We’ll See How Brave You Are

Comments Prepared for the University of Washington Reagents Meeting

10 July 2024

To the University of Washington Reagents and the attendees of this meeting, I wish you good evening. My name is Dr. Monica Rose McLemore and I use she/her pronouns. I believe my reputation precedes me.

I have come before you to express my deep gratitude for the leadership of Dr. Allison Webel as our Interim Dean in the School of Nursing and to provide you some advice that you can of course ignore but please note it is given with the purest of intents to inform and educate.

Nursing, Public Health, Healthcare, our society are at a watershed moment that requires courage. Leadership matters. I will not recount contents of the letters you’ve received from students and staff because they speak for themselves. I signed on to express my frustration with the entire process of the search for the Permanent Dean of the School of Nursing as someone who was nominated to apply, who took time out of my schedule to talk with both the search firm and committee, and who HAD a vested interest in this outcome yet no interest in the position.

I am NOT accustomed to having my emails go un-responded to when I routinely converse with the White House. So let me be very clear. Fail this search. And try again. We deserve better. You will not be able to recruit or retain future faculty with this selection. I guess we’ll see how brave you are.