Every year, one professor from six of Washington’s State Universities gets nominated to receive the coveted Timm Ormsby award for Faculty Citizenship. This year, CWU Law and Justice professor Charles Reasons was one of the four recipients of this prestigious award.

Reasons came from a working-class family in Bremerton, Washington. His father was a unionist and found himself involved in many social justice causes when he was just a young boy. These views on social justice issues were passed down to Reasons and helped create the groundwork for a lifelong goal of helping those who were wronged.

“He saw injustices, and he addressed them as a unionist and as a person, and I always admired that,” Reasons said.

Reasons held on to these values as he became a first-generation college student at Linfield College. There, he took classes that helped open his eyes to more social justice issues that plagued our country, such as only being able to stay in specific hotels when his football team played in the south, because they had some African-American players on the team. Instances like this were significant influences on Reasons.  

No matter where his career in the states or Canada took him, Reasons always made sure to stand up for the little man when it came to social justice issues. 19 years ago, CWU brought Reasons back home to be a professor in the law and justice department. Along with being a professor, Reasons has been a part of many social justice endeavors on campus, including being a founding member of Central Washington Justice for Our Neighbors.

The Justice for Our Neighbors program helps immigrants from other countries get legal advice, as well as any other assistance they may need. This could be protection for immigrants fleeing their country due to a life or death situation or those trying to gain legal U.S. citizenship.

In a press release by CWU with regards to Reasons winning the Ormsby award, the chair of the Department of Law and Justice department, Paul Knepper, talked about how Reasons has made a difference in many people’s lives since he’s been here at CWU.

“Chuck Reasons has been consistently committed to civic engagement, and we’re happy he’s been recognized for these activities because they make such a difference to people,” Knepper said.