To the Editor:

A friend called to my attention the [editorial] in your [Jan. 23–29 issue] that indicated you thought that Phyllis Wise is a good example of an Asian women who would bring a woman’s perspective to Nike.

I am deeply grieved to tell you that Provost Wise is not a friend to women. …

Last spring, when the university as a whole was told to cut expenses 12 to 15 percent, Provost Wise announced that the Women’s Center would be given a 50 percent cut of its tiny state funding of $168,000.

(Pullman $360,000 support and Bellingham has even more, I understand.) …

[At the UW Regents’ hearing where speakers voiced their concerns about the Women’s Center] a young woman reporter took my picture and took a copy of my speech [speaking out against the budget cut], and it was sent around the Internet. The president and provost were inundated with protests from students and community women and after a “study,” the provost decided the center would only get the same 15 percent cut as other programs, instead of her unfair 50 percent.

I have many friends in the Asian community and not one of them remembers the provost being supportive in any way.

— Alene Moris, co-founder of the UW Women’s Center