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State Rep. Jason Overstreet, R-Lynden, is dead wrong and woefully ignorant of history in calling for the resignation of Western Washington University President Bruce Shepard, former Republican Secretary of State and WWU Trustee Ralph Munro wrote on Sunday.

Western Washington University President Bruce Shepard:He wants student enrollment to reflect states growing diversity.

Munro used a Bellingham Herald op-ed piece to deliver a ringing defense of Shepard and his call for the university to reflect the growing diversity of Washingtons population. And he had stinging words for Overstreet.

As the second largest employer in Whatcom County and the educator of many employed elsewhere I would think that Rep. Overstreet would be a supporter of Westerns efforts to ensure education and prosperity to all our states children, regardless of their race, religion or background.

Shepard is under attack from right-wing groups over a recent blog post in which he stated: In the decades ahead, should we be as white as we are today, we will be relentlessly driven toward mediocrity or, become a shadow of our current self.

Overstreet, at the far right flank of Republicans caucus in Olympia, seized on the blog, putting out a press release stating: He should resign immediately from his university president position.

President Shepards continued and unflinching adherence to an intellectually void ideology that divides on skin color rather than uniting based on the content of character demands that he apologize to the students, potential students and taxpayers who fund Western Washington University.

Overstreet is dead wrong, said Munro.

What Dr. Shepard said what he really said is exactly what all of us on the campus leadership team have been saying for years, said Munro, who was Westerns student body president in the 1960s.

To continue our success as the states premier regional university, we must make sure that our faculty and student population reflect the population demographics of our state, not just today, but in years to come.

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Republican trustee defends WWU president against GOP legislator