Rotarians gathered on February 21st to hear University of Washington President Ana Mari Cauce speak on the problems facing the higher education, Washingtonians, and the World as a whole and what UW has done and continues to do to address these. Cauce shared how UW is working directly to address challenges while also setting up a foundation to address these problems together as a city and an academic community.

 

Highlighting the connection between UW the community at large Cauce provided examples of students, faculty, and community members working to build upon the idea of a “University FOR Washington; and not just of Washington.” Cauce highlighted this point by sharing the story of the 1930s UW rowing team that served as the inspiration for the book and film, The Boys in the Boat. After qualifying for the 1936 Olympics the team was not able to afford the costs to travel to the games and the Seattle Times organized a donation campaign to send the team to the Olympic. A team that came together as one and was then aided by the community that similarly came together as one to send the team to the Olympics. Additionally, Cauce shared how recently UW quarterback Michael Penix Jr. demonstrated the idea of coming together as one during the 2023 football season. Cauce shared how at the December 2023 Heisman Trophy ceremony Penix Jr. displayed the interior of his jacket which was emblazoned with the names of his football teammates, further demonstrating the idea of a team coming together.