Monday, February 23, 2026, 1:43 PM Dear Trustees,
I am writing this formal communication to express my concern in CWU’s administration and express my support for the faculty’s successful no confidence vote in President Wohlpart. I retired from CWU after 24+ years as a faculty member in December, 2024. During my time at CWU, I taught in multiple programs, served on a wide range of committees, was the faculty union president (3 terms), and helped negotiate multiple contracts. I know CWU well. I retired primarily because of the complete and utter lack of focus and support for our students’ education. After listening to the start of the Trustees meeting on 19 Feb, I was dismayed. The faculty presenter was dismissed. The sycophantic letters from administrators who needed to show support to keep their jobs were acknowledged. And you talked about supporting students (the ‘students first’ agenda often mentioned by the President and Trustees). ‘Students First’ could be interpreted in many ways; I am choosing to interpret it as being focused on and concerned with our students’ education. If this is the case, I can assure you that CWU’s administration has been, from day one, hostile to anything that results in a better education for our students. For a little history and perspective, the first thing President Wohlpart did upon arriving at CWU was rewrite our vision and mission. DEI (a great thing, but not what the State of Washington pays us to do) became the driving force in these documents. Frankly, both documents could and should be replaced with three words: “We educate students.” To demonstrate his hypocrisy, President Wolhpart then proceeded to rebuild almost his entire leadership team with old, white males (president, provost, VP University Advancement, Executive Director of Institutional Effectiveness, Athletic Director, Senior VP of Finance). The only non-white/male with any serious power/influence is the Interim VP of Student Success. Meanwhile, it appears that women and people of color have been leaving our administrative ranks in droves. During this time, faculty numbers and funding for academics have been reduced dramatically. This has resulted in fewer and larger classes, fewer paths to graduation, fewer course options, less ability to customize degrees to match career goals, less one-on-one mentoring, and increased time to graduation. Further, the overall load on faculty has increased as each individual becomes responsible for more students and service duties. To add to the load, students (across the country) are arriving at universities less educated and less psychologically ready for a new environment. To succeed, these students need more help, not less. Academically, the only thing the president talks about is retention. However, with all the cuts, the only way to increase retention is to decrease educational quality and pass more people. Programs with meaningful interactions with students and those that provide hands-on
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