Telling the Story of Diversity at the University of Washington | Fall 2021
The Rise of Gen Z
Telling the Story of Diversity at the University of Washington
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FOUNDED 2004
Published by the UW Alumni Association in partnership with the UW Office of Minority Affairs & Diversity 4311 11th Ave. NE, Suite 220 Box 354989 Seattle, WA 98195-4989 Phone: 206-543-0540 Fax: 206-685-0611 Email: vwpoint@uw.edu Viewpoint on the Web:
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BY R I C K EY HA L L VICE PRESIDENT FOR MINORITY AFFAIRS & DIVERSITY | UNIVERSITY DIVERSITY OFFICER
Celebrating the Most Diverse Generation Yet Welcome to the fall 2021 issue of Viewpoint. The University of Washington has returned to in-person instruction and most students, faculty, and staff have returned after 18 months away due to the pandemic. The campus has awakened, teeming with life and full of excitement for the academic year ahead. We are welcoming to campus a wonderfully diverse student body, many of whom are part of the Generation Z. They are considered to be a values-driven group more concerned about issues like climate change, social justice, and diversity, equity and inclusion than generations before them. Inside these pages are snapshots of what it is to be Gen Z students and alumni, expressed in their own incredible voices. You'll also find profiles of leaders, artists and change-makers both inside and outside of academics. For each profile in this issue, there are hundreds of other worthy advocates and activists, accomplished individuals who were not featured. Many have both found and created their own communities at the UW and beyond. Many are also working to create a university that is responsive
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to current and future students. This issue also recognizes the legacy of Rachel Suggs Pitts, a trailblazer who changed the fields of health care and nursing for Black women and others who studied nursing behind her. I close by recognizing a significant milestone. This year, the Samuel E. Kelly Ethnic Cultural Center celebrates its 50th anniversary. The Kelly ECC is the nation's largest stand-alone cultural center on a college campus and is considered by many to be a leader in creating justice- and student-centered spaces where students and their intersectional identities are affirmed. Please mark your calendars for March 3 so you can attend the Kelly ECC’s 50th Anniversary Grand Celebration and participate in the dedication of a new permanent display honoring the legacy of a man I call the “great visionary,” Dr. Samuel E. Kelly. We'll celebrate the past while challenging ourselves to evolve and meet the needs of future generations of students.
VIEWPOINT S TA F F Paul Rucker, ’95, ’02 PUBLISHER
Hannelore Sudermann, ’96 E D I TOR
Ken Shafer A R T D I R E CTOR
Luna Reyna S TA F F W R I T E R
Candace Conner Raphael Gaultier, ’21 Matt Hagen CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHERS
VIEWPOINT A DV I S O RY CO M M I T T E E
Rickey Hall Vice President for Minority Affairs & Diversity University 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
Eric Moss Director of Communications Office of Minority Affairs & Diversity
HANNELO R E SUD ER MANN
IN THIS ISSUE
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NEWS
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COVER STORY
The Rise of Gen Z
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FEATURE
Police Reform
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STORY
Nurse and Hero
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MEDIA AND EVENTS
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IN MEMORY
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The Spratlens VIEW
ECC Anniversary
A B O U T T H E COV E R Like most of her Gen Z classmates, Zoe Hanna Mikuta spent much of last year online. She took classes, found friendships and dreamt of a return to in-person schooling.
An Indigenous Walking Tour Standing in front of – Intellectual House, recent graduate Owen Oliver treats UW Alumni Association Trustees to a walking tour. The guide, which he developed last year, celebrates the Indigenous landmarks and landscape of the UW campus in Seattle.
Some of Owen Oliver’s earliest memories of the UW involve coming to campus on Tuesdays and Thursdays with his father, Marvin, ’73, who was teaching classes in carving and Northwest coast Indigenous design. But his roots go back to his grandfather Emmett Oliver, ’47, who was director of the University's Indian student program and later founded the canoe journey, a tribal cultural event that brings together indigenous people from across the Northwest and beyond. Oliver, ’21, has developed many ways of seeing the UW, including some formed over his time as a student and as a member of the Indigenous community on campus. That is why he carved out time his senior year to create a walking tour of some key sites that are especially relevant to him and to the Native American experience. His approach goes beyond what you would see in a standard, anonymous guidebook. Oliver weaves together personal memories with traditional stories and details. He highlights seven key locations on campus while illuminating their ties to the
region. “Guests from the Great River,” for example, is an installation of paddle sculptures outside the Burke Museum. It refers to the Columbia River and represents the traditional greeting of a canoe from one Native community arriving on the shores of another. The stop on the walk also highlights the museum, which houses contemporary Native artwork and serves as a resource for the study of Native arts for students and scholars. In creating the tour and deciding what spots to highlight, Oliver surveyed 100 Indigenous people on campus. The project was funded by the Husky Seed Fund and had support from the Center for American Indian and Indigenous Studies. “I think the tour’s really for everybody, Indigenous people and non-Natives,” says Oliver. “It came out of a big love of writing and storytelling … and unearthing this relationship that has always been there with the land.” To find the guidebook online: ais.washington.edu/research/publications/indigenous-walking-tour.
