Western Today for Monday, May 18

Bill Wright returns

WWU alumnus Bill Wright, the first African-American to win at PGA golf event, is returning to the area from his home of Los Angeles to give a keynote address today at the Div. II Golf Championships, hosted by WWU at the Loomis Trail golf course in Blaine. A pair of stories were written over the weekend about the impact of his victory on the golf world; see below.

JON BRUNK photo/Seattle Times

Tomorrow

A campus-wide open forum and faculty roundtable discussion on May 19 will examine critical issues of the purpose of the university, especially during the current climate of economic uncertainty and shifting expectations.

The forum, "What is this University For? Critical Questions in Turbulent Times," is sponsored by the American Democracy Project at WWU and takes place from 3 – 4:30 pm in AW 204.

James Loucky (Anthropology) and Johann Neem (History) will moderate the forum and hope to engage the audience in discussion on critical issues including the role of the arts and sciences, Western’s commitment to sustainability, and how Western can best serve students during the current economic crisis.

EO Office seeking submissions for the 2009-2010 Diversity Handbook

WWU's Equal Opportunity Office is compiling the 2009-2010 Diversity Handbook for the university. This handbook allows colleagues across campus to better understand and be able to more effectively collaborate on diversity efforts (see the previous handbook here). It also serves as a useful recruitment tool in our efforts to recruit prospective faculty, staff and students.

If you are engaged in diversity efforts through classes, programs, activities or projects, we would like to be sure to include your important work and would most appreciate your submission to the 2009-2010 Diversity Handbook. Please complete the 2009-2010 Submission Form and email to the EO office - EOO@wwu.edu no later than June 1.

Tomorrow

Woodring's Bill Demmert will present "Educating Native America: Characteristics of Schools That Work" at noon in Miller 232 as part of the Center for International Studies' lecture series.

The presentation will focus on what works in a number of schools across the country that serve Native American Students along with a review of what the research literature indicates as important to academic success and general student well-being. Relationships between Native language, culture, academic success, general student well-being will be addressed.

The Bellingham Herald

Wright's legend still grows
Bill Wright is still a little surprised when the phone rings at his home in Los Angeles and the person calling wants to talk about something that happened 50 year ago.
What Wright, 73, wants people to remember about the U.S. Amateur Public Links Championship that he won in 1959 is that he never set out to make history by becoming the first African-American to win a United States Golf Association-sponsored national title.
Instead, the Western Washington University alum just wanted to play well and make the cut to match play after traveling from Seattle to Denver to play in the event. He certainly never thought winning that tournament at the age of 23 would be something he would talk about for the rest of his life.
David Weiss evolves with new trio
David Weiss, a longtime Bellingham musician and WWU alumnus, is a founder of BIMA, which he says was “originally an acronym for Bellingham Internet Music Archive,” which then morphed into the nonprofit organi-zation, Bellingham Independent Music Association.
Weiss formed the organization in the mid-1990s as a networking resource for area musicians, and created BIMA’s Web site to provide information on dozens of local bands, musicians, music venues and teachers. Weiss plays with his newest ensemble, The Evolution Trio, at 8 p.m. Friday, May 22, at Chuckanut Ridge Wine Company, 1017 N. State St. The group combines the world-beat grooves of drummer Nathan Matson with Chris Powell’s electric bass and Weiss’ Latin guitar and pop vocals.
Sports wrapup: Men's golf: Five Players to watch at Div. II Nationals; Womens' golf: Parker ties for 15th at nationals; Rowing: Vikings sweep West regional

Seattle Times

Legend of Bill Wright still growing after 50 years
There's no wrong in Bill Wright. Fifty years ago, as a 23-year-old with a sweet swing he developed while mimicking Sam Snead, Wright became the first African-American to win a United States Golf Association title. He captured the 1959 U.S. Amateur Public Links Championships, amazing the crowd with his magic Spaulding Autograph putter, making an emphatic statement about equality.
Wright returns to the region today to be the keynote speaker at a banquet the Semiahmoo Resort in Blaine. It's a kickoff for the NCAA Division II National Men's Golf Championships, which Wright's alma mater, Western Washington University, is hosting this week.

WWU News Releases

The fine print: Western Today is compiled and edited by John Thompson and Matthew Anderson in the Office of University Communications. Some links have time limitations and may not be accessible in the near future. A few articles may require registration to view. If you prefer to be removed from this list, please let us know via the link at the bottom of this document. For upcoming events, faculty research, or faculty and student achievements you would like publicized, please reply to this e-mail; click here to submit news online, or click here to submit entries to our online calendar of events. For the latest Western athletics news and schedules, see http://wwuvikings.cstv.com/. For more on faculty and staff news, see the new FAST Online at http://fast.wwu.edu/.

printer friendly