Dear Faculty, Staff, Students, Alumni and Friends:
On this day in 1967, Governor Dan Evans signed the enabling legislation that established The Evergreen State College. In signing the legislation, then Governor Dan Evans expressed the need to “unshackle our educational thinking from traditional patterns.” In the words of our first president, Charles McCann, Evergreen was best understood in terms of Four Noes : no academic departments, no academic requirements, no faculty rank, and no grades.
As we move forward, let us embrace Evergreen’s legacy by celebrating days like today and the college’s innovative beginnings. When boasting about Evergreen today or imagining Evergreen’s future, I hope you’ll forgo the “noes” and join me in emphasizing the many positive attributes of our unique college and proven educational model: true interdisciplinarity, academic rigor, students’ high degree of personal accountability, exceptionally talented faculty, small classes, learning grounded in relationships between faculty, staff and students, and exceptional value for the money.
We are honored to have Dan Evans returning to campus Friday, April 22, 2016, as we celebrate “Our Campus, Our Future” with a variety of Inauguration events. The ceremony will be an ode to campus tradition and history, while the Alumni Showcase will highlight the stories and successes of Evergreen alumni from the 70s through the 2000s. Following the Alumni Showcase, we’ll show the film Most Likely to Succeed which, like Dan Evans and the Legislature of 1976, questions the purpose of post-secondary education and re-imagines the possibilities for students and teachers working collaboratively. (If you have not yet logged your RSVP for the Inauguration events, please do so soon.)
As we reflect together on Evergreen’s history, please join me in envisioning–and building–its future. Share your memories and ideas with me at our faculty and staff coffee gatherings, at our Inauguration celebration, at one of our many alumni events in the months ahead, or simply e-mail me at bridges@evergreen.edu.
I look forward to hearing from you, learning from you and building Evergreen’s future with you.
Warm Regards,
George