is the nation’s largest college access and success program for DREAMers – undocumented immigrants who came to this country as children. The organization currently has more than 3,000 scholars who are enrolled in or have graduated from over 75 partner colleges in 15 states.

“Seeking a better life through education in order to contribute to our society is at the heart of the American Dream. The 91̽��is proud to support that dream for DACA students for whom the United States has been, and is, home,” said 91̽��President Ana Mari Cauce.

TheDream.US last week a $33 million gift from Amazon.com CEO Jeff and MacKenzie Bezos that will give an additional 1,000 undocumented immigrant students with DACA status the opportunity to go to college.

The organization expects to provide scholarships to 10 to 20 students on the 91̽��campus in Seattle each year.

“We are thrilled to expand this program to Washington state not only because it is my home state, but because undocumented students here will have the help they need to complete a bachelor’s degree,” said TheDream.US President Candy Marshall. “Washington has excellent two-year colleges; however, funding remains a stumbling block for students to transfer to a four-year university. We want to provide those funds.”

The partnership aligns with the UW’s efforts to increase the number of transfer students it serves, as well as its of undocumented students on campus.

In 2015, President Cauce and Provost Gerald Baldasty sponsored the 91̽��Community College Engagement Initiative to conduct a year-long assessment of the two-year college transfer experience at the 91̽��Seattle campus. That resulted in the development of a plan to improve this experience, with a specific focus on student scholarship support. The (OMA&D) has aligned its outreach and recruitment resources to better serve transfer students as well with the recent hiring of a transfer admissions counselor.

The 91̽��is also a leader in providing support services to undocumented students when they are here on campus. In one example, , housed at OMA&D’s Samuel E. Kelly Ethnic Cultural Center, was the state’s first undocumented student support program when it was founded in 2014 and is the only one of its kind in the Pacific Northwest. In addition to its services for students, the program offers “Undocu Ally Trainings” to provide faculty and staff with resources, information and guidance on how to become allies to undocumented students.

TheDream.US scholarship award will cover tuition and fees up to a maximum of $7,250 per year, renewable for up to two years, with a maximum award of $14,500. Students who receive the scholarship must be accepted to and enroll full-time at the UW’s Seattle campus in the fall of 2018-19.

The application period for 2018-19 closes on March 1, 2018. TheDream.US awardees are notified in late April. Students who have graduated with an associate’s degree or will be graduating this spring can apply .

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His lecture titled “Tourist to Traveler: The Transforming Experience of Study Abroad” will take place at the  at 6 p.m., preceded by a reception in the at 5 p.m.

The event is free and open to the public. To register, contact cpromad@uw.edu by April 10.

Wong’s lecture will address how he uses study abroad to help students examine questions about topics such as immigration, identity and global citizenship, and why travel is a necessary and relevant way for them to find the answers.

Wong recently returned from leading what was the 20^th anniversary of the OMA&D-sponsored Rome Academic Enrichment Program held at the 91̽��Rome Center for 10 days during the break between winter and spring quarters. The course, which offers students credits during a spring quarter class, was attended by 14 students representing all three 91̽��campuses.

OMA&D’s Rome program is its longest-running study abroad course and one of several offered in collaboration with various academic departments that help diverse students gain a global perspective. The 20th anniversary milestone will be celebrated with a special alumni reunion prior to the Kelly lecture and reception. Participants of the program going back to 1995 have been invited to the event.

In addition to Rome, Wong has taken 91̽��programs to Berlin and Istanbul. This fall, he will also travel with the 91̽��men’s basketball team to Shanghai. His classes focus on travel writing and training a student’s eye and ear to not only record images and memories, but to take that raw experience and transform it from what they know to what they learned.

Wong is a professor in the 91̽��Department of English, where he served as chair from 1997-2002. He also was the director of the 91̽��Creative Writing Program from 1995-1997 and the University Honors Program from 2003-2006. His areas of specialization are in creative writing and Asian American studies. His writing has won numerous awards, including a National Endowment for the Arts Fiction Fellowship. Wong’s second novel, ““, was made into a movie titled “Americanese” and released in 2013. He was featured in the Bill Moyers documentary, “Becoming American: The Chinese Experience.”

