Late Gov. Dan Evans Created ‘Revolutionary’ Ethnic Commissions, Welcomed Refugees

by Nimra Ahmad

Dan Evans, a former three-term Washington State governor and U.S. senator who was known for being a moderate Republican, passed away at 98 on Sept. 20. Evans served as governor of Washington State from 1965 to 1977, during the tail end of the Civil Rights Movement and the Vietnam War. 

Evans was known for his more progressive policies, such as his views on environmentalism and advocating for a state income tax. As governor, he led the creation of Washington’s community colleges and Evergreen State College, and he endorsed abolishing the death penalty. During his tenure, Evans signed executive orders creating commissions for marginalized groups, including the Indian Affairs Commission (now the Governor’s Office of Indian Affairs), the State Women’s Council (now the Women’s Commission), the Commission on Hispanic Affairs, and the Commission on Asian Pacific American Affairs. (The Commission on African American Affairs was established later.) 

“Back then, there were really no mechanisms in our State entity by which people like Latinos could really effectively engage,” said María Sigüenza, executive director of the Commission on Hispanic Affairs. “By creating a commission, it would be kind of an operationalized way for folks to engage with policymakers, the governor, State agencies, on issues that affected them, and with the hopes to improve public policy and to better government service and delivery.”

Each of the commissions, now codified by law, provides a seat at the table for Washington’s less-represented communities within the State’s government. As State agencies, the commissions provide these communities with the opportunity to give input on policies that may affect them.

“The idea was revolutionary at the time,” said Nam Nguyen, interim executive director of the Commission on Asian Pacific American Affairs. “It was giving voice to a community that was rising in the state and that was not listened to before. I mean, if you look at the history before 1970, the history and government relations dealing with Latine American and Asian American and Pacific Islander [communities], it’s not great, right? Japanese internment, Chinese exclusion — a lot of those things happened in this state, and a lot of it involves violence. So to form a commission to give voice to those communities, in a way, protected those communities from those things happening ever again.” 

The work of the commissions reflected Evans’ progressive social policies. After the fall of Saigon, many states rejected Vietnamese refugees, but Evans welcomed them in. Nguyen said this was the beginning of creating a tradition of inviting refugees into Washington State, which was seen in 2021 with Gov. Jay Inslee bringing in Afghan refugees. 

In the five decades since these commissions were created, they’ve advocated for voter education outreach, disaggregating data for diverse Asian communities, and preventing bills that would mandate English as the state’s official language. 

“Our community is really strong and resilient, and we’ve had a history of fighting for our rights, and I think having the commission very specifically positioned as an advisory board to the folks that make policy decisions has made our effort more fruitful in ensuring our collective well-being,” Sigüenza said. “If we weren’t here, I still feel like our advocacy efforts would exist, but it would be a little bit harder.” 

Next year will mark 50 years since Evans first welcomed 500 Vietnamese refugees into the state, and Nguyen had hoped the former governor would be able to attend some of the ceremonies marking the occasion. 

“I wish he would have been able to see what the people he welcomed to the state have accomplished and have done for the state,” Nguyen said.

Nimra Ahmad is a news writer for the South Seattle Emerald. She has bylines in Crosscut, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, The Oglethorpe Echo, and The Red & Black. You can find her on Twitter at @nimra_ahmad22 or email her at Nimra.Ahmad@SeattleEmerald.org.