Incoming students visit Evergreen

Education is main concern of families and freshmen

By Venice Buhain | The Olympian • Published May 09, 2008

Kainoa Nellenbach said her daughter, Emilia, had to do some digging before deciding to register at The Evergreen State College, where she will be a freshman this fall.

"She was specifically looking for a language program," said Kainoa Nellenbach, of Federal Way. "She wants to translate Russian and work in the medical field."

More than 250 parents and 250 incoming freshmen spent Friday at Evergreen to register for fall classes.

College officials say Evergreen has benefitted from good reviews in many reference books, and that the recent negative publicity stemming from a riot after a February campus concert doesn't seem to have affected expected enrollment. The priority deadline to submit applications for fall quarter was March 1. May 1 was the date to submit the freshman tuition deposit.

For the fourth year in a row, the college is expecting its biggest-ever class of first-year students. The college will have 38 first-year programs in the fall, an increase of 10 from fall 2007, said Eddy Brown, academic dean of first year programs.

About 850 first-year Evergreen students, including transfer students who already have college credit, are expected to arrive in the fall, said Steve Hunter, associate vice president for enrollment management.

About 50 percent of the incoming freshmen — students who are entering from high school — are from out of state, although most of the transfer students are from Washington, which is on par with previous years, he said.

The college may reconsider its current admissions process because of the growing number of applications, director of admissions Doug Scrima said.

Every Washington student who met the college's qualifications was admitted this year, but the college might have to turn away qualified in-state students in the future if demand continues to grow, Scrima said.

Evergreen was recognized in "Colleges That Change Lives," a college guidebook. It also receives recognition ratings such as the National Survey of Student Engagement and the American Association for Sustainability in Higher Education, as well as positive write-ups in other college guides.

However, it recently has received its share of negative publicity. A riot erupted after a campus concert in February, when exiting concertgoers overturned a Thurston County Sheriff's patrol car. Six students and two others have been arrested in connection with the incident, and Thurston County is searching for others who were involved.

Parent Dixie Harvey, of Shelton, whose daughter Chelsea Raines will be an Evergreen freshman next year, said her questions were mainly about whether the school will fulfill her daughter's academic needs for admission into medical school.

She also wanted to see for herself what the campus atmosphere was like.

"I always thought of this campus as more secure and less dangerous than other campuses," she said. "You hear about more extreme forms of violence at other campuses around the country."

Kainoa Nellenbach said she recognized that the students arrested did not represent all students.

"Students will be students no matter if you're at Evergreen or you're at (University of California at) Berkeley," she said "I grew up in the '60s ... there have always been issues at college campuses and issues of student safety."

Venice Buhain covers education for The Olympian. She can be reached at 360-754-5445 or vbuhain@theolympian.com.