The 91探花 has appointed Pat Chun to serve as its 17th Director of Athletics, 91探花President Ana Mari Cauce announced today. Chun has served in the same role at Washington State University since 2018, during which time he was named the Under Armour Athletic Director of the Year, 10 different WSU sports programs made NCAA tournament appearances and the school won six Pac-12 Championships.听

Chun will begin his duties at the 91探花on Wednesday, March 27, and will be introduced at a news conference on Thursday, March 28.听听

鈥淧at has a track record of success and a wealth of experience 鈥� from 15 years in the Big Ten and service on national groups guiding the future of college sports, to securing community support and a commitment to the well-being of student-athletes. He knows our state, is highly respected in national athletics circles and has an eye for talent. I鈥檓 so happy he鈥檒l be joining us to lead 91探花Athletics into the future,鈥� said 91探花President Ana Mari Cauce.听

鈥淚t is truly an honor for my family and I to join the 91探花 family, and I look forward to doing my part to help elevate the athletics program and the University,鈥� said Chun. 鈥淚 am grateful to President Cauce for the opportunity and will work closely with our campus partners, our coaches and our staff to help our student-athletes have an incredible experience at UW. Our transition to the Big Ten is a critical step in our journey and great things lie ahead for the Huskies!鈥�听

Earlier this year, Chun was appointed to the College Football Playoff Selection Committee and also serves on the NCAA Division鈥疘 Council. He previously served on the NCAA Division I Transformation Committee and is a co-founder of the Asian American & Pacific Islander Athletics Alliance. Pat is currently the president of the National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics and co-chairs the Pac-12 ImPACt Leadership Council, which focuses on college sports as a vehicle for positive social change.听听

At Washington State, Chun oversaw successes in competition and the classroom, and secured record levels of donor support during this time. His appointment at WSU made him the first Asian American athletics director to lead a Power Five program.听

Chun began his career in a series of roles at The Ohio State University lasting from 1997 to 2012, ultimately serving as Executive Associate Athletics Director. During his time at OSU overseeing external relations, he led three consecutive record fundraising years and led negotiations of what was at the time the largest multimedia rights deal in intercollegiate athletics history.听

After OSU, Chun led the Florida Atlantic University athletics program for five-and-a-half years, during which time the Owls won multiple individual and team championships, many national and conference awards, and raised the department-wide GPA to a new high.听

鈥淚 am excited about forming an elite partnership and special relationship with Pat Chun.鈥疘t was critical for us to hire an extraordinary leader who is all about the W.鈥�疨at is about work, winning and the state of Washington.鈥疕e is someone who is extremely knowledgeable and on the cutting edge of the new frontier of college football.鈥疢ost of all, he is a proven winner. He knows what it takes to compete and win consistently at the highest levels. And he brings intimate knowledge of the Big Ten from his time at Ohio State.鈥疘 look forward to sharing ideas together, to learning together, to winning together and to bringing multiple championship trophies to Montlake together,鈥� said 91探花Head Football Coach Jedd Fisch.听

鈥淚鈥檓 excited to have Pat Chun as our new Director of Athletics. He truly centers student-athletes鈥� well-being, academic and athletic pursuits. From his engagement on the D1 Transformation Committee to chairing the Pac-12 ImPACt Leadership Council, he has shown his thoughtfulness for the future of college sports. He is a perfect fit for our 91探花culture and values and will move us forward into the Big Ten,鈥� said Alexes Harris, a professor of sociology at the 91探花who serves as 91探花Faculty Regent and Faculty Athletics Representative.听

鈥淧at is an outstanding leader and administrator who possesses exceptional knowledge of the turbulent landscape of college athletics.鈥疕e is an excellent team builder who has a keen eye for recognizing and hiring top-notch coaches and administrators. Not only does Pat have extensive knowledge and experience in the Big Ten, but he also has deep ties to the Pacific Northwest and Seattle. With so many changes occurring, Pat is the perfect person to help navigate and take 91探花to new heights as we enter the Big Ten this fall,鈥� said Chris Petersen, former 91探花head football coach.听

Chun grew up in Strongsville, Ohio, and earned a bachelor鈥檚 degree from Ohio State and a master鈥檚 degree from Duquesne University. His wife, Natalie, is also an Ohio State alumnus and they have three daughters 鈥� Vanna, Kennedy and Gretta.听

For more information, contact David Rey at drey94@uw.edu.听

鈥淚 am excited and thankful to have been appointed by Governor Inslee to the first Faculty Regent position for the 91探花,鈥� Harris said. 鈥淚 am a first-generation student from Seattle who graduated from the 91探花in 1997. My educational experiences created my path towards a fulfilling research career.鈥�

Harris joined the 91探花Department of Sociology faculty in 2004 and her research investigates how contact with varying institutions 鈥� educational, juvenile and criminal legal, and economic 鈥� impact individuals鈥� opportunities in life.听She has also served as the 91探花Faculty Athletics Representative since July 2019, and as a Special Assistant to the Provost as Director of the Faculty Development Program at the UW, since April 2021.

