Governor Jay Inslee visits UW Tacoma Campus

Governor Jay Inslee visited UW Tacoma to tour the campus, learn where the campus legislative priorities stand, and to share his interest in the expanding number of students served by the State Need Grant. He also shared his views on the McCleary Decision as it relates to improving the schools and its funding.

Chancellor Mark Pagano expressed his gratitude towards the governor’s visit, and he discussed his priority for expanding the number of students supported by the State Need Grant.

“We actually had the opportunity to introduce him to a couple of our students who most likely would not be here without the State Need Grant. He was clearly impressed with the students he met and named two of them Washington State Citizens of the day, an honor he reserves for those who inspire him,” Pagano said.

Assistant Vice Chancellor for External Relations Michael Wark also said the governor’s visit to campus went well on all accounts.

“This was a great opportunity for the governor to see first-hand the contributions we are making to higher education in our region and the importance of supporting our continued growth and development.

“It’s one thing to see the campus on paper and hear our supporters talk about it, but it’s another thing altogether to see our beautiful campus packed with a diversity of students and to see first-hand the quality of work being done to complete our next building,” Wark said.

The governor’s visit, though rather short, was prominent — and he took the time to speak with students, faculty and staff to assure them they were being heard.

While venturing on campus, Gov. Inslee was able to take a walk inside the Tacoma Paper and Stationary building that is presently under construction and set to open May 2017. He was impressed with the structure, the history, and how quickly things were progressing in not only the construction of the building, but also the community of Tacoma and the University of Washington as well.

Gov. Inslee is at the forefront in leading the state, as Washington was the first to file a lawsuit against the present administration and is currently seeking a restraining order to stop enforcement on the ban against certain immigrant groups from entering the United States.

After hearing the various voices from individuals in regards to the executive actions on immigration, Gov. Inslee encouraged all those with willpower to continue to make their voices heard, and he encouraged citizens to take it a step further by making noise in Olympia and help engage citizens of Congress.

“This battle is far from over. We need to look at leaders past such as Gandhi and Martin Luther King Jr. and follow a line of peaceful protests and hope real action will take place,” Gov. Inslee said.

He also spoke on how the Executive office has been tinkering with the Affordable Care Act, and explained his plans to deliver an appeal to Republicans to be cautious and rethink the actions to repeal the plan.

“There are nearly 750,000 Washingtonians who have the Affordable Care Act that protects them and their families. We are determined to make sure that people’s health and their care will not be threatened by the repeal without a replacement.

“It’s not at all right to take away a person’s health care and not have a replacement.”

When asked what Washington state will do to better support the public education system in light of continued federal funding cutbacks, Gov. Inslee had encouraged everyone — especially students — to back his plan on education where he proposes to freeze tuition so it doesn’t continue to inflate. He also discussed a plan for financing a secure K-12 system.

“We need your voices down in Olympia to continue to help us fight this battle for social justice.” Gov. Inslee said.