Portland Greeners In The News

Posted on April 28, 2015 by Nate Bernitz

Two stories have come across the wires the past couple weeks about Evergreen alumni in Portland, Oregon making news.

Nancy Haque ’96 was named co-director of Basic Rights Oregon, the state’s largest nonprofit gay and transgender advocacy group.

Nancy Haque ’96 (left) and Jeana Frazzini (right). Photo Credit: LGBT Weekly

According to LGBT Weekly, “Nancy Haque joins the Basic Rights staff after serving on the Basic Rights Board for three years and serving as a consultant on the organization’s strategic planning process this past year… Haque has more than 18 years of professional experience, including seven years as the Building Political Power Director at Western States Center, where she led a voter organizing training and empowerment project and managed the 2013 Racial Equity Report Card for Oregon. Haque also spent eight years working on economic justice issues, including stints with Portland and National Jobs with Justice and with AFL-CIO. She holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from Evergreen State College and a Master’s of Public Policy and Administration from the University of Massachusetts Amherst.”

Lauren Hall-Behrens. Photo Credit: Joshua McCullough, Portland Monthly

Lauren Hall-Behrens ’94. Photo Credit: Joshua McCullough, Portland Monthly

Lauren Hall-Behrens ’94, owner of Lilyvilla Gardens, a landscape design company in Portland, was featured in Portland Monthly.

In the piece, Hall-Behrens talks about her path to landscape design after Evergreen and inspiring ideas for spring gardening and the perspectives that make her successful. Finally, she gives her top picks for planting this year, including Fairy wings and Korean feather reed grass. Enjoy this fascinating glimpse into the mind of a Greener landscape designer.

What stories from Evergreen alumni in Portland did I miss? Share your stories in the comments section.

Speakers and Events on Campus, 5/4 – 5/8

Posted on April 28, 2015 by Nate Bernitz

We are pleased to welcome several esteemed speakers to our campus in Olympia next week. We hope you will join us.

Elaine Scarry will speak on Monday, May 4 from 5:30 – 7:00 pm in Lecture Hall 1. Professor Scarry will speak at Convocation next fall, and incoming students will read her book Thinking in an Emergency as part of their orientation to Evergreen and to self-reflective thinking and learning.

Dr. Cornel West speaks on Monday, May 4 from 7:00 – 9:30 pm in the Constantino Recreation Center. Doors open at 6:00 pm, and the event starts at 7:00 pm. Students and Faculty pay $7 in advance, $10 at the door. General Admission is $20 in advance, $25 at the door. Tickets are available through Rainy Day Records, Greener Store, Tacoma Program, Quality Food Centers (QFC’s) and TicketsWest.com, as well as at the door.

Alumni including Eben Greene ’91 and Sash Sunday ’09 will speak at the Evergreen Entrepreneurs Symposium on Tuesday, May 5 from 4:00 – 7:00 pm in the Communications Building. Find out more about the speakers and participating organizations on the event website. Admission is $5 at the door for alumni and community members and free with an Evergreen ID.

Native American feminist scholar and activist Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz will speak on Tuesday, May 5 from 7:00 – 10:00 pm in the Evergreen Longhouse.

Video and performance artist Kim Miller will speak on Wednesday, May 6 from 11:30 – 1:00 pm in Lecture Hall 1.

Comment if you are planning to attend any of these events, or if you know about other events on campus next week.

The Greeners Behind Our Cities Gather in Seattle

Posted on April 20, 2015 by Nate Bernitz

Jennifer Gerend Ph.D AICP welcomes alumni and friends

Jennifer Gerend welcomes alumni and friends

On April 18, 2015, Evergreen faculty member Jennifer Gerend Ph.D AICP hosted a gathering of The Greeners Behind Our Cities: alumni, friends, and several of her most promising urban planning students. Over thirty attended the event at the Tap House Grill, located within walking distance of the American Planning Association’s national conference at the Washington State Convention Center.

