In search of a close-knit college in Washington state

[branchandroot]

Help me, Obi-Web!

Everyone who lives in Washington state, I have a question for you:

Do you know of any colleges or universities that are close-knit? Community oriented? Small, liberal arts colleges are often good for this.

See, my spouse and I both work at a college we like a lot. Alas, that college is in Ohio, which is not currently a very nice place to be thanks to the new governor. *shakes her fist at the people who voted for the asshole* I mean, seriously, can we borrow Wisconsin's judge, please? We need one down here too. And, honestly, Georgia is freaking me out, right now, and the federal government seems to have largely gone batshit insane, and, let's be straight up about this, if everything goes to hell (or to The Handmaid's Tale, which is seeming alarmingly less ridiculous by the month) I want to be living somewhere my fellow citizens will be at least a little less likely to outlaw my love, sexuality, life choices, and religion.

Besides, what better place to be, when the real oil crisis finally hits, than someplace with abundant hydropower? And, at least, awareness and the start of planning for the approaching time when it will be less abundant.

So! Cascadia ho! In, you know, two or three years when we're out from under the damn mortgage insurance.

And this means finding new jobs, and that means colleges that have what we really value: a close community among the faculty and staff (and at least some of the administration).

Any suggestions?

Comments

[7veils]

If you aren't too frightened of living on the Pacific Rim what with the upsurge in seismic activity around the Ring of Fire these days, the Olympic College in Bremerton might appeal to you.

I don't know anything about the Lewis-Clark state college, but the last time I was in Washington, I really enjoyed the small and very beautiful city of Coeur D'Alene. I've also heard good things about Gonzaga in Spokane (that was close to where I used to live, so quite a few people I knew attended it and spoke well of it.)

I don't know if you will be any better off in the long run, though, especially if there is as much of a backlash against the Republicans in Wisconsin, Michigan and Ohio as we've been hearing lately.

[helens78]

:) Washington has its share of economic problems, too, but so far we're hanging in there.

Anyway, I know nothing about the faculty/staff/administration environment in the WA state colleges/universities (having never been on the other side of the teacher/student fence), but I can say that, from a student's perspective, the Seattle-area community colleges are made of nine thousand kinds of win. In the meantime, I've forwarded your question on to a friend of mine who teaches at/has taught for more than one university in the state. :)

[kaigou]

If you're not stuck on Northeast, there's always the University of Texas at Austin, which might sound strange as a suggestion, seeing how it's in Texas... but Austin isn't really in Texas. It's actually in its own, uhm, reality. A very awesome reality but sometimes... well, let's put it this way: the city's unoffficial motto is "Keep Austin Wierd" and there's a freaking Godzilla (with glowing red eyes at night) on the rooftop of a local business. (Google for 3105 Guadalupe Street, Austin, Texas, turn south and go a half-block, and he's on the left.) There are also sometimes zombies. Plus it's one of the most energy- and water-wise places I've ever been, and the city even hosts free wifi at every park. It's like a strange mix of the down-home, the ultra-liberal, the lazy bohemian, and the college town. With the occasional pair of cowboy boots.

Also, Austin gets a lot of rain. A LOT OF RAIN. Let me put it this way: Seattle gets an average of 34" of rain annually, over 150 days. Austin gets 32" of rain on average... over 80 days. It never drizzles in Austin, but it does rain down entire flocks of cats, dogs, a few orangutans, and possibly some jazz musicians.

[dragonwolf]

Have you checked Oregon? Specifically, the Portland area? I don't know much about the colleges there, but from what I can tell, it's pretty liberal and a lot of people do local growing and such.

That said, what haven't you liked about Kasich? I haven't been paying much attention to politics as of late, having been dealing with taxes and various other pressing matters, and after some brief research, I found a few things that I'd object to, but my train of thought seems to always be totally and completely the opposite of what and how everyone else in the world thinks, so... (While I am a fellow Buckeye, I didn't vote for him, nor do I really have an opinion of him at the moment.)

[marshtide]

I don't know much about Washington beyond that val's uncle the Swedish ex-communist is an academic in Seattle and loves it, so it's probably doing stuff right.

[foxinthestars]

I got this link on my twitter feed (posted by Alfie Kohn): http://www.cielearn.org/ Two of the member institutions are in WA (Evergreen and Fairhaven at Western WA), if it's the kind of thing you're looking for.

I also asked my sister-in-law-to-be who's lived up there a long time (my sister just moved out there to be with her last year; I both miss her and envy her), so I'll see if she gets back to me.

I have this running gag, actually, that everyone cool ends up in the Pacific Northwest. ^_~

[chronolith]

Seattle University (Jesuit, but these are the Jesuits who get in trouble for saying there's nothing wrong with being gay, sometimes abortion is necessary, and preach liberation theology. There was an entire class on it my senior year), University of Washington's regional schools seem close knit, Seattle Pacific University, Cornish (but I'm not sure they still have their poetry department), University of Puget Sound, and the Seattle community college network seems pretty friendly.