The Office of Minority Affairs and Diversity (OMA&D) honors the legacy of Enrique Morales, a long-time leader and former Associate Vice President of OMA&D who passed away the morning of Saturday, August 30. Morales retired in January 2015 after a 34-year OMA&D tenure focused on admissions, advising and administration. As associate vice president, Morales oversaw OMA&D pre-college programs and undergraduate recruitment for low-income, first-generation and underrepresented minority students.
Morales was a lifelong Husky with roots in the Chicano movement. As Morales’ colleague and current Senior Advisor to Vice President Rickey Hall, Emile Pitre writes in Revolution to Evolution: The Story of the Office of Minority Affairs and Diversity at the University of Washington (2023), Morales “began at the UW as an undergraduate (1972-1977), when he was involved with MEChA (the Chicano Student Movement). He was a graduate student in the School of Social Work for three years (1977–1980), while also working for the state doing probation, parole, and precinct investigations. He joined the OMA staff in 1980 as a recruiter in the Chicano division and took on a variety of roles over the next three decades, including recruiting, counseling, admissions, and outreach.”
Morales played an integral role in implementing strategies that created the foundation that contributed to many of OMA&D’s accomplishments.[1] He served on the University committee that developed a comprehensive holistic admission review system focused on uplifting students from low-income, first-generation backgrounds and underserviced high schools with few college preparatory resources. Working with Bill Baker, then Assistant Vice President for Support Services, Morales enhanced the Early Outreach Program, which was modeled on the University of California, Irvine, partnership program. Starting at the middle school level, the program educated students and their parents about course pathways to become academically prepared for the school of their choice.
Other programs Morales established for OMA&D included the Community College Transition Program, an enrollment enhancement initiative; the Minority Scholarship Invitational Program, which was focused on high-achieving URM student enrollment at UW; and the Student Ambassador Outreach Program to enhance recruitment efforts throughout the state of Washington following the enactment of I-200 in 1998. He consistently promoted UW campus visits for middle and high school students, believing in the power of seeding the idea of college as a possibility.
Taken together, Morales’ efforts were extraordinarily effective. OMA&D’s Educational Opportunity Program enrollment increased by 74% and the number that earned bachelor’s degrees increased by 467% over the 25 years Morales led pre-college outreach and recruitment efforts.[2] As Pitre recalled, he and Morales “were collaborative members of the same administrative teams that extended across a period of almost three decades. He and his staff not only worked diligently and purposefully to enroll cohorts of students with high academic potential but were allies of the OMA&D family of programs that holistically supported those enrollees during their undergraduate studies.” One of Morales’ favorite OMA&D programs was “the Instructional Center (IC), which he referred to as a jewel at UW,” Pitre added. “I am grateful for his support and advocacy.”
The University of Washington recognizes Morales’ vision and contributions in the achievements of OMA&D College Access programs. As UW Regent Rogelio Riojas remarked, “Enrique’s work with OMA&D uplifted generations by advancing equity and expanding educational access for underrepresented and underserved students across Washington state.” The UW also remembers Morales as an important mentor to countless students and staff members, leaving an invaluable impact both at the University and within the Washington Latino community.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
[1] Revolution to Evolution: The Story of the Office of Minority Affairs and Diversity at the University of Washington (2023), E. Pitre.
[2] Revolution to Evolution: The Story of the Office of Minority Affairs and Diversity at the University of Washington (2023), E. Pitre.