Newly appointed Vice President of Human Resources for EvCC, Jason Smith grew up in a separated household in Cheney, Washington. “My parents got divorced when I was young,” says Smith. Smith was poor growing up, having to live off of welfare services. This didn’t make the situation any easier with education. “I wasn’t fitting in with my peers at school,” shares Smith. Thankfully he had teachers that looked out for him and through the trials and tribulations, Smith never stopped dreaming.. 

When Smith was young, he “wanted to be a civil rights attorney. I was really big into civil rights” said Smith. When in 5th grade, Smith’s class recited a play, Smith got to be MLK on MLK Day. As Smith aged, he valued relationships, especially during his time as a U.S. Marine Corps.

Smith was an undergrad at Whitman College, he spent 2 quarters at UW for grad school, before joining the Marine Corps. Smith served in the Marine Corps for 20 years. “The hardest thing I’ve done but the most rewarding.” Smith welcomed the challenge of being an officer. “I really discovered how I can push myself physically and mentally, especially in times of chaos and fear.” Smith was deployed to Iraq in 2006, giving Smith a new perspective on life. He looked at it like a math problem, “if we can break it down, we can figure it out.”

Smith has a masters in strategic and security studies, administration and a bachelors in history. ‘I’m always learning so I can help students,” says Smith. After two years with the city of Marysville, Smith returns to EvCC with a goal in mind. “I’m focused on equity and helping underrepresented students.” The new VP learned to value relationships while at EvCC,  “the relationships that I developed are important to maintain, the biggest thing for me is to remember relationships,” says Smith. Smith believes EvCC is a good community partially due to the school having a talented faculty and staff. “It feels good to be in an environment with so many things happening,” states Smith.

Smith’s vision for EvCC is to re-establish the work that was put on hold due to the pandemic. Smith wants to have the full support of faculty, staff and students. “I want to help bring back a sense of community on campus,” states Smith. Smith also mentioned in an interview how he always likes to engage with students at EvCC. One of his goals as new VP of human resources is to “help find opportunities for students.” 

According to Smith, a paramount commodity to him is his integrity. “I don’t want to sacrifice relationships for the sake of being right,” says Smith. 

After all of this, if there’s one lasting note that Smith wants to give students it’s this, “if there’s an opportunity to mentor or help(students), come talk to me.”