“Everett Community College has made a commitment to be a more reflective college and continue to transform itself in service to our communities…this is a long journey and it will continue,” says EvCC’s president Dr. David Beyer. EvCC invited all students to the grand opening of the Diversity and Equity Center on Thursday, Jan 31.

It was a very exciting moment for the indigenous students and all who had taken part in helping make it possible to give them a space of their own on campus. The ceremony began with a Native Hawaiian Welcome Chant by the lwi Pono Club Students and Advisors and then a song by the Stillaguamish Canoe Family.  

“We would like to welcome you to this space and thank you so much for taking time out of your day to celebrate such a momentous achievement given to us by our students,” says Emma Ka’aha’aina, program manager within the Social Justice and Equity Division.

The original six members of the First Nations Club, Rafael Alverez, Sebastian Corrales, Tara Duffin, Kayah George and Cullen Zackuse made a commitment to their community. They advocated for this space where they could feel safe and proud of who they are as indigenous students.

“I didn’t feel like I belonged much at this institution and I thought that’s so wrong. My people have been here for thousands of years, since time immemorial, and so I shouldn’t feel this way.  I thought if I’m feeling this way, there has to be other people who feel this way too,” says Kayah George, one of the original six, “It’s amazing seeing a dream like this come true.” A sense of pride and joy radiated off of her as she spoke.

Rafael Alverez, another one of the original six, spoke about how much this meant to him, “Most of my life I lived in a very bad, toxic environment. Most of my family members were bad people. Criminals, alcoholics, addicts. For a while, I lived in that life, most of my childhood. I expected to live in this perpetual cycle I see a lot of natives go through. That changed when I first started going here and I started meeting good friends and good people, other natives. … This space will help future students who come here who felt like I did or how Kayah did and make them feel like they have somewhere where they belong.”

Throughout the entire ceremony, most speakers began their introduction speaking their native tongue. Carolyn Lalacut Moses, an elder of the Tulalip Tribes, spoke of the importance of speaking your native language, “My mother use to say we are gonna lose ourselves if we don’t speak our language… you have to learn it and live it.”