the Seattle City Council. During that time, I objected to key positions in the city being filled primarily by white men. John Miller, the president of the council, said if I didn’t like it, I could change the procedures for recruitment and selection, which I did. I hadn’t intended to run for office, but that interim experience set my course. When I was elected to a full term and served for 12 years, I saw a major part of my mission as opening up opportunities for women and persons of color, particularly as leaders, department heads and decision makers. This issue of Viewpoint highlights the struggles and triumph of those who stepped up to leadership, despite personal risk. Today courageous students value this legacy and continue to seek equity and social justice. We celebrate them and others who lead the Black Lives, DACA, #NeverAgain and the #MeToo movements. the story of diversity at the UW
5
STUDENTS FIGHTING BY HANNELORE SUDERMANN
On election night in 2016, the mood at the Samuel E. Kelley Ethnic Cultural Center turned somber. Dozens of students had come to watch the results of the presidential election. To their dismay, the candidate who promised to put up a wall between the United States and Mexico and threatened to end DACA (Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals) won. For many, particularly those who were undocumented or had family members who were, the world was coming apart. But already that evening and in the days that followed, the team in the Office of Minority Affairs & Diversity (OMA&D) was racing to respond. They identified faculty and law students with expertise in immigration law and human rights. They found counselors to help the students manage their fear and stress. And within the week, President Ana Mari Cauce issued a statement of assurance that students would not be asked about their immigration status. In the 50 years since the Office of Minority Affairs opened, it has been a resource for thousands of students, its programs often making a difference in whether they struggle or thrive. And while it has served its mission of recruiting and supporting minority, first-generation and low-income students, it has also adapted to meet new demands. “We evolve as needs evolve,” says Rickey Hall, UW’s vice president for minority affairs and diversity and chief diversity officer. If the OMA&D does its job, it meets the challenges it was created to meet and at the same time readies itself and the University for change. “Offices like ours will always be needed,” Hall says. “But as the issues and needs of the students and the University evolve, what we do will look different.”
Fifty years ago, students attuned to inequities and racism in the world around them found the tools, words and understanding in the Civil Rights Movement to identify their experiences on campus as unjust. As a freshman, Verlane Keith-Miller thought the troubles of African Americans around the country were distant. “But by my second year,
6
V I E W P O I N T : : U Wa l u m . c o m / v i e w p o i n t
Abby Franklin presents B'nai B'rith's Sidney Gerber Award in 1968 to Black Student Union officers Verlane Keith-Miller, Larry Gossett and E.J. Brisker in acknowedgement of the BSU's work to end racial injustice.
I started seeing things and hearing things that changed me,” she says. Riding to school with her brother Dan Keith and friend Larry Gossett— founding members of the UW’s Black Student Union—she heard stories of inequity and racism as well as of student activism. Students like Keith, Gossett and Keith-Miller demanded the University hire non-white administrators and faculty, provide more resources to help students overcome obstacles like poverty and poor high school preparation, and start a Black Studies program. The administration appeared to be listening, but—from the students’ point of view—it was slow to act. One late afternoon in May 1968, Keith-Miller joined a small group of students in a march to President Charles Odegaard’s office to hold a sitin. As word of the demonstration spread, hundreds more arrived to show support. They weren’t all Black students, but also Latinos and Native Americans including Marcie HallMcMurtrie. She had come to the UW from the Colville Reservation and, with a couple other Native American students, found a connection with the BSU. “There were so few of us. The Black Student Union was the only congregation of minorities we had on campus,” she says. “We could go and sort of feel like we belonged to something.” As they marched into the administration building, they were “fearful, joyful and full of angry enthusiasm,” Hall-McMurtrie says. “Nobody blocked our way.”