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monthly membership rate paid directly to the physician instead of the typical third-party payment model. This monthly payment model covers extended visits, labs, consultative services, care coordination and comprehensive care management. For those patients who pay expensive monthly insurance premiums, this model can create substantial savings. Towolawi’s DPC model is centered around the American College of Lifestyle Medicine, which promotes prevention over pills through six main methods of treatment: restorative sleep; stress management; a plant-based, whole-food diet; regular physical activity; healthy social connections with others; and minimizing and avoiding risky substances like alcohol, drugs and tobacco. After working in a major primary care setting for years, it was especially important to Towolawi that she operate in a way that empowered the patients by arming them with the tools to make
Primary care doctors are stressed to the max. There’s not enough time to do the care that we want to provide. CAP TUR E D BY CANDACE P HOTO GR AP HY
Personalizing Primary Care UW Medicine alum opens a lifestyle medicine-focused practice to promote patient-centered care By Luna Reyna
When she started medical school at the UW in 2006, Margaret Towolawi was the only Black student in her entering class. She graduated in 2010, finished her family medicine residency training at the UW in 2013, and later worked at Swedish Richmond Beach Primary Care where she was the only Black doctor. Now, 15 years after completing her medical studies, she has opened one of the few Black-owned membership-based primary care practices in Washington. She follows the direct primary care model (DCP), which is designed to provide a stronger, more trusting doctor-patient relationship and more personalized comprehensive care. Patients have more access to their doctors, with the added bonus of a
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The COVID-19 pandemic prompted Dr. Margaret Towolawi to change the way she cared for her patients. She took a courageous leap, opening her own private practice in Shoreline.
better, healthier choices. She helps her patients eat healthier. Through her “Shop with Your Doc” program, she shares “Dr. T’s recipes” and does a “book of the quarter” for her patients. “It’s just really giving people the knowledge,” she says. “Knowledge is power.” Towolawi resigned from Swedish in August of 2020 and opened Nurture Well Center less than a year later. Now, she is able to provide personalized care. Her appointments are onehour long, which allows her to sit with each patient to get to the root of their issue. This also allows her to focus deeply on communities that are the most at risk. According to the National Academy of Medicine, “racial and ethnic minorities receive lower-quality health care than white people—even when insurance status, income, age, and severity of conditions are comparable.” Towolawi has also worked telehealth urgent care shifts outside of her practice and has seen these disparities time and again. Recently, an older Black man experiencing chest pain called Towolawi from an emergency room. “He and his wife were on the video call,” she says. “He said he’d been in the emergency room for six hours. No one had been communicating with him. He felt like he was not respected, not even offered a cup of water. He was using telehealth even though he was at a hospital emergency room because he felt he was not feeling heard or seen, and it just broke my heart.” Towolawi opened her practice to address such disparities. While heartbreaking, experiences like her telehealth patient’s are not uncommon. She tells people to trust their guts: If something seems off, they should seek care elsewhere. “It’s something that happens far too often,” she says. She works to give them the tools to manage their situation or refers them to someone who can give them the care they deserve. Towolawi says she hopes more people will consider direct primary care as an alternative to traditional care. She is also passionate about spreading the word about lifestyle medicine. Merging DPC and lifestyle medicine has allowed her to make the type of care she once dreamed about a reality. In the print edition, this story incorrectly stated that Dr. Towolawi opened the state’s first Black-owned primary care practice. In fact, Washington is home to a number of Black-owned primary care practices. Our apologies to Dr. Towolawi and the Black physicians who have established primary care practices in Washington.
N E W S
B R I E F S
Lauren King
In early October, Lauren King, ’04, was confirmed as the first Native American federal judge in Washington state history. She is the sixth Native American ever to serve on the federal bench. King, a member of the Muscogee (Creek) Nation, was an attorney with Foster Garvey PC in Seattle where she chaired the Native American law practice group. Her expertise includes civil rights and tribal law. One of her major cases involved the Muscogee Nation’s land and treaty rights. The state of Oklahoma had been exercising criminal jurisdiction over crimes involving Indians on the Muscogee (Creek) reservation. In July 2020, the U.S. Supreme Court issued a landmark decision upholding the tribal nation’s land rights guaranteed by treaty. The ruling also applied to the rights of four other tribes in the boundaries of Oklahoma. After earning her undergraduate degree in business at the UW, King attended the University of Virginia School of Law. Her professional background includes serving as a pro tem appellate judge for the Northwest Intertribal Court System. She has also been a commissioner on the Washington State Gambling commission. Her U.S. Senate confirmation came just a week after that of UW Law alum David Estudillo, ’99. Both King and Estudillo now serve at the U.S. District Court in the Western District of Washington.
has returned to the University to serve chancellor of UW Tacoma. Edwards Lange, ’00, ’06, has a celebrated history at the UW from her decade of service as the vice president of the Office of Minority Affairs and Diversity and vice provost for diversity. Among the milestones accomplished under her leadership were the naming and renovation of the Samuel E. Kelly Ethnic Cultural Center and the realization of a 40-plus year dream to build – Intellectual House.
Kristin Esterberg
joins UW Bothell as its 9th chancellor. The former State University of New York at Potsdam president has a long track record of expanding diversity, equity and inclusion efforts in her previous posts. “I am looking forward to advancing the campus’ strategic priorities to strengthen diversity and equity, enhance community and campus engagement, and advance cross-disciplinary teaching and scholarship,” she says.