鈥淎lexes has broad influence inside and outside the 91探花and is a fantastic choice to be the UW鈥檚 inaugural Faculty Regent,鈥� 91探花President Ana Mari Cauce said. 鈥淪he is an extremely active scholar whose teaching and whose research on inequities in the justice system is driving needed change. And she鈥檚 done all this while also supporting and empowering underrepresented faculty through her leadership of the听听and student-athletes through her work as Faculty Athletics Representative. I look forward to continuing to work with Alexes as she takes on this new role.鈥�

The 91探花Board of Regents was expanded to 11 members earlier this year when the Faculty Regent position was approved by the Washington Legislature and signed into law by Gov. Inslee. The Faculty Regent was selected by the Governor from a group of three candidates recommended by the UW鈥檚 Faculty Senate and will serve a three-year term. The rest of the Board comprises nine members on six-year terms and one Student Regent who serves a one-year term. All members are appointed by the Governor.

鈥淎s a professor at the 91探花I have had the opportunity to work with wonderful students, staff and colleagues. I’ve also found the support to translate and share my research findings with our broader Washington state community and become a public scholar,鈥� Harris said.听鈥淚 couldn’t be more proud to work with our Regents to help guide and shape our University and continue to provide similar opportunities to current and future students and faculty.鈥�

In 2016, Alexes Harris was diagnosed with a rare blood cancer. The 91探花professor of sociology was told she had only 18 to 24 months to live if she didn鈥檛 have a bone marrow transplant. But the search for bone marrow donors turned up only five matches, and none ended up being a donor.

One reason Harris had trouble finding a match is because people of color are underrepresented on the registry, and ancestry matters when finding a compatible bone marrow match. Harris鈥� mother is white and her father, Black and Filipino.听

According to , the nation鈥檚 largest bone marrow registry, a person’s racial and ethnic background is important in predicting the likelihood of finding a match. For example, a white person has a 79% chance of finding a match. A Black person鈥檚 potential match is only 29%, and Asian and Latinx people both have about a 47% chance of matching. People of Native American ancestry have a 60% chance of finding a match.

Harris was fortunate; her doctor was aware of a clinical trial that used cord blood stem cells to treat her blood cancer. The stem cell transplant saved her life.

Harris works with Be The Match to raise awareness of the bone marrow registry, especially within communities of color. She calls those who register and commit to becoming potential donors 鈥渟uperheroes鈥� whose actions can save a life.

For more information, contact Harris at yharris@uw.edu.听

At the same time, those counties have increased the rate at which they sentence women to jail.

This association, according to new research from the 91探花, indicates that monetary sanctions, also known as legal financial obligations or LFOs, have far-reaching social, economic and punitive effects. In other words, what may seem like a system of low-level penalties aimed at individuals actually affects whole communities.

鈥淗ere in Washington state, men鈥檚 incarceration rates have been trending downward for over a decade whereas women鈥檚 incarceration rates have continued to increase,鈥� said lead author , a 91探花postdoctoral researcher in sociology. 鈥淭his paper suggests this is because women have not benefitted from the legal system鈥檚 shift away from carceral sentencing toward monetary sanction sentencing in the same ways men have benefitted.鈥�

The is part of a volume of research on legal financial obligations, published online in January in The Russell Sage Foundation Journal of the Social Sciences. , professor of sociology at the UW, spearheaded the multi-institutional study of trends and practices in eight states over five years relating to legal fines and fees.

More about the larger eight-state study, and Harris鈥� role in that research, is here.

The UW-led study focused on Washington state, and looked at the connection between a defendant鈥檚 gender and fines and fees.

Over the past two decades, women鈥檚 incarceration rates have remained steady or increased nationwide. The 91探花researchers wanted to use Washington state data to explore what factors may contribute to this trend, and specifically, whether the expanding system of monetary sanctions could be to blame.

The authors, including sociology graduate students and , used county-level statistics from the Washington Administrative Office of the Courts from 2007-2012, as well as county budget information from the Washington State Auditor and demographic data from the U.S. Census Bureau.

In the United States, , and people who are poor are disproportionately impacted not only by the legal system generally, but by monetary sanctions in particular.

Monetary sanctions, meanwhile, have contributed in communities around the country. The 91探花study found that, among Washington鈥檚 39 counties, a 1% increase in county revenue from monetary sanctions was, on average, associated with a 23% increase in the incarceration rate of women. That may be due, researchers said, to increased law enforcement around the types of lower-level offenses women are more likely to engage in than men, and to the possibility that women, due to financial precarity, are forced to opt for incarceration because of their inability to pay fines and fees.

鈥淣ot only are women are going to find financial sentences more burdensome than men, they are also more likely to commit the types of crime that make them eligible for monetary sanctions instead of incarceration,鈥� O鈥橬eill said. 鈥淎mong people who commit crime, women are disproportionately represented among misdemeanor offenders, whereas men commit more felonies. So, women who offend may be more likely to be sentenced to monetary sanctions and less likely to be able to pay than men who offend.鈥�

Given the association the study found between revenues from monetary sanctions and the sentencing of women to incarceration in Washington counties, the researchers suggest that governments look for other revenue sources, and for ways to reduce the costs of their justice systems. The authors point to a 2019 on the spatial distribution of monetary sanction debt and revenue that suggests these findings could apply outside of Washington state as well.

