Top officials out after mural was altered

BELLEVUE, Wash. — The president of Bellevue College and one of the college’s vice presidents will be leaving their jobs, the school announced Monday, in response to the vice president’s decision to alter a campus mural of two Japanese American children in a World War II incarceration camp by removing a reference to anti-Japanese agitation by area businessmen.

The college said it has “begun to separate” from President Jerry Weber and Gayle Colston Barge, vice president of institutional advancement. Provost Kristen Jones will serve as acting president, board of trustees Chair Rich Fukutaki announced at a Monday news conference.

“We need to do something to make this better, so an apology, as heartfelt as it has been, is not really enough,” Fukutaki said. “...with that in mind, the board has determined a change in leadership is necessary.”

The trustees of the college — the largest of Washington’s community and technical colleges — held an emergency meeting this weekend, Fukutaki said. The trustees will vote on Weber’s termination Wednesday, and Jones will make the final decision on Barge.

Barge, who last week was placed on leave, acknowledged two weeks ago that she removed a reference in the description accompanying the art installation “Never Again Is Now,” created by Seattle artist Erin Shigaki. The project was brought to Bellevue College as the school recognized the Day of Remembrance, which commemorates the day President Franklin Roosevelt signed Executive Order 9066, authorizing the imprisonment of Japanese Americans.

One sentence in a paragraph about Japanese immigrants and their connection to Bellevue was whited out: “After decades of anti-Japanese agitation, led by Eastside businessman Miller Freeman and others, the mass incarceration of Japanese Americans included the 60 families (300 individuals) who farmed Bellevue.” Weber sent out a message of apology to the Bellevue College community Feb. 24, but no personnel action was taken until after a Seattle Times story detailed the incident.

On Monday, Fukutaki said leaders now believe Barge did not remove the reference, but told someone else to do so. The college is investigating, said KD Hall, a communications consultant hired by the college last week in response to the incident.