The crests of all nine historically Black Greek organizations now have a home in the HUB By Eric Moss In 1933, the Delta Sigma Theta sorority established a chapter at the UW, paving the way for five other Black sororities and fraternities. There are now six active chapters at UW. Even then, the organizations understood that membership in a fraternity or sorority could change the way a student participates in all other college activities. This has been especially true for members of historically Black Greek-letter organizations in predominantly white colleges and universities. While Black fraternities and sororities have thrived at the UW, their presence over the years has gone generally unrecognized. But now, thanks to the work of current students, their crests are on display in the HUB for all to see. Black students who join the organizations may find an instant community, engage in sys tems of support designed to help them navi gate white-centered institutions and develop lifelong net works with like-minded alumni. Additionally, the organizations offer students opportunities to develop leadership skills, support philanthropy and become mentors for those who join after them. The governing body for nine historically African American fraternities and sororities, also known as the Divine Nine, is the National PanHellenic Council (NPHC). Many alumni of NPHC-affiliated chapters work as faculty and staff across all three UW campuses. Calen Garrett, president of the UW NPHC chapter says, “It’s just funny how all over campus there are people who are members of these proud organizations that have been here for so long, yet no one seems to know that we’re here and all we do for the community. “We needed something physical to affirm that we’re here so people can see us. The other Greek councils have the entire Greek row that people can see and witness and experience every day. There was nothing really there for us that served as a beacon for us to gather.” Last spring, Garrett was inspired by news that the University of Kentucky was publicly displaying its NPHC-affiliate crests. He started working with OMA&D and Student Life leadership toward a dedicated space where people could see an NPHC presence and find a spot for the Black Greek community to meet. In August, all nine NPHC crests were installed on the main floor of the HUB just outside the Associated Students of the University of Washington offices. “So far the reception has been amazing from the alumni community,” says Garrett. “A lot of them come from schools that already have had crests installed for some time or even permanent plots or monuments, and it’s been amazing to have that love from so many people who are so far out of college, that they really just want us to have the same experience they had in school.” Garrett credits the short timeline and success of the project to the support from UW leadership. “It’s really about the future, and future students of color who come to campus to have something that speaks to them and speaks to their experience,” he says. “That’s what it’s all about, the future and all the marginalized students of color who come after me.”
E MILE P ITR E
Sheila Edwards Lange
A Beacon to Gather Around
Calen Garrett, president of the National Pan-Hellenic Council's Seattle chapter, speaks to a gathering of NPHC members and alumni at a dedication ceremony for the crests of the Divine Nine, traditionally African American fraternities and sororities.
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B Y H A N N E LOR E S U D E R M A N N P H OTO S B Y R A P H A E L G A U LT I E R
�he most diverse generation in American history, they are engaged, informed—and leading the way for change on campus
Generation Z—which represents most of the current undergraduates at the University of Washington—comprises about 60 million Americans born after 1996 and before 2010. They are more racially and ethnically diverse than any generation before them, and they are on track to be the most educated generation yet. Unlike millennials, they’ve never known a time without media devices and social media platforms. And they have nontraditional views about identity. According to the Pew Research Center, Generation Z is more socially and politically progressive than the generations before it. The first president they remember is Barack Obama, and same-sex marriages became legal during their childhood. The world is at their fingertips. Liberated by digital access and unencumbered by geography, they take full advantage accessing news and friends around the world through their laptops and cellphones. They think more globally and hunger for fast answers to their sometimes-complex questions. According to the Annie E. Casey Foundation, Gen Zers are focused on social issues such as health care, mental health, higher
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education, economic security, racial equity, civic engagement and the environment. Diversity is their norm. Just over half are white, 25% are Hispanic, 14% Black and 4% Asian and Pacific Islander. They are different from previous generations in many ways, says Felipe Martinez, former manager of student success at UW and now executive director of a program for international students. The members of this generation are more socially conscious and more than likely grew up in urban areas where they encountered a “vibrancy of difference,” he says. Because they saw their families struggle through the recession in 2008, they question whether a college degree is worth the investment, something less common with their millennial predecessors. Because of their communication tools, students will hold on to relationships before college. “The challenge with that is that they keep in touch with people from back in the day, and it kind of keeps them from fully engaging in the college experience,” Martinez says. “I think that ties into the feelings of loneliness the students have shared." Now their early adulthood is being shaped by a global pandemic, and they’ve had to shift their communities and social engagements even further to the digital sphere. They've been dubbed Generation Zoom. All these things are on the mind of Martha Tran, strategic initiatives and communications manager for First Year Programs. When she started the work of connecting with first-year students in 2014, they were very active on Facebook and tolerant of lengthy, detailed emails. But over the years Facebook has faded into territory for their parents, and they would happily be rid of email (too much spam, too much content). “Communicating with them is trying to chase them where they are, but also trying to be authentic in doing so,” Tran says. The whole University is shifting to ensure programs and outreach are still relevant to the new generation of students and to find ways to meet them where they are most comfortable. Last spring, Corey Seemiller, a scholar and author of “Generation Z Goes to College,” shared her insights with UW staff. Gen Z builds relationships using technology and on average have more than eight social media accounts, each connecting them to different groups at different levels of intimacy. They see their parents as partners in their education and life decisions. And they often think about their consumerism and its effects on the environment. They’re also more fiscally prudent. Their childhoods were root ed in the economic downturn of 2008, so the cost of college makes it a hard sell for them, she said. They think a lot about diversity, inclusion and social justice, says Maggie Fonseca, director of the Samuel E. Kelly Ethnic Cultural Center (ECC). Gen Z is one of the most inclusive, welcoming and diverse generations in history, yet the present era can seem to fall short for them. They're striving to reconcile their own views and behaviors with the differences they see in society as a whole. The ECC recently surveyed students about how they were doing, where they were living and what type of support they needed. More than 100 responded, saying they look forward to in-person activities and want to be part of a community that's easy to engage in. “I know what I know about this generation because of our amazing student employees,” says Fonseca. “I was blown away by what they were saying.” I’ve noticed that they’re vocal and confident about telling you they’re having a hard time, understanding the need for self-care. They’re more comfortable talking about health and wellness.” Gen Z is bringing higher education into a new era, says Martinez. Colleges and universities need to consider if they’re meeting students’ needs and adapt to help them best engage with the school and all it can offer.
