Breaking Glass Ceilings: Monica Alexander ’13

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Monica Alexander ’13 (3rd from left) First African-American Woman Sergeant in Washington State Patrol, Promoted to Lieutenant.

It’s been a busy year for Monica Hunter-Alexander ’13. Until a couple weeks ago, she was the first African American woman to achieve the rank of sergeant in the Washington State Patrol (WSP). On June 14, Monica walked across a stage on Red Square to accept her degree from the Evergreen State College. And on July 16, the WSP promoted her to the rank of lieutenant. The ceremony was held on August 8th and Monica had the pleasure of sharing the official recognition with her husband, Johnny Alexander, who had received the rank of lieutenant earlier in the year.

Monica found an academic home in Evergreen’s Tacoma Program, located in the Hilltop neighborhood of Tacoma.Of her student life, Monica summarized:

“My Evergreen Tacoma experience was exceptional. I felt like I attended class with family.  We argued passionately, cried collectively and supported each other whole-heartedly.  We encouraged each other and respected each other’s goals and aspirations.”

Monica has received numerous honors and awards including the Educational Excellence Award from the Washington State Traffic Safety Commission. She was a familiar – and popular – face on KOMO-TV’s traffic report. In 2003, Monica was inducted into the Tacoma African American History Museum for her service to the community and her work with the WSP.

Monica’s life path thus far – her evident commitment to community, social justice and life-long learning – exemplifies the motto of the Evergreen’s Tacoma Program: “Enter to learn, depart to serve.”

 

Always A Happy Day: 2013-14 Jackie Robinson Scholars Honored

Left to right: Felix Braffith accepting “the big check” for Maxwell Hanckel, Doneesha Brown, President Les Purce and Mariners President Chuck Armstrong

Evergreen students Doneesha Brown and Maxwell Hanckel received public “congratulations” last Tuesday as this year’s Jackie Robinson Scholarship recipients. The ceremony took place, as is traditional, at Seattle’s Safeco Field just prior to a Mariners game.

Evergreen has awarded 48 Jackie Robinson scholarships, starting in 1987, thanks to the philanthropy of then-faculty member Patrick Hill. A much beloved teacher, philosopher, writer and story-teller, Patrick endowed the scholarship as a tribute to his parents, immigrants who valued education highly but never, themselves, went to college, and who were devoted Jackie Robinson/Brooklyn Dodgers fans.

Read the full story.

Just a bit about Patrick Hill:

Patrick died in 2008 just weeks after being awarded Faculty Emeritus status upon retirement. Here is one of many laudatory statements from former students listed on RateMyProfessor: Patrick Hill was the best teacher I ever had. He was a strong leader, yet had a gentle way, and was inspirational to the nines. He was encouraging and supportive, understanding and yet could light a fire under you. He is the reason I am a teacher. Often I ask myself “What would Patrick do?” An amazing mentor and man! Life changing absolutely!

Sara Gagnon ’05: Living the Good Life on the Olympic Peninsula

Port Angeles, WA Winemaker Sara Gagnon ’05

What says “Evergreen” more than  the life-path of Sara Gagnon ’05?
Entrepreneur: owner of and winemaker for Harbinger
Winery and co-owner of Adventures Through Kayaking.
Location:
A few hours north of Evergreen on Highway 101 in the rainforest of the Olympic Peninsula (or, more prosaically, near Port Angeles), where she lives life exactly as her passion directs.

Tour guide Sara shares the wonders of the Peninsula with visitors via kayak, mountain bike, raft and paddleboard in the Strait of Juan de Fuca, on Lake Crescent and along the riverways.

As a vintner, she creates award-winning wines with locally sourced grapes and a reverent, fine-art approach:

“While very labor intensive, we at Harbinger firmly believe that by utilizing a hands on approach we are able to attain a much more individualized and expressive wine. With our reds we use no filtration or fining methods with the intention of leaving as much of the wines’ true character where it belongs …We focus on Washington-grown fruit only  … We also pick local fruit and berries to create our highly-acclaimed “Bliss” wines.”

Here’s a bit of Sara’s story in her own voice.

If you are planning a trip to the Olympic Peninsula, be sure to meet Sara and add her to your Greener network of friends.

Return to Evergreen Program Updates

There will be something for everyone at Evergreen, October 19, 2013

Program Updates and Highlights:

Longhouse Education & Cultural Center
Join this tour to the Longhouse’s new carving studio where a drum making workshop will be in progress.

Annual Alumni Meeting
Alumni and Students (future alumni), come hear about “Alumni Circles” and join the discussion about staying engaged with your alma mater.