The sit-in that May ended peaceably a few hours later when the president committed to meet the students’ demands. One of the best things to came out of it was that students had found their voices, and those voices resonated across the city. That fall, a new wave of students came to the UW ready to take on the work their predecessors had catalyzed. Felicita Irigon joined the newly formed Special Education Program (the progenitor of the Educational Opportunity Program), where students of color could find scholarships, tutoring and counseling. “They were just starting to get the framework of what EOP was going to be,” she says. She and other students helped design the first UW efforts to recruit underrepresented minorities from Washington high schools. “All of us recruiters were students, and we were invested in making it work,” she says. Catalina Cantu, also a freshman in 1968, realized she was an activist the day she was invited to a United Mexican Students meeting in Lander Hall. At that meeting, she volunteered to be a representative to the Black Student Union. Later she joined the Chicano House at the dorm and co-founded El Teatro del Piojo, a theatrical troop inspired by the experience of migrants that tackled subjects like education and racism. “We really thought that we could make a difference with whatever it took to get the attention of people in power to make a change,” Can-
G INJUSTICE& tu says. “We wanted to make a difference so the generations after us wouldn’t have the same experience.” In response to the students’ demands in 1968, the University created the Office of Minority Affairs. With each new decade, the office has played an ever-greater role on campus and done more to reach alumni and communities of color throughout the region. It has also maneuvered to meet new challenges like the 1998 passage of Initiative 200, which barred the University from considering race in making offers of admission. The office responded by retooling the EOP program and helping develop a supplemental admission process that would take into account an applicant’s personal factors like cultural awareness and overcoming adversity. When Sheila Edwards Lange, ’00, ’06, became vice president for minority affairs and head of the office, she continued work started by her predecessors’ to add “Diversity” to the office’s portfolio, widening its services to include queer students and students with disabilities. It wasn’t an easy change, says Edwards Lange. Students, alumni and community members had concerns that by broadening the mission of the office, race would be less of a priority. Instead, the office became more intersectional—serving students not only challenged by racism and lack of resources, but also those whose challenges were compounded by orientation and disability. Another significant change for the office involved moving its administrative office and some of its programs from across the street in Schmitz Hall to the heart of campus at Mary Gates Hall. “Fifteenth Avenue was a barrier to the main campus,” says Edwards Lange. “We needed to move to the center of the institution—figuratively and literally.” Again, because of student demands, the Samuel E. Kelly Ethnic Cultural Center (ECC) was doubled in size in a 2011-2012 project that coincided with the renovation of the HUB. “It was great to be able to tie the two projects together,” says Edwards Lange. “The students were adamant that if there was a renovation of the HUB, the University needed to be committed to renovating the ECC.” The space was sorely needed. The old building
could offer room to only 30 to 40 student clubs, even though more than 70 were seeking space. The new cultural center now serves over 100 clubs and houses a computer lab, a food pantry and theater. In 2015, the University made good on a 40-yearold vision by opening the doors on – Intellectual House, a resource for American Indian and Alaska Native students and tribal communities. “The timing was right because President [Mark] Emmert understood the value of the project,” says Edwards Lange. “The students, the staff and the Native American community were all invested, and we were able to put it into the capital planning process.” Finally, while pushing the University to pursue two major building projects, the students also campaigned for a campus-wide diversity course requirement. “Students will always have the innovative ideas,” says Edwards Lange. “They don’t always have the resources to bring them to life.” For 20 years, they had been asking for a diversity course requirement for all undergraduates. What made the difference was a newly formed diversity council made up of faculty and staff. Students lean out of the windows during the occupation of President Charles Odegaard's office in May 1968. MOHAI CO LL ECT IO N JA MES G REG ORY
MOH A I, SEATTLE POST-IN TELLIG EN CER COLLECTION