鈥淗eavy reliance on monetary sanctions as a source of revenue creates an obvious conflict of interest for local governments: They need people to violate the law in order to keep themselves out of the red,鈥� O鈥橬eill said. 鈥淐apping the annual proportion of local expenditures derived from monetary sanctions, or earmarking the monetary sanction revenue for community programs that address the root causes of crime, would go a long way in alleviating the social problems associated with the system. Or 鈥� even better 鈥� get rid of the system of monetary sanctions altogether.鈥�

This study was funded by a grant from the National Institute for Child Health and Human Development to the 91探花Center for Studies in Demography & Ecology, and as part of the eight-state study by Arnold Ventures.

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For more information, contact O鈥橬eill at oneillkk@uw.edu.

A five-year, eight-state study of monetary sanctions 鈥� the fines and fees people are sentenced to for everything from a traffic citation to court costs following a felony conviction 鈥� reveals the devastating consequences for the people involved, within a system that perpetuates racial and social injustice.

The study, led by , professor of sociology at the 91探花, involved a team of student and faculty researchers from around the country, including , assistant professor of public policy at the 91探花Evans School. The work was published online in January as a double volume of related articles in .

The project, Harris said, taught the research team and potentially, decision-makers and the general public, a lot about monetary sanctions. Legal fines and fees, or LFOs, have vast ramifications for people鈥檚 lives, from their ability to attain and build wealth, to their employment and housing stability, their health and wellness, even their ability to participate in public life through driving and voting. These prohibitions and limitations, then, can impact people鈥檚 families, and even entire neighborhoods.

Harris sat down with 91探花News to discuss the scope of the project, and what comes next.

What do people generally get wrong, or simply not understand, about this issue?

Many people think, 鈥淭hey did the crime, they have to do the time,鈥� and see fines and fees as a way to 鈥渉old people accountable.鈥� However, what many people do not realize is that most people convicted of offending are sentenced to an array of punishments. Upon conviction, people are regularly sentenced to jail or prison and typically receive community supervision (probation) after their release. They also may have mandated community service hours, classes and treatment; they may lose the right to drive and vote; and they have convictions on their records that impact housing, education loans and access, and employment prospects.

On top of all of these serious consequences, people receive monetary sanctions. Across the nation, people who are convicted in municipal and felony courts are getting plenty of punishment and are being held accountable. The added punishment of monetary sanctions serves as a disparate punishment for people who are poor 鈥� the penal debt creates a longer period of punishment and a more intense strain on their lives and that of their children and families.

Describe how this work seemed to open up new lines of research, such as on the emotional impacts of legal financial obligations, and the impacts of LFOs on specific populations, such as women and Native Americans.

Our five years of data collection and analysis gave us further insight into the nuanced ways the punishment of monetary sanctions affects people. In our interview data we examined how the punishment of fines and fees, and the related tethering to the criminal legal system (via warrants, mandated court appearances and re-incarceration), created health stressors. People palpably described how their inability to pay off fines and fees generated chronic and acute moments of anxiety, stress and even depression.

We also examined how fines and fees might go beyond just individuals and their families. Using court data from Washington state, we were able to map out the amount of fiscal penalties sentenced per person within a given census tract (neighborhood).听 We were able to identify, in one of the articles in the new volume, what we term as neighborhoods that carry a high monetary sanction debt burden per capita. These debtor鈥檚 blocks tended to be non-white neighborhoods and those with higher poverty, and had an average higher rate of monetary sanctions than communities that were more affluent and those with larger numbers of white residents. This analysis also found a longitudinal association between a neighborhood鈥檚 increase in poverty and the amount of fiscal penalties to which the residents had been sentenced. That is, it appears that monetary sanctions exacerbate a community鈥檚 poverty level, and this was especially true for communities of color.

In a related analysis, one that focused on court sentencing data from Minnesota, the authors found that in criminal court and carried the largest average LFO debt loads relative to other racial and ethnic groups in Minnesota, particularly when residing close to tribal lands. They also found that monetary sanctions exacerbated existing poverty and spatial isolation in rural areas.

Moving forward I am interested in better understanding the outcome from policy reform.听 We have seen a national movement that attempts to assuage the harms related to monetary sanctions. I have a new study where I am examining how policy reforms have impacted individuals sentenced to fines and fees 鈥� both in the amounts of relief they have been given across counties and also in regaining their right to drive.

How did this study provide new opportunities for collaboration and student scholarship?

This five-year study and funding from Arnold Ventures was an amazing opportunity to invite senior and junior academics to develop a multi-state research team. I call it my Dream Team. It was also a great way to have graduate and undergraduate students join the team, engage in research development, data collection and analysis. One of my aims with this project was to increase the number of scholars interested in researching the system of monetary sanctions.听 Another goal was to create a team environment for younger scholars (both scholars without tenure and graduate students) to have the opportunity to conduct research on a large team, gain hands-on experience, and publish with senior academics. At the end of five years, we had over 50 scholars engage in data collection, analysis and write-up. To date, we have over 36 peer-reviewed publications and reports from our project, with more under review and in development. Almost all of these papers involved a mix of graduate students and professors, or were solely graduate student partnerships created within our team.

