The Evergreen State College

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"Evergreen State" redirects here. For the state with that nickname (and which this college is located in), see Washington.
The Evergreen State College
Motto: Omnia Extares (Let it all hang out)
Established: 1967
Type: Public Baccalaureate
President: Thomas L. Purce
Faculty: 232
Staff: 502
Students: 4,416
Undergraduates: 4,171
Postgraduates: 292
Location: Olympia, Washington, USA
Campus: Suburban on 1,000 acres (4 km²)
Gender balance: 53% women, 47% men
Colors: Green and White
Mascot: Geoduck
Website: www.evergreen.edu
The Evergreen signature clock tower
The Evergreen signature clock tower

The Evergreen State College, is an accredited public liberal arts college and is a member of the Council of Public Liberal Arts Colleges that is located in Olympia, Washington. Founded in 1967, Evergreen was formed to be an experimental and non-traditional college. Faculty issue narrative evaluations of students' work rather than grades, and Evergreen organizes most studies into largely interdisciplinary classes that generally constitute a full-time course load. The current Evergreen President is Thomas L. (Les) Purce and its Board Chair is Christopher Hedrick.

In late 2006, Evergreen's level of academic challenge among freshman and seniors was marked in the top ten percent of all baccalaureate colleges in the nation by the National Survey of Student Engagement, a study by Indiana University and the Pew Charitable Trusts.[1] Author and former New York Times education editor Loren Pope cites Evergreen as one of two public colleges in the United States in his book Colleges That Change Lives.

Evergreen offers a Bachelor of Arts in Liberal Arts and Bachelor of Science, Master of Environmental Studies, Master of Public Administration, and Master in Teaching. As of 2005 there were approximately 4,500 students taught by approximately 225 faculty members. The Evergreen State College has a large influence on the culture and economy of the growing city of Olympia.

Contents

[edit] Identity and athletics

Evergreen's motto is Omnia Extares, which is a latinization of "let it all hang out" as well as an allusion to the school mascot, the geoduck. School colors are green and white. The Geoduck Fight Song is the college's official fight song. It was written in 1971 by Malcolm Stilson, a staff librarian at the college from 1970 into the 1980s. He was well known at the college for writing satirical musicals about Evergreen and Olympia (such as "Das Kapital Mall") which were performed by faculty and staff members. In proper performances of the fight song, arm motions accompany the third and fourth lines of each verse. The lyrics are as follows:

Go, Geoducks, go!
Through the mud and the sand let's go!
Siphon high, squirt it out, swivel all about.
Let it all hang out!
Go, Geoducks, go!
Stretch your necks when the tide is low!
Siphon high, squirt it out, swivel all about.
Let it all hang out!

Lyrics to the college's alma mater are as follows:

Omnia Extares, Omnia Extares
Alma Mater, Evergreen
Omnia Extares

The basketball and soccer programs are noted for recent national rankings in the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics.

[edit] History

The Evergreen State College, c. 1978
The Evergreen State College, c. 1978

In 1964, a report was issued by the Council of Presidents of Washington State baccalaureate institutions stating that another college was needed in the state to balance the geographical distribution of the existing state institutions. This report spurred the 1965 Washington legislature to create the Temporary Advisory Council on Public Higher Education to study the need and possible location for a new state college.

In 1965-66, the Temporary Advisory Council on Public Higher Education (assisted by Nelson Associates of New York) concluded "at the earliest possible time a new college should be authorized," to be located at a suburban site in Thurston County within a radius of approximately 10 miles (16 km) from Olympia.

Evergreen's enabling legislation - HB 596 (Chapter 47, Laws of 1967) - stated that the campus should be no smaller than 600 acres (2.4 km²), making it then the largest campus in the state as well as the first public four-year college created in Washington in the 20th century.

On January 24, 1968, The Evergreen State College was selected from 31 choices as the name of the new institution. On November 1, 1968, Charles J. McCann assumed the first presidency of the college. McCann and the founding faculty held the first day of classes October 4, 1971 with 1178 students. McCann served from 1968 until his retirement June 6, 1977 when former Governor Daniel J. Evans, who signed the legislation creating Evergreen, assumed the presidency. Evans left the president's office abruptly in 1983 when he was appointed to the United States Senate to fill the vacancy created by the death of Senator Henry M. Jackson. The largest building on campus is named in honor of Evans, the Daniel J. Evans Library Building. The entrance to the campus bears McCann's name, the Charles J. McCann plaza. In 2004, the college completed the 170,000-square-foot (16,000 m²) Seminar II building, and significant work is now underway at the Daniel J. Evans Library. The current president is Thomas L. Purce.

On Valentine's Day 2008[1], a riot occurred on campus following a hip-hop concert. Rioters overturned a Thurston County Sheriff's patrol vehicle and damaged several other police vehicles after a campus police officer attempted to arrest a subject for assault inside the concert arena on campus. Thurston County Sheriff, Olympia and Tumwater Police and the Washington State Patrol responded for backup to the campus police department. Several students and non-students were arrested in connection with the riot and an investigation continues to identify additional suspects. Damages totaled $50,000. The college reimbursed the county sheriff's office for the damages sustained to their patrol vehicle.

[edit] Notable alumni and students

[edit] Notable student groups

 This Notable student groups section does not cite any references or sources. (June 2008)
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The Seminar II building, completed in 2004
The Seminar II building, completed in 2004

[edit] Notable faculty

[edit] See also

[edit] References

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Please help improve this article by adding reliable references. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (April 2008)
  1. ^ National Survey of Student Engagement Retrieved 12/23/07.

[edit] External links

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Public Universities in Washington