Joel Pearson, Greener alum and top-notch cross country coach joins Evergreen’s athletic department beginning April 1, 2023.
Pearson comes to the college from the University of Arkansas, Little Rock where he was the distance coach for the Trojans’ Outdoor Track and Field team. Before coaching at the University of Arkansas, he coached at Pratt Community College in Kansas, where he led their cross country and track teams. He came to Pratt after being the head coach for Mountlake Terrace High School’s Cross Country and Track and Field teams. He also led programs at Meridian Community College, Kennesaw State, North Carolina S&T State University and was the Director of Track and Field Operations at the University of Iowa.
The list of successes under his coaching is impressive and he’s helped develop several all-Americans and National Champions.
“We are thrilled to have Joel join Evergreen,” said Zeb Hoffman, Assistant Intercollegiate Athletic Director for The Evergreen State College. “He has helped mold several all-Americans, National Champions and school record-holders in his past coaching position and his vision will help develop a world-class cross country and track and field program here at the college.”
Pearson is a native of Ferndale, Washington and received his undergraduate degree from The Evergreen State College and his graduate degree in sports science from Cardinal Stritch University. Running and distance is in his blood as he is the son of former American 50-mile record holder and national champion, Jim Pearson.
In December 2022, Evergreen announced it would be adding a cross country team as well as men’s and women’s wrestling to its athletics program to complement the college’s men’s and women’s soccer, basketball, track and field and women’s volleyball.
Entrepreneurs, Kim Kaufman and Jimmy Goldsmith, have made a $150,000 commitment to provide Evergreen with $50,000 per year for the next three years to support the new wrestling and cross country teams. Kaufman is an Evergreen graduate and her husband, Goldsmith, has a deep experience in the sports industry.
It is estimated that the expansion of Evergreen’s athletics programming, combined with other investments in existing sports teams, should yield more than 100 additional students over the next three years.
For more information about Evergreen athletics, please visit www.gogeoducks.com.
A little more than halfway through the legislative session, we are now past the point where new bills can be introduced other than those necessary for a budget. This is a time where the Senate is hearing bills passed by the House, and the House those passed by the Senate.
Meanwhile, everyone is waiting for the state’s March 20 revenue forecast, which will be used by legislators to shape their budget proposals. The legislature then has until the end of session April 23 to finalize a budget for the state, which will include funding for Evergreen.
Companion bills HB 1291 and SB 5238 that allow Evergreen student employees and those at regional universities to collectively bargain like their counterparts at the University of Washington and Washington State University remain viable. Evergreen supports this legislation.
A bill which gave the Department of Corrections more concrete guidance around prison education did not make it out of the House. The bill was not necessary for Evergreen’s expanding work to assist incarcerated students in achieving their four-year degrees. We continue to engage with legislators from all parts of the political spectrum to educate about and advocate for Evergreen. Evergreen President John Carmichael, Executive Vice President Dexter Gordon and Director of Government Relations Sandy Kaiser attended the Governor’s Prayer Breakfast March 10, connecting with policymakers at one of the most bipartisan annual events on the legislative calendar.
Evergreen’s 2023-2025 budget and growing enrollment were main topics of discussion in a March 10 meeting with Rep. Steve Bergquist (D-Renton), who sits on the House Appropriations Committee.
Evergreen staff and students will be appearing to brief and testify on student fees and wrestling programs in coming days, as we await news on our next budget.
Dr. Maxine Mimms will be celebrated 4-8 p.m., Saturday, March 4 at The Evergreen State College’s Tacoma Campus. This event doubles as a Founder’s Day event and a birthday celebration for the Evergreen, Tacoma founder.
Dr. Mimms began teaching at The Evergreen State College in 1972. She started teaching working adults college-level coursework at her kitchen table in the historic Hilltop neighborhood and it was at that table where Evergreen’s Tacoma Campus was born.
Evergreen-Tacoma became an official campus for The Evergreen State College in 1982 and in 2001 it moved to its current location of 1210 6th Avenue.
Dr. Mimms developed the Tacoma program with a deliberate mission to provide a college education to working and adult learners – especially those living in the inner city.
“Dr. Mimms is the essence of community and her vision of transforming the life of the community she lives in is something that should be celebrated not just in collaboration with her birthday, but every day,” said Dr. Dexter Gordon, Executive Vice President for The Evergreen State College. “At 95 years young, she still works tenaciously to remove educational and economic barriers and make college available where and to whom, it historically wasn’t.”