CATALYZING CHANGE The council members helped the students develop benchmarking with other institutions, make arguments for the course requirement to the faculty senate, and provide data to support the shift. It finally happened in 2013. Today's students face similar challenges to those of their 1960s counterparts, but now, thanks to the work of previous generations, they have many more resources. Guadalupe Tovar, for example, was the first in her Eastern Washington family to finish high school. “When I got into the UW, everyone in my family was jumping up and down for joy,” she says. But joy soon turned to confusion. College was hard and Tovar felt isolated so far from home. What saved her was the OMA&D-managed College Assistance Migrant Program. She found other students grappling with the same issues. “If not for CAMP, I would have left UW after the first quarter,” Tovar says. Instead, she threw her energies into school and found OMA&D programs that prepared her for graduate school. Today she’s a National Science Foundation graduate research fellow pursuing a dual Ph.D. in astronomy and astrobiology. Joshua Dawson, a senior from Federal Way, recalls his first day of school when he walked into class in Kane Hall. Arriving just minutes before the lecture, he discovered nearly all 600 seats were filled and could see only five other African Americans in the room. The lecture sailed right over his head. “I thought, ‘What am I doing here?’” he says. But the OMA&D advisers wouldn’t let him be overwhelmed. The Instructional Center tutors helped him make sense of chemistry and biology. He joined the Minority Association of Pre Health Students (and later becoming president), and sits on an advisory committee for the Brotherhood Initiative (a new UW program to help young men of color graduate). And now he is an undergraduate researcher at a Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center lab. “Who would have thought?” Dawson says. "This is a guy who really struggled in Chem. 142.” Dawson now tells high school students who are considering the UW that they may get into many different colleges, but “if you come to the University of Washington, you will surely have support.” the story of diversity at the UW
7
50
1968: Students protest for more diversity of students and faculty
years forward
OMA&D milestones across the journey to advance diversity, equity and inclusion
1968
Students, led by the newly formed Black Student Union, demand the university do more to recruit and retain students of color and diversify the faculty. Months of discussions lead to the creation of the Special Education Program and plans for a cultural center as well as Black Studies and Chicano Studies programs. 2013: Rebuilding the Kelly Ethnic Cultural Center
1970
The University hires Samuel E. Kelly to be the first vice president for minority affairs. Students start helping the University identify and recruit Black, Latino, American Indian, disadvantaged Asian and low-income students from high schools around the state. Student and faculty diversity starts to climb. Within a year of starting the job, Kelly changes the name of the Special Education Program to the Educational Opportunity Program and establishes the Friends of EOP which launches the first EOP Scholarship fund drive. It raises private funds for scholarships with the help of members of the community.
1998 Washington state’s Initiative 200 prevents the use of race, gender or national origin in admission decisions. Students demand the University show a greater commitment to diversity. The following year, the University launches an aggressive recruitment campaign to minimize the impact of the initiative on diversity on campus. OMA&D establishes the Student Ambassador Outreach Program to enhance recruitment efforts for underrepresented minority students throughout the state.
1970: UW hires Samuel E. Kelly.
MORE MILESTONES
•1 9 6 8-1970 Academic programs including Black Studies (1968-69) and Chicano Studies (1970) are established. Student activism and involvement moves forward. The United Mexican American Students organization becomes the UW Chapter of Movimiento Estudiantil Chicanx de Aztlán (MEChA). •1970 An administrative liaison forms between EOP and the Graduate School to establish the Graduate Opportunities and Minority Achievement Program (GO-MAP) that expands access to graduate education to minority students. •1 9 7 2 The first UW Spring Student Advisroy Board comprised of three student representatives from each ethnic student division. •1 9 7 2 The Ethnic Cultural Center opens to promote academic, cultural and social needs and support student leadership. Now named for Samuel E. Kelly, it is one of the oldest university cultural centers in the country. •1977 The Instructional Center consolidates tutoring services for underrepresented minority and first-generation college students under one roof. •1979-83 Several new college access and student support programs start: Seattle Early Scholars Outreach Program, Student Support Services, Upward Bound, Early Identification Program and Educational Talent Search. •1 9 9 2 The Early Identification Program
8
V I E W P O I N T : : U Wa l u m . c o m / v i e w p o i n t
2007 In an effort to increase and retain more faculty of color, an associate vice provost, reporting dually to the OMA&D vice president and vice provost, and provost's office, is established.
2015: The House opens
2013 After 25 years of student efforts, University-wide diversity course requirement is established. All undergraduate students must take a minimum of three credits that focus on sociocultural, political and/or economic diversity.
2011
2015
Students and alumni break ground on a two-year, $15 million project to rebuild the Ethnic Cultural Center to three times its original size to accommodate a growing number of students and organizations.
– Intellectual House, a longawaited longhouse-style facility opens for Indigenous students and community members as well as for the greater UW campus.