Your research points to the way LFOs perpetuate racial and social injustice, through governments that have come to depend on the revenue. What are some possible solutions?

Our research over the past five years suggests several policy changes that would help ensure that people convicted of violating the law are held accountable to a reasonable punishment without excessive penalties.

First, we suggest that state legislators should reduce the scope of monetary sanctions by reducing or eliminating jurisdictional reliance on the funding from those sanctions. States should also eliminate the use of private agencies for debt collection, surveillance and data management.

Second, we argue that state legislatures, through policy and courts in practice, should eliminate arbitrary and excessive monetary sanctions. To do so, judges should be mandated to evaluate, at sentencing, current ability to pay, with clear guidelines. Courts should also evaluate the definition and guidelines used to assess behavior constituting 鈥渨illful nonpayment.鈥�

Third, states should enact legislation that would decouple unpaid fines and fees from other institutions. For example, states should eliminate the practice of suspending driver鈥檚 licenses of people who are unable to pay their fines and fees. Similarly, states should allow people to exercise their right to vote even if they still owe monetary sanctions.

Finally, state courts should mandate that jurisdictions make data accessible and transparent on monetary sanctions to the public, defendants, and policymakers.

These reforms 鈥� tangible changes state legislatures and state courts could impose 鈥� would provide better protections for people who are poor from the system of monetary sanctions. I think it is important to outline incremental policy reform that would give relief to people who are currently entangled in the criminal legal system. That said, I do argue, based on 14 years of research on this topic, that a system of monetary sanctions can never be 鈥渏ust鈥� within a society with so much racial and economic inequality. To begin to address the injustice of the criminal legal system in America, the system of monetary sanctions should be abolished.

For more information, contact Harris at yharris@uw.edu.

never thought she鈥檇 achieve a doctoral degree, never mind landing a tenure-track job at the 91探花. Raised in Mexico, she moved to California when she was 11, and she鈥檚 the first in her family to earn a Ph. D. She once believed that a career in academia was unattainable due to the obstacles placed in society for people of color.

Now an assistant professor of Spanish at the 91探花and director of the Heritage Language Program, Amezcua said coming to the university directly from a doctoral program was intimidating. It was a new place, a new position, and she is breaking ground in a new field. But Amezcua said she feels at home thanks, in part, to an effort designed to support and retain underrepresented groups and first-generation faculty at UW.

鈥淚 just felt so reassured that I made the right decision,鈥� she said. 鈥淣ot only did I feel validated, but I felt like I was going to be receiving support.鈥�

It鈥檚 all part of a multi-pronged effort introduced last year to diversify the faculty ranks at 91探花and fits within the Race and Equity Initiative the university launched in 2015.

Amezcua participates in a new Faculty Development Program led by 91探花sociology professor . The inaugural cohort has 28 faculty from the Seattle and Tacoma campuses. These new faculty are paired with a mentor 鈥� a tenured professor 鈥� from their academic unit. There are workshops and discussions to provide supportive spaces to build community, network and foster professional development.

鈥淲e have created this program because we cannot be an excellent university without a racially and ethnically diverse faculty,鈥� said Harris, the 91探花Presidential Term Professor and special assistant to the provost. 鈥淲e cannot just hire diverse faculty, but we need to fully support our colleagues of color and ensure our community is a space where everyone can flourish, particularly at a predominantly white university.”

Provost Mark Richards last year announced the Faculty Diversity Initiative, a multimillion-dollar effort that included funding to hire and support diverse faculty. At his annual Town Hall Tuesday, Richards touted UW鈥檚 hiring trends and anecdotal feedback and noted that more work is necessary.

鈥淲e are making some strides in this direction 鈥� though there鈥檚 still a long way to go,鈥� Richards said.

Students benefit from a university with faculty members whose knowledge and understanding represent the diversity of Washington state, as do the people and communities that benefit from the UW鈥檚 research and scholarship, Richards said. Additionally, a diverse faculty signal to historically marginalized students, especially underrepresented racial and ethnic groups, that teaching and research careers are accessible, achievable and encouraged.

Nearly 27% of new hires into tenure-track positions in 2021 are from underrepresented populations, mostly Black and Latinx, Richards said, the most diverse new faculty cohort in recent 91探花history and a significant increase over previous years. What鈥檚 more, the number of underrepresented faculty in tenure/tenure track positions has increased 22% since 2017, and the number of women faculty in tenure/tenure track positions has increased 6.4% in that same timeframe.

鈥淢aintaining our fidelity to our public mission depends upon BIPOC scholars being offered jobs, joining, staying and leading our academic community,鈥� Richards said. 鈥淣ow is the time for us to make these efforts a more explicit, invested and systemic behavior at UW. Further and more critically, the Faculty Diversity Initiative is building upon efforts of generations of BIPOC faculty whose labor toward these ends has often gone unacknowledged and now must be properly centered and recognized.鈥�

In addition to UW鈥檚 Faculty Development Program, the university is taking multiple approaches to diversify the faculty and support underrepresented tenure-track groups.

