Evergreen names interim leaders after finalists walked away. Where do they come from?
John Carmichael, The Evergreen State College’s vice president of finance and operations, was tentatively named interim president of the public liberal arts college on Wednesday, the college’s Board of Trustees announced.
The board also tentatively named Dexter Gordon, a professor at the University of Puget Sound, to be executive vice president.
The board expects to finalize agreements and officially name the candidates to their positions at its June 10 meeting. If approved, Carmichael starts July 1.
The board also decided that the interim president should be appointed for two years and agreed to pause the search for a permanent president until a later date.
Carmichael joined Evergreen in 1998 and has served in a variety of roles including chief of staff and secretary to the Board of Trustees. He graduated from Evergreen in 1987. He also holds a Master of Public Administration degree from the college and a doctorate in education and human resource studies from Colorado State University.
“No one knows the college better than he does,” said Trustee Chairwoman Karen Fraser.
Carmichael and Gordon were thrust into their roles after a year-long search to find the next college president ended abruptly when all three finalists withdrew their names from consideration last month.
Carmichael said Wednesday that Evergreen has been through difficult times before.
“What gives me hope is that we provide an education that, at its best, is like no other,” he said, adding that he also is buoyed by the college’s “extraordinary dedicated staff and faculty.”
“They possess deep reservoirs of pragmatic creativity and an urge to do what’s right by students,” he said.
Gordon currently serves as director of the University of Puget Sound’s African American studies program and is founding director of its Race and Pedagogy Institute. Gordon holds a doctorate in rhetoric, culture, and African American studies from Indiana University.
“I want to say thanks to everyone on this call,” he said in reference to the Board of Trustees’ Wednesday Zoom meeting, “and everyone else who has contributed to the 50 years that has been Evergreen.
“You built this unique entity,” he added, saying he has admired the college since coming to the Northwest 20 years ago.
Trustee Monica Alexander said she has watched Gordon from afar and called his work admirable. “I’m honored that we’re going to have the experience of him being at Evergreen,” she said.
She also praised Carmichael, and said the “dynamic duo I believe will bring great things to our college.”
Trustee Miguel Perez-Gibson took a moment to reflect on the college itself, pointing out that this month’s graduating class is its 50th.
He touched on some of the national news events that were swirling around the country when the Class of 2021 first started at Evergreen. Among them: The Day of Absence controversy at the college.
Perez-Gibson recalled the New York Times’ headline for that story: “A campus argument goes viral, now a college is under siege.”
Perez-Gibson said, “The college has done much to address the turmoil at that time, and I believe we have many faculty and staff that are focusing on the work in front of them, providing a quality education to our students.”
But the work isn’t done yet, he said.
“The college needs to solidify its strategic plan, implement new academic endeavors, bargain a collective bargaining agreement and advance Evergreen’s national reputation as a progressive liberal arts college that combines the sciences, art and humanities to educate students — students who can move our nation beyond a pollution-based (fossil fuels) economy and a pollution based on racism,” he said.
Carmichael and Gordon can provide the leadership to launch the next 50 years at Evergreen, Perez-Gibson said.
This story was originally published June 3, 2021 at 5:45 AM.
