This week, I spent a few days in the “other Washington” where I had the opportunity to meet with the members of our legislative delegation and their staffs. I shared with them the invaluable, vital work that our University of Washington community does to expand the frontiers of scientific research, improve healthcare, develop creativity through the arts, and provide quality and affordable education to our students.
Presidential Blog
Proposed budget would be huge step backward for innovation and economic security
Today, as anticipated, the President released a proposed federal budget blueprint for Fiscal Year 2018. The proposal is short on details, but it contains sweeping cuts that would harm American innovation and prosperity, the education of our nation’s students, and the research and creativity that is the foundation of progress in every field from medicine to the arts.
Without question, if passed, this budget would harm the University of Washington’s ability to serve our students, state and nation. It represents a major step backward for American scientific research and innovation, and reduces opportunities for millions of deserving young people. With devastating cuts to biomedical research and student aid, and to environmental science and the arts, this shortsighted proposal attacks the very investments that have made the United States healthy and prosperous. This budget is simply unacceptable and together with my fellow higher education leaders, I plan to work actively with Washington’s federal delegation and other congressional leaders to advocate for policies that keep America the global leader in innovation and opportunity.
To take effect, these proposals would have to be approved by Congress and we will be traveling to Washington, DC in early April to meet with administration officials as well as our congressional delegation. Many of the areas proposed for cuts have received strong, bipartisan support in the past, so I am hopeful that we will instead see the federal government continue to invest in the areas that, over the decades, have contributed to America’s prosperity and vitality. To support these efforts, we all can continue to demonstrate the value that every aspect of our University provides to our students, Washington and the world.
The list of affected programs is lengthy – those supporting students, such as TRiO and GEAR UP; those advancing research such as the NIH, Department of Energy, NOAA, NASA, and the EPA; and those creating a rich, vibrant national life, such as the NEA and NEH. The proposal does not reference cuts to the NSF. You can find more information about the specific cuts proposed on the UW Federal Relations blog.
In addition, we’ll also be speaking with our delegation about proposed legislation to replace the Affordable Care Act. The House legislation being considered would have significant negative outcomes for many of the patients who receive care at UW Medicine. If the proposed American Health Care Act were to be fully implemented, UW Medicine could lose an estimated $518 million per year in Medicaid/Medicare reimbursement and charity care costs, with significant impacts to UW Medicine services at Harborview. This would have dramatic effects on our ability to serve our patients and our communities.
Budgets are values made real. And so our nation faces a choice between a future in which our global competitors surge ahead of us, reaping the benefits of their investments in education, medicine, science, the arts and humanities; or a future in which we continue to discover, to teach, to create and to cure. I am fully committed to doing everything I can to ensure that brighter, more prosperous future becomes reality.
Tent City 3 concluding successful stay at the UW
This weekend, our neighbors in Tent City 3 (TC3) depart for their next location, this time in Skyway, having completed their planned 90-day stay here on the UW’s Seattle campus. The way our community embraced our neighbors and the learning and human experiences that took place have been fantastic to witness, and I want to thank everyone whose planning and hard work went into making their stay a successful one.
When students, alumni and TC3 residents in the Tent City Collective first proposed hosting a tent city on campus, a key factor in the decision-making process was whether there would be clear connections to the UW’s academic mission. That’s why I’m so pleased by the number of faculty and students who stepped forward to make this hosting a part of their teaching and learning.
At least eight courses in disciplines including public policy, environmental science, English and several health fields, as well as via the Honors Program, formally engaged with TC3 during the last three months. That’s in addition to other ways the UW and TC3 communities connected, ranging from clinics and outreach provided by students from Nursing, Dentistry, MEDEX and Public Health, to a drop-in art studio, to the many shared meals made possible by a range of units, professional organizations, student groups and individuals. You can read about many of these connections on the Addressing Homelessness page.
The stay faced challenges, not the least of which being the unusually cold winter. But those were no match for the openheartedness and ingenuity of individuals in departments from Facilities Services to ICA and IMA, the last of which opened up the Waterfront Activities Center as a warming center during the coldest part of the season.
One of the questions I received even as TC3 was arriving in December was “When will the UW host again?” Key to answering that question will be student involvement. The Tent City Collective did its homework and gathered support on and off campus before presenting a proposal. Students remained engaged and have done tremendous work, in addition to their class loads, in order to make the stay a success. Future hosting will be contingent on having that same level of student engagement. It’ll also be guided in part by the results of an evaluation – we are academics, after all, and evaluating a program is vital to improving it in the future – that a School of Public Health program evaluation course is conducting. You can contribute to that evaluation by taking this survey.
In the meantime, please remember that TC3’s residents – and the many other individuals and families in our community without reliable shelter – are our neighbors, wherever they may spend the night. For those of us who connected with TC3’s residents, whether for a day or a quarter, it is a lesson we will not soon forget – and one that I hope will lead to action to finally end the crisis of homelessness in our community.
A Renaissance man for the modern era
Today, it was my great pleasure to announce the formal naming of the University of Washington Paul G. Allen School of Computer Science & Engineering. Paul’s support for the UW and his leadership in computer science education are both humbling and inspiring.
Remembering Helen Sommers, UW alumna and advocate for higher education
Helen Sommers was a true champion of public higher education and her advocacy for our state’s students and universities changed the lives of countless Washingtonians. She was an advocate for ensuring our universities remained accessible, including through the creation of the branch campuses, and a strong supporter of everything from advanced technology research to her beloved Burke Museum.
Supporting our international scholars and students (updated)
The University of Washington is proud to be the home to students, staff and scholars from around the world. We stand with them and will provide them with support as needed. As Provost Baldasty and I emphasized to the community in November, we are fully committed to providing a safe, secure and welcoming environment that protects the privacy and human rights of all members of our community.
Transgender rights are human rights
Yesterday, the US Departments of Education and Justice rescinded protections for transgender and non-binary students under Title IX, which prohibits sex discrimination in schools. The University of Washington and our state laws unequivocally recognize that transgender people deserve to be free from discrimination on the basis of gender expression and identity, and we will stand by these bedrock principles of equity and inclusion.
Responding to those hateful flyers
You may be aware of recent instances of racist flyers appearing at or around the UW. We, of course, condemn expressions of hate as antithetical to not just our University’s and nation’s values, but to fundamental human values. When such flyers are put up in unauthorized or inappropriate places, like the sides of buildings, we take them down. If you see such posters, you can take them down as well, but your best course of action is to contact the UWPD to take them down. You can email uwpolice@uw.edu notifying them of the date, time and location of the posting/image and whether or not it was removed.
Sharing our expertise for the public good
We have not just an opportunity, but a responsibility to share the knowledge we develop with a wider world that is hungry for it. A full accounting of the knowledge and accumulated expertise at the UW would be impossible, but if we harness it together and as individuals, our collective power to inform truthfully and persuasively is formidable.
Standing together
No matter who you are, where you’re from, whom you love, where or whether you worship, or any other aspect of your identity, we welcome your contributions to helping the University of Washington maintain its commitment to access and excellence, to building a better and more equitable future, and creating a world of good.