Dearth of a Nation

The United States has been in a moral quandary about the issue of race from its very inception. The two major documents of the Republic, the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution, spouted lofty and idealistic platitudes that even at the time seemed contradictory to many of their signers and founders of the fledgling nation. They knew full well that land, class, race and gender would ultimately separate the status and ear mark the beneficiaries of the freedoms espoused by these two wondrous documents.

Ten undergraduate students from Western Washington University have been awarded prestigious Benjamin A. Gilman International Scholarships to study abroad in 2021, the highest number of awards ever given to Western students in a single term.  

The twin crises of the COVID-19 pandemic and the struggle for racial justice have converged in recent months to place American institutions, both public and private, under tremendous stress. Western's Ralph Munro Institute for Civic Education felt it would be very timely to get perspectives from some people who have been engaged with these issues in public life since the 1960s. The Western community has two long-standing members, one a Republican, one a Democrat, who have been involved in civil rights issues for their entire adult lives.

Western Libraries is pleased to announce the winners of the 2019 - 2020 Western Libraries Undergraduate Research Award.  Three awards are given annually to Western Washington University undergraduate students in recognition of their excellence and originality in creating research papers for courses taught across the colleges based on significant inquiry using library resources and collections.