Mark Okazaki, Mark Mitsui, and Al Sugiyama (Photo by Assunta Ng/NWAW)
Over 100 community members gathered at the Four Seas restaurant on July 17 to send off former North Seattle Community College President Mark Mitsui as he prepares for his new position as Deputy Assistant Director for Community College at the United States Department of Education. Funds from the dinner went to the North Seattle Community College Foundation to dedicate a scholarship in Mitsui’s name. The fund currently sits at nearly $3,000. Mitsui begins at the Department of Education on Aug. 12.
“…before Mark returned as our college president, I was driving from our home in the Central District to work, I had a strange sense of déjà vu,” said NSCC Professor Paul Kurose. “As a child, I was bussed from Meany Jr. High in the CD to Marshall Jr. High in the north end. Daily, I would feel like an alien, … I realized as I was driving to work that day that some forty years later that my feelings had not changed…But as I was walking onto campus this morning on my way to my office to write this up, I realized I don’t feel that way anymore. Thank you Mark for the difference you made for me and for all of those who walk onto our campus in the North end of Seattle, where we can finally feel like we belong.” (end)