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President Wohlpart: A day in the life

Katherine Camarata and Yohanes Goodell

Lead Editor and Photo Editor

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Students see him everywhere, answering for the university in every way, but we don't get to know the Jim behind President James A. Wohlpart through our time at school. Our team followed Jim around for a day to see what life is like through our president's eyes.

A peek inside Jim’s office and mind

According to cornhole connoisseur and tree-loving diplomat President Wohlpart, the most President Wohlpart thing about him is “the fact that I like to be called Jim.”

He said he doesn’t think in an hierarchical way so much as a systematic way.

“I recognize that the person who collects the trash is just as important as I am,” Wohlpart said. “I mean, imagine if none of our trash got collected. We wouldn’t be able to function. I want everybody to remember why we’re here, which is not because of some president who’s doing x, y or z, it’s because of the students, and we’re here to help the students, faculty and staff learn and grow and become the best person that they are.”

Upon entering Jim’s office, a round table featuring a basket of shells and stones aside some braided sweetgrass atop a snow-dyed cloth greets guests as an emblem of Jim’s connection to tradition and ceremony.

The Observer team followed Jim over to his meeting table; he mentioned the significance of the artifacts, which included “arrowheads and pieces of arrowhead that my father found and collected. He passed away three-ish years ago, so this is one of the things I took away from him. This cloth and the braided sweetgrass and this clam shell were given to me by a Native American elder in Minnesota when I went to her university to do some work with her. This was dyed in a traditional Native American fashion by burying it in the snow with dyes.”

The lofty bookshelves serve as another focal point of the room, one Jim said he is especially grateful for as a defining element of his office.

“The books here are all on leadership, higher education, which is what I do research on,” Wohlpart said.

Jim showed our team the collection of his own environmental philosophy writings and journals his work has been published in. He told a tale of how perseverance and belief allowed him to publish a book that took a decade to complete.

“I have always imagined what is possible on the horizon and worked really hard to get there,” Wohlpart said. “So the book ‘Walking in the Land of Many Gods’ took me ten years to write … I didn’t have to write a book for my job. It was something I did in the evenings, on the weekends, sometimes early in the morning, but it was something that was important to me. I dreamt about it.”

Wohlpart continued by explaining the thesis of the book: “We have been handed a way of thinking in the western world that is analytical, linear, hierarchical, dualistic, and there is another way of thinking in the world that is circular and cyclical and not hierarchical, not dualistic, that is more connected to what people might call intuition, that is actually more holistic and healthy, and we’ve been cut off from that way of thinking about the world in western society, because we have been handed this way of thinking about the world, objects, people as resources for our use … as opposed to something we are deeply entangled with, intertwined with and deeply interdependent on.”

Jim mentioned The Courage to Teach by Parker Palmer and The Heart of Higher Education by Parker Palmer and Arthur Zajonc as other impactful books in his collection.

“I want to remember always that we lead, teach and work not only with our mind, but also our hearts, and that’s what most of this [my writing] is for me,” Jim said.

Jim reflected on his decision to move to CWU two years ago, how “thrilled” he is with his decision and what he learned in the process.

“Being a president is different from being a vice president, it’s really important as the president to take the time to listen and make sure that you’re building a team environment where everybody is listening, reflecting and remembering what is our core,” Jim said.

Jim mentioned all the annual work that happens off campus as a lesser known aspect of his position and the impending fruits of his efforts.

“In the fall and early winter, I spent a lot of time meeting with legislators across the state in Olympia during session and advocating for the funding we need,” Jim said. “For instance, a couple pieces of funding we got, we got funded for wrap around services funding, housing insecurity, food insecurity, we got funding for teacher education, we got funding for a humanities social science complex and for the multicultural complex.”

A day in May with “Jimbo”

May 10 was a day like many others for Jim, aside from the fact that he was being stalked by two student journalists chasing a dream. A morning routine is a critical part of any leader’s day, and Jim’s daily dance helps him set the tone alongside the company of those he loves.

“This stuff matters a lot in terms of how you show up and how you present and how you maintain your energy,” Wohlpart said. “Sasha and I are up by 5:30 a.m. I'm in the gym by 6. I work out for an hour, then head back home at 7, grab a shower. We sit and drink tea together every morning, black tea. We have our places with our dogs. They're rescues, they are 11-12 ish years old.”

Jim lives in the University house with his wife Sasha and their terrier and beagle mix-breed dogs, Annie and Leo. They have a 32-year-old son Zach who has an 11-month-old daughter, and a 29-year-old daughter named Kat.

Jim, Sasha, Annie and Leo can be spotted walking along their regular route through campus on any given day.

“We leave the University house, we walk straight down north of Samuelson and south of Discovery Hall, that walkway that goes straight towards Black Hall, and then just north of Black Hall,” Wohlpart said. “There's a sidewalk that goes between Black Hall and the SURC and we go around the back side of the SURC … [Leo] loves to go through the residence halls and up around to the Ganges, and then we walk along the top of the Ganges and back over by Dean Hall, on the backside of Science and back.”

The Observer team traipsed along Jim’s tried and true beaten path with him, discussing what he loves most about CWU as he made his way to his favorite cherry red sitting chair. His answer was simple: “the students.”

While some may refer to him by a more presidential moniker, President Wohlpart is alternately known by a select group simply as “Jimbo,” a name he explained in an anecdote as The Observer team followed him along the bank of the Ganges.