Alumni and friends enjoying remarks from one of Jennifer Gerend’s urban planning students

About an hour into the event, the clink of a glass drew Greener’s attention away from small group conversation, steak skewers, crab cakes, 14 Hands wine and other delectable appetizers and drinks to Jennifer’s opening remarks. She shared a multitude of exciting field trips, class readings and guest speakers her planning programs have experienced over the years, since joining Evergreen’s faculty in 2008, and introduced several of her recent and current students:

Acacia Weeks, Carlos Gemora ’15, Alex Shields and Shira Moch ’14

– Shira Moch ’14 studied with Jennifer and Ralph Murphy before being accepted into the first year of Evergreen’s Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship program, doing research for the same faculty in 2013. Shira, who is currently a session aid to Washington State Senator and Evergreen Adjunct Faculty Karen Fraser, announced that she will begin graduate school at UCLA in urban planning this coming fall.
– Carlos Gemora ’15 also studied with Jennifer and Ralph, during which time he also started a planning internship with the City of Tumwater. When his internship ended, Carlos was offered a full time position in planning with the city, which he continues to hold today. Carlos will begin graduate school at Cornell University in urban planning this fall.
– Will Hamlin also studied with Jennifer, and while still a current undergraduate student, he has begun a full-time position with Pacific County as one of their two staff planners.

Gil Kelley ’79 begins introductions

Following those special introductions, Jennifer asked everyone in attendance to introduce themselves and what brought them to the event , which encouraged some of the evening’s many highlights. Introductions started with Gil Kelley ’79, Director of Citywide Planning for the City of San Francisco. Gil noted the strange circumstance that the latest Evergreen Magazine, stacked on the table behind him, bared him on its cover. A former classmate of Kelley’s, Michael Bergstrom ’75, was also in attendance. They reminisced on the paths they’ve taken since doing the same life-changing planning internship as Evergreen students in the 1970s.

There were also several graduates of Evergreen’s Masters in Public Administration (MPA) program in attendance: Rita Robison ’75 MPA ’91 and Lynn Scroggins MPA ’97. Rita has since retired, and was joined by fellow retiree and long-time Olympia City Council member Holly Gadbaw, while Lynn works for the Nisqually Indian Tribe.

There were several Greeners new to the planning and development world, including Lynn Schneider ’88 and husband/wife David Wagner ’90 and Ann Marie Crane ’00. Lynn has just started a job with King County, while David and Ann are new to the Seattle real estate industry. As developers, David and Ann were well received by the lively group of planners.

Alayna Rose Leibman, Alex Shields and Acacia Weeks talk about Evergreen’s new urban planning student club

There were countless other stories from the group, and their conversations will undoubtedly continue, both professionally and personally. It was a memorable evening of engaging conversation, new friends, and great connections among students and alumni, colleagues, and old classmates. Some alumni will go on to serve as mentors, internship sponsors and employers of the students and recent graduates in the room. Some will rekindle friendships, and others will use new connections in their professional lives.

Jennifer Gerend Ph.D AICP

All in all, it was a celebratory evening for The Greeners Behind Our Cities and the passionate, systems and interdisciplinary thinking they bring to their work. A very special thank you to Jennifer Gerend, not only for her collaboration in planning the event but for carrying on Evergreen’s evident legacy of educating future planners.

It’s About Time: Big Idea event series kicks off at Three Magnets in Olympia

Posted on April 17, 2015 by Nate Bernitz

Greg Mullins speaks at April’s Big Idea

Over thirty alumni and friends gathered on Wednesday night after work at Three Magnets Brewing Company for the first installment of the Big Idea event series. Representing the classes of 1974, 2015, and every class in between, a lively crowd gathered on the month’s third Wednesday for April’s Big Idea.

Alumni and friends at April’s Big Idea

Three Magnets Brewing Company, owned and operated by two Evergreen alumni, Nate and Sarah Reilly ’01, served their house-brewed beers and made-from-scratch pub fare to Greeners in the Barrel Room, the restaurant’s event space.

Faculty members Greg Mullins, Shaw Osha and Trevor Speller started the conversation with a short talk, which was inspired by their team-taught program, It’s About Time. They shared reflections on how technology has revolutionized our relation to time, including anecdotes and readings from their experiences asking their students to unplug from the internet, use typewriters rather than computers, and approach art and literature SLOWLY. After their thought- and laughter-provoking talk, everyone truly was talking about time.

We hope alumni and friends will join us for the next Big Idea, a talk by Evergreen faculty Nancy Koppelman ’88, inspired by her program What Are Children For?.

Did you attend? Or wish you had? Join the conversation by commenting below.

Legislative Updates – Higher Education Impacts

Posted on April 9, 2015 by Nate Bernitz

Stay Connected to the Legislative Process

Read regular updates from Evergreen’s Office of Governmental Relations.

On Wednesday April 7, the Washington Senate passed a proposed biennial operating budget and on April 8 released a proposed biennial capital budget The Senate’s capital budget provides funding for several projects across higher education, authorizing $923.7 million ($558.7 million state bonds) in higher education facilities in the next biennium.

