Endowment and six-figure bequest from former professor support innovative inclusion-diversity projects
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When Dr. Thaddeus Spratlen was recruited to teach economics and business in 1961, he became the first African-American male faculty member at Western Washington State College. “We didn’t call it diversity back then,” recalls Spratlen. “We’ve gone through a lot of different terms of what it means to have diverse students and faculty, including desegregation, affirmative action and equal educational opportunity.” Whatever the expression, he adds, he’s always appreciated the fact that Western was an early advocate for this significant social and institutional evolution. “Western has contributed to my life and to my family’s life in important ways by embracing pioneering innovations in education.”
By establishing the Thaddeus and Lois Price Spratlen Fund for Diversity with a $25,000 endowment – and affirming it with a six-figure bequest – Spratlen, who taught at Western throughout the 60s, contributes directly to that legacy while simultaneously creating a new one. “This is also in tribute to my wife of 60 years,” he says of Lois, who had a celebrated career as a professor of psychosocial nursing – including serving as university ombudsman at University of Washington from 1988-2009 – and who died in 2013. Because of their positive experiences raising their five children in Bellingham, says Spratlen, “we were welcomed as part of the Western family.” As one example, he noted that “our three girls went to Campus School.”
The fund, which supports programs and ventures that encourage inclusion and diversity as well as interdisciplinary approaches, has already initiated its inaugural projects: one is a multiplatform storytelling initiative involving students, faculty and staff; the other is a cultural and academic exchange program involving WWU and Northwest Indian College that will include STEM-focused academic access for NWIC students. With both projects, the Spratlen Fund is already offering exciting opportunities for Western and its wider community, fitting in smoothly and nimbly with WWU’s future-looking approach.
“I think the amazing thing about the gift is that the impact it will foster will be essentially unlimited,” says WWU provost and vice president for academic affairs Brent Carbajal. “From curriculum innovation, to collaboration with diverse populations, to studies of inclusion, equity and best practices, this will help jump-start important initiatives that will have an ongoing and positive impact across campus.”
“I’m very enthusiastic about my long-term Western affiliation and the opportunity to give back,” explains Spratlen, citing his and Lois’ 50-year friendship with WWU professor emeritus Bob Monahan and his wife Marilyn. “Western, through the courageous efforts of Economics department chair Erwin Mayer and others, helped me get my start,” adds Spratlen who has been professor emeritus of marketing at UW’s Foster School of Business since retiring in 2002. “I like the idea of passing that on and supporting those who want to add to the fabric of diversity at Western: it contributes not only to an understanding of differences, it also brings much-needed different perspectives to student life, the curriculum, and the University as a whole. I’m a committed supporter of the things Western continues to do in the areas of inclusion and diversity, especially. It’s quite satisfying to have a small part in that effort.”