- Intellectual 2013: A diversity course requirement is established
holds the UW’s first-ever undergraduate research conference. •1 9 9 3 A Native American Advisory Board is formed to help with student outreach, recruitment and retention, as well as the construction of a longhouse-style facility. It is followed by a President's Minority Community Advisory Committee and the UW Alumni Association's Multicultural Alumni Partnership. •1 9 9 8 Funded by the U.S. Department of Education, the UW’s GEAR UP (Gaining Early Awareness and Readiness for Undergraduate Programs) initiative is launched in the Yakima Valley to prepare disadvantaged middle and high school students for college. •1999 Ronald E. McNair Program starts up at the UW to prepare undergraduates for doctoral study. •2001 A University Diversity Council is founded to serve as a conduit for campus-wide assessment and solutions about diversity. •2010 The first Tribal Leadership Summit is held. •2009-12 Programs are established to support students pursuing STEM degrees, foster-care alumni and those from migrant farmworker backgrounds. •2014 Leadership Without Borders is established to empower and provide support to undocumented students. •2016 The Graduate School creates Core Programs to help first-generation college students navigate their master's and doctoral degrees. the story of diversity at the UW
9
Join a club &
Current members and leaders of the Black Student Union.
CHANGE THE WORLD BY MARQU I S J . WRI GH T
THE SE AT TLE CIVI L RI GHTS & LAB OR HI STO RY PR OJ E CT, UW
Just over a century ago, students founded
From left, M.E.Ch.A. members Rosie Ramirez, Samuel Hernandez, Cynthia Maltos, Ernesto Luna and Janie Garza, circa 1972.
10
V I E W P O I N T : : U Wa l u m . c o m / v i e w p o i n t
the University’s first ethnic and cultural organizations. In 1911, a small group of Chinese American students formed a club to create a social and support network for one another. A Japanese club started up the following year.
By 1917, dozens of students from the Philippines, which at the time was a U.S. colony, had come to Seattle to study as “pensionados” on a U.S. government-funded program. Fourteen men and two women formed the Filipino American Student Association (FASA), originally known as the Filipino Club. Of those early groups, it is the longest continuously operating club on campus and helped pave the way for many other organizations that would validate the identities and experiences of students of color on the UW campus. Theresa Oh found FASA in the early 1950s when she was studying
U W PH OT O
“
IT IS KI N D O F DIFFICULT, RE AL LY, BECAUS E I JUS T C AME TO TH IS COUN T RY AN D TH EN I H AD AN AC C EN T. YOU KEPT Q UI E T AN D JUST LIST E N E D INSTEAD O F TAL K I N G TOO MUC H.
COURTESY LORI A N UN CIA CION -M IN A
pharmacology at the UW. She was looking for a connection, a way to feel less lonely on campus. “I was a freshman, and we had what—two Filipino girls all in the freshman class?” And the other woman hadn’t realized that Oh was Filipina. They joined FASA during a time when the campus climate toward inclusivity was slowly on the rise. But for Oh, it was still hard to connect with her fellow students. “It is kind of difficult, really, because I just came to this country and then I had an accent. You kept quiet and just listened instead of talking too much,” she says. “It was difficult unless you were born in this country, then you don’t feel so timid.” Today the representation of Filipino students on campus has risen significantly. “Our membership is in triple digits, almost breaking 200,” said Marijo Manaois, the current FASA president and a UW senior majoring in medical anthropology. The University of Washington is now celebrating a number of anniversaries for cultural groups and diversity centers. The Black Student Union (BSU), for example, turns 50 this year. While it was a resource for Black students at a time when there were only 100 on campus, it also achieved a broader accomplishment—that of bringing the voices of all students of color to the fore. African American students who were already concerned with civil rights and social justice issues started meeting in the HUB in the late 1960s. In 1968, after winter break, they formed the BSU. Classmates from other ethnic backgrounds were drawn to the group because of the work it was doing to foster a multicultural community. In addition to pushing for the University to recruit more Black students, the members of the BSU were advocating for higher admission of Chicano and Native American students. They were also asking for changes in educational programming and more faculty of
”
- THERESA OH color. Achieving these goals was an arduous process, culminating in a march to the administration building and sit-in led by the BSU. The students demanded that the administration agree to change the curriculum, hire diverse faculty and recruit more Black, Latino, Native American and low-income Asian students. The momentum to bring together people of color on campus continued with student groups such as Asian American Student Coalition and the Movimiento Estudiantil Chicano/a de Aztlan (M.E.Ch.A. for short). After starting up on campus in 1968, M.E.Ch.A.’s contributions to the larger Chicano movement for political, social and academic equity led to the UW’s Chicano Studies program and fed into other social justice efforts in the region. The First Nations student organization formed around that time, hosting the first UW Spring Powwow in 1971.
