All around Washington and points beyond, several thousand high school seniors are experiencing the thrill of receiving a gold envelope — what some students have started calling the “golden ticket” — in the mail. It’s their future arriving, in the form of a letter announcing that they’ve been admitted to the University of Washington.
This is a defining moment for these admitted students — one you can witness on social media via #NewHuskies2016 — and for us, as with each incoming class our University is renewed. Over the coming months, these students will visit our campuses for admitted student preview days and informal tours. I encourage us all to give them a warm welcome. After all, they chose the UW because of you and your reputation for excellence.
Our students are the embodiment of our public promise to serve as an engine for personal growth and societal well-being and prosperity. They will come from every corner of Washington and beyond, though the physical distance many of them will travel will be smaller than the socioeconomic divides they’ll cross on their journey.
For example, last year Seattle’s Franklin High School ranked sixth among all high schools for sending graduates to the UW, which I imagine is a point of pride for Principal Jennifer Wiley, who herself earned two UW degrees. Her students have faced challenges throughout their lives, with 70 percent qualifying for free or reduced-price lunches and an unknown number having faced discrimination, whether because of their race, their nationality or their language.
As someone who knows from personal experience how access to education can change a life, I’m thrilled that we’ll be welcoming students like those from Franklin and beyond who are eager to learn with you. Helping students of modest means achieve their full potential is one of our most important missions as a public university.
As we move forward, we’ll continue to emphasize both access and excellence. And we’ll continue to look for new ways to identify and recruit a diverse range of talented and determined students, including those for whom college applications don’t tell the full story of their potential to be leaders and innovators. This includes at UW Bothell — where I held a town hall last week — and UW Tacoma, both of which have grown over the last quarter century to meet the needs of their respective communities.
Our students chose the UW because they want to learn from leaders in their fields, and at a University dedicated to innovation, discovery and positive social change. Thank you for your commitment to them, to excellence and to our shared and crucial public mission.