Wong received his undergraduate degree in English at the University of California at Berkeley and a master’s degree in creative writing at San Francisco State University. He has taught at several colleges and universities since 1972, including Mills College, San Francisco State and the University of California, Santa Cruz.

Inaugurated in 2005, this lecture series honors the late Dr. Kelly, UW’s first vice president for the Office of Minority Affairs (1970). It is dedicated to acknowledging the work of distinguished faculty by spotlighting research focused on diversity and social justice.

Established in 1973, the honors individuals whose leadership in the community exemplifies the former 91̽��president’s work on behalf of diversity. It is the only university- and community-selected award, and is regarded as the highest achievement in diversity at the UW.

The award will be presented at the event hosted by the 91̽��Office of Minority Affairs & Diversity and the Friends of the Educational Opportunity Program on Thursday, May 7. The dinner and scholarship fundraiser will be held at the Husky Union Building on the 91̽��Seattle campus.

“Through her leadership role in the private sector and dedicated service on 91̽��volunteer boards, Colleen’s advocacy for diversity has made a tremendous impact both on campus and in the community,” said Sheila Edwards Lange, 91̽��vice president for minority affairs and vice provost for diversity. “We are proud to celebrate her selfless commitment to social equity and education.”

Fukui-Sketchley has been employed by Nordstrom since graduating from the 91̽�� in 1994 with a bachelor’s degree in speech communication. Her tenure began with a part-time sales position while she was attending the UW, and after gaining experience in a variety of departments, she found her calling in diversity affairs.

For 16 years, Fukui-Sketchley served as Nordstrom’s corporate diversity affairs specialist until being promoted to her current role in 2012. Her work focuses on developing and executing a comprehensive approach to diversity and inclusion through initiatives that support the entire company. She enhances Nordstrom’s commitment to diversity by weaving strategic elements into initiatives involving people, products and services.

A second-generation Husky born and raised in Seattle, Fukui-Sketchley’s deep commitment to giving back has been inspired by her family’s longtime efforts to do the same. For more than 12 years, she was a member of the Friends of the Educational Opportunity Program’s board of trustees, which promotes academic excellence for underrepresented minority and economically disadvantaged students at the UW. Her tenure with the program included terms as its president and vice president.

For six years, Fukui-Sketchley served on the 91̽��Alumni Association board of trustees and in 2000 became the association’s youngest and first Asian American woman president. She helped launch 91̽��Impact, the alumni associations’s legislative advocacy program, and continues to serve on its legislative advocacy committee. She was also a member of the advisory committee that developed , an award-winning diversity magazine published by the alumni association in partnership with the 91̽��Office of Minority Affairs & Diversity.

Fukui-Sketchley is a board member for the Center for Asian Pacific American Women, a national leadership consortium, and the U.S. Business Leadership Network, a national disability organization. She is currently serving a four-year term as an appointed member of the Governor’s Taskforce for Disability Employment, which will provide a roadmap for increasing the employment of people with disabilities in the state of Washington.

“My number one goal is to ‘leave it better than I found it,’’ said Fukui-Sketchley, the youngest woman to receive the Odegaard Award. “This means elevating the topic of diversity at every opportunity and leveraging the power of leadership positions I’ve held to further the cause. I am incredibly honored to receive this award and will remain steadfast in my commitment to the 91̽��for decades to come.”

Charles E. Odegaard Award recipients

2015       Colleen Fukui-Sketchley
2014       Denny Hurtado
2013       Rogelio Riojas
2012       Gertrude Peoples
2011       Assunta Ng
2010       Nelson Del Rio
2009       W. Ron Allen
2008       1968 Black Student Union
2007       Alan T. Sugiyama
2006       Charles Mitchell
2005       Mike McGavick
2004       Jeff and Susan Brotman
2003       Herman McKinney
2002       Constance L. Proctor
2001       Ernest Dunston
2000       Vivian Lee
1999       Albert Black
1998       Bill Hilliard
1997       Andy Reynolds
1996       Hubert G. Locke
1995       Ron Moore
1994       Bernie Whitebear
1993       Ron Sims
1992       Sandra Madrid
1991       Ken Jacobson
1990       Herman D. Lujan
1989       J. Ray Bowen
1988       Frank Byrdwell
1987       Andrew V. Smith
1986       Phyllis Gutiérrez Kenney
1985       Norm Rice
1984       Nancy Weber
1983       William Irmscher
1982       Mark Cooper
1981       Millie Russell
1980       Minoru Masuda
1979       Toby Burton
1978       Vivian Kelly
1977       Sam and Joyce Kelly
1976       Leonie Piternick
1975       Larry Gossett
1974       Dalwyn Knight