Wendi Zhou The notion that Gen Z cares about race, equity and social good is true for Wendi Zhou, 18. Last spring, she won an award from the Stroum Center for Jewish Studies for a paper she wrote about Jewish refugees in Shanghai during World War II. Her findings countered representations of refugees as passive and helpless. A scholarin-the-works, she’s double majoring in history and philosophy. “I’m interested in the histories of race, gender and sexuality in societies that are grappling with the legacies of racism, colonial violence and other historical injustices,” she says. “I find that relevant to the issues that I care about today.” ■ She has also been active in the ASUW and serves on the Office of Minority Affairs & Diversity’s student advisory board, which she is chairing this year. ■ As a freshman, Zhou conducted policy research for the ASUW Office of Government Relations for what would become legislation for a state-funded and state-administered student loan program for undocumented students. In April 2020, the governor signed the bill into law. ■ “I would describe myself as pretty bookish,” Zhou says. Simply put, she enjoys reading. She also likes creative writing, going for runs and hanging out with friends on Zoom.
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Calen Garrett
Calen Garrett, 21, would agree that he and his generation think a lot about mental health. He puts his psychology major to use as a resident advisor in McCarty Hall. He is is active in the Black Lives Matter movement and finds community in his fraternity, Alpha Phi Alpha. He is president of the National Pan-Hellenic Council's Seattle chapter. ■ He wants to use his education to address mental health and inequity. “Mental illness is really stigmatized in the Black community,” he says. Add to that the challenges of finding a mental health professional of color, and there's so much need, he says. ■ “Nowadays, we have to deal with all the stress that comes with being a college student on top of all the stress of being a person of color in this time,” he says. “I wish I lived in a world where my greatest fear is flunking out of math. But we’re grappling with that on top of all the stresses of our everyday reality. We can’t live a happy-go-lucky life.” ■ The last school year was tough for building community, he says. Garrett countered this by socializing with his residents online, holding group chats and meet-and-greets. “We had music Fridays. I had them make a playlist. Then I had a big speaker and I put it outside my door so we could listen to the music together from a safe distance.” ■ Defining characteristics? “I feel like with any generation, it’s a spectrum. The media portrays us sometimes in stereotypical ways. But I see a lot of intelligent, hard-working people in my generation.” ■ Digital? Definitely. “I was big into video games probably from a very early age ... In a way, the internet gives us an opportunity to see a lot more and experience a lot more,” he says. “Hatred and division stems from ignorance. With the internet, we don’t have an excuse to be ignorant anymore.”
Zoe Hanna Mikuta
Zoe Hanna Mikuta, 21, is a published graphic novelist. “Gearbreakers,” her first book, was released by Macmillan Publishers in June. The young adult novel features multi-racial protagonists, same-sex relationships and a tyrannical world dominated by giant machines. It has also been optioned for a film. Mikuta, says her generation is profoundly concerned about the future and general downward state of the world: ecology, humanitarian crises. “These are definitely things I worry about. How do I help? I’m not a military person. I’m not in Stem. All I can do is write, so that’s what I do.” ■ The generation is accepting about difference. “We understand that you can’t really tell anybody how to experience themselves." Decades ago, people only knew the communities they grew up in. Now computers and cell phones offer windows to different experiences, and ways to connect with people all around the world. “We’re exposed to so much over time that the definition has changed as to what is normal and who belongs where and who belongs with who,” she says. “There’s less a sense of othering.” ■ Mikuta makes digital friendships that turn into real life connections. Late this summer, she traveled to New York and ended up crashing on the couch of fellow writers she met on Twitter. “I was expecting it to be awkward,” she says. “But we just started talking like we always do, and I felt right at home.” ■ Fiscally frugal? Yes, with good reason, she says. “It’s harder and harder to find proper jobs, even with a college degree,” she says. Some of her friends question if college debt is really worth it. “I worry about money,” she says. “But I love school ... I think I’ve grown so much, and I’ve really found my voice,” she says. “I’m definitely changing as a result of being in college.”
