Laurie Arnold, Staff

"For me, learning is liberating. As the first person in my family to earn a college degree, I've experienced the challenges of navigating the system, but also the transformative power that getting a higher education has been in my life. I'm dedicated to helping people succeed while making the whole process as smooth and stress-free as possible."

Laurie Arnold, M.Ed.

Ms. Arnold, Student Services Coordinator, earned a B.A. in Liberal Arts at The Evergreen State College, 1985, and an M.Ed. in Multicultural Education at the University of Washington-Tacoma, 1996. She also holds a Washington State 4-12 Teaching Credential.

She has dedicated her professional life to promoting educational access, equity and quality for people who have historically been excluded from higher education due to discriminatory practices based on race, class and gender. "Currently, I'm very interested in studying the nature and history of white skin privilege and working to dismantle all structures that confer unearned privileges to those of us with white skin." Prior to coming to Evergreen-Tacoma, Ms. Arnold taught in and collaboratively managed an alternative high school serving urban youth who had been rejected by the traditional school system. She also coordinated the efforts of eight partner agencies to design a comprehensive school-to-career system for the Tacoma School District's 32,000 students through a five-year Department of Education grant.

Raised by an extended family of activists, she grew up on picket lines, at sit-ins and in demonstrations for workers' rights, civil rights and anti-war efforts, "My upbringing taught me the value of and the ongoing need to fight for social and economic justice and the importance of public service."

Ms. Arnold has served on several Tacoma School District committees, including the Superintendent's Committee on the Improvement of Student Learning, as a subcommittee co-chair of the Promotion of Graduation Committee and the Alternative Education Self-Study and Planning Committee. She also served a term as co-chair of Washington state's Governor's School-to-Work All Students/Special Populations Work Group and Pierce county's Call to Action: Planning for Pierce County's Youth Steering Committee and Advisory Council.

In recognition of her efforts to provide educational excellence for Tacoma's urban youth, Ms. Arnold was awarded the Northwest Dispatch Organizational Award in 1994 and the Washington Education Association's Distinguished Service Award and Human Rights and Relations Award for Community Service in 1995.

Laurie Arnold >> email