In her lecture “Are We There Yet? The Four Directions in Native American Higher Education,” Metoyer will talk about the historic development of Native Americans in higher education.

A reception will be held at 5 p.m. in the Alder Hall Commons, followed by the lecture at 6 p.m. in the auditorium. Both events are free and open to the public. To register, contact cpromad@uw.edu or call 206-685-9594 by April 21.

Metoyer is an adjunct associate professor in . Her research interests include indigenous knowledge systems with an emphasis on American Indian and Alaska Native tribal nations and information-seeking behaviors in cultural communities.

Before joining the iSchool faculty, Metoyer was the chief academic affairs officer for the Mashantucket Pequot Tribal Nation and a faculty member at the University of California, Los Angeles and University of California, Riverside. In 2006, she received a Rockefeller Fellowship in the Humanities to study Native American systems of knowledge.

The is an annual lecture series named for UW’s first vice president for the Office of Minority Affairs.

Established in 1973, the honors individuals whose leadership in the community exemplifies the former 91̽��president’s work on behalf of diversity. It is regarded as the highest achievement in diversity at the UW.

The award will be presented May 22 at the , an event hosted by the 91̽��Office of Minority Affairs and Diversity and the .

“Denny’s passion, dedication and pioneering efforts have left a legacy that has transformed education, not only for Native American students, but for every student in the state,” said Sheila Edwards Lange, 91̽��vice president for minority affairs and vice provost for diversity. “We celebrate his groundbreaking work in the K-12 educational system and honor him for his outstanding leadership.”

Hurtado retired from the state office of public instruction in 2013 after a 12-year tenure. In this role, he worked with 29 tribes and led the creation of curriculum geared towards elementary, middle and high school educators. He also presented workshops and trainings in Indian education, culturally responsive curriculum and professional development.

As a member of the wǝɫǝbʔaltxʷ (Intellectual House) Advisory Committee, he is helping lead an effort to build a on the 91̽��campus that will support Native American students. Hurtado is also a host and facilitator for the UW’s annual Tribal Leadership Summit, immediate past president and current member of the 91̽��Native American Advisory Board, and advisor for the 91̽��College of Education.

Previously, Hurtado directed Upward Bound at The Evergreen State College, served as president of the Northwest Association of Special Programs (now the Northwest Association of Educational Opportunity Programs), and was an Indian commercial fisherman and substitute teacher.

Hurtado is an enrolled member of the Skokomish Tribe and a resident of the Skokomish Reservation. He served on its tribal council for the past 19 years, holding positions of chairman, vice-chairman and general council president. Hurtado holds a bachelor’s degree in social science and a lifetime secondary teaching credential from California State University Sacramento. He received his master’s degree in school administration from California State University Humboldt.

For more information about the May 22 event and the Odegaard award is on the Office of Minority Affairs and Diversity’s .

A groundbreaking ceremony for the 91̽�� Native American longhouse-style facility, will take place Friday, Oct. 25, 3-5:30 p.m.

The public event will be held at the facility’s construction site in the between Lewis and McMahon Halls on the 91̽��campus in Seattle.

University leadership, as well as area tribal leaders, will offer remarks. Included in the program will be 91̽��President Michael K. Young, 91̽��Vice President for Minority Affairs and Vice Provost for Diversity Sheila Edwards Lange, and Wǝɫǝbʔaltxʷ Committee Co-Chairs W. Ron Allen (Jamestown S’Klallam tribal chairman and chief executive officer) and Charlotte Cote’ ( 91̽��American Indian Studies associate professor). Duwamish Tribal Chairwoman Cecile Hansen and Suquamish Tribal Chairman Leonard Forsman will also participate.

