Daniel J. Evans passed away at his home on Friday evening, September 20th,with family nearby. Dan was a prominent figure in the history of Evergreen and was a dear friend to the college at times when it needed help. He was the Governor who signed the legislation that created the college in 1967 and was among those who recognized that the creation of a new college presented an opportunity to fundamentally re-think higher education and design a truly innovative institution.
Dan became the college鈥檚 President in 1977 at a time when enrollment was declining and the political pressure on the college was intense. During his tenure, the college鈥檚 reputation and enrollment rebounded. He left the college to join the United States Senate in 1983, but never stopped serving as an advocate and friend of the college. His contributions to the college are memorialized in the naming of Evans Hall, one of the centerpieces of Evergreen鈥檚 Olympia campus, a building that houses the college鈥檚 Evans Library, the Art Gallery, and many of our student services offices. The college is proud to have a prominent building that bears the name of Dan Evans.
I learned of Dan鈥檚 passing on Saturday, when Dan鈥檚 son sent a message to let the college know. By a strange coincidence, when the message arrived, I was standing in the lobby of Evans Hall, where Kayla Mahnke, Director of Student Activities and New Student Programs, was speaking to a group of new Evergreen students and families, telling them how Evans Hall had got its name. Dan Evans leaves a legacy of principled public service. Let us all work to ensure that his example is long remembered.
John Carmichael, President
杏吧专区
Read more in the Seattle Times: .