Nany Evans oral history.indd - Washington Secretary of State

especially appealing since he had been involved with the college from its inception. Dan
thought it was a wonderful institution, but it was having difficulties – a lot of difficulties
then because of the legislators. Many of them did not think it had been worth the money,
and did not like what they were doing there. I remember one time when he was president,
I was somewhere where there was this discussion going on. And they would say, “But
look at the way they dress. And they all have dogs.” And I said, “When was the last time
you were at the University of Washington?” “Well, I haven’t been there…” “Well, go over
there sometime and see what the kids look like, and whether they have dogs,” because, of
course, they did.
So I think Dan’s choice of becoming president of Evergreen was very timely because
he had the presence and the stature with the legislators to try and convince them that this
was a worthwhile school, a good enterprise, and something that was good for the state
and good for education. Then of course some student would do something dumb.
Hughes: Sure. Some hippie kid.
Evans: And they’d go back 10 years. But over those years there was more and more
acceptance by the Legislature and by the community.
Hughes: When my oldest daughter was at Swarthmore, people kept coming up to her and
saying, “Do you know about Evergreen? Why would you come here?”
Evans: We had lots of applicants from the East. (Addressing Legacy Project Coordinator
Lori Larson, an Evergreen graduate) I don’t know if you would agree with me on this, but
I think to go to Evergreen you have to be a little more mature and sort of know what you
want to do.
Lori Larson: You really do. You have to take care of your own education, be responsible.
Evans: Exactly. You have to organize it and be resourceful. So a lot of those kids from the
East would come out here and loved it at Evergreen.
Hughes: Before we leave the Governor’s Mansion that you’ve done so much to resuscitate,
did you have one final nostalgic candlelight dinner or anything there, the whole family?
Evans: No, it was just too hectic to do that. But I did have one night by myself there. I
was back just checking to make sure we had gotten everything, personal belongings. And
147