The Office for Faculty Advancement in the past year presented 67 anti-bias workshops to faculty hiring committees, as well as two anti-bias webinars available to all 91探花employees.

At 91探花Medicine, launched the (SURF) program. Like the Faculty Development Program, this is a 12-month, small-group program focused on career development, coaching and peer co-learning for incoming medical faculty.

鈥淲e are investing in this important work to ensure the success, retention and recruitment of underrepresented minority faculty, and to realize the 91探花Medicine mission of an anti-racist institution that maximizes the potential of all faculty to improve the health of the public,鈥� Doll said.

Getting to know the 91探花and meeting faculty across campus has been invaluable, said , an assistant professor of marketing at the Foster School of Business. Given that she is the only Black tenure-track faculty at Foster, connection to a larger community through the Faculty Development Program is especially important.

鈥淗aving a sense of community can really help make the experience more enriching,鈥� she said. 鈥淲e are able to learn from each other鈥檚 journeys as well as what it means to be faculty within the classroom and a research scholar. The program helps us gain access to faculty and administrators who are at various stages of their careers so we can truly envision our own careers at UW.鈥�

That sentiment was echoed by , an assistant professor of sociology. He sought out the 91探花to launch his faculty career because of the university鈥檚 reputation for forward-facing research that鈥檚 connected to community.

鈥淲hat鈥檚 been encouraging so far is the fact that although we are in different disciplines, have maybe different research agendas or different reasons for why we entered this profession, we’re here,鈥� he said.

In academia, where so much emphasis is placed on producing the next research paper or publication, Ince said he now is part of a cohort that also supports him in celebrating small achievements in the moment.

鈥淚t’s encouraged me to again look outward and recognize the commonality that I have with other faculty of color, rather than the things that may direct differences,鈥� Ince said. 鈥淲hat’s giving me hope is the fact that I know that I have a community that cares about me holistically and not just about what I can produce.鈥�

For more information, contact Harris at yharris@uw.edu.

Fines and fees are standard procedure in the criminal justice system 鈥� and the greater an accused person鈥檚 involvement, from challenging a traffic ticket to a felony conviction, the higher the costs.

What鈥檚 more, the entities levying those fines and fees aren鈥檛 always the public agencies in charge. Private companies often contract to provide the very services that citizens are required to pay for: a bail bondsman after an arrest, a drug and alcohol assessment for a DUI, phone calls and video chats while in prison. Put simply, these private companies are profiting from a captive population, and at the direction of the government, said , a 91探花 professor of sociology.

Harris, who is leading a national study of legal financial obligations, has demonstrated the disproportionate impact of court-imposed fines and fees on the poor and on people of color. In Washington state, for example, African Americans are 2.3 times more likely than whites to be sentenced to fines and fees, and carry about three times the debt from unpaid monetary sanctions, according to a preliminary analysis of data that Harris presented last spring with her then- 91探花colleague Frank Edwards, who is now at Rutgers University.

In a in the journal Criminology and Public Policy, Harris and two research assistants, Tyler Smith and Emmi Obara, use two Washington state examples as case studies of what they see as the extensive reach of the private sector into an already discriminatory system. One is Seattle Municipal Court鈥檚 use of a private fee-collection agency, as well as various penalty expenses associated with a DUI case, such as the installation of an ignition interlock device. The other is the contract between the Washington state Department of Corrections and a prison technology company called JPay, which handles financial accounts for inmates and provides music players and video-chat capabilities.

Both arrangements, Harris said, demonstrate how the private sector is embedded in the system of fines and fees.

鈥�We鈥檙e raising the question: To what extent is this more efficient and effective? These kinds of fees 鈥� probation fees, private electronic monitoring, DUI services 鈥� become barriers to certain individuals who can鈥檛 afford to pay,鈥� Harris said.听 鈥淲hen you overlay that with private entities who are in the business to make a profit, we should ask: Is there a less expensive way to levy punishments where private entities aren鈥檛 making profits off of people?鈥�

In the article, Harris and her colleagues describe how the connection between public and private has grown over time. As tougher crime laws in the late 20th century led to higher inmate populations, a concurrent interest in managing costs led lawmakers around the country to open the door to private prison-management firms. As of 2015, about 126,000 people who were incarcerated were being held in privately run prisons, .

Other researchers have termed this trend the the offloading of traditionally public responsibilities to private providers in the name of cost savings and revenue generation, and the levying of financial penalties

In the case of DUIs in Seattle Municipal Court, people may face a series of financial obligations, based on the conditions imposed by a judge. They may be required to post bail; to install an ignition interlock device on their car (and pay a monthly calibration fee); participate in electronic home monitoring; attend Alcohol and Drug Information School; submit to periodic urine tests, and more. These costs can run into the hundreds of dollars 鈥� all court-mandated expenses, and all paid to private entities.

