The Evergreen State College Tacoma to hold Founder’s Day on March 4 

The Evergreen State College Tacoma’s annual Founder’s Day will be celebrated on Tuesday, March 4, from 1-4 p.m. at 1210 6th Ave. in Tacoma.  

Present students and alumni are encouraged to join the event, where they may share art and poetry, and hear speeches from graduating seniors.  

Faculty Emeritus Dr. Joye Hardiman will open the program with a keynote address, and Dr. Executive Vice President for Evergreen Dexter Gordon will deliver the closing remarks. 

“Over the years, this event has doubled as a birthday celebration for Evergreen Tacoma founder Dr. Maxine Mimms, who was born on March 4, 1928,” wrote Evergreen Interim Associate Vice President of Marketing and Communications Genevieve Canceko Chan in an email to The JOLT News. 

Mimms, who passed away on Oct. 8, 2024, was a longtime Tacoma resident and Evergreen faculty member who founded the Tacoma program in a Hilltop neighborhood in 1972, teaching working students college-level coursework. 

“Dr. Mimms developed the Tacoma program with a deliberate mission to provide a college education to working and adult learners, especially those living in the inner city," Canceko Chan said.

"The program was formally established at 12th and MLK in 1982. In 2001 it moved to its current location on 6th Avenue. Dr. Mimms passed away peacefully."

To expand Mimms’ legacy, Evergreen Tacoma offers a dynamic and inclusive learning environment that welcomes diversity, innovation and community engagement.  

For more details about Evergreen Tacoma’s history and programs, visit its website. 

 Officials weigh in 

Canceko Chan’s email also contained statements about the event from various university officials. 

“This is the first time we will celebrate Dr. Maxine Mimms as our founder at a time when we are still mourning her passing,” shared Dean of Evergreen Tacoma Dr. Marcia Tate Arunga.

“We are grateful for the clear instructions that she left about how to move forward as a higher educational institution. What an honor to have been chosen as the leader that steps into her shoes.” 

Gordon echoed those sentiments.

“Founder’s Day pays tribute to the early group of educators and leaders whose initiative, creativity, resourcefulness, and drive built the college we know today: Maxine Mimms, Betsy Diffendal, Joye Hardiman, and others. To celebrate Founder’s Day is to celebrate the life and work of Maxine Mimms,” Gordon said.