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After George Floyd was killed by police in Minneapolis last year, widespread public activism demanded change in police practices and greater transparency and accountability in law enforcement. Through her work at the American Civil Liberties Union of Washington, law alum Enoka Herat has helped create landmark legislation around police tactics and use of force. MATT HAGEN
CHANGING THE LAW Law alum Enoka Herat works with law enforcement leaders and the families of people who have died from police violence to change policing practices in Washington By Luna Reyna Enoka Herat, ’10, is the daughter of Sri Lankan immigrants. They had a very idealistic view of America, she says. “Living as a little girl of color in the predominantly white space where I was growing up, I saw where a lot of those ideals fell short.” After college, she went to law school so she could be an advocate for and amplify the voices of those in her community. While attending UW, she was co-president of the Immigrant Family Advocacy Project, a member of the Innocence Project clinic and an editor on the Washington Law Review. Today she is a legal engine behind a group of police reform bills that were recently signed into law. As the Police Practices and Immigration Counsel for the American Civil Liberties Union of Washington, she plays a leading role in drafting many of Washington’s recent police reform bills. “What drove me to law school,
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to work with ACLU and to work for immigrant rights and rights of those most targeted by policing is the fight for racial equity,” Herat says. Herat works closely with the Washington Coalition for Police Accountability (WCPA), a network led by families who have lost loved ones to police violence. “We really try to center the voices of people most impacted by the issues that we are advocating for, with the idea that they are in the best position to figure out solutions.” Herat says. “I see my role in the legislative process as providing a resource to serve the agenda of those most impacted by police violence.” Herat admires the family members of the victims. “I feel like I’m constantly in awe of their ability to move forward to advocate despite all the trauma they’ve endured and continue to endure,” she says. “I really look to their experiences and try to hold up their solutions as I approached this work.” She remembers her brother dealing with racism, discrimination and bias in local policing during high school. In a group of teenage friends, her brother would be arrested while his white peers were not. “I definitely grew up seeing that disparity in treatment,” Herat says. But while her brother was subject to exceedingly unequal treatment, he still came home after his contact with police. Other people of color around the country didn’t. “We do this work not because we want to, but because we have to, because our loved ones have been lost to police violence,” says Katrina Johnson, a cousin of Charleena Lyles and one of the founders of the WCPA. In 2017, Lyles, a pregnant mother of four, was killed by police in front of her children at her Sand Point apartment. “We don’t want to see any more mothers or sisters or brothers or cousins or nieces or children crying because they’ve lost someone they love,” says Marilyn Covarrubias, a member of the Suquamish nation and activist with the WCPA. Her son Daniel was fatally shot by police in 2015 while in a mental health crisis. Thanks to the the efforts the victims’ families and the work of lawyers like Herat, Washington state lawmakers recently passed 14 bills focusing on policing, including one requiring officers to
Washington lawmakers recently passed 12 bills focusing on policing. Two laws addressing police tactics and use of force went into effect in July.
In 2020, statewide activism drew attention to the problem of police violence and helped victims' families and their allies develop legislation for police reform. UW student Ivory EvansKimble demonstrates in downtown Yakima in June 2020.
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de-escalate situations and take more care in the use of force. Two laws went into effect in July. They address calls to action of local activists, advocates and organizers. According to Herat, none of the bills would have passed without the thousands of people across Washington state protesting racial injustice and police violence last summer. “They wanted police to be held accountable,” Herat says. “They wanted to reduce police brutality and police violence.” Herat worked with WCPA as well as law enforcement, lawmakers and legislative staff in drafting HB 1054. “We’re removing certain equipment and tactics from an officer’s toolkit, such as banning chokehold and neck restraints like the ones that were used to kill George Floyd and Manny Ellis here in Washington state,” Herat says. The bill also bars no-knock warrants like the one that resulted in the death of Breonna Taylor, and the use of any military equipment. Tear gas is also largely prohibited unless authorized by a supervising officer and all other alternatives have been exhausted—a response to the excessive use of the chemical agent to break up largely peaceful protests in Seattle last summer. Another bill, HB 1310, focuses on police use of force. “For me and my family, it was very important because my brother, the overkill that they used when they murdered him, he was tased four times and then shot 16,” says Nickeia Hunter, a WCPA member whose brother, Carlos, was killed by Vancouver police in 2019. “I don’t really think that there’s ever an instance that there needs to be such force used.” This bill gives Hunter and others hope that police will act to de-escalate the situation so that other families won’t have to endure what hers has. “We don’t want them making-split second decisions,” Johnson says. “We want them to make the best decision in a split second. That’s the difference between someone living and someone dying. “We want them to step back for a minute and assess the whole situation to make sure that we see the humanity in every person whether housed or not, whether suffering a mental health crisis or not,” she adds. “People shouldn’t be condemned to their death if they have a mental health crisis like my cousin.” Under the new law, officers may only use force under very specific circumstances, and deadly force can only be used when necessary to protect someone’s life. “Not only is it preventative, but it creates a reasonable care standard that can be used to hold officers accountable if violations or excessive force or misconduct occurred,” Herat says. Before this law, officers may have forcibly subdued folks, especially on crisis calls. Now, “if there’s no imminent threat of harm to someone, they have to have probable cause that someone has committed a crime before they could even lay hands on someone,” Herat says. “It creates a requirement to use the training that they received to de-escalate situations. The law really emphasizes de-escalation rather than confrontation, and recognizes that when force is required, that officers should use the least amount of force, that they should stop using force on the
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necessity end, that they should use less lethal weapons.” Although law enforcement and the Washington Association of Sheriffs & Police Chiefs were involved in the drafting of these bills, police leaders around the state have issued statements that these bills would negatively affect their ability to do their jobs and public safety. This misinformation spread by the police is local law enforcement’s way of inciting fear into the community, says Johnson. “They’re spewing this because they want to get community to fear that something terrible is going to happen to them, but there can’t be anything more terrible than the loss of life that has been happening over and over again,” she adds. “We are currently living in an unsafe environment because we cannot call the police for help. They show up and they’re killing people. We’re already unsafe.” The culture of policing has been a major obstacle to holding individual officers accountable for their violence, largely against communities of color. “I think many of us, as we witnessed the videos of the killing of George Floyd, were appalled that there were other officers there who did nothing to intervene to save his life,” Herat says. “The whole package of bills is designed to change the culture of policing. I don’t think it’s going to take one thing. I think it’s going to take many things, and time, to really change.” Herat says. She hopes that instances like this can be avoided in Washington through SB 5066, which requires officers to intervene if they see another officer using excessive force. “Let’s weed out those bad apples so that the police who are out there protecting the community and serving the community are
In May, Gov. Jay Inslee signed 12 bills into law to reduce the use of deadly force and ensure more accountability and transparency from law enforcement. Family members of victims of police violence in Washington helped craft the bills. They gathered in Tacoma to witness the signing. Federal Way Rep. Jesse Johnson, ’12, ’16, who sponsored the bills, shakes his hand.