My perspective Coming into this institution, I wanted to explore the facets that make up who I am. This led me to more recently founded RSOs and educational resources that explore racial diversity and how it intersects with other parts of identity, education and the social sphere. I joined the Queer People of Color Alliance, which aims to build a community of queer and trans people of color.
The UW Filipino Club, c. 1939
The Chinese Students Club from the 1923 Tyee Yearbook. We’ve had conversations and activities relating to our experiences and our intersectional marginalization. These organizations have positively impacted my student life and my confidence in my identity, and are the reasons why communities on campus like QPOCA exist at the UW and are growing. Today, these legacy Registered Student Organizations and nearly 100 others focused on cultural identity are helping underrepresented commu-
nities establish themselves at the University, and together push for institutional changes focused on diversity. There is still much to be done to make life for a minority student more equitable. And one of the best ways to honor the contributions of past students who led these efforts is to continue the job by looking back at how far we’ve come as a diverse body and collectively pursuing a more inclusive future for the UW. the story of diversity at the UW
11
Leading roles This year, the UW's student leaders hail from California, Somalia, Korea and the Puget Sound
region. While pursuing their studies in politics, human rights, mechanical engineering, English and neurobiology, they’re throwing their energies into making the UW a better place for all students. Each one of them sees race, equity and social justice as central to his or her work as a student body president.
Arwa Dubad
ASUW Tacoma President
Serving 5,200 undergraduate students RWA DUBAD, the student body president of UW Tacoma,
A is from West Seattle and Somalia. She is a senior study-
ing philosophy, politics and economics and minoring in human rights and religious studies. She has eight sisters and looks forward to being the first in her family to graduate from a four-year institution because, “my younger siblings will be in the stands watching me and seeing themselves in me. That is what I am looking forward to.” Dubad decided to run for office last January while watching President Obama’s final address to the nation. From the day she moved to this country, she has seen Obama as a symbol of hope. “Dreams did not have to be just dreams anymore, they could be a reality,” she says. As she watched the TV, she was reminded of how alone she once felt, “the struggles I had to overcome trying to find my place in this nation. I remembered walking in to a classroom and the teacher speaking in a language I had only heard in movies.” As her eyes filled with tears, Dubad decided to run for office. “I wanted to leave a mark at University of Washington Tacoma the same way he left a mark on our nation.” Now serving about 5,000 of her fellow students, she is attuned to their greatest needs. “Parking!,” she exclaims, is extremely important. But the multifaceted and diverse student body can also use more places to study, especially at night, and more restaurants and a grocery store. “Our students are mostly first generation, from underrepresented backgrounds,” she says, adding that they’re asking for “more faculty of color across all disciplines. The list goes on, [but] we as a university should always prioritize enhancing the student experience with equity, affordability, accessibility and transparency in mind.” In her time as president, Dubad has learned to help her colleagues take the wheel. “[This job] taught me to not take a lot of space when it’s not necessary, to allow others to lead and shine.” Her team of senators, members of the board of directors and her staff “are the reason why we have accomplished every single goal we set in the beginning of our term in the first six months,” she says. “They push me to be a better leader and a human being. They challenge me, and I would not want it any other way.”
