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Governor Gary Locke began his term as Interim President at Bellevue College on June 15, 2020. He is a nontraditional college president candidate with a passion for education policy. During his tenure at the College, Governor Locke wants to encourage a cultural shift on campus, provide stability, and elevate the college’s stature as it searches for a permanent president.
Governor Locke is the first Chinese American to be elected governor in United States history and the first Asian American governor on the mainland. In his two terms as Governor, Washington was ranked one of America’s four best-managed states.
During the Obama administration, Governor Locke served as U.S. Secretary of Commerce, and most recently as U.S. Ambassador to China. Governor Locke attended Yale University, graduating with a bachelor’s degree in political science, and received his law degree from Boston University.
Governor Locke is a leader in education, employment, trade, health care, human rights, immigration reform, privacy, and the environment. His innovations in government efficiency, customer focus, priority-based budgeting, as well as successful and under-budget management of high-risk initiatives, have won him acclaim from nationally recognized authors and organizations, including Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government.
President’s Messages
Recognizing World Autism Awareness Day
Dear BC Community, Today Bellevue College joins the United Nations in celebrating World Autism Awareness Day, a time to recognize and spread awareness for the rights of people with autism. It was first designated by the United Nations General Assembly in 2007 and has been observed worldwide ever since. We also join our Neurodiversity Navigators program in ...
Read moreRecognizing International Transgender Day of Visibility
Dear BC Community, Next week marks the 12th annual International Transgender Day of Visibility which occurs on March 31. It’s a day to acknowledge and celebrate the accomplishments and victories of transgender and gender-nonconforming people. In 2009, transgender activist Rachel Crandall created International Transgender Day of Visibility to build awareness of the many contributions transgender ...
Read moreStatement on Atlanta Mass Shootings
Dear BC Community, Like our entire campus community, I am shocked and saddened by the mass shootings yesterday in Atlanta that took the lives of eight people, six of whom were Asian women. While local police believe it is too early to know with certainty that these murders were racially motivated, the recent rise in ...
Read moreBC’s Commitment to the Asian Pacific Islander Community
Dear BC Community, Since the COVID-19 pandemic turned American life upside down 12 months ago, we’ve seen an alarming rise in violence, harassment, and discrimination against members of the Asian American Pacific Islander (AAPI) community. Asian Americans, especially the elderly and women, have been brutally attacked all across our nation, including here in the Seattle ...
Read moreReflections on These Chaotic Times
Dear BC Community, As we return from the holiday break and begin a new quarter, we find our nation and communities in the midst of very dark and unsettling times. Many of us were watching the debates in Congress yesterday over the counting of the Electoral College vote, when we and the entire world witnessed ...
Read moreStatement on U.S. Capitol Attack
As leaders of Bellevue College, we would like to lend our names in support of the following statement issued by the SBCTC, Council of Presidents and Independent Colleges of Washington. “As leaders of public and private, not-for-profit colleges and universities in the state of Washington, we stand strongly together in denouncing the yesterday’s attack on ...
Read moreBlack Lives Matter – December 8, 2020
Casey Goodson. Yet another name we all must say and remember—another police shooting, another young Black man killed, another grieving family. The wounds of systematic racism continue to deepen. We are heartbroken and recognize the immense pain that this brings to our students, staff and faculty, especially our Black brothers and sisters. We must continue ...
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