It鈥檚 not unreasonable for people to have to pay some penalty for their role in a crime, Harris pointed out. But when legal financial obligations far exceed a person鈥檚 means 鈥� while, at the same time, people who can afford to pay can more easily fulfill their court-mandated requirements 鈥� that creates a 鈥渢wo-tiered system of justice.鈥�

鈥淲e should consider how to make financial punishments proportionate to the crime and to people鈥檚 ability to pay,鈥� she said.

Recently the Washington State legislature passed a bill that amended how legal financial obligations are sentenced. Among the changes S.B. 1783 prospectively eliminated was the interest on fines and fees sentenced, though 12% interest remains on any restitution imposed on defendants. The legislation requires judges to use an existing state law to determine whether a person is indigent for the purposes of imposing and enforcing the collection of legal financial obligations.

In their article, Harris and her colleagues identify a national prison tech firm, JPay, as an example of a virtual monopoly within the walls of a prison. For the Washington state Department of Corrections, JPay manages inmate financial accounts, through which people who are incarcerated can buy items at the prison commissary and pay for phone calls and other services. Transferring money to an inmate鈥檚 account from outside carries a fee, as does a transfer from a general account to a special JPay Media Account, which is established strictly for purchasing JPay鈥檚 preprogrammed music players, and video chats.

With a contract to provide all the available goods and services, JPay鈥� or any company with such an arrangement 鈥� essentially has a monopoly inside the prison, Harris said. There鈥檚 no incentive to lower prices, she added.

State policymakers should examine such contracts and ask not only whether there is a less costly way of providing services, but also how the services are being evaluated 鈥� starting with whether the people who use the services are happy with them.

There are signs of movement on the issue of legal financial obligations. Earlier this year, that the Constitution鈥檚 Eighth Amendment, which prohibits excessive fines, fees and forfeitures, along with 鈥渃ruel and unusual punishment,鈥� also applies to the states. The question, Harris added, is how states will define 鈥渆xcessive.鈥�

Here in Washington, that a person鈥檚 Social Security benefits could not be used to satisfy legal financial obligations;听however, courts may still sentence people who receive such benefits to mandatory fines and fees. Previous rulings have defined indigence and how that definition can apply to a person鈥檚 ability to pay certain court-imposed fines and fees.

And at the local level, Kitsap County in April and May held 鈥淟egal Financial Obligation Reconsideration Day,鈥� when people could appear before a judge and argue for debt forgiveness. .

These sorts of developments can rally people around the issues of legal financial obligations, and the entities that charge and collect them, Harris said.

鈥淭hese systems force a frequently captive audience, literally and figuratively, to pay these private fees for required court sentences and ways to maintain connections to their families,鈥� Harris said. 鈥淐an we have a conversation about punishment that addresses the unequal nature of our system of justice, one that creates a lifelong financial burden for people who are poor, and allows private companies to profit?鈥�

Co-authors on the article were , a graduate student in the 91探花Department of Sociology and , a doctoral candidate in the Evans School of Public Policy & Governance.

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For more information, contact Harris at yharris@uw.edu or 206-685-4763.

91探花 alumna , Class of 2017, has been selected as a Marshall scholar, one of the highest honors available to college graduates in the U.S. She plans to attend the London School of Economics and Oxford University.

鈥淚 was totally shocked,鈥� said McElvaine, 23. 鈥淔irst I felt surprised, followed by an overwhelming sense of gratitude for the amazing team that I had supporting me through this process and throughout my time at UW.鈥�

Founded by an act of the British Parliament in 1953, the awards pay all expenses for up to three years of study at a British university of the student鈥檚 choice. Marshall scholarships finance young Americans of high ability to study for a degree in the United Kingdom. This year, 48 scholars were selected to pursue graduate study in any field at a UK institution.

McElvaine, who was captain of the 91探花women鈥檚 soccer team, plans to earn two master鈥檚 degrees: one in Inequalities and Social Science from the London School of Economics; and a second in Evidence Based Social Intervention and Policy Evaluation at Oxford University.

鈥淔rom the combination of these programs I鈥檒l be able to deepen my understanding of inequality through interdisciplinary approaches, and hopefully use that understanding to interrupt policy where it might be ineffective,鈥� McElvaine said, who earned her undergraduate degree with a major in sociology and a minor in diversity. 鈥淚t鈥檚 my goal to continue to engage with issues of social inequality through policy making and social justice work.鈥�

McElvaine is the first 91探花student to achieve this honor since Jeffrey Eaton was selected in 2008. This year, more than 1,000 students from across the United States applied for the scholarship, and only 20 candidates in the San Francisco region, which includes Washington, Alaska, Idaho, Montana, Northern California and most of Nevada, were selected for Marshall interviews. Five scholars from the region were selected.

鈥淗avana arrived at 91探花as an excellent athlete and has emerged as a scholar, leader and communitarian,鈥� said Ed Taylor, vice provost and dean of Undergraduate Academic Affairs. 鈥淗er experience at 91探花has helped shape her into a true global citizen. In turn, our campus has learned from Havana and been impacted by her immersion. To have lasting impacts on each other is what we hope our university and students experience together. We celebrate Havana鈥檚 accomplishments and her impact on our campus and the world she has traveled.鈥�

Though she was recruited from Denver to the 91探花for her athleticism, she excelled both on the field and off.

