Messages to Campus

June 19, 2018

To the Campus Community:

As the regular academic year comes to a close and our campus community shifts into the distinct rhythms of summer, I want to thank you for your continued commitment and contributions to advance Western. I often comment that our graduates are the most important contribution we make to society. To deliver on this promise, we just graduated almost 2,200 students during our spring Commencement ceremonies. As I participated in Commencement, I…

Dear Campus Community,

In response to my recent message “Nurturing a Safe Campus Community,” I received several questions on the issue of gun violence, which I believe justifies a follow-up email on this important issue.  We have all been affected by the images of enraged, scared and exhausted students, parents and educators wondering what can be done to stop school shootings like the most recent incident that claimed the lives of 17 people at a Florida high school.

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Dear Western Campus Community:

Like many of you, I have been deeply troubled in recent weeks by challenges that continue to affect many in our community, namely the continuing scourge of sexual misconduct and the lack of progress toward permanent protection for Dreamers.  I’d like to take this moment to remind you of the safeguards we have in place at Western, and to invite you to join me in identifying and eliminating sexual abuse and violence, and protecting our most…

Dear Western Community:

Creating and sustaining a campus that is diverse, inclusive, and welcoming to every single member of our Western community is absolutely central to our mission as a university. During the past academic year Western, with important leadership contributions from our students, has engaged with new urgency in conversations about advancing those goals with concrete action and renewed commitment. As a result of those conversations, a number of new initiatives have…

Dear Campus Community,

There has been much discussion recently about the University’s partnership with Study Group to increase international student enrollment at Western, especially as several working groups have recently convened in anticipation of our first international students from this partnership arriving next fall.  Questions have been asked about the operations of the partnership, the terms of the agreement, and its impact on our educational environment. However, the…

Dear Western Students,

Welcome to the 2017-18 school year!  Whether you are setting foot on campus for the first time or returning home to familiar places and faces, I hope the year ahead is full of engaging learning experiences, self-discovery, and a sense of connection to the community here at Western. 

For those of us who work at Western—more than 2000 faculty and staff serving in a huge variety of roles inside and outside of the classroom—this exciting time of…

Dear Western Community,

As you have likely heard, the Trump administration this morning announced its plans to rescind the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) immigration program and phase it out over the next six months, calling on Congress to replace the policy with legislation.  Since the program began in 2012 with the Obama administration, nearly 800,000 undocumented immigrants who came to the United States as minors have been granted protection under…

Dear Western Community,

As you are probably aware, there is talk about ending or changing the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program. Western Washington University has been, and continues to be, strongly opposed to ending a program that provides hope and opportunity for more than 800,000 young people across the country, including many Western students, their families and friends. We are working with other universities in Washington State, and around the…

Dear Western Colleagues:

Like you, I have been deeply saddened by the images of devastation in the Houston area from Hurricane Harvey.  The loss of life and injury, the homes destroyed and families displaced is beyond imagining, and continues.  Also tragic is the knowledge that the receding floodwaters will leave behind a new host of serious public health issues, not to mention the tremendous challenges of restoring basic services and utilities before the rebuilding process…

Dear Western Community,

I was horrified and deeply saddened by the tragic events in Charlottesville this past weekend. Acts of racism, Nazism, white nationalism and similar ilk have no place in society.

The vile hatred on display this weekend from white nationalists is revolting and antithetical to Western`s core values of inclusion, diversity and collaboration. At Western and all universities, the power of education must show the way to genuine acceptance and understanding,…