“Her work has resulted in college degrees for thousands who have walked through the doors of Evergreen, Tacoma,” shared Dr. Marcia Tate Arunga, Dean for Evergreen, Tacoma. “The faculty and staff strive every day to continue her living legacy to the students of Evergreen’s Tacoma campus and the Hilltop community.”
Attendees at the Founder’s Day celebrations will enjoy music, spoken word and of course, be part of the birthday honors for Dr. Maxine Mimms who is turning 95.
To learn more about Evergreen’s Tacoma campus, please visit its website.
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On Friday February 17, the 2023 legislative session reached its first "cut-off" day, the final day where new legislation could be heard and voted on in policy committees. Friday February 24 was the second "cut-off," when the House and Senate fiscal committees had to pass bills onward for them to be viable.
Bills to expand eligibility for state college grants and scholarships for Native American students did not survive the fiscal committees. Bills that made it through supported helping students with basic needs, prison education, collective bargaining for student employees and the development of college wrestling programs.
The session meets the halfway point this week. The next major cut-off is March 8, when bills must be passed from their 'house of origin' to the opposite house for consideration. Another significant upcoming date is March 20, when Washington budget leaders will announce the state’s revenue forecast. That forecast will influence the legislature’s final operating and capital budgets.
With that as a backdrop, John Carmichael and Sandy Kaiser updated legislators on Evergreen’s progress with enrollment and advocated for our proposed budget. Rep. Joel McEntire (R-Cathlamet) was interested in learning more about Evergreen’s experience with prison education and indicated support for expanding the program. Student housing challenges were a focus for Rep. Frank Chopp (D-Seattle).
Rep. Beth Doglio (D-Olympia) is a home-district champion who proudly keeps an Evergreen campus photo in her office. We talked budget with Rep. Gerry Pollet (D-North Seattle) and had extensive discussions on Evergreen priorities with Rep. Vandana Slatter (D-Bellevue), who leads the House higher education committee.
Sen. Sam Hunt (D-Olympia) is another home-district champion for the college whom we updated on campus life and our hopes for the budget. With House Speaker Laurie Jinkins (D-Tacoma) we talked about the impact of Evergreen Tacoma and her upcoming town hall meeting there. A first-time visit with Rep. Peter Abbarno (R-Centralia) focused on Evergreen’s positive impact in the 20th legislative district, which includes southern Thurston, most of Lewis and parts of Cowlitz counties.
Incoming Evergreen freshman and Olympia High School wrestling champion Amari Brown and Sandy Kaiser testified on February 15 in favor of Senate Bill 5687, which would create a grant program to support post-secondary wrestling programs in the state. (Go to 20 minutes 15 seconds into the video.) Amari was an outstanding advocate for wrestling and Evergreen. Senator Brad Hawkins (R-East Wenatchee), a former wrestler, was so enthusiastic that he started watching one of Amari's winning matches on YouTube in the middle of the committee meeting.
Whether the bill ultimately passes or not, it was a good moment for Evergreen Geoducks.
Chibi Chibi Con, Evergreen’s colorful and free anime festival, returns to the college tomorrow, Saturday, Feb. 25 for its 22nd year.
The event will run from noon to 11 p.m. Admission to Chibi Chibi Con is free, which makes it an inviting, low-barrier opportunity to explore anime convention culture. As a health precaution, attendees again this year will have to show proof of COVID-19 vaccination to enter. Masks are not required but people are encouraged to wear them, especially in crowded areas.
This convention has been produced by Evergreen students since 2001. Currently named the Chibi Chibi Con Committee, the group is one of the college’s longest-enduring registered student organizations.
Though the name Chibi Chibi loosely translates from Japanese to mean “Little Little,” Chibi Chibi Con is the largest one-day anime convention in the Pacific Northwest. Organizers estimate that the convention had over 3,000 attendees last year.
This year’s convention will feature favorite events from past years – including the Cosplay Contest and lip sync battles. There will be three food trucks on Red Square for attendees wanting to snack. The convention’s popular Artist Alley is also back, offering handmade and hard-to-find merchandise.
The Evergreen State College’s Olympia campus is located at 2700 Evergreen Pkwy NW. Visit the convention website for maps, schedules, policies and information on volunteering.
With the first month of a four-month legislative session behind us, Evergreen has been engaged on bills that would help students across Washington meet their basic needs and grant scholarships to Native American students.
In conversations with legislators from all parts of the state, we are also talking about the beginning of our enrollment turn-around and underlining the need for strong investment in our students, staff and faculty. We are addressing legislator questions about how, after many years of declining enrollment and tuition revenue, we can get the college on a sustainable long-term footing.