12
V I E W P O I N T : : U Wa l u m . c o m / v i e w p o i n t
BY MANISHA JHA | PHOTOGRAPHED BY DAVID JAEWON O H
Dominick Juarez ASUW Bothell President Serving approximately 6,000 undergraduate students
JUAREZ is in his second D OMINICK term as president at UW Bothell. He was born in California and grew up in Everett. Swayed by injuries he sustained in an assault during his first weeks as a UW student, Juarez changed his plans of studying biology and becoming an orthodontist to mechanical engineering, where he can work developing prosthetics. “When I was younger, I used to tell my grandma that I wanted to invent something to help humanity,” he says. “Now that’s what I intend on doing.” Juarez ran with the hope of encouraging future student leaders who can carry on his legacy as president. Yes, parking and food will always be priorities for Bothell students, “but because of the large commuter population, what I think is even more crucial for our students is creating a community on campus,” he says. One issue unique to UWB is the prevalence of wetlands nearby, which has limited expanding parking and adding child care. UW Bothell also has a very high percentage of minorities. Because of this, Juarez says, “UW Bothell, to my knowledge and experience, is implicitly focused on the incorporation of social justice.” During his time as president, Juarez has worked to make students more aware of the opportunities and resources that are already available to them. During his first term, the students saw their dreams of a recreation facility as well as a center for diversity become reality. “I have been moved by what can actually be done by students and how much power the student voice has,” he says. Ü the story of diversity at the UW
13
Ü
Leading roles Osman Salahuddin ASUW President
Serving 30,000 undergraduate students SALAHUDDIN commuted from his O SMAN hometown of Redmond for his first three
years of college. He found social connection in the Muslim Student Association, joined the UW Leaders program, and served as a senator in the ASUW as a sophomore and on the board of directors as a junior. Today, when he’s not representing 30,000 undergraduates, the senior studies neurobiology and English. Having been an elected official for two years in a row, Salahuddin relishes the community he experiences through student government. “Through ASUW, I have been given the opportunity to work with people from such different backgrounds, all coming from different experiences and walks of life.” As president, one of his key areas of focus is mental health, a significant concern for the Seattle campus. “Right now, more than ever, students are facing the stress of the political, national and global climate, and on top of the competitive nature of majors, the academic rigor and the addition of extracurricular activities and jobs that many students are adding to their load,” he says. “Through initiatives in the ASUW—with the Board of Directors, the Student Health Consortium, and the Diversity Commissions—we are evaluating the resources to emphasize student well-being and hope to make this an issue that is at the top of the priority list.” Salahuddin is very aware of how easy it is to feel alone on a campus with 45,000 students, but he sees the large number more as an opportunity for students than a challenge. “One of the unique aspects of UW is the ability to meet so many new people on a daily basis,” he says. He has also served on the OMA&D Student Advisory Board and made use of the Instructional Center. He tells students to get involved in registered student organizations and community groups to find their place within the school. From this job, Salahuddin has learned to be more organized and efficient with his planning. He makes sure to put in the time before meetings to research who he’s meeting and create a list of points he wants to address. Changing his approach to meetings has allowed him to try to make the most of his time as president.
14
V I E W P O I N T : : U Wa l u m . c o m / v i e w p o i n t
Soh Yuen (Elloise) Kim Graduate and Professional Student Senate President
Serving 14,600 graduate and professional students YUEN KIM, who goes by Elloise, studied English S OH and art history before completing her master’s degree
in English at Ewha Women’s University in South Korea. “My research interest includes topics such as transracial and transnational adoption, race and family, wars and immigration,” Kim says. She never considered herself a traditional leader, but she was motivated to run for office by a desire to make underrepresented voices heard. Even as GPSS president, she strives to bring forth issues that are important to marginalized students. “The fact that I am the first international, first Asian, and third president of color in the GPSS’ 42-year history tells that we still have a long way to go to make this community truly inclusive and welcoming for all,” Kim says. But she remains hopeful. “What I will cherish most when I walk out of this position will be people I have met. They got me to this role, and without their guidance and support I would not have been able to be here today.” Kim has found a number of key issues for the some 14,000 students she represents, including quality of life. “UW is not just an outstanding research institution for students, but a community in which they spend a few years.” Tuition, academic excellence, funding for research and access to good mentoring are consistently important. “But these days other issues related to their well-being such as mental health, housing cost, child care and sexual violence prevention are addressed with serious interest.” Kim believes that while graduate and professional students make up around a quarter of UW Seattle’s student body, their needs are not always met or fully understood. Money is one of their primary concerns, she says: “Nationally graduate and professional students make up only 14 percent of the student population in higher education, but they hold as much as 40 percent of student debt.” She considers her role as GPSS president a huge honor, but one that comes with constant struggles. “Still, I have appreciated all those as growing pains, for I have learned so much serving in this position, from how to work as a team to how to make the best use of the limited resources to how not to lose a balance dealing with conflicts.” Kim has learned to act boldly and do so with strategy. She has also gained an appreciation for public speaking. “I also have found a very geeky side of me that I did not know before: I love meetings!”
