Our Crowdfunding Groups
Thank you so much for your gift to the Western Stands for Racial Equity Fund. We are excited to share that because of you, 11 students have received Western Stands for Racial Equity scholarship awards in the amount of $2,000 each for the upcoming school year! Your support is an investment in the untold potential of these hardworking and talented students.
A message from President Sabah Randhawa on April 20, 2021
Dear Western Community,
Today the jury in the trial of Derek Chauvin, the former Minneapolis police officer accused of murdering George Floyd, found him guilty on all counts. Like many of you, I have followed the trial closely and with some apprehension, and today we breathe a collective sigh of relief that the verdict has brought justice to Mr. Floyd and his family and affirmed the voices of millions of people worldwide who denounced his death and the racism that led to it.
But we know this trial is not an end. Since testimony began in the Chauvin trial on March 29, at least 64 people have died at the hands of law enforcement nationwide, with Black and Latinx people representing more than half of the dead. Among these senseless tragedies was Adam Toledo, a 13-year-old boy who was fatally shot in a Chicago alley as he turned with his hands up, and Daunte Wright, shot during a routine traffic stop just a few miles from where the Chauvin trial was taking place.
Across our communities, from police reform activists to law enforcement personnel, there is emotional and mental exhaustion — and the feeling that our nation just can’t get this right.
It is my hope that this trial, and the activism and awareness which resulted from the murder of Mr. Floyd, will bring us one step closer toward ending the systemic and deep-rooted prejudice which denies many people of color the same protection, opportunities, and hopes that white people have come to expect.
I also hope that Mr. Floyd’s legacy—and the legacy of the many other Black people who have lost their lives to police violence—helps to illuminate and correct the many other racial injustices which continue to afflict our society including the fight to secure voting rights for people of color.
I am committed to ensuring that Western Washington University continues its ongoing efforts to advance our antiracist values, including moving forward on the creation of an Office of Equity staffed with deeply experienced leaders who can enact change and deepen our efforts at equity and inclusion. We must continue to stand up against every manifestation of racism and create the kind of community in which each of us is treated with dignity and respect.
Although not all of us carry the trauma of systemic racism, it is my greatest wish that we stand together in the effort to overcome it.
Sincerely,
Sabah Randhawa
President
Dear generous donors,
Thank you for your previous support of the Western Stands for Racial Equity Fund. As 2020 draws to a close, we wanted to reiterate our sincere appreciation for your investment in racial equity at Western and share an exciting update from campus. Recently, Western’s Board of Trustees unanimously approved naming the University’s new residence hall, now under construction, after Alma Clark Glass, the first Black student to attend Western.
Western President Sabah Randhawa said the resolution affirms that “history matters on our campus” and “unfinished business” remains in recognizing the achievements of Black, Indigenous and other people of color in Western’s history.
Alma Clark Glass attended Washington State Normal School, a prior name for what eventually became Western Washington University, during the winter and spring of 1906. She completed coursework in psychology, geography, physical culture, biology and botany, as well as observation and practice teaching. She went on to become an assistant librarian in the Seattle Public Library System in November 1906, having achieved the highest score on the civil service examination, according to the Seattle Republican newspaper. She was a founding member of the Seattle chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People in 1913, was part of an effort seeking to block public showing of the racist film “Birth of a Nation” and served as a member of the Board of Directors for the Seattle Urban League in 1946.
Thank you Alma!