Some of the initiatives we’re talking about include one-year certificates in business and administration, computer science, environmental solutions, and video and audio production. We’ve started a new early childhood education program at our Tacoma campus. We’ve done some targeted outreach to people who have earned some college credit but quit before they earned a credential. In partnership with the faculty union, we have an all-hands-on-deck effort to make sure that admitted students know about the pragmatic, personalized education they can get at Evergreen. And we’re working to start up a baccalaureate program serving incarcerated students in Washington state.
On January 27 Evergreen Vice President for Tribal Relations, Arts and Cultures Kara Briggs gave moving testimony to the House Committee on Postsecondary Education and Workforce Development on a bill to establish a Native American scholarship program in our state. Vice President Briggs, who contributed to the bill’s original language, told how many Washington tribes including her own, the Sauk-Suiattle, lacked the resources to give their members financial support for college. She noted that Native people in Washington are consistently among the poorest people, the least likely to finish high school, and yet the most likely to be needed to take leadership roles in tribes and in urban Indian organizations. This bill is currently in committee.
Government Relations Director Sandy Kaiser used data provided by Evergreen’s Basic Needs Center to testify January 31 in favor of a bill by Rep. Debra Entenman (D-Kent) that would expand state support to public colleges to help students meet their basic needs.
Students across the state and at every institution are struggling to pay for housing, food and utilities, which puts at risk their ability to succeed in college. Evergreen’s data shows how in fiscal year 2022 we helped 44 students who were experiencing hardship, and that 29 of those were able to finish that quarter, 65 percent. We know this kind of quick-response/low-barrier support makes an incredible difference to student success. The bill is currently in committee.
On February 2, Evergreen trustees Kris Peters and Shane Everbeck joined regents and trustees from Washington’s other public colleges in a day-long series of meetings with multiple legislators. They made the case for continued support for public higher education and waved the Evergreen flag high, noting the unique students we serve and emphasizing the value of an Evergreen education.
Along with higher education officials from other institutions, Evergreen President John Carmichael presented on enrollment at a Senate higher education committee work session on February 3. He noted the college’s 17 percent increase in new student enrollment this academic year, while emphasizing that Evergreen still has work to do in raising overall student numbers. Later that day he and Sandy Kaiser met with House higher education chair Rep. Vandana Slatter (D-Bellevue) to talk about the college’s budget in advance of upcoming recommendations for public college funding.
OLYMPIA – The Evergreen State College has hired another exceptional coach to start up its wrestling teams.
Evergreen is now the only four-year college in Washington to offer a wrestling program and Fan Zhang will be leading the women’s team for its inaugural season.
“We are excited that Fan has chosen to bring his coaching talent to Evergreen,” said Zeb Hoffman, Assistant Intercollegiate Athletic Director for The Evergreen State College. “His history of building champions as well as his experience as a wrestler is exactly what we need to build a top-notch, wrestling program.”
Zhang has been the head coach for women’s wrestling at Simpson University (CA) and Grays Harbor College here in Washington and assistant coach at Wartburg College in Iowa. He also was the coach for the Iowa women’s wrestling national team for Fargo. His coaching has led to several national championships.
As a wrestler in China, Zhang was a seven-time, national champion.
Evergreen announced it would be starting teams for men’s and women’s wrestling and cross country late last year to complement the college’s men’s and women’s soccer, basketball, track and field and women’s volleyball teams.
In late December, Evergreen announced that Greg Ford, Jr. had been hired on as the men’s wrestling team coach and the college hosted a signing event where 20 wrestlers signed letters of intent to become Geoducks.
Coach John Lane, well-known in the wrestling community with over three decades of coaching under his belt, will be on board to help Coach Zhang and Ford as they build their wrestling teams.
“This new wrestling program at Evergreen is a great thing for the community,” said Lane. “With the coaching staff being brought on, we have the foundation to build a champion team as well as give wrestlers from Washington state the opportunity to wrestle and attend a four-year college without moving out of state.”
For more info about Evergreen athletics visit www.gogeoducks.com. To learn more about The Evergreen State College, visit evergreen.edu.
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We’re now two weeks into the 2023 legislative session, which is mostly in-person after two years of remote operations. Evergreen has a new government relations director, positive momentum around enrollment and a fair budget proposed by Governor Inslee that will help us serve students in new and traditional ways.
