Photo: George Bridges, courtesy of the Evergreen Archives
by Brittanyana Pierro
On Feb. 25, President George Bridges formally announced that he will be retiring from his position at Evergreen. His term will officially end after the 2020-21 school year, when his current contract expires. Bridges stated in a letter written by himself and the Board of Trustees that his intention after retiring is to return to teaching. In the same letter, it is stated that “ … from the Board’s perspective, George has led Evergreen in making important advances in our academic programs and support for students, including significant fundraising for scholarships.”
The Executive Committee of the Board of Trustees has already begun discussions regarding the search for a new president, and is planning a presentational meeting with the entirety of the Board of Trustees on Mar. 13. In the aforementioned letter, the Board of Trustees states that they are searching for a “… dynamic, innovative, and collaborative leader who can guide Evergreen through its next exciting chapter.”
At the State of the College Address, on Monday Mar. 2, Bridges remarked on the upcoming search for a new Evergreen president saying, “The VP and I have encouraged the Board to make the process as transparent and consultative as possible, seeking the views of many of the campus groups and soliciting comments with individuals electronically throughout the search process.”
Bridges began his career at Evergreen in October of 2015, preceding Thomas Purce, who had been president from 2000 to 2015. Before coming to Evergreen, Bridges had a seemingly successful 10 year career at Whitman College in Walla Walla, a popular dean among students, often praised for his Now is the Time campaign which raised over $147 million for the college, according to a previous article in the Cooper Point Journal.
Unfortunately, Bridges popularity among Evergreen students was not as high. Throughout the duration of his six year career at Evergreen, Bridges has faced harsh criticism from students regarding issues of diversity, student safety, his support of the on-campus police, and ongoing cuts to the arts programs. During the spring 2017 protests, students presented Bridges with a list of demands citing each of these issues, according to the CPJ. More recently in 2019, Bridges was criticized in a series of protests by the Evergreen branch of Industrial Workers of the World (IWW or Wobblies) for his six-figure salary amongst these budget cuts and his support in arming the on-campus police with AR-15 rifles.
In his opening speech at the State of the College Address, Bridges continued his showing of support for the campus police and police dispatchers stating that “Evergreen has one of the lowest crime rates of any college in the state of Washington.” He went on to acknowledge his support for many of the other on-campus departments, and praised some of the recent accomplishments the school has made in order to combat the continued decrease in enrollment Evergreen has been facing over the last decade.
As shown in the pictured diagram by the Office of Advancement, since the 2011-12 school year, Evergreen has seen a decline in enrollment of about 40 percent. The undergraduate enrollment rate in the 2011-12 school years was around 4,536 students, whereas currently there are only an estimated 2,680 undergraduate students, with a continued projection of decline.
Since Bridges’ arrival in the 2015-2016 school year, admission at Evergreen has dropped by about 1,300 students, making up well over half of the 1,856 students we have lost in the past nine years. The declination of enrollment in the student body is often attributed to a nationwide downward trend in college enrollment, as well as the student protests in spring of 2017, involving the, now discontinued, annual Day of Absence (DOA) event.
Though DOA was discontinued during his Bridges’ presidency, under his supervision there have been several other implemented initiatives, focusing on equity and inclusion. In 2017, Bridges approved the hiring of Evergreen’s first ever Vice President/Vice Provost of Equity & Inclusion, Chassity Holliman-Douglas. Although Douglas has now left the college, her work here included the implementation of Evergreen’s very first Equity Symposium event and Juneteenth celebration.
Some of the other initiatives Bridges has overseen in his time as president include new fundraising initiatives, the first-year centered Greener Foundations program, and the creation of Evergreen’s Paths of Study. “The Paths provide clarity, predictability, and certainty in our curriculum,” Bridges said, “It’s a huge change for Evergreen, it’s a change for the better, I believe, and yet it remains faithful to the commitment to coordinated study, to interdisciplinary learning and to teaching the way only faculty do at Evergreen.”
“This is one of the most exciting moments in my career because I’ve seen an institution embrace difficult challenges and move and lead, and change itself in ways that will benefit our students,” Bridges said.
