Area Report for Board of Trustees

Among the ever-changing COVID-19 situation and its effect globally, here at Highline College, I’m proud to highlight some positive and uplifting stories about our wonderful and resilient campus. I had the opportunity to attend “Diverse Voices from Home” – a celebration of poetry written by our students. Two of our student leaders, Paul Lupe and Nathan Yockey invited me to participate and I heard some powerful words from our students. On the zoom call was also staff, faculty, foundation and community members. I even was able to read one of my favorite poems. I’m always impressed when students lead such efforts and this one did not disappoint. Many thanks to our student leaders and the National Poetry Month Committee for creating a powerful afternoon. I look forward to receiving Archturus 2020, the college’s literary magazine very soon.

The day after our Diverse Voices event, Highline hosted our 2nd annual Equity Development Institute (EDI). This event was held in the afternoon accessible by zoom and had close to 400 participants. Participants were able to choose sessions facilitators by staff from Highline College and the Center for Urban Education at University of Southern California. I first attended an webinar which center on equity mindedness and my second session was a decision on white privilege facilitated by our own Iesha Valencia and Shannon Waits. Our facilitators did a masterful job of challenging participants to explore and verbalize their feelings in a respectful and caring manner – very impressive given for some, a difficult topic to discuss. I would be remiss if I didn’t mention our long standing signature event, our Unity Through Diversity Week. In its 23rd year, Unity Week’s theme was “Reclaiming Education, Honoring Resilience.” This week would not be possible without the leadership of the Unity Week planning committee. Thank you to the EDI and Unity Week planning committees for creating these exceptional programs. Many thanks to Highline College for continually setting the standard for these conversations locally and nationally.

Regarding commencement, the President’s office sent out a commencement survey and the college received extensive feedback and recommendations. As a result, the college will be providing a virtual commencement in June to honor graduates now with an “in-person reception” scheduled for winter (pending social restrictions) which will consist of programming, photos, family and music. IN addition, with Highline College celebrating 60 years in fall 2021, the college is looking at creating a “Community Homecoming” event with alumni, retirees, students, staff and faculty, including a special ceremony for 2020 graduates. More information to come.

Lastly, since Governor Inslee’s extension of the state’s “Stay Home, Stay Healthy” order through May 31, the campus will be physically closed to all students, faculty, staff and the public, unless prior arrangements have been made with the respective Vice President or Executive Director. This process will ensure that we are able to maintain proper social distancing by not having too many employees in certain offices at any one time. This also allows our facilities crew members to know which areas to clean after employees have left. My heartfelt thanks go out to them for their tremendous work.