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Reflections on the tragedy of Charlottesville

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This weekend was a difficult and painful one for all of us committed to a more equitable and inclusive society — to those of us who believe in justice and equity. There should be no question whatsoever that those white supremacists who marched across the University of Virginia campus and gathered across Charlottesville hold views that are anathema to our values, and that their actions were beneath contempt.

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The pain, and yes anger, evoked by what happened is intensified for those of us who live, work or study on college campuses. It is no coincidence that they chose a campus for their march, for they know that universities are diverse, vibrant communities, which are striving to become even more inclusive and are committed to building a better world for all humanity.

My own reactions are impossible to fully describe, for they are very personal. The images of the Klan, Nazis and neo-Nazis brought me back to the horror of almost 40 years ago to another Saturday morning when people from these same groups murdered my own brother, Cesar, then 25. My heart aches at the loss of the young woman, Heather Heyer, who was killed and the two state police offers, H. Jay Cullen and Berke M.M. Bates, who died in the line of duty, as well as for their families and loved ones and the many who were injured. This will be with them forever and I can only hope that together with the pain, they find strength and inspiration.

I recall a late night conversation with my brother, in which he talked about “the struggle.” He did not view justice as an endpoint, or a goal with a clear finish line. Justice, he said, was a constant work-in-progress. You pushed the boulder up the hill, it would slide back, and you would have to push again. You needed to stay vigilant.

We are at a time in our country’s history where we must put our shoulder to that boulder, for it is sliding back down with a momentum many of us thought was impossible in this day and age. We must recommit to equity and inclusion — for all. But even in our grief and anger, it is important to remember the words of Martin Luther King, “Darkness cannot drive out darkness, only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate, only love can do that.”

I do not have a road map forward, but I do know that we must find that way together. When our hearts are heavy, we find comfort in the collective embrace of community.

Celebrating the life and impact of Jeff Brotman

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Photo of Jeff and Susan BrotmanWith the passing of Jeff Brotman the University of Washington has lost one of its greatest volunteers and most accomplished and generous graduates. His and Susan’s principled and passionate leadership, coupled with their generosity — particularly in support of students and of advancements in medicine — have left a lasting impact on our University and all those we serve. Thousands of students were able to attend college and earn degrees thanks to the Costco Scholarship Fund, which he helped launch, and his dedicated support for UW Medicine, including his vital role in the development of the South Lake Union Campus, are just two examples of the many ways his heartfelt devotion will continue to change lives for years to come.

Jeff earned two degrees from the UW, an undergraduate degree in political science and a J.D. in law. His role as a co-chair, together with Susan, of the UW’s Be Boundless campaign, and his previous service as a Regent, and as a leader on numerous UW boards and initiatives, including his significant roles at UW Medicine, have been defined by his strong advocacy and forthright counsel, both of which have been invaluable to me and to many UW leaders. He was actively involved in advancing the School of Law, and as a passionate Husky, he could be found at almost every home football game.

We send our heartfelt condolences to Susan, to their children Amanda and Justin, and to his loved ones. As we remember Jeff, we will rededicate ourselves to his long-held belief in social justice and equity. His generosity is a model for what it means to give back to your community and to provide opportunities for all, and for that we are forever grateful.

Inclusion and non-discrimination are now and will always be core to the UW

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LGBTQ rights are human rights. The Justice Department’s brief – even as it is being downplayed by some – has the potential to expose more people to workplace discrimination and signals broadly that discrimination against gays and lesbians is acceptable. This is a dangerous and destructive precedent that will have real consequences in people’s lives.

Washington state budget makes important investments in the UW

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Late last month, Governor Jay Inslee signed into law the biennial operating budget for the state of Washington, a budget that addressed many of the University of Washington’s legislative priorities. In what was a complicated, landmark session defined by McCleary-mandated obligations, the legislature had to make tough choices. You can read about the budget in detail in this brief published by the University’s Office of Planning and Budgeting and on the UW’s State Relations blog.