鈥淗er academic journey always seemed to be more about growth and improvement than achieving a certain grade-point average for her r茅sum茅. She became an involved and engaged student while at Washington. I feel that competing in Division I athletics really helped her embrace being out of her comfort zone, and I could see the direct correlation in her academic pursuits. She just went for it,鈥� said Lesle Gallimore, head coach of the women鈥檚 soccer team. 鈥淗avana is loud and proud. She has an opinion but is a better listener. She is curious and inquisitive and has a genuine and deep concern for humanity.鈥�

During her studies, she stood out to many faculty mentors, including Alexes Harris, a professor of Sociology.

鈥淚t鈥檚 an amazing opportunity for her,鈥� said Harris. 鈥淲hen we try to shape global citizens, she鈥檚 the perfect example.鈥�

McElvaine was also a recipient of the UW鈥檚 Bonderman Travel Fellowship, a unique award that supports extended, international and independent travel. Her eight-month solo journey included visits to Chile, Bolivia, Argentina, Brazil, Uganda, Tanzania, South Africa, India and Thailand, where she grappled with ideas involving her own identity, and the politics of difference, history and privilege.

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For more information, contact Jackson Holtz at 206-543-2580 or jjholtz@uw.edu.

African-Americans in Washington state are 2.3 times more likely than whites to be sentenced to fines and fees, and carry about three times the debt in unpaid monetary sanctions.

In all, said 91探花 sociology professor , legal financial obligations represented nearly $2.5 billion in debt in Washington in 2014, the most recent year for which statistics are available. But several states, including Washington, are starting to pursue solutions to a system that disproportionately affects the poor and people of color, and allows the private sector, such as bail bonds businesses, to profit.

Harris, who is leading a national of LFOs, will present this and other new data today to the annual symposium of the . This year鈥檚 event focuses exclusively on the current state of the fines and fees system, as well as solutions to debt and inequity. Harris helped organize the symposium, which is followed by a 91探花Department of Sociology conference on LFOs.

The symposium runs from 听9 a.m. to noon in Sullivan Hall at Seattle University. The free, public event is at capacity but will be livestreamed on .

鈥淲e鈥檙e highlighting the ways the system of justice perpetuates inequality in society,鈥� Harris said. 鈥淲e as citizens choose to impose the costs of this system on individuals. But we all benefit from the systems of justice and law enforcement 鈥� they鈥檙e a public good, and poor people shouldn鈥檛 carry the burden of the public good.鈥�

State and local governments impose legal financial obligations such as fines, court fees, restitution, surcharges and interest at every level of the justice system, from a traffic ticket to a felony conviction, and include lesser-known charges to defendants, such as the cost of a jury. But for many people, the accrued cost becomes overwhelming, if not . Viewed per capita, African-Americans are sentenced to $15 in state Superior Court fees on average per adult, compared to $6.59 for whites in Washington.

During the 2018 legislative session, Washington lawmakers passed a bill to, among other things, lift some cost obligations from those who qualify as 鈥渋ndigent,鈥� such as the homeless and the mentally ill, and to revamp some of the penalties for those who are unable to pay. The is scheduled to go into effect this week.

It鈥檚 a step forward, Harris said, but much remains to be done in order to address racial and economic inequities. Adjusting sanctions based on a person鈥檚 ability to pay and the severity of the offense is one solution, she said. Another is a 鈥渂ench card鈥� 鈥� a laminated card for judges that provides information on the new state law as it pertains to fines and fees. The card, developed by Columbia Legal Services with the Minority and Justice Commission, was provided to court decision-makers at today鈥檚 conference.

Among the other solution-oriented steps to be discussed Wednesday is a new LFO Calculator tool, a product of the Minority and Justice Commission鈥檚 partnership with Microsoft with support of the Department of Justice鈥檚 Bureau of Justice Administration grant. The online calculator is designed to be used by the courts to tally up possible court costs and also calculate a defendant鈥檚 income and other resources to determine a monetary sentence.

The effort to find alternatives isn鈥檛 an attempt to eliminate the penalty, but rather an opportunity to examine the various types of sentences people receive and to arrive at a realistic and achievable set of sanctions, Harris said.

鈥淸We should] scale fines and fees so that they鈥檙e fair and people are punished, but do it in a way that doesn鈥檛 further exacerbate inequality in society,鈥� she said.

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More information on the symposium is available . For information on the LFO study, contact Harris at yharris@uw.edu.

It was spring 1968. A group of students occupied the 91探花 administration building calling for change: justice, diversity, agency for Blacks on campus.

The campus protests would pay off by planting the seeds of what today is the (OMA&D), considered a national leader in supporting underrepresented minority and economically disadvantaged students, and students who are the first in their families to attend college. That office now is a half-century of service.

It started in a year when civil rights protests were gripping college campuses around the nation. At the UW, members of the Black Student Union told then-President Charles Odegaard that his campus fostered not diversity, but policies that supported the white middle-class majority.