the story of diversity at the UW
15
Telling the Story of Diversity at the University of Washington
4333 Brooklyn Ave NE Campus Box 359508 Seattle, WA 98195
2017 2016 2015 2014 2013 2012 2011 2010 2009 2008 2007 2006 2005 2004 2003 2002 2001 2000 1999 1998 1997 1996 1995 1994 1993 1992 1991 1990 1989 1988 1987 1986 1985 1984 1983 1982 1981 1980 1979 1978 1977 1976 1975 1974
Joanne and Bruce Harrell Richard A. Jones Colleen Fukui-Sketchley Denny Hurtado Rogelio Riojas Gertrude Peoples Assunta Ng Nelson Del Rio W. Ron Allen 1968 Black Student Union Alan T. Sugiyama Charles Mitchell Mike McGavick Jeff and Susan Brotman Herman McKinney Constance L. Proctor Ernest Dunston Vivian Lee Albert Black Bill Hilliard Andy Reynolds Hubert G. Locke Ron Moore Bernie Whitebear Ron Sims Sandra Madrid Ken Jacobson Herman D. Lujan J. Ray Bowen Frank Byrdwell Andrew V. Smith Phyllis Gutiérrez Kenney Norm Rice Nancy Weber William Irmscher Mark Cooper Millie Russell Minoru Masuda Toby Burton Vivian Kelly Sam and Joyce Kelly Leonie Piternick Larry Gossett Dalwyn Knight
The Honorable Ricardo S. Martinez to receive UW’s 2018 Odegaard Award THE HONORABLE RICARDO S. MARTINEZ, chief United States District judge for the Western District of Washington, is the 2018 recipient of the University of Washington Charles E. Odegaard Award. The award will be presented at the 48th annual Celebration event hosted by the UW Office of Minority Affairs & Diversity (OMA&D) and Friends of the Educational Opportunity Program (FEOP) on May 16, at the Husky Union Building on the UW Seattle campus. This year’s event is featured among OMA&D’s 50th-anniversary activities, which are recognizing its legacy of excellence, diversity and inclusion. Established in 1973, the Odegaard award honors individuals whose leadership in the community exemplifies the former UW president’s work on behalf of diversity. It was President Odegaard’s response to student-led calls for equity in 1968 that led to a university-wide commitment to diversity and the establishment of what is now known as OMA&D. The Odegaard award is regarded as the highest achievement in diversity at the UW. A student activist at the UW during the movement for civil rights on campus in the late 1960s and early 1970s, Judge Martinez turned his desire to create change into a distinguished judicial career that has spanned almost three decades. He is the first Latino judge to serve on the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington. “Judge Martinez embodies the spirit of student activism that inspired change both on our campus and in the community 50 years ago,” said Rickey Hall, vice president for Minority Affairs & Diversity and chief diversity officer. “And the work he has done in the judicial field is paving the way for countless others. We are incredibly proud to honor Judge Martinez and his commitment to equity and educational opportunity.”
COU RT ES Y T H E H ONORA BLE RICA RDO S . MA RT INEZ
CHARLES E. ODEGAARD AWARD RECIPIENTS
Originally from the border town of Mercedes, Texas, Judge Martinez at the age of six moved with his family to the small farming town of Lynden, Wash.—literally moving from one border to another. He was the first in his family to graduate from high school and go on to college when he enrolled at the UW. As an undergraduate, Judge Martinez was part of the local and campuswide Chicano/a Movement as a member of the Movimiento Estudiantil Chicana/o de Aztlán (M.E.Ch.A.). He participated in the first Freeway March in 1970, when students marched from the UW campus to the federal courthouse in downtown Seattle to protest the Kent State massacre and the Vietnam War. He also participated in the 1972 takeover of Beacon Hill Elementary School that led to the establishment of El Centro de la Raza and helped to informally recruit prospective Latino/a students to the UW. After receiving a bachelor of science degree from the UW in 1975, Judge Martinez decided to pursue law school. He received his juris doctorate from the UW School of Law in 1980 and worked as a trial lawyer in the King County Prosecutor’s Office before beginning his career as a judge in 1990. He went on to serve on the King County Superior Court and as U.S. magistrate judge for the Western District of Washington before being nominated to his current appointment by President George W. Bush in 2003, and confirmed by the U.S. Senate in 2004. Judge Martinez has also made it a priority to give back to the community that supported him. He is a founding member of the Latina/o Bar Association and the Washington Leadership Institute whose mission is to recruit, train and develop minority and traditionally underrepresented attorneys for future leadership positions in the Washington State Bar Association and legal community. He has also mentored numerous law students and lawyers of color. Judge Martinez was the recipient of the 2008 UW Multicultural Alumni Partnership Distinguished Alumnus Award.