Board of Regents Chair Pat Shanahan confirmed as Deputy Defense Secretary

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On behalf of the University of Washington, congratulations to Pat Shanahan on his confirmation as Deputy Defense Secretary of the United States.  As an alumnus with both deep ties to the University and the Pacific Northwest and a deep ethos of public service, he has been engaged with the University in numerous capacities for many years, most recently as chair and a long-standing member of the Board of Regents.  We will miss his leadership and engagement tremendously.

As a senior executive at Boeing, a company whose first gift to the University a century ago was a full scale wind tunnel simulator that transformed generations of research in the aerospace industry and beyond, Pat has a deep understanding of the power of research to transform ideas, advancements, and society.  He has seen firsthand how what begins in the laboratories of our nation’s great public universities translates into benefits for both the public and private sector and ultimately for the security and prosperity of our nation.  We are proud and gratified that he will bring his leadership, experience and wisdom to this vital post in the federal government and look forward to his continued service on behalf of our nation and its people.

Deepening our population health partnerships

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The University of Washington is a truly global university, with partners and projects in 129 nations around the world. One of the units that has built a worldwide network of collaborators is the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation, which seeks to use data to support decision-making on a range of issues related to health and health care. Two of its partners are China CDC and the Center for Health Statistics & Information (CHSI), both of which I had the pleasure of visiting today.

Seeding a healthier world

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Today I had the opportunity to once again meet with our Global Innovation Exchange partners during a visit to Tsinghua University. It’s a lush, beautiful campus, made even more vibrant by the fact that it was graduation season. There were countless graduates in caps and gowns all over the campus, posing for photos as they prepared to launch off into the world. It reminded me of our own commencement ceremonies just a couple weeks ago, and like then, I was inspired by the graduates’ optimism and how they have so much ahead of them.

Supporting our international scholars and students (updated)

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This week, the U.S. Supreme Court issued a decision allowing the travel ban imposed by Executive Order to go into partial effect. Under this partial implementation, individuals from the six countries listed in the Order who have a bona fide, documented relationship with the University (such as admitted students, faculty and staff members, and invited lecturers) are generally not subject to the ban imposed by the Order

Counting the true cost of cuts to research funding

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Funding by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) has supported countless discoveries that have saved or improved millions of lives, from Dr. Mary-Claire King’s discovery of the BRCA1 breast cancer gene to new, more accurate diagnostic tools for Alzheimer’s disease.  As I’ve written before, the President’s budget proposal would dramatically cut NIH’s research funding, slowing progress in understanding and curing diseases that ultimately affect nearly every single American in some form.

This week, I reached out to the U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Price and the Office of Management and Budget Director Mick Mulvaney to share our concerns about the very real ways in which those funding cuts could not merely impede but actually dismantle our nation’s biomedical research and discovery ecosystem, now the envy of the world.

Among the changes proposed in the budget are significant cuts to Facilities and Administration or F&A reimbursements (also known as indirect research costs). While direct costs like researcher pay and lab equipment are the expenses the public most associates with research, F&A costs are real and necessary expenses that are just as integral to research. Like the plumbing and wiring that make a building inhabitable, F&A covers essential infrastructure that a university’s labs and researchers all rely on, like secure computing systems, high-speed data processing and storage, radiation and chemical safety precautions, and personnel costs associated with meeting federal and state regulations related to the safety of human subjects, to name a few. Just as four walls and a roof are not enough to make a house livable, without the infrastructure covered by F&A, universities cannot conduct the kinds of cutting-edge research that results in cures and treatments that save lives.

Even under current law, F&A reimbursements do not cover the full cost of conducting research. The UW is able to make up the difference, effectively subsidizing federal research spending. But if these drastic cuts take effect, it would be impossible to provide the level of support that currently keeps our research efforts moving forward.

The UW and the many people who benefit from our biomedical research would suffer from this budget, and across the country, research universities, especially public institutions, would suffer as well. It would devastate the national biomedical research community and the economy built on research discoveries, leading to a decline in the number of biomedical start-ups based in the U.S. At a minimum, discovery would be slowed, but worse, the loss in momentum nationally to our research breakthroughs would cost many lives that could have been saved.

There is a clear and compelling case for the national interest we all share in federal investment in biomedical research and discovery. I invite and encourage all who care about this issue – and I believe that’s all of us – to raise your voices as well.