policing the right way.” Johnson says. “These laws are to address those cops that have been abusing power and hurting the community for a very long time.” Herat believes that these new laws also provide an opportunity for jurisdictions to think about alternative ways to respond to crisis calls with a focus on other important preventive measures like access to housing, education, health care and mental health services. “I was speaking to one officer a few weeks ago. They said if someone is calling 911 in a crisis, the system has already failed them,” Herat says. “I do think that we need a reallocation of funds back into communities so that we can get to the root of the issues that are plaguing folks,” Johnson says. “I think that giving $400 million to the police to militarize themselves further and commit harms against the community is not what we should be doing. Some of that money needs to go into social services. Some of that money needs to go into mental health. Some of that money needs to go into things to really help the people in the community.” The next step is ensuring that those who have been injured by police violence have recourse. HB 1202 would require a removal of qualified immunity: the legal principle that protects officers from civil suits. “We did change things, and it’s something to be really proud of and something that we can celebrate,” Herat says. But she adds: “There’s still more to do to make sure that we hold our officers to a high standard, and when there is misconduct that they’re held accountable.”
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A Nursing Leader’s Living Legacy One of Seattle’s few Black nurses in the 1940s, Rachel Suggs Pitts helped create a network of support for her colleagues and nursing students By Luna Reyna
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In 1956, Suggs Pitts completed a bachelor's in nursing at the UW. She spent much of her career with the Seattle & King County health department where she worked toward eliminating health disparities. Also, her interest in infectious diseases led her to join a multiyear virus infection surveillance project at the UW.
Rachel Suggs Pitts, one of Seattle’s few Black nurses in the 1940s, played a key role in UW virus research, worked as a public health nurse and provided decades of health service. But perhaps her most profound contribution was to future generations of Black nurses. Pitts died in April, only a few months shy of her 100th birthday. She was the last remaining founder of the Mary Mahoney Professional Nurses Organization (MMPNO). The club for Black nurses started in the 1949 and today provides mentorship, financial aid and scholarships to students of African heritage pursuing careers in nursing. Through the organization and beyond, Pitts nurtured generations of young Black nurses. And they have gone on to advance public health both locally and nationally. Rachel Suggs Pitts “is a model of what it means to be engaged in your profession up until the end of your life,” says Frankie Manning, a former UW faculty member and longtime member of the MMP-
NO. “She was always present because she wanted the young nurses dents. They were very skeptical about African American students to understand how important it was for them to go to school.” being able to achieve as highly as [the white] students.” While the Rachel Suggs was born in Lakeland, Georgia, the fourth of five situation has improved, there are still disparities, both in the nurschildren. She grew up in a close-knit Black community, and many ing profession and in the health of many communities of color, of her earliest memories were set at the Baptist church where her which is where Lee has focused much of her career. Pitts was pasfamily worshiped and she attended school until the eighth grade. sionate about addressing health disparities, and she instilled this When she was 5, her father died. By age 11, she was working same passion in generations of MMPNO nurses, says Lee. “She for a registered nurse—a white woman—who needed help carsaid to us, ‘Remember our community and the disparity in health ing for her sick husband. Pitts also knew the midwife who delivcare that still exists in the many communities of color.’” ered her community’s babies. According to several sources, the Pitts was someone who used her own achievements to uplift combination of these experiences and her faith made her want others, a focus at the core of the MMPNO mission. “She unto become a nurse. derstood that working with others in community for the goals After high school, she worked almost two years to save for of equity and social justice was far more powerful than just one nursing school. She finished her clinical affiliation at Freedman’s person doing it,” Salmon says. Hospital in Washington, D.C., with experience in psychiatry Pitts retired from professional nursing in 1985 but continued and communicable diseases, but there she could only work with to provide health services to family, members of her church and Black patients. those who asked for help. To memorialize Pitts’ legacy, Salmon During this time, Pitts started a family. Her husband was in created an endowed scholarship in her name. “I have huge admithe Navy, and she hoped to move to Seattle to await his return ration for her and was really happy to have the opportunity to do from the war. She found a job at Seattle’s Harborview Hospital something to celebrate her life,” Salmon says. “I know there’s a lot where she was placed in the communicable disease unit with of discussion now about diversity, equity and inclusion, but we the hospital’s other Black nurses. are at the beginning of the journey, we’re not at the end.” In 1949, Pitts and 11 other nurses were invited to a meeting at fellow nurse Anne Foy Baker’s home. That night they formed the Mary Mahoney Professional Nurses Club, named for the first professionally trained Black nurse in the country. “Their early efforts involved bake sales, car washes and social events to try to raise money,” says Manning. The organization would pay for new members to go to the beauty salon, be treated to dinner and be taken to church. Later, the money raised was directed to scholarships. From the beginning, the group focused on creating a variety of support systems for its members. One element of the support became the MMPNO mentorship program. “They were pretty diligent and very intentional in terms of providing mentors to us,” says Shavonne Reynolds, MMPNO member, registered nurse and a current doctor of nursing practice student at