Athletics – Go Geoducks!
Head to the soccer field at 1 pm for women’s soccer. Later in the afternoon, Greeners who are alumni of the men’s and women’s basketball team take the court for the Annual Alumni Basketball games to be played on the new Art Costantino gymnasium floor. Were you a team member? Sign up to play: Female athletes contact Monica Heuer. Male athletes contact Arvin Mosley.

See the full schedule: Return to Evergreen.
Register Today.
Special Rate for Students and Recently Graduated (2008-2013) Alumni.

Stay tuned for more updates.


 

Tacoma Port Commissioner Connie Bacon MPA ’88 wins Globe Award

Editor’s Note: This post is reprinted, in part, from The Tacoma News Tribune web log, June 10, 2013. Although it is a couple months old, we thought MIND readers would enjoy learning about this Greener’s lifetime of service.

Connie Bacon ’88, Tacoma Port Commissioner. Photo: Evergreen Magazine, Fall 2009.

Port of Tacoma Commissioner Connie Bacon was executive director of the World Trade Center Tacoma when it established the prestigious Globe Awards 20 years ago – and now she’s been given one.

At a recent meeting of the WTC Tacoma board of directors, Bacon was surprised to receive only the second Globe Award for Lifetime Achievement .. .

“Connie Bacon richly deserves this award,” said Hugh Carr, WTC Tacoma chairman. “She’s shown real trade leadership as a port commissioner, as a special assistant to Gov. Booth Gardner and, from 1992 to 1997, as executive director of the WTC Tacoma. … There is no one more appropriate to receive this award than the person who first started it.”

The 20th Annual Globe Awards banquet and ceremony is slated for Sept. 19.Congratulations Connie!

Bagpipes on Red Square: Martin Brendecke ’14

Martin Brendecke ’14 busking on Red Square.

Editor’s note: The sound of bagpipes, even from considerable distance, penetrates all other sounds and brings one straight to attention. This is what happened recently when the moaning drones and piercing chanter notes got us out on Red Square within seconds. There we met Martin Brendecke ’14, current student and an accomplished piper.

Martin was born in Tucson, Arizona but grew up in Kirkland, Washington. The son of a performing folk musician, Martin’s world was filled with music, at home and wherever there was a folk festival or traditional music gathering around the Northwest.

When he was eight years old, the Brendecke family went to the Enumclaw Highland Games where Martin’s mother was performing with her band “The Hot Lattes.”  That was when Martin’s fascination with all things Scottish began. On the way home, he asked for a practice chanter and a kilt. Continue reading

The Return of Return To Evergreen, October 19, 2013

Here’s the date we’ve been waiting for:
October 19, 2013, the return of Return to Evergreen.

You may remember that last May, Return to Evergreen (R2E), our alumni day on campus, was postponed. Just this week, we’ve been cleared for Saturday, October 19, one full day to forget the chores, and treat yourself to a beautiful autumn day on campus.

To feed your Evergreen mind, a rich menu of faculty-facilitated, small-group conversations. Of course there will be workshops and tours: Art Gallery, Longhouse, Organic Farm just to name a few. For the athletically inclined, sign up for the Annual Alumni Basketball game. View the full schedule and keep tabs as sessions are added and updated.

To refresh your Evergreen spirit, live music starts early evening and the always-popular Greener Beer Garden will provide a warm, cozy place for old friends and new acquaintances to gather.

Don’t miss Return to Evergreen, on campus this October 19. Register today. Only $25 for the full day, two on campus meals, and evening festivities.  Admission for current students and alumni classes of 2008-2013 is $15.

Admission to the Greener Beer Garden is free but please bring picture I.D. and cash for your beverages.

Register Today.

Craig Bartlett ’81: Report from ComicCon 2013

You may remember a recent post (July 17) about Craig Bartlett ’81 (Hey Arnold! Dinosaur Train, etc.) speaking on a Nickelodeon panel called “Nick Re-mix” at this year’s ComicCon.  Ever the loyal Greener, Craig has sent a report straight from the front lines of geekdom:

Craig Bartlett ’81 on Nickelodeon panel at ComicCon 2013

I’ve been to the ComicCon between 5 and 10 times over the last 25 years. Last time I went was 5 years ago, and then the convention center was as crammed as it was this year, with 130,000 people attending. At the crosswalks leading away from the center, sometimes it looked like a thousand people were crossing the street and pouring into the neighborhood, all looking for lunch.

