Messages from the President

Dear Campus Community,

I know that you have been concerned about coronavirus and its potential impact on the health of our community members.  In this message, I want to update you on the situation and the steps we are taking to address it.

I returned over the weekend from a trip to Pakistan, so I was closely following the coronavirus story in Asia. I also learned this morning that public health officials in Washington have announced a total of…

At Western, we are fortunate that our students, faculty and staff are committed to making a positive impact in the world, to living their values and seeing them reflected in the operations of the University.  Just as in our personal lives, determining which course of action to take as a community involves weighing the costs, benefits, and trade-offs among a complex and often competing set of priorities, values, practical considerations and limitations.  One of the areas of campus…

Dear Western Students,

Welcome to the 2019-2020 academic year!  I hope your first day of classes is off to a great start, and that you are as excited as I am by the opportunities that lie ahead this year to increase our understanding of each other, ourselves, and the world we share.

Supporting your successful journey through Western—from the first day you walk into the classroom, to the day you receive your diploma at graduation, and beyond—is our primary mission, and it…

As we close the academic year, it is a time to celebrate our graduates, the most important contribution Western makes to our communities and our world.  It is also a time to be grateful – for the engaged students, faculty and staff that make Western such a special place.  And, it is a time to pause for reflection and learning from the year just passed.

Over the academic year, the campus community has engaged in important and difficult conversations, as students rightly…

Dear Campus Community:

Earlier this week I sent a message about the sit-in at the President’s office conducted by over 200 students on Monday to raise critical concerns of students of color and students who hold intersecting marginalized identities.  In that message I mentioned that there would be a follow-up dialogue on Friday, but did not provide specifics, since those details were not yet…

Dear Western Campus Community:

Yesterday, approximately 200 students of color and other students of marginalized identities, along with their allies, conducted a sit-in for about six hours in the President’s office and the hallway of Old Main. Although I was in Seattle attending to other duties during the day, I joined them last night for about three hours of tough, but important, dialogue. 

Much of what these students said about their experiences at Western was heart-…

Dear Campus Community,

I wrote to you after recent racist vandalism and hate-filled slurs appeared on campus. I’d like to take this opportunity to provide an update on activities since those incidents.

As many of you may have seen through an emailed campus advisory and media reports, a Western student was arrested by University Police on Sunday, November 25, 2018 in connection with the recent vandalism. As interim measures, the student, a resident of Western’s Birnam…

Dear Campus Community:

It has come to my attention that abhorrent racist graffiti has been found on the Wright’s Triangle art installation near Carver, on study abroad posters in Red Square, and in several other interior locations on campus.  I am deeply troubled that hateful and bigoted vandalism by cowardly individuals continues to happen here, in a place where we should all feel safe and welcomed.  I want to be perfectly clear:  hate has absolutely no place on our…

Dear Western Community,

As you know, over the weekend, a horrendous act of violence killed 11 people in a Pittsburgh synagogue. This is the latest in a series of such incidents that have targeted our educational institutions and places of worship, spaces that are expected to be safe places for ALL people.  Our thoughts and condolences go out to the community, families, and law enforcement officers affected by these horrifying events not only in the Pittsburgh area, but in Jewish…

To the Western Campus Community:

Western’s most important responsibility is to provide a safe campus environment, an environment free from sexual violence, harassment, and discrimination. Preventing and responding to sexual violence and sexual misconduct is something that universities across the country are struggling to address, and Western is no exception.  It has become increasingly clear to me that Western’s efforts in this area need to be rethought, reorganized, and…