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Dina Ibarra appointed new GEAR UP director
December 1, 2022
Dina Ibarra, Ed.M. has been appointed the new director for UW GEAR UP/Rise Up team effective Jan 3, 2023. GEAR UP (Gaining Early Awareness & Readiness for Undergraduate Programs) is a national college-readiness program designed to increase the number of low-income students who are prepared to enter and succeed in postsecondary education. OMA&D, in partnership with 13 rural school districts…
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Dr. Norma Zavala Selected as Next Charles E. Odegaard Award Recipient
November 22, 2022
November 22, 2022, Seattle, WA – Today, the University of Washington (UW) Office of Minority Affairs and Diversity (OMA&D) and the Friends of the Educational Opportunity Program (FEOP) Board of Trustees announced their selection of Dr. Norma Zavala for the 2023 Charles E. Odegaard Award. The award is the only University and community selected award and is regarded as the…
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OMA&D Alum Ricardo Ruiz – We Had Our Reasons
November 14, 2022
Book Reading UW alum and former OMA&D student and now author, Ricardo Ruiz (’21), has published a book of poetry titled We Had Our Reasons. As described by Ruiz, it is a collection of poems he created in collaboration with other members of the Mexican farm community in Eastern Washington. “The poems, vivid and pointed, guide the reader through the…
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Remembering Garry Owens
November 9, 2022
Garry Owens, one of the founders of the 1968 UW Black Student Union that is responsible for the infamous sit-in that led to the founding of the Office of Minority Affairs, died on September 30 at the age of 77. Owens was among those who received the 2008 Charles E. Odegaard Award on behalf of the 1968 BSU. The 1968…
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2022 Samuel E. Kelly Distinguished Faculty Lecture Featuring Dr. Ali Mokdad
November 8, 2022
The 2022 Samuel E. Kelly Distinguished Faculty Lecture was held on Thursday, October 20, 2022. The evening began with a reception for Dr. Mokdad at the stunning Samuel E. Kelly Ethnic Cultural Center (Kelly ECC) with delicious appetizers and community socialization. Attendees gathered at high-top cocktail tables and chatted together until the crowd moved across the street to Alder Hall…
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2022 Message from the UDO Celebrating Our First-Generation Community
October 31, 2022
Dear Students, Faculty and Staff, On Tuesday November 8, the University of Washington joins the Council for Opportunity in Education, NASPA’s Center for First-Generation Student Success, the American Association of Colleges & Universities, and higher education institutions across the country in recognizing the National First-Generation College Celebration. This celebration falls on the anniversary of the signing of the Higher Education…
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Becoming Doctor June Hairston – A First-Generation College Student Journey
October 27, 2022
Dr. June Summers Hairston, commonly referred to by students and colleagues as Dr. June, has worked for the University of Washington for almost 38 years. She began as a Student Activities Adviser in 1979 and worked with ASUW Commission Directors and registered student organizations for six years. Dr. June’s education journey spans four decades, three colleges and universities, and culminated…
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Prime Minister of Tonga Visits the UW
October 13, 2022
Siaosi Sovaleni, the Prime Minister of Tonga addressed the United Nations General Assembly on September 23, 2022. He spoke to world leaders about the global problems of the climate crisis and emphasized that rising seas and stronger ocean storms are not just troubling to the people of Polynesia, but it is catastrophic to their way of life. Before his speech…
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Perfect Pitch
August 15, 2022
Collaboration between higher education, college access programs, nonprofits and private industry led to a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for a teen to pitch her ideas to national leaders. One late spring morning in 2022 , 15-year-old Nova Sportsman and 16-year-old Shaelin Triebe, both sophomores at the time at North Central high school in Spokane, Washington went to school like it was any…
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The Work of MOR – Equitable Access to Higher Education
July 15, 2022
As part of the University of Washington’s (UW) promise to expand college access to more Washingtonians, especially those from systemically minoritized groups, UW created the Multicultural Outreach and Recruitment (MOR) team which is housed in the Office of Minority Affairs and Diversity (OMA&D). Since the 1980s, MOR has been committed to identifying, attracting, and recruiting American Indian/Alaska Native, Black/African American,…