I brought my daughter Katie, who is also a Greener and has been coming with me since she was a kid. We took the train from Union Station in LA to the Santa Fe station in San Diego. It’s the way I’ll go from now on. Legroom even in coach, and bathrooms you can actually walk around in! You ride though kind of LA’s back yard for the first half of the trip. Then you get to the ocean at San Juan Capistrano, and the rest of the way is friggin’ beautiful. The train is practically on the beach for a while, clipping along so close to the ocean you’d think waves would hit it. I wandered around the cars and checked out my fellow passengers, half of whom were Con people and half going to opening day at Del Mar. The Del Mar people were much more dressed up. The women all wore hats, from really big to really small, like in-on-the-joke small. And they were all getting smashed. It was 11 in the morning.

Katie Bartlett ’13 with Trekies

We arrived on Wednesday, which is “preview day” at the Con. Even on preview day, there were so many people on the big floor that the crowd barely moved. Most of the Con-goers have that glazed, overstimulated look in their eyes, like they are trying to register 100 things in their heads at once. Many of them wear a long tube on their back for posters and big paper items, which make them look like they are wearing a quiver or one of those longsword scabbards out of Game of Thrones. As you get hit by someone’s tube, or stepped on by someone in costume, you think, “I can’t believe someone doesn’t start swinging and this crowd just turns into a melee,” but no one does – comics fans are lookers, not brawlers.

There’s nowhere to sit at the Con. You notice that after a few hours. You get a LOT of walking in. We stayed at the Westin, 8 or so blocks away. The only thing wrong with the Westin is it isn’t the Marriott, which is literally connected to the Con, and a totally swingin’ scene with pools and waterfalls and swim-up bars. But I’m not complaining — Nickelodeon put me up for the three days. They invited me to be on a panel with some other show creators to talk about how we got started, and what we are doing with Nick now. The other panelists created new shows “Sanjay and Craig” and “Breadwinners,” and rounding it out were the old school guys: me for “Hey Arnold!” and Will McRobb and Chris Viscardi for “Pete and Pete,” one of my favorite things that Nickelodeon ever did. It was fun to hang out with Will and Chris, even if only for a one-hour panel.

Unknown fans who came dressed as Arnold and Gerald, characters in Craig Bartlett’s hit animation series, Hey Arnold!

Our panel was held in a room that looked like it seated around 300. We filled it, which was nice – when you look at the Con’s schedule, there are like 20 other panels happening at the same time as yours, and you’re glad anyone made it! A friend of mine actually had a film premiere at the same time, way over in a ballroom of the Marriott. So you can’t possibly see everything, you can’t even see a fraction of what’s going on. Anyway, I showed some clips from “Hey Arnold!” and spoke about making the series, maybe for five minutes total. Then I pitched my new show I’m developing with Nick for like 2 minutes. I went first and didn’t want to glom too much of the hour-long panel. So then it was over, and we were out in the hallway again with the 130,000.

Katie and I spent the rest of our Con time trying to find friends in the mob out in the big floor. All the cartoon channels have a big presence with oversized multi-media displays, and long tables where people line up to get autographs from voice-over stars. I told Matt Groening [’77, Craig’s brother-in-law, Katie’s uncle] that I’d text him when I got to the floor Friday, and would meet him in the area where the small-press and independent graphic novel-type booths are. I was looking through the comics at the Drawn and Quarterly booth when I noticed that Matt was standing right next to me. I like running into Matt at the Con, because it’s the one place where 9 out of 10 people actually recognize him. It becomes a problem, though, because if he stops long enough someone asks for an autograph, and then people start to swarm.

Matt Groening ’77 (right) with Scottish cartoonist and artist Tom Gauld

Matt introduced me to the two comic book artists that were signing their books right then – Lisa Hanawalt with “My Dirty Dumb Eyes” and Tom Gauld with “You’re All Just Jealous of My Jetpack.” Matt told me how great their comics are, and that I should buy each of their books. Which I did, and they each personalized the books with amazing little drawings. Matt then sat next to them and posed for pictures – I have one of Matt with his arm around Tom, who has a reserved little Mona Lisa smile, probably thinking, “Matt Groening just said he loves my work, how cool is this?” I know that some people come for the panels, or sneak previews, or to walk around in costume, but for me the best thing about the Con is meeting artists and getting a little drawing from them in exchange for buying their stuff.

Katie Bartlett ’13 (right) with uncle Matt Groening ’77 (middle) and Princess Leia

We were about to go when Matt pointed out a guy dressed as Princess Leia. He had a scruffy beard and a missing tooth. We all posed for pictures with him, and it was probably my favorite moment of the whole Con. Like most of the other people who are dedicated to walking the Con in costume all week, he said nothing and merely posed, with a slightly stunned, long-ago-in-a-galaxy-far-away look in his eyes.

