Letter from the Dean

As spring quarter came to a close, I was still at the start of my time here, but the signs of ending were all around me. Students dressed in summer brights sprawled on the lawn like confetti, talking excitedly about summer plans. There was talk of road trips to Walla Walla and plane trips to Katmandu, summer classes and internships, separations and see-you-in-Septembers.

Some will not return next year. They will head off to more lasting adventures—jobs, more school, some travel before they decide. I always wonder where they will end up. What will they be doing five or ten years from now?

I just returned from a visit with one of my favorite alums, my niece Brynn Malone, an English major and 2003 A&S grad. Although she has always been good with words, I never would have guessed that she’d be a screenwriter in L.A., awaiting the debut of a new television series she’s been working on. Just in case the network doesn’t order shows past the first season, she’s begun a script for a movie.

Earlier this week, after being out of touch for a decade, I exchanged email with another alum, John Everett, a 1993 Psychology Ph.D. who later completed a joint UW-University of Alaska medical degree. For the last year, John has been assigned to a MASH-type unit at Camp Rustamiyah, Iraq, just outside of Baghdad, where he provides emergency treatment to soldiers injured in combat. He stays in touch with his Arts and Sciences friends and mentors via email, relaying stories that alternate between harrowing and inspirational.

I can still see John tearing around campus on his motorcycle with some young lady always precariously perched behind him. I can more readily picture him now in a convertible BMW than in the back of a military van with stethoscope in hand.

That’s one of the things I most enjoy about working with students: they always keep you guessing. It’s easy to identify the potential in them, but it spills out all over the place and you can never quite tell what they’re going to do with it.

There’s no better example of this than Carver Gayton, founding director of the Northwest African American Museum (NAAM), featured in this issue of A&S Perspectives. (See "New Museum Fueled by A&S Alumni.") A Rose Bowl-winning football and track star while completing his first of three UW degrees, Carver has redefined himself every decade or so. He recently retired from NAAM, and I look forward to learning about his next career. That’s what is so fundamental about a degree from the College of Arts and Sciences. It’s not just preparation for one job, but for any and many.

In early June, we had dozens of receptions and graduation ceremonies in Arts and Sciences departments. Students received degrees in everything from music to sociology to mathematics to linguistics. (One of our five dean's medalists—highlighted on page 9 —minored or majored in music, sociology, and mathematics.) In some cases, I know for sure what a student will be doing next year; sometimes I’d even take a bet on what they’ll be doing two or three years from now. But after that, all bets are off.

We all know why graduations are called commencements. We just don’t know what it is that’s commencing. But whatever path our graduates choose, we can feel certain that the depth and breadth of study obtained in the College will serve them well, again and again and again.

Ana Mari Cauce
Dean
casdean@u.washington.edu

Return to Table of Contents, Summer 2008