“Through its administration, faculty, curriculum, and admission policies, the University has sent white and black students into society with the racist notion that white, middle-class, Western ideals and practices are superior,” the students wrote in a letter to Odegaard.

The students made five demands for change on campus: They wanted a voice in decision making for Black students. They wanted to recruit more people of color to campus. They yearned to study Malcolm X and other Black authors. And the students demanded that their teachers and counselors reflect the diversity of the students: Black, Latino, American Indian and Asian.

Negotiations stalled, then the demonstrations escalated, culminating with the May 20, 1968, occupation of Odegaard鈥檚 office.

“We thought we were revolutionaries, and we were revolutionaries,” said Emile Pitre, 73, a graduate of the 91探花and a听senior advisor听to the vice president of OMA&D, who took part in the occupation. “It changed things, and that’s what revolution is all about.”

The occupation ended that day when the administration capitulated, giving in to the Black Student Union鈥檚 demands and creating what would become the OMA&D.

鈥淚t was crying out for change, and we wanted our university to get well, to get better, to become healthier. We felt that all students and faculty would benefit from our five demands,鈥� said King County Councilmember Larry Gossett, 73, who helped lead the occupation. He鈥檚 also a 91探花Wondrous 100 and a graduate of the class of 鈥�71. 鈥淭he university, after we had the sit-in, found the resources to build and support and try to make progress in all those arenas.鈥�

Now, activities have been planned on campus to recognize the 50th anniversary of those auspicious days. Pitre, who went on to become an associate vice president with OMA&D, is scheduled to give a of OMA&D Thursday evening听 in Kane Hall. An in Allen Library, “Revolution and Evolution,” is on display through June 13.

The history of those heady days of 1968 plays out in the work done in OMA&D today, said Linda Ando, an academic advisor in the Educational Opportunity Program who has been working with students in OMA&D for more than 20 years. By providing a safe and supportive environment, OMA&D gives students a platform to realize their own greatness and potential.

“It鈥檚 important for all students to be valued and heard,” Ando said.

The efforts of 1968 created an infrastructure of support that continues today for underrepresented minority, first-generation and low-income students. That foundation includes outreach and college preparation, advising, instructional services, cultural spaces for building community and more. OMA&D college access programs serve more than 21,000 middle school, high school and two-year college students across Washington state. Its student support programs serve more than 5,700 91探花undergraduates.

OMA&D also works to address aspects of campus diversity such as climate, faculty and staff hiring and retention, and diversity-related research, teaching and service.

Despite the gains, more work needs to be done. Students still arrive on campus marginalized due to race, religion or other identities, Ando said.

Joshua Dawson was one of those students. The son of an Ethiopian immigrant and a 2018 Husky 100 senior, he arrived on campus from Federal Way High School where he鈥檇 already been exposed to OMA&D. He鈥檚 excelled at the UW, where he鈥檚 been recognized with a Gates Millennium Scholarship and a Costco Scholarship.

It wouldn’t have been the case, he said, had it not been for the bravery of the 1968 protesters.

“Students put their whole career at risk for a crazy dream that someone like me could go on to become a physician researcher,” Dawson said. “Now, 50 years later we have this program, this office, that means the world to me.”

Speaking for his cohort, he said, “We鈥檙e excited to carry the baton.”

Professor is a 91探花Presidential Term Scholar in sociology. A 91探花alumna, she took advantage of OMA&D’s Early Identification Program while an undergrad and today works with the program to help mentor students.

“I’m able to let students of color know that we have a space, we have a voice, we have a perspective, we have experiences that are all just as valid as everyone else’s,” she said.

Pitre paraphrases scholar Henry Louis Gates when he looks at the work left to be done.

“How could we have come so far, and yet, still have so far to go?” Pitre said. “Still so far to go, even though we have graduated thousands of students.”

He points to narrowing gaps of admission, STEM degree attainment and graduation rates between the OMA&D population and the general population.

“There’s still a gap. We’ve got to close that gap. We need to close that gap,” he said. “If the communities are going to be viable, they need higher representation.”

Rickey Hall, the vice president of OMA&D and the university鈥檚 chief diversity officer, agrees. While there’s a lot to be proud of, until students of color and other minorities come closer to meeting the same benchmarks for graduation, for starting salaries, for achievement, his work isn’t done.

And meeting the demands of today’s students will help prepare us for the next generation, Hall said. Rather than focusing solely on different ethnic or cultural identities, students increasingly are concerned with intersectionality, defining themselves as both African-American and queer; Asian and Latina; and so on. Rather than being forced to identify with a singular identity, they’re opening up to embracing cultures and differences, finding commonality and supporting distinctions.

Hall welcomes the opportunity.

“It’s a wonderful opportunity to stretch. It’s an opportunity to learn. It’s an opportunity to grow,” Hall said. “It allows students to bring their full selves inside these institutions. And, we know that when they’re able to do that, they’re much more likely to be retained, to graduate, to have a better 91探花experience, a better student experience while they’re here.”

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