On Friday, March 27, the Washington State House of Representatives released proposed 2015-2017 biennial operating and capital budgets, which include funding for higher education. This follows the release of Governor Jay Inslee’s proposed 2015-17 Operating and Capital budgets on December 18, 2014.

Check out the Senate and House Budget and Funding Proposals

Evergreen Operating Budget Request

Evergreen Capital Budget Request

Impact on Higher Education and The Evergreen State College

The proposed Senate Capital Budget provides funding for several projects across higher education. This includes funding for three projects at Evergreen – Lecture Hall Renovation Construction, Lab I Basement Construction funding, and Seminar I Renovation Predesign. The budget also provides authorization to purchase the Tacoma Campus property.

In addition the budget includes funds to support facilities preservation, minor works, and preventative facility maintenance and building system repairs.

Overall the budget supports Evergreen’s focus and commitment to responsible stewardship of our public facilities and infrastructure to meet current technological needs and demands, and to provide the needed facilities and infrastructure to provide a quality educational experience for students.

The proposed Capital Budget from the Washington House includes funding for three projects at Evergreen: Lecture Hall Renovation Construction, Lab I Basement Construction, and Seminar I Renovation pre-design. The budget also provides authorization to purchase the Evergreen Tacoma Campus property. In addition, the budget includes funds to support facilities preservation, minor works, preventative facility maintenance and building system repairs.

The proposed Operating Budget from the Washington House provides $257 million for financial aid, a tuition freeze $253 million for state and higher education employee compensation and benefits, an increase in funding for the State Need Grant by $53 million and $60 million to provide the state’s match for the Washington Opportunity Scholarship Program. For Evergreen, the proposed Operating Budget freezes tuition for undergraduate, resident students for the biennium, while providing $2.954 million to offset the tuition freeze. The budget also provides Evergreen $750,000 in the second year of the biennium to expand student advising and support services that lead to increased degree completion. The proposed budget does not provide funds to eliminate the student backlog in computer science at Evergreen, which is currently at 50-75 students.

Greeners joined forces with alumni from Washington’s four-year baccalaureates to speak to legislators about investment in higher education. Photo – Julie Garver, 2/18/15

Interested in receiving updates and getting involved in supporting Evergreen? Join the Associated Alumni and Friends of Evergreen.

In the News

From the Seattle Times: Record Year for Applications to State’s Universities

LinkedIn and lynda.com Come Together in Purchase

Posted on April 9, 2015 by Jonathan

Lynda Weinman 1976 speaks at Evergreen

“What Evergreen teaches is ‘find what you’re interested in and impress us.’ The whole emphasis is on finding your calling, finding what moves you, finding your passion.”

Lynda Weinman, Evergreen alumna (1976) and co-founder and executive chair of the board of lynda.com, just acquired by LinkedIn for $1.5 billion.

The LA Times and Money reported today that lynda.com, the online learning company created by Lynda Weinman ’76 and her husband, Bruce Heavin, has been sold to LinkedIn for $1.5 billion.

Lynda epitomizes the power of interdisciplinary education. After graduating from Evergreen, Weinman opened two retail shops in California and later became an animator for the movie business. This move led to an early fascination with personal computers, which she embraced for her animation work, and, from there, she began teaching computer graphics and writing how-to books. Finally she started the online learning business lynda.com.

Evergreen’s emphasis on adaptability, problem solving and entrepreneurial thinking has led many alumni to stunning success in a wide range of fields. Lynda Weinman is a great example.

Evergreen congratulates Lynda on her success. We are grateful for Lynda and Bruce’s support over these many years and wish them well as their next adventure unfolds.

Alumni Gather in Portland, Oregon

Posted on April 1, 2015 by Nate Bernitz

The sign-in hub at Greeners after Work: Portland on March 31, 2015

Over thirty alumni and friends gathered on Tuesday night at the Lucky Lab Tap Room, on a day that brought hail, rain and sunshine to The City Of Roses. From the classes of 1975 to 2014, a lively crowd gathered on March 31, 2015, for the event Greeners After Work: Portland.

With micro brews, pizza and salad in hand, Greeners shared stories, made connections, and came together for an evening that built excitement for Evergreen and what’s next for the alumni that live and work in the Portland area. Continue reading →

The Evergreen Mind

The official alumni blog of The Evergreen State College

Monthly Archives: April 2015