A timeline of diversity and equity efforts
Early 1968
Establishment of a Black Student Union.
May 1968
Sit-in in UW administration offices by BSU members resulted in increased recruitment of non-white students, increased diversity in faculty and staff and establishment of the Office of Minority Affairs and Diversity.
September 1968
Establishment of United Mexican-American Students, later renamed Movimiento Estudiantil Chicana/o de Aztlán (MEChA).
May 1970
Dr. Samuel E. Kelly is appointed the first vice president for minority affairs. He is the first African American senior administrator at the UW.
1970
The Educational Opportunity Program, the Ethnic Cultural Center, the Instructional Center and the Friends of the Educational Opportunity Program fundraising board are established to support the success of underrepresented minority, first-generation and low-income students.
1973
Dr. Samuel E. Kelly establishes the Charles E. Odegaard Award to honor a member of the community whose leadership sustains the former president’s distinguished work on behalf of diversity.
1994
The UW Alumni Association’s Multicultural Alumni Partnership is established to promote diversity at the UW and in the UW alumni community.
1997
President’s Minority Community Advisory Committee and Native American Advisory Board are established.
2010
A Diversity Blueprint is created to further the UW’s progress in diversity and ensure systemic change.
2013
Establishment of required diversity credit for undergraduates to help develop an understanding of the complexities of living in diverse and interconnected societies.
March 2015
Opening of the wǝɫǝbʔaltxʷ – Intellectual House, a gathering space to honor the heritage of the land on which the UW sits, and provide resources for Native American students at the UW.
April 2015
Then-interim UW President Ana Mari Cauce establishes the Race & Equity Initiative to address disparities in UW institutions and communities.
2012
The UW Board of Regents approves naming the renovated Ethnic Cultural Center in honor of the late Dr. Samuel E. Kelly, the first UW building to be named for an African American.
2016
When University of Washington President Ana Mari Cauce paid a special visit to Lummi Nation near Bellingham, on Feb. 12, it marked the first UW presidential visit to a tribal nation in almost 20 years.