V12 #1 November 1990 - Archives - The Evergreen State College

ALUMNEWS
The 1990-91 Alumni Association Board. Pictured on the left from
top to bottom are: Tom Williams '90, Cheryl Larson '83, Marion
Vimont '83, Jon Martin '86, Steve Salmi '89 and Clif Cox '83.
Pictured on the right hand side of the stairway are Daniel Maker
'87, Jimmy Mateson '84, Susan Slate '75, Jon "Eppo" Epstein '81,
and Doug Riddels '85. Not pictured: Casey Bakker '81, Vickie
Brennan '89, Elaine Cubbins '88, Mary Craven '88, Tom freeman
'90, Diana Robishaw '90, Janine Rogers '87, Andy Stewart '84
and Dee Dee Suter '89.
Keep that Evergreen Spirit Alive:
Join the AlumniAction network!
I want to do my part to help launch an effective communication
network for Evergreen alumni. Sign me
up as a charter subscriber to the AlumniAction
network, which entitles me to four issues of our new
magazine Mud Bay Quarterly and a series of
AlumniAction bulletins sent whenever fast-breaking
Evergreen news begs for an alumni perspective.
D Enclosed is $25. Ill
D I can't afford that, so here's $
Name :
Address
City State
Zip
Phone
Make checks payable to TESC Alumni Association
and send to LH10, The Evergreen State College,
Olympia, WA 98505.
Notes from the President
By Steve Salmi '89, Alumni Association President
One of Evergreen's most important innovations is its attempt to create a true
learning community. That approach contrasts markedly with most traditional
universities, which seem content to function as thinly disguised degree factories.
To a laudable degree, Evergreen has lived up to its ambitious mission. But
there is one crucial area where our college fails just as miserably as any other—
Evergreen continues to encourage the ghettoization of succeeding generations of
students.
That manifests itself most obviously in the relative isolation of alumni.
True, like virtually every other college, we TESC alumni are sent impassioned
fundraising appeals. True, we are invited to mingle with the rest of the Evergreen
community at events such as Super Saturday. And true, Evergreen, like
other colleges, gives us the chance to find out what our former student colleagues
are doing in an Alumni Notes section of the ReView.
It doesn't take a whole lot of imagination, however, to realize that much
more could be done. Indeed, not a year has passed without the Alumni Association
dreaming up yet another innovative project that could build bridges between
alumni and the college.
Yet after a decade of existence, what does the Alumni Association really
have to show for its efforts beside a handful of receptions and a few tons of
barbecued chicken sold at Super Saturday? Many of our most significant ideas
sit like abandoned cars rusting at the side of a deserted highway:
•A volunteer network that plugs alumni into worthy campus projects, i.e.,
acting as mentors for fledgling student programs;
•An international travel/work survival kit;
•Summer seminars targeted for alumni;
•A national computer network that allows alumni to communicate with each
other as well as with Evergreen faculty and students, and
•A WashPIRG-style political-action arm that plays an effective role in helping
shape Evergreen's future.
We have many excuses for our failures, not the least of which is a lack of
resources provided to alumni activities by the college. But even that isn't a very
good excuse. If we learned anything at Evergreen, it is that you get out of this
college what you put in. If we have not managed to convince administrators
that, say, a summer seminar series for alumni deserves a slice of the funding pie,
this is as much because of our own lack of savvy and follow-through as it is the
indifference of a campus bureaucracy too busy dealing with seemingly more
pressing issues.
This year we're taking these lessons very seriously as we redouble our
efforts to build an organization—nay, a movement—that plays a vital role in
breaking down the ghettoization between alumni and the rest of the Evergreen
community. The most visible example of that is the recent introdution of an
alumni magazine called Mud Bay Quarterly.
But we are also attempting to move forward in less visible ways. In a major
break with the past, our board is now meeting monthly rather than quarterly so
we can track fast-breaking Evergreen policy debates and more quickly lay the
groundwork for a handful of service projects that you will be hearing about in
coming months.
Although our immediate objectives may seem modest, our mission remains
lofty: to bring about the day when graduating isn't the end of one's intimate involvement
with the "Evergreen community," but the beginning of a lifelong
learning odyssey enriched by strong ties with fellow alumni, faculty and current
students.
In giving earthly roots to that vision, alumni can play a crucial role in
keeping the spirit of Evergreen vibrant in the decades to come. If this sounds
exciting to you, please show your support by joining our AlumniAction information
network and participating in Association activities that strike your
fancy.
by Eppo '75, Alumni Association First Vice President
I came to Olympia in 1975 to attend Evergreen. In the early days I
remember walking around the downtown area and having people
yell Greener in a not-too-friendly way as they drove by. Evergreen
has always been surrounded by controversy. I remember eastern
Washington legislators presenting bills to close the college every
year. I still have my historic "Evergrowing State Crisis" T-shirt
although it is old and threadbare. When the college decided to have
the first Super Saturday, those of us in the "Country Music"
program were sent out on a flatbed truck performing bluegrass
music, trying to attract people to the event. At Capital High School
they threw rocks at us and we quickly departed.