Wǝɫǝbʔaltxʷ, pronounced “w����-������-�����ٳܳ�” and known as the Lushootseed language name for “Intellectual House,” will serve as a learning and gathering place for Native American students, faculty and staff, as well as the 91̽��and surrounding community. It will feature a “village concept” that includes two primary buildings and a central outdoor gathering space.

The groundbreaking is for the project’s first phase, the 8,400-square foot Community Gathering Building and the outdoor space. Both are planned to be operational for winter quarter 2015.

Donations and pledges totaling almost $6 million are supporting the design and construction of phase one. Phase two of the project will include further fundraising for the second building, a teaching and learning space.

Read more about the project on the 91̽��Office of Minority Affairs & Diversity .

The legislation, supported by 91̽��President Michael K. Young, was approved by the Faculty Senate on April 25. A Class “B” Bulletin outlining the requirement was then distributed to faculty at all three campuses for a vote. Only 23 of a required 213 objections needed to amend or overturn the legislation were received by the May 24 deadline, making it effective immediately.

“The 91̽��has a long and distinguished history of exemplary diversity work,” said Sheila Edwards Lange, vice president for minority affairs and vice provost for diversity. “The passage of the diversity requirement adds the final piece in our comprehensive array of student, faculty, staff and community programs at the UW.”

The diversity graduation requirement will include three credits of coursework that focus on the sociocultural, political and economic diversity of human experience at local, regional or global scales. As stated in the legislation, “The requirement is meant to help the student develop an understanding of the complexities of living in increasingly diverse and interconnected societies.”

These credits will simultaneously satisfy other “area of knowledge” requirements and will not add to students’ general education requirements.

91̽��Provost Ana Mari Cauce and Senior Vice Provost Jerry Baldasty will work on implementation plans with deans, as well as with a joint faculty-student task force chaired by Undergraduate Academic Affairs Dean and Vice Provost Ed Taylor and Center for Curriculum Transformation Director Betty Schmitz. Faculty of each school, college and campus will recommend and approve courses to meet the requirement, which likely will be implemented in 2014.

“In this fast-moving age of global interaction, it is vital that students learn about diverse cultures and complex societies,” Faculty Senate Chair Jim Gregory said. “This requirement brings our curriculum into the 21^st ����Գٳܰ���.”

The passage of the diversity requirement is the culmination of 25 years of work. 91̽��students initiated three previous proposals that encountered resistance at various stages of the approval process.

The current proposal for the diversity requirement originated three years ago by the 91̽��Students for Diversity Coalition. The coalition’s membership featured students from several campus organizations, including the Black Student Union, First Nations, Filipino American Student Association and Movimiento Estudiantil Chicano/a de Aztlan. Their proposal was initially approved by the Associated Students of the 91̽��in the fall of 2012.

“I would like to congratulate these students on their collaborative effort,” Edwards Lange said. “They recognized the importance of the study of diversity, and crafted a strong proposal that expanded upon previous efforts to pass such legislation. I also commend the faculty members who worked with the students, contributed ideas and helped educate the 91̽��community about the benefits of this requirement.”

“The process was significant because students, faculty and administration were able to come together to develop something that will benefit future generations of Huskies,” said Helen Fillmore, 91̽��senior and a member of the 91̽��Students for Diversity Coalition. “The importance of learning about diversity in the classroom and having education in that way is something that is really important to all of us so that we’re able to work better together. I’m super thankful for all those who fought for the requirement in the past and for those who kept it going.”

This recent proposal was also discussed and worked on by the Faculty Council on Multicultural Affairs, Faculty Council on Women in Academia, Faculty Council on Academic Standards, Senate Executive Committee and Faculty Senate.

Last year, 91̽��faculty also voted a code change to consider accomplishments related to enriching diversity in teaching, research and service in faculty appointments and promotions decisions.

Amanda Lock Swarr will deliver the Office of Minority Affairs and Diversity’s ninth annual on Thurs., April 18. A reception will be held at 5 p.m. at the Kelly Ethnic Cultural Center followed by the lecture at 6:30 p.m. in the Alder Hall Commons Auditorium.