Unknown Mononoke fan who attended the “Nick Re-mix” panel.

On our way out, Katie and I searched the floor looking for stuff we’d seen in the last two days, trying to find them again. She wanted an “Uhura” Star Trek dress, and I was looking for a Chewbacca hoodie robe that caught my eye on preview day. But we found neither – the place is just that crowded, it’s hard to leave a trail you can follow later. Finally we retreated to the neighborhood to eat something. And then it was time to go to the train. The ride home was in business class, so I got to experience that version. Which seemed identical to coach, except they bring you wine and cookies and candy bars.

San Clemente Beach

We got the scenery in reverse – this time the sun was setting over San Clemente beach, and it still looked like one rogue wave would wash over the tracks and soak the train. We reached Union Station at dusk, and took a cab home. I recognized a couple friends in line at the taxi stand. The world of comics and animation is pretty small – around 130,000 people.

 

 

 

Happy Birthday KAOS Radio, 1973-2013 and Going Strong

KAOS in its new digs in the renovated CAB. Photo: Scott Stevens, host of “Spin The Globe” on KAOS Fridays at 10am on the west coast.

KAOS Radio turned 40 years old this year. The public radio station’s birthday was officially celebrated on January 1, 2013, 4 decades to the day after signing on for the first time.    Take a walk through the decades on the the KAOS Anniversary Blog and stir up some memories.

Were You Part of KAOS History? Share Your Stories
Sadly, no one knows how many alumni worked at KAOS during their student years.  No one knows if there are alumni who went into broadcasting because of their KAOS experiences or how many important lessons were learned while spinning the vinyls, editing tape, interviewing guests, or staffing pledge drives. When an institution is young and trying to find its way, it often forgets to tally up the metrics.  So here we are at the 40th year of listener-supported, volunteer-powered  community radio in the South Sound and we don’t know how to get in touch with KAOS alumni to say “thank you” for being part of the station’s history.  Would you like to help us back-fill the story? Send your contact information and a brief note about when you worked at KAOS and a favorite memory.  Please Type KAOS in big letters in the box labeled “tell us your news.”

KAOS Logo. Photo: Scott Stevens, host of Spin The Globe on KAOS Fridays at 10am, west coast time.

Dues-Payers, The Heart of KAOS
On the same note, if you are a dues-paying member of KAOS – first off bless your heart!  Second, we probably don’t have your email address either, so go to the same link, above, and let us know how to get in touch so we can share all great things going on campus and in the KAOS listening area.

Finally, whether you are near or far, you can still be part of the KAOS listening and membership family via live-stream. Because who ever has enough KAOS in their lives?

Happy Birthday to KAOS and to all  KAOS alumni, wherever you are – down the street, across the country, and throughout the decades.

 

Greener Coffee Business is Booming in Olympia

Olympia Coffee Entrepreneur and former Evergreen student Oliver Stormshak (left) with employee. Photo: Shauna Bittle

Editor’s Note: See the full post on Olympia Coffee Roasting Company at Inside Evergreen, the Evergreen Photo Services web log.

It’s been a big year for Sam Schroeder ’04 and former Evergreen student Oliver Stormshak, owners of Olympia Coffee Roasting Company. This summer the young company opened a third cafe and was named the 2013 Roaster of the Year by Roast Magazine. Take a photo tour, courtesy of Photo Service’s photographer Shauna Bittle, and add this location to your list of great places to visit in Olympia.

“Greener Blend,” a specialty coffee created by Batdorf and Bronson Coffee Roasters especially for Evergreen and for sale only on the Evergreen campus.

Greeners seem to flock to coffee, whether it’s cultivation, the roasting and brewing, sustainable farming or the social justice issues around fair trade, coffee brings out the best in many alumni.  Always close to the Evergreen heart is Batdorf and Bronson Coffee Roasters, located in downtown Olympia since 1986. Batdorf and Bronson has flourished in part because of the energy and entrepreneurial spirit of many Greeners who have worked at all levels of the organization over the years.

No mention of the coffee industry would be complete without tipping our hats to Lindsay Bolger ’91, Director of Coffee Sourcing and Relationships for Green Mountain Coffee in Vermont, who by the way, got her start at Batdorf and Bronson where she worked while a student at Evergreen.  The coffee company likes to brag about Lindsay.  Here is an excerpt from their web site:

“As the equivalent of a celebrity superstar in the coffee world, she is recognized around the globe for her ability to distinguish the most subtle characteristics of specialty coffee.”

What’s your relationship to coffee?  Let us know so we can all celebrate a great, Greener network around a good cup of coffee.