January 23, 2026

This week I had coffee with Dr. Andrew Dicus, a Cascadia English faculty member who moved this year from part-time to tenure track. As we were getting to know each other, the conversation drifted to how we inspire students (and college presidents) to GRAB the attention of their readers and not just continue with the same old required assignment.

That caused me to reflect on how I grab your attention each week. Is it because of the hidden nugget of humor? Is it because my day-to-day work life is a subject for reality TV? Or is it FOMO on the exciting things that happen around campus? I may never know, but thank you for your subscription to the letter!

(Now that the humor portion is over…)

Last week’s letter was very specific on Cascadia’s equity and inclusion commitment. Later in the quarter, I will also share more about our commitment to sustainability as well as more of the actual action items we pursue in the realms of equity and sustainability. These two values are pillars of our campus identity and we will always work to support them. Other values (like a commitment to global themes in our curriculum, creativity, shared governance, responsiveness, and creativity) are certainly part of our organizational personality and we should always remember to foster each of these as well.

On a related note, to better align equity issues specific to Title IX, Jasmin Means (Assistant Director for Title IX) will join the Office of Inclusion, Advocacy, and Community as her work investigating concerns must have equity at its core and aligns with other work in this area. Jasmin’s new office is located in CC2-281. She is responsible for both student and employee Title IX issues, so please see her or refer others to her for assistance.

Last week’s day-to-day schedule included meetings with both the Riverview and Northshore school superintendents as well as a visit by the entire UWB Advancement division. As UWB goes about their work, they felt they wanted a deeper dive into Cascadia’s personality, our co-location, and our mission. It was a lovely morning as we got to meet newer UWB folks as well as some who have been with the university for almost two decades. I am grateful for the collaboration as we go about supporting students. I kind of view our relationship like that of siblings…different personalities, similar values, a shared excellence…and sometimes a little sibling rivalry. 😊

I also found myself in Olympia last week testifying in front of the Senate and House committees on the capital budget. Last October, our Gateway Building (CC5) was ON the list to be funded. Last December, it came OFF the list for this year. I am working to get us back ON the list so we can break ground this July instead of July 2027. We’ll know for sure by April.

Looking forward…

• I will be touring two new Lake Washington School District board members this morning around campus.
• Next week we hope to have laminated copies of our immigration protocols in each classroom (thanks for that suggestion from the E&I Council).
• I’ll be back in Olympia next Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday.
• And watch out for the invitation to Pay It Forward, the Foundation’s annual student support event. I hope you can make it.

Shoutouts

From the IN Box:

I wanted to thank both the Together Center and the Cascadia Foundation - they partnered with our joint Sustainability offices to host an external education and fundraising event, on Crows! We hosted a bird watching session at the new Redmond Crow Roost, and hosted UWB professor Dr. Doug Wacker to speak on crow roosting and behavior and raised funds for his research and sustainability! The Together Center graciously hosted us in their large meeting hall space, and the foundation helped manage donations! It was a night to caw about- with over 100 community members attending!

AND

I want to send a huge thank you to Kerstin Miller and Sonja Kjelstrup for their work enrolling our dual credit College in the High School students this winter quarter. These off-campus students typically have lots of registration questions and issues; communication can sometimes be a challenge working with students remotely. Kerstin and Sonja stayed on top of everything and provided prompt, excellent service to get through the busiest periods.

AND

A shout out to Dave Shapiro, for faithfully representing the members of our CCCFT local of the American Federation of Teachers for so many years, and for forcefully articulating the perils of this moment and the need for both our union and our administration to stand strong confronting these dangers, in the interests of our entire college community.

Shoutouts can be sent to FLShoutout@cascadia.edu.