The Evergreen State College - Tacoma Campus

Dr. Maxine Mimms

Dr. Maxine Mimms joined the faculty at the Evergreen State College in Olympia in 1972 and was involved in efforts such as the Non-White People’s Coalition (that eventually morphed into its current form of First Peoples Multicultural, Trans, and Queer Support Services). With a background in activism, she quickly realized that the needs of her community - specifically the African American community in Tacoma’s Hilltop area - was not being served by the main Evergreen campus.

With her neighbor, Dr. Elizabeth Diffendal, a fellow faculty member at Evergreen, Mimms began teaching students around her kitchen table. Mimms offered the classes as a Tacoma seminar group, teaching from 5 a.m. to 8 a.m. before driving to Evergreen’s main campus in Olympia for her regular duties. And she financed the Tacoma program herself.

In her time at Evergreen, Mimms developed a lifelong friendship with Maya Angelou, who came to speak at Evergreen - Tacoma in 1984. Mimms also invited Odetta, the famous singer, to  teach at the Evergreen Olympia campus in 1989.

Retiring from Evergreen - Tacoma in 1990, Mimms spearheaded the Maxine Mimms Academy, an organization that provided a classroom for Tacoma students who had been expelled or suspended from school.

Before Evergreen, Mimms worked as an elementary school teacher in Seattle and Kirkland. She holds a bachelor’s degree from Virginia Union University, a master’s degree from Wayne State University in Detroit, and a PhD in educational administration from Union Graduate School.

Dr. W. Joye Hardiman

Hired at the Evergreen State College’s main campus in 1975, Dr. W. Joye Hardiman served as the Director of the Evergreen State College - Tacoma campus and a member of the faculty for 18 years, from 1989 - 2007. Dr. Hardiman is now a faculty emeritus of Evergreen, in the arts and humanities. During her time at Evergreen-Tacoma she had an average retention rate of over 89% and between 1900 and 2007, 1,428 students graduated from Evergreen-Tacoma. 

Outside of Evergreen, Dr. Hardiman is a Fulbright Scholar, a founding member of the Association for the Study of Classical AfricanCivilizations (ASCAC), and served as the interim director of the Washington Center for Improvement in Undergraduate  Education. She has researched Africana history, culture, and spirituality in places such as: Egypt, Ethiopia, Kenya, Uganda, Mali, The Gambia, Ghana, Senegal, Ivory Coast, Cameroon, South Africa, India, the Yucatan, Trinidad, Brazil, Ecuador, Panama and Cuba.

After Dr. Hardiman's retirement, various faculty took over as Executive Director of the Tacoma Program, including Dr. Artee Young (2008 - 2012). Prior to serving as Executive Director, Young was a member of Evergreen faculty for twenty years and served as Chair of Faculty.  When Young decided to return to her faculty teaching, Dr. Tyrus Smith took over as interim Exectuive Director. In 2019, Dr. Marcia Tate Arunga, an educator, activist, and entrepreneur, was tapped to be the first ever Dean for the Evergreen-Tacoma Program.