Recently, I had the honor of giving this year’s Henry M. Jackson/ William Van Ness Lecture on Leadership. The annual event honors Senator Henry “Scoop” Jackson, who represented Washington state with the honor and distinction as a U.S. Congressman and Senator for more than four decades, and Bill Van Ness, the immediate past president of the Jackson Foundation who worked closely with Senator Jackson.
Presidential Blog
Welcoming the residents of Tent City 3
Fast Facts
Selected location: Parking lot W35
When: 90 days, starting December 17, 2016, so as to largely coincide with the 2017 winter quarter
- Community feedback at least 2-to-1 in favor
- Hosting is based on safety and operations plan requirements, and a permit has been received from the city
- Up to 99 people – families and individuals – will be able to stay at any one time
- No taxpayer or tuition funds will be used
- Consistent with TC3 code of conduct, no weapons, alcohol, drugs or violence will be allowed, and security will be coordinated with UWPD
- Faculty encouraged, but not required, to incorporate service learning into courses
- Participation in related activities will be voluntary for students and residents
Winter is approaching, and with it the need for shelter for our neighbors who find themselves without permanent housing only grows.
Earlier this year, at the request of the Tent City Collective – a group of students, alumni and Tent City 3 residents – our University engaged in a public process to assess whether we should host Tent City 3 for 90 days during the winter quarter. As a result of your feedback, and thanks to the work of students, faculty and staff, in June it was announced that the UW will indeed host TC3.
The move-in day for TC3 residents at parking lot W35 will be December 17, and they will depart March 18, 2017. This will largely overlap with the winter quarter, aligning with our University’s academic mission by providing the opportunity for educational connections – from courses to service learning projects.
I want to thank the faculty who have already organized educational connections via the Carlson Center. Additional opportunities to connect classes and service learning with TC3 residents will continue to be facilitated through the Carlson Center.
If you would like to help in other ways – whether that’s by assisting with the move, collecting needed supplies or simply providing a meal for the TC3 community – I encourage you to check out TC3’s interactive calendar in order to find and schedule the right opportunity. We have also established a Community Advisory Committee that will meet regularly during the time TC3 is on campus. Those meetings will happen Thursdays at 4:30 p.m., in UWPD’s meeting room starting Dec. 8.
I also want to thank the many people in our community who have been working to create and implement the operations and safety plans for hosting and to obtain the city permit. As was pointed out when we began this process, TC3 was chosen as our preferred partner because of its good track record and its code of conduct that prohibits alcohol, drugs, violence and registered sex offenders. For the safety of all involved, including TC3 residents, the TC3 community’s own safety procedures, which include regular walking patrols, are being coordinated with UWPD.
Organized tent cities are by no means a replacement for permanent housing, but they do provide a safe place for families and individuals to live until they secure stable housing. TC3 will provide shelter and security for up to 99 people and is just one way in which the UW is contributing to solving the many intertwined issues that lead to homelessness. From scholarship to direct service, our University is helping tackle this pernicious challenge.
I look forward to welcoming the residents of TC3 to our campus, and know that our community will demonstrate the same welcoming, open spirit that it has throughout the lead-up to this opportunity.
A safe and welcoming place for all
In the week since the presidential election, many in our university have come together to engage in peaceful gatherings, public forums and other forms of community engagement within residence halls, departments and other groupings across campus. Participation in difficult discussions as well as celebrations of our shared humanity represent the best of who we are, the ideals of our democracy, and demonstrate how, by working together, we can continue to build a better future — the heart of our institutional mission.
Our shared ideals
In the aftermath of this very close and highly contentious election, I want to take this moment to reaffirm our University’s commitment to our mission of education, discovery, healing and public service. I also want to reaffirm our ongoing and unwavering support toward creating and nurturing an inclusive, diverse and welcoming community.
Announcing a transformative gift for the UW’s Population Health Initiative
I am humbled to announce that the UW’s Population Health Initiative has received a transformative gift from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation – a gift that will accelerate our work to improve human health, environmental resiliency, and social and economic equity here and around the world.
A message to faculty & staff: You make the UW what it is
Today, Jerry and I were very pleased to take an opportunity to send a message to all the dedicated faculty and staff of the UW about just how important they are to the University, to our students’ success and to the impact – near and far – that we have as an institution. Below is our message which we think is worth sharing as widely as possible.
The 2016 University of Washington Annual President’s Address: For Washington and the World
When I get asked what my vision for the University of Washington is, I have a ready answer: I want this university to be the number one university in the world in terms of impact. I’m going to take this opportunity to talk about that impact – on our state, nation and our world. Above all, on our collective future.
UW Professor Emeritus David J. Thouless awarded Nobel Prize in Physics
Photo credit: Mary Levin, University of Washington
This morning we awoke to tremendous news: One of the University of Washington’s own, Professor Emeritus David J. Thouless, has been awarded the 2016 Nobel Prize in Physics.
As the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences noted when awarding the prize to Thouless and two of his colleagues, “This year’s laureates opened the door on an unknown world where matter can assume strange states.” Together, they overturned commonly held theories on superconductivity and suprafluidity, including demonstrating how superconductivity is possible at low temperatures — and why it disappears at higher temperatures. Researchers today are still exploring the “exotic worlds” discovered by Thouless and his fellow laureates, F. Duncan M. Haldane and J. Michael Kosterlitz.
Prof. Thouless’ work is a perfect example of why curiosity-driven basic science is so vital. Not only did his discoveries open up entirely new fields of research, but they also have had implications for the electronic devices that power our world today and those that may do so in the future — everything from advanced superconductors to quantum computers to other applications we can hardly imagine. That’s why research that seeks to answer questions about the fundamental nature of our world, our universe and ourselves is as important as research with applications that are immediately known.
I know you will join me in congratulating Prof. Thouless on this incredible honor, as he becomes the seventh University of Washington faculty member to earn a Nobel Prize, and the second from our Department of Physics. This achievement is a testament to the groundbreaking nature of his work and an example of the excellence of our faculty, as well as a truly great day for the Department of Physics, the College of Arts and Sciences and our entire University.
We are all accountable for justice and equity
As interim president, I spoke to our university about racism, equity and the need for each of us to take personal responsibility for addressing our own biases and improving our University culture. We committed to deepen the work of more systematically combating racism and inequities, both individual and institutional, which persist here and throughout our society.
With Bob Santos’ passing, we’ve lost a giant
I had the opportunity to first get to know Bob Santos – known as “Uncle Bob” to so many he advocated for – when I chaired the UW’s Department of American Ethnic Studies. It was a tough time for the department, and our first meeting was marked by mutual skepticism. But it ended with mutual respect. Integrity and valor are the two words that first come to mind when I think of him. Through Bob’s leadership, advocacy and mentorship, the cause of civil rights and social justice has been advanced, and the lives of countless members of our community, especially Asian Pacific Islanders, have been improved.
We’ve truly lost a giant.
Seattle Times remembrance: ‘Uncle Bob’ Santos, legendary civil-rights activist, dies at 82