UW. Her mentor is Manning. “She is just a wealth of information. I can call her just to vent and to get guidance on my professional decisions and school decisions,” she says. “Having someone who understands what it’s like to be a Black nurse, and specifically a Black nurse in Seattle, and to have that trust-building aspect of it in Rachel Suggs knew that shared life experience, has been tremendous.” she wanted to be a In 1956, Pitts graduated with a bachelor’s degree nurse since childhood. from the UW School of Nursing and began work as After graduating high school, left, she saved a public health nurse. She also brought her expertise up for nearly two years to a sudden infant death syndrome project, a sickle for nursing school. cell screening service, a genetic counseling program, She eventually found and a maternal and child health group. a job at Harborview, “From a public health perspective, for her to have one of the few hospibeen a Black public health nurse at the time that she tals hiring Black nurswas, in a city that was pretty fundamentally segrees at the time. There gated, was really amazing and it was powerful,” says she met the women Marla Salmon, a professor of nursing and global who would join her in founding the Mary health at the UW. “How important it is just to go afMahoney Professional ter a job in a very white city, then to get that job, and Nurses Organization. to be able to navigate it. Hers is a story of courage.” Because of her expertise in infectious diseases, Pitts was invited to work on a UW Department of Epidemiology and International Health on a virus watch study. Unfortunately, she was not credited for her work. “It has not been uncommon for nurses to really be able to do a large part of the research legwork and have lots of influence on the data collection and how it’s done, but no credit is given,” Manning explains. When Vivian Lee, ’55, met Pitts, Lee was struggling to get into the UW Nursing program. “She was the one who encouraged me,” Lee says. “I was interviewed quite a few times more than most stu-
Through example, mentorship and support, Rachel Suggs Pitts and a few of her fellow nurses forged the way for health equity and for future Black nurses in the Northwest.
COU RE STY OF TH E SUG G S P I TT S FA M I LY ( 2 )
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Moving Pictures
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C A L E N D A R
UW Bothell librarian curates a QTPOC film canon
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By Luna Reyna
Maysoon Zayid—Survival of the Unfittest Oct. 26, 6:30 pm | Meany Performing Arts Center
As a teenager, Michael Mungin would go to Columbia City Library in South Seattle to find books and films about the intersecting complexities of being Black and gay, or what he called as a teenager, “same-gender loving.” Fortunately, some helpful librarians supported his pursuit by setting aside things that they thought he would find interesting. He learned that libraries can be a useful safe space and can point people toward resources that might make an impact in their lives. The experience stayed with him and has culminated in the work he is doing now as a research and instruction librarian at UW Bothell. According to Mungin, ’10, finding films that center the experiences of queer and trans people of color (QTPOC) may have saved his life. “I think the lack of representation robs you of your imagination for your own future,” he says. But when he was 13, he discovered the 1996 documentary “All God’s Children.” The short film explores the way Black Christian families with gay and lesbian family members are able to reconcile their faith with their family member’s sexuality. The documentary is an example of how people can learn to sit with their discomfort and accept the ones they love as they are. “I remember that really resonating with me because it’s what I had hoped my experience in coming out to my family would be like,” Mungin says. In 2018, Mungin was awarded a Carnegie Whitney Grant from the American Library Association to create “An Intersectional Lens: Towards a QTPOC Film Canon.” The canon offers a curated list of films that showcase QTPOC in many intersecting and uniquely intimate and eccentric ways of being and loving. At the same time, the films navigate historical oppression and internalized and external racism and homophobia. Mungin organizes the films alphabetically for searchability as well as by race, ethnicity and sexuality in order to further assist those looking for something specific to their personal experience or exploration. When he began sifting through films, the process required him to review many that represented queer and trans people in exploitative or tokenistic ways. Out of 174 films, just over 60 made the cut for his exploration into authentic QTPOC representation in American cinema. “This is the kind of thing that I wish existed when I was a little younger, when I was a teenager just discovering libraries,” Mungin says. “It was always a struggle for me to find things that spoke to what my future might be. “This is the kind of thing that I wish existed when I was a little younger, when I was a teenager just discovering libraries,” Mungin says. “It was always a struggle for me to find things that spoke to what my future might be.” To explore the list of films, visit qtpocfilmcanon.squarespace.com.
Comedian, disability advocate and author Maysoon Zayid talks about being a Muslim American woman, her family, global culture and cerebral palsy. She co-founded the New York Arab American Comedy Festival and has appeared on the Oprah Winfrey Networks and "60 Minutes," and at comedy clubs at home and abroad. Due to COVID-19, there will be no wait list or walk-up admission the night of the event. This talk is sponsored by the Graduate School with support from The D Center, UW Disability and D/deaf Cultural Center and the UW Disability Studies Program. Tickets are $5 at www.washington.edu/lectures
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SEE Packaged Black: Derrick Adams and Barbara Earl Thomas Through May 1 | Henry Art Gallery Barbara Earl Thomas, ’73, ’77, teams up with Derrick Adams in a collaborative, multimedia installation developed from their shared dialogue about representation, Black identity and practices of cultural resistance. This must-see exhibition is a synthesis of a multiyear, intergenerational and cross-country exchange between New York-based Adams and Seattle-based Thomas that began after the two artists exhibited work alongside each other in 2017.