“Towards the end of my first year, Serena, who was one of the RA’s who was an education major and did her student teaching, was sitting out on the lawn with another group of students,” Wohlpart said. “So we have the dogs, we're walking, I went over to them and we were chatting and I said, ‘do you know who I am?’ And she goes, ‘Yeah, you're Jimbo,’ and said, ‘do you want to know why we call you Jimbo? Because every time you send an email out, we all yell down the hallway, another email from Jimbo!’”

Jim’s habitual top picks

Jim explained that his favorite color fluctuates between blue and green, something reflected on his adventures with Sasha.

“When Sasha and I hike together and walk together, she’s an earth person, she looks down, she’s looking for rocks and minerals,” Wohlpart said. “I’m looking up, I look at the sky and trees. What’s awesome about living here in the Pacific Northwest is sometimes we see golden eagles, which is really cool.”

The Observer team had to stop and snag a photo of Jim connecting with the trees in a very sky-centric yet grounded fashion.

When they’re not wandering through the wilderness, Jim said he and Sasha enjoy streaming shows like “Ted Lasso,” “White Lotus” and “Wednesday.”

“Wednesday was just fantastic,” Wohlpart said. “There was something about that show, about how we grow in community, that just really stirred my imagination and one of the pieces that stirred my imagination the most was her playing the cello and playing it to a Rolling Stones song.”

In terms of music, Jim said they listen to a wide range of sounds in their household.

“We listen to all different kinds of music on Sunday morning,” Wohlpart said. “If we're making breakfast, we will listen to books. In the evening, if we're sitting by the fire, we will listen to Lord Huron or Mazzy Star.”

When Sasha and Jim are out on the town dining, one might spot them at a historic downtown Ellensburg location or carrying a loaded picnic basket.

“We love the Huntsman Tavern. Part of the reason that we love the Huntsman is because it has really good salads, we love to eat salads,” Jim said. “The other one is a picnic by a river. My mother, my sister, Sasha and I went up to the West Fork Teanaway, and there’s a fantastic place at the very end where you can pull very close to the river, and we pulled chairs out and set up a big picnic.”

Jim said in the Wohlpart picnic basket, one can typically find vegetables with hummus, cheese and crackers and a nice bottle of red or white wine, depending on the time and season.

Presidential affairs

President Wohlpart went about his day, attending an Executive Leadership meeting to discuss fundraising and the development of shared governance groups on campus. The meeting was followed by an Executive Leadership Team lunch, where the group shared smiles and a meal in Holmes Dining and got to know some of The Observer staff over important discussions about live Paul McCartney performances and videos of President Wohlpart showing affection to a tree for a photo op.

Andrew Morse, Chief of Staff and Interim Vice President for Public Affairs, reflected on his journey from Iowa to CWU to continue working with Jim.

“My journey working with President Wohlpart began in 2017 at the University of Northern Iowa when he served as Provost and I held a similar role to the one I have here,” Morse said. “Since the day I met him, Jim has been a hugely influential person in my life– someone who models collaborative, inclusive and equity-minded leadership. Someone who challenges me with deep care and unquestioned support. I am so proud to be part of the close-knit, hard-working and student-centered community we have here at Central.”

Morse mentioned the legislative work he completes with Jim as a key part of their partnership.

“My favorite memory with Jim is our grassroots work with educators across the United States to create a vision for the future of educator preparation,” Morse said. “That work began in 2019 and has now become a leading educator preparation reform bill, titled the EDUCATORS for America Act, in the United States Congress. The legislation offers a vision for equity-minded strategic investments to grow, diversify and retain our nation's educator workforce.”

The ELT strutted in style back across campus to Barge Hall after lunch, as President Wohlpart prepared for the Wildcat Pantry celebration and awards ceremony on his lawn later that evening.

“Being here at Central has given him an opportunity to really put into practice what he's been learning and studying and what he cares so deeply about,” Sasha said. “He has such a vision of what higher education can be for students and it's been exciting to see him be able to act on that vision here at Central.”

Sasha said her favorite moments at CWU include curling up by their fireplace to play gin rummy and attending some of the productions and athletic events on campus, particularly the Orchesis spring dance performance that happened recently.

“When we go out and we hike and we explore, it's good reflective time,” Sasha said. Yeah. “It's a good time for him to think about things and he bounces stuff off me, we have conversations about things.”

Sasha said the most cherished thing about Jim to her is how deeply invested he is in those around him.

“I love how much he cares,” Sasha said. “How much he cares for his family, how much he cares for his community, how much he cares for the students and his leadership team. He just carries in his heart a deep love for life and the work that he does.”

An awards ceremony commenced, during which Wildcat Pantry team members were honored for their dedication. Jim and Sasha presented Jaeda Nelson with some heartfelt words and an award for her hard work as the first person to ever fulfill the Wildcat Pantry Coordinator position as the sun began to set.

Jim left readers with some words of wisdom that he hoped more students would come to know: “Listen to their hearts, spend time with people who are good for them, spend time being curious and trust that a way will open in terms of their path. It’s a Quaker saying, way opens. If you get to a place in your life where you feel stuck or you feel uncertain about what the next steps are, if you can trust in something bigger and open yourself up to possibilities, then way will open.”

President Wohlpart, also known as Jimbo, loves spending time in nature.

Laughter rang across the lawn accented by 88.1 the ‘Burg spinning top 40s hits as students, staff and facul ty played cornhole and Connect Four at the celebration. Jim gleefully landed a bean bag in the center of the corn hole board as the festivities heightened. Sasha cheered on those playing lawn games and offered a glimpse into

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