Former Evergreen Vice President Sandy Kaiser started January 3 as the college’s new government relations director and is working with leadership, staff, faculty, trustees and friends of Evergreen to advocate for the college in important committee meetings, work sessions and representational events.
In these first two weeks, we have deepened our relationships with Sen. Emily Randall (D-Bremerton) and Rep. Vandana Slatter (D-Bellevue) who respectively lead key committees on higher education. In regular meetings, we remind them of the strong social and economic impact of Evergreen in the region and throughout the state. We also emphasize the college’s areas of strength, while making the case for additional state investment on behalf of Evergreen students.
A January 11 Senate higher education work session on measuring campus climate featured Associate Vice President for Student Success Therese Saliba presenting Evergreen survey data on how students, staff and faculty assessed different aspects of well-being. Evergreen is a leader in this area. The legislature would like all public four-year institutions to conduct similar surveys and use the data to improve experiences.
At a January 19 Governor’s Mansion reception hosted by the presidents of all the state’s four-year public institutions, Evergreen President John Carmichael and Sandy connected with several new legislators including newly ranking higher-ed committee member Rep. Alex Ybarra (R-Moses Lake), Sen. Nikki Torres (R-Pasco) and Rep. Chipalo Street (D-Seattle). The legislators are eager to visit campus and learn more about Evergreen. Sandy’s in-person pro-Evergreen budget testimony in the state Senate Ways and Means committee was noted by Sen. Judy Warnick (R-Moses Lake), who encouraged Evergreen to keep speaking up.
On February 2, regents and trustees from the state’s colleges will converge on the state capital to lobby and advocate for their institutions. We are proud to have Evergreen trustees Kris Peters (chair of the Squaxin Island Tribe) and Shane Everbeck (Evergreen senior) representing us. On February 3, John Carmichael and Chief Enrollment Officer John Reed will be part of a Senate higher-ed work session that will look at national, statewide and local college enrollment trends.
Both women’s and men’s wrestling and cross-country will be added to The Evergreen State College’s student athletics programs starting in Fall 2023.
“Student athletes make great Greeners,” said Evergreen’s president Dr. John Carmichael. “They are self-motivated and community minded. We look forward to welcoming more student-athletes to Evergreen.”
Entrepreneurs, Kim Kaufman '78 and Jimmy Goldsmith, have made a $150,000 commitment to give $50,000 per year for the next three years to support the new wrestling and cross-country teams.
“Kim is an Evergreen graduate and her husband Jimmy has deep experience in the sports industry. Their donation will get our new teams off to a great start," said Abby Kelso, Evergreen’s Vice President for Advancement.
“We are beyond excited to partner with Evergreen in launching these new athletics teams. It’s the perfect project aligned with my passion for Evergreen and Jimmy’s passion for sports," said Kaufman. “With the popularity of youth wrestling on the rise, the wrestling program is of particular interest to us. We’re excited to cheer on the team, especially in their first few years," added Goldsmith.
It is estimated that the expansion of Evergreen’s athletics programming, combined with other investments in existing sports teams, should yield more than 100 additional students over the next three years. The new teams join the college’s existing intercollegiate teams - men’s and women’s soccer, basketball and track and field and women’s volleyball.
“Anytime you have the opportunity to give potential students the opportunity to attend college while participating in an athletic activity, it is cause for celebration,” said executive vice president Dr. Dexter Gordon. “Adding new teams will also help us weave a diverse tapestry within our programs to help ensure that underrepresented groups have equal access to opportunities here at Evergreen.”
In addition to growing enrollment, successful athletics programs help to build student life on campus, provide a stronger sense of belonging for some students, and supports student retention. Athletics is a key contributor to Evergreen’s diversity, equity, and inclusion mission, and student-athletes are retained at a higher rate.
Recruitment for new Greener athletes starts this month and the college expects teams to be established by Fall Quarter 2023. Learn more about Evergreen’s athletics programs at gogeoducks.com.
Olympia – The Science Stories exhibit will be available from now until March 24 at The Evergreen State College’s Library.
The exhibit which brings together scientists and book artists from the Pacific Northwest together, has been touring colleges across Washington and is now at the Evergreen Library. The exhibit is divided into broad topics which include water, ice, mountains, flora, fauna and human health.
There will an opening reception from 4-6 p.m. on Thursday, January 19 in the Evans Hall Library. The reception will feature three curators for Science Stories: Dr. Lucia Harrison, Jane Carlin and Dr. Peter Wimberger.
For more information about the exhibit please contact rarebooks@evergreen.edu or visit the website.