Rumors spread that Evergreen State Tacoma is closing. It’s not
In the face of rumors that Evergreen State College’s Tacoma campus is shutting down, college leaders have a clear response: it’s not.
A handful of now-deleted posts on Facebook in recent weeks speculated that Evergreen Tacoma’s campus was shutting down. Countless alumni and supporters chimed in, expressing disappointment at the potential loss in Tacoma’s Hilltop neighborhood.
But President John Carmichael and Executive Vice President Dexter Gordon had a clear message: Evergreen Tacoma is not going anywhere, they told The News Tribune.
“Evergreen’s Tacoma campus is a critical part of the Evergreen State College, and it’s a critical part of the Tacoma community,” Carmichael said.
Carmichael said the source of the rumors was unclear. Though Evergreen has struggled with declining enrollment and declining tuition revenues in recent years, they said the college is in the midst of an effort to revitalize and modernize Evergreen Tacoma to better prepare students for post-graduation life.
“We are right now engaged in a process of revitalization and visioning for the future of that campus that connects the historic role of the campus in that community to the function it can serve in the future,” Carmichael said.
The rumors come during a time of financial difficulty for Evergreen. The college is facing a multi-million dollar budget deficit, The Olympian reported. Carmichael also said the school’s budget will be down 4% next year.
Although Evergreen has implemented cuts to mitigate some of its budget problems, he said it’s not specifically targeting Evergreen Tacoma.
“We think we can absorb this budget cut without drastically impacting instruction or direct student services,” Carmichael said. “People are going to feel it, but the core of the college will survive intact, both in Olympia and Tacoma.”
Ovunayo X, a student at Evergreen Tacoma and a member of Washington’s Black Panther Party, said he didn’t know the source of the rumors. But he also said he didn’t receive communication from the college addressing the rumors.
“We need the college to remain as it is, and to remain,” X told The News Tribune. “Because without it, the hill loses a lot.”
Carmichael said the rumors began as the campus was on spring break, which may have contributed to some miscommunication.
“We’ve had a couple of weeks being apart, and so I can understand it’s unfortunate timing that this rumor arose just as we were scattering for spring,” he said.
This story was originally published April 8, 2026 at 5:00 AM.