, a 91̽��associate professor in gender, women and sexuality studies, will discuss the intersections among gender, sexuality and race in her talk, “Racing the Boundaries of Gender and Sexuality: Rethinking Apartheid and Transitional South Africa.”

Drawing on 15 years of research in South Africa, Swarr will ask why some South Africans who define themselves as transsexual, gay and lesbian have been subjected to forced and botched sex reassignment procedures, legalized discrimination and community ostracism, while others have received state-funded medical treatment and legal support.

The topic is an extension from her 2012 book, “.” Her current book project is titled “Forcing Sex: Violent Contestations over South African Masculinities.”

Learn more about Swarr on the Office of Minority Affairs and Diversity’s .

The is free and open to the public. To register, contact cpromad@uw.edu or call 206-685-9594.

Rogelio Riojas, president and chief executive officer for Sea Mar Community Health Centers, is the 2013 recipient of the Charles E. Odegaard Award.

The award will be presented at the 43rd annual Educational Opportunity Program Celebration, Fête and Honors hosted by the 91̽��’s and the Friends of the Educational Opportunity Program. The event is at 5:30 p.m. Thurs., May 16, at the Husky Union Building on the 91̽��campus.

Established in 1973, the Odegaard award honors individuals whose leadership in the community exemplifies the former 91̽��president’s work on behalf of diversity. It is the only university- and community-selected award, and is regarded as the highest achievement in diversity at the UW.

“As the leader of Sea Mar for the last 35 years, Rogelio has ensured that thousands of our state’s most vulnerable people receive health and human services,” said Sheila Edwards Lange, 91̽��vice president for minority affairs and vice provost for diversity. “Equally important is his activism and commitment to empowering youth in the Latino community. Rogelio’s service in the areas of social equity and justice reflect the goals of Office of Minority Affairs and Diversity and the Educational Opportunity Program and we are honored to present him with this award.”

Riojas spent his youth as a migrant farm laborer and was the first member of his family to go to college. He enrolled at 91̽��in 1969 and became a leader among Latino student activists. Riojas’ activism inspired his career in public health.

In 1978, he started the health and human services organization Sea Mar, which began as a single medical clinic in Seattle’s South Park neighborhood. Today, it serves 12 counties and more than 140,000 individuals per year in Washington state.

For more information, visit the .

The 91̽��’s will celebrate the grand opening of the newly renovated Samuel E. Kelly Ethnic Cultural Center with a pair of events Jan. 10-11.

The building, originally built in 1972 at the corner of Brooklyn Avenue NE and NE 40^th Street, underwent an extensive 1.5-year renovation. It is named in honor of the late , the founding vice president for minority affairs at the 91̽��and the university’s first African American senior administrator.

“We now become the largest and oldest college cultural center in the United States, as well as a significant point of pride for the Pacific Northwest,” said Marisa Herrera, director of the center. “We think it’s truly a unique space and there is nothing like it on another college campus. We are incredibly proud to call this space our new home.”

An invitation-only reception will be held Thursday to commemorate the naming of the new center with Kelly’s family.

On Friday, the campus and local community is invited to the “Light Up the Night” event beginning at 5 p.m. with a ribbon-cutting ceremony. Activities will also include building tours, student performances and historical video viewings. 91̽��President Michael K. Young and Sheila Edwards Lange, vice president for minority affairs and vice provost for diversity, will speak. The event is free, but R.S.V.P.s are .

The new center:

• Is the first 91̽��building to be named for an African-American.
• Contains 25,000 square feet and is Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design, or LEED, certified.
• Was architecturally designed by former 91̽��students Alex Rolluda, ’89, and Sam Cameron, ’75, of Rolluda and Associates.
• Has 22 of the historical murals from the original building.
• Naming the new center in Kelly’s honor pays tribute to his legacy as a pioneer for diversity at the UW.

“He opened doors for hundreds of underrepresented and economically disadvantaged students here at the UW,” Edwards Lange said. “Dr. Kelly set the standard for, and established a commitment to diversity before it was popular among American colleges and universities.”

The Samuel E. Kelly Ethnic Cultural Center serves nearly 90 student organizations and has been known as a home away from home for students of color at the 91̽��since its inception.

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For more information, contact Herrera at mherrer@uw.edu or 206-543-4635.