It was not until Dan Evans became the second president of the
college that things began to change. All of a sudden articles appeared
in the New York Times, U.S. News & World Report and
other publications calling Evergreen the "hidden gem" of higher
education. I was insulted, however, when a group calling itself
"Greeners for Evans" organized to support his bid for the U.S.
Senate. In those days I believed the real Greeners should have been
supporting Mike Lowry for that Senate seat.
In retrospect, Dan Evans did a lot of good things for the college.
He helped get all that national recognition which shut up some
legislators at the capitol. He convinced local school officials that Evergreen
was an okay place to attend college, and he made local
business people aware that Greeners brought millions of dollars into
Thurston County by purchasing food, clothing, gasoline and
opening bank accounts.
Things started to look a lot better for Greeners during the last
decade. The Olympian actually announced our concerts, an Evergreen
degree became an asset when applying for a state job, and
people stopped yelling Greener when I walked around downtown.
Many conservative Olympia residents would be disturbed to
find out that a large percentage of the legislative staff, the Department
of Ecology, and the Energy Office are Evergreen alumni. Evergreen
was definitely moving up in the world and then we ran into
the recent year-and-a-half controversy regarding the presidency that
hopefully has ended with the resignation of Joe Olander and Board
of Trustee Chair Kay Boyd.
This year Evergreen has lost more administrative staff than at
any time I can remember. Morale seems to be at an all-time low.
Perhaps so many people leaving this year is only a coincidence,
perhaps not. For my part, I feel that alumni need to assist in the
process of rebuilding what has been torn apart. There is more
factionalization at Evergreen now then ever before. There is a
danger of Evergreen becoming another Beruit with faction fighting
faction for power and control. In this scenerio, everyone loses. I am
interested in seeing an end to the fighting and the beginning of the
healing process. In order for this to happen there needs to be frank
and open discussion. There needs to be collaboration and communication
among faculty, administration, staff, students and the Board
of Trustees. There needs to be leadership that values honesty and
integrity. Honesty and integrity seemed to be absent during the last
five years and the institution has suffered immeasurably. We need
leaders like Charles McCann or Dan Evans who can let the institution
run itself. We need a leader who realizes what a "hidden gem"
Evergreen already is. We need a leader who will work to strengthen
the college, not someone who wants to force their personal agenda
to advance their career. We need someone with integrity, and regretfully,
this quality seems to be harder and harder to find in America.
UMNEWS
Mud Bay Quarterly
isn't just another college magazine-it's a robust conversation. The
Alumni Association specifically designed its new publication to
encourage wide-ranging dialogue between alumni and the rest of
the Evergreen community.
You are invited to join in that conversation. Here are a few
ways to do so:
Reinventing Evergreen-a call for ideas. Let's pretend that the
Legislature is so impressed with the farsightedness of Evergreen
that it allocates money for the creation of a new "experimental
college" that will represent state-of-the-art thinking when it
opens in the year 2000. What, in your view, would such a college
be like? What are some of the lessons learned at Evergreen that
should and shouldn't be applied in creating this brave new institution?
Heart-to-heart correspondence. The ReView will continue to
be the place to print snippets trumpeting your new job, kid or
BMW. Mud Bay Quarterly, however, is the place to write lengthy
open letters that share your life experiences. Anything goes, from
slice-of-life reflections on the frustrations of grad school to an account
of a hair-raising trip up the Amazon.
Sage advice. Think of all the things you wish you had known
when you first came to Evergreen but didn't learn until your third
or fourth year. Now think of all those current students who could
benefit from your advice. Again, anything goes.
Book reviews/research. Okay, so you're pretty exicted about
a book you recently read or research you've completed. You
think your former classmates and professors would love to see
how your thinking has evolved. Mud Bay Quarterly would, too.
Evergreen Tales. It's time to put down on paper the myriad
myths and legends of Evergreen. Tell us your tales, real or
imagined, that exemplify the "Evergreen experience" as you and
your colleagues knew it.
Eclectic art. Answer the question, "What do Greener artists
do after they graduate?" by exploring the frontiers of black ink
on newsprint.
News and opinion. We're always looking for more people
with reporting skills who can keep our readers abreast of issues
of importance to the Evergreen community. We're also enthusiastic
about printing scintillating polemics.
For details on submitting material to the
Mud Bay Quarterly, call or write us at the Office of Alumni
Relations, LH 10, The Evergreen State
College, Olympia, WA 98505 (206) 866-6000, ext. 6190.
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\n Evergreen Fossil Speaks Out
18 THE EVERGREEN REVIEW FALL 1990 19