DO Anne Gould Hauberg Artist Images Series featuring Juan Alonso-Rodríguez Oct. 28, 4:30-5:30 p.m. Artist Juan Alonso-Rodríguez joins local arts advocate and DoubleXposure podcast host Vivian Phillips for a pre-recorded discussion of his work. The Cuban-American visual artist is based in Seattle and has works in museums and public spaces across the Pacific Northwest. After the interview, audiences can take part in a live Q&A, moderated by UW Libraries Special Collections PNW Curator Anne Jenner. Register for the free online event at washington.edu/alumni.
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Remembering the Spratlens They were scholars, professors and community builders. Thaddeus Spratlen and Lois Price-Spratlen were the UW’s academic power couple—each excelling in their own discipline and both opening up opportunities for students and faculty of color across the University. The University of Washington was fortunate to have been the site of their scholarship and at the core of their careers. Lois Price-Spratlen died in 2013, leaving a legacy of outreach and leadership, having served as the University ombudsman as well as faculty in the School of Nursing. And this summer, with Thaddeus Spratlen’s death in May, the campus found another opportunity to remember and celebrate the pair. Lois was the first woman and first person of color to be ombudsman for the University. Thaddeus was the first Black professor in the business school. The couple met when Thaddeus was stationed in Virginia before departing for the Korean War and Lois was a nursing student. After the military, Thaddeus earned a Ph.D. in marketing from Ohio State University. He then landed a tenure-track position at Western Washington University in 1962, which was followed by a sabbatical at UC Berkeley and a job at UCLA. In 1972, the Spratlens returned to the Northwest to raise their family. Thaddeus had joined the faculty at the UW Foster School of Business and Lois was homing in on her graduate degree. Lois had already trained in nursing and held a master’s in community health from UCLA. She next turned her energies toward a doctorate in urban planning at the UW, which she completed in 1976. In 1985, she earned certification as a psychiatric mental health nurse. She was asked to serve as the UW’s ombudsman for sexual harassment in 1982 and full ombudsman from 1988 to 2009, all the while working her way to becoming a full professor of nursing in 1992. She was a leader in the Mary Mahoney Professional Nurses Association, an organization for Black nurses, and wrote “African American Registered Nurses in Seattle: The Struggle for Opportunity and Success.” Even after retiring in 2009, Lois still served students and the community. Much of her effort focused on
scholarships and mentorship through the Mary Mahoney organization and through the UW Multicultural Alumni Partnership. Meanwhile, among his projects, Thaddeus created a program in the 1970s to connect students with underrepresented and minority owned businesses. While the students learned through the projects, the businesses received much needed support. That innovative program evolved into the Consulting and Business Development Center, which has helped hundreds of minority owned businesses in Washington. The Spratlens left a legacy of support for new generations of students and nurses through the CBDC and the Lois PriceSpratlen Foundation. Barry Mar, ’70, ’71, loved teaching, learning and serving his Chinese community. He studied chemistry and Chinese history before completing a master’s in educational psychology. He started a consultancy for public agencies, nonprofits and private industries and managed the renovation of the Atlas Hotel. A friend of Bruce Lee, he also volunteered as a coach with the Seattle Chinese Athletic Association and as founder and coach of the Seattle Asian Sports Club. He died March 10 at age 77. Born in Barbados and trained at Yale University, Denzil Hurley was an accomplished painter and beloved teacher. His work, abstract canvasses that took years to complete, has been celebrated and exhibited across the country. He joined the UW in 1994 and was professor of painting and drawing, influencing generations of students. He retired in 2017. His advice to aspiring artists: “Get good training. Go to museums. Draw, draw, draw!” He died in July at age 72.
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Telling the Story of Diversity at the University of Washington
4333 Brooklyn Ave NE Campus Box 359508 Seattle, WA 98195
Kelly ECC is Turning 50! Share your memories Clockwise from top right, recent and current students Lyndsey Ferguson, Khatami Chau and Isabella Dalmacio share what the Samuel E. Kelly Ethnic Cultural Center means to them through a project cu rated by Kelly ECC staff.
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In the late 1960s, students called on the University to create an on-campus meeting space for underrepresented minority students. That dream was realized in late 1972 with the grand opening of the Samuel E. Kelly Ethnic Cultural Center, one of the first and largest student cultural centers in the nation. Starting this fall and well into 2022, the Kelly ECC is celebrating 50 years of serving the student community. One of the key events is a Grand Celebration from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. on March 3. The entire campus, alumni and University community are invited to attend. Research shows that ethnic spaces on campuses help underrepresented minority students feel a greater sense of belonging. A UW/University of Exeter study published last spring used data collected from hundreds of students to explore the value of establishing cultural spaces like the ECC. The study found that such spaces announce to the entire campus that the students served
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by a cultural center are valued and welcomed at the university. In its half-century of use, the Kelly ECC has been a hangout and second home for thousands of students. With a dance studio, a midsize theater, meeting and multipurpose rooms, offices for student organizations and places to just drop in and do homework, the center is a weekly or even daily stop for BIPOC undergraduates. It has also become a place where students can find advising, support and empowerment. To commemorate the anniversary, students and staff at the center are asking alumni to share their memories, stories and reflections from their years at the ECC. The University of Washington Magazine, Viewpoint and the ECC is hoping you will share your stories and photographs. Please reach out through magazine@washington.edu. For more details about the Grand Celebration, contact Maggie Fonseca, at mikese@uw.edu.
