Evergreen College paying $53k to glorified tarot reader at “Office of Spirituality & Meaning Making”
Evergreen State College, the college in Olympia, Washington that made headlines in 2018 over protests that saw the dismissal of several high-profile professors who resisted bullying by the social justice mob, has continued its decline by creating a position in the “Office of Spirituality & Meaning Making” to offer daily tarot readings.
The state-funded college has seen its enrolment rates drop by at least 50 per cent since the protests, noted cultural commentator and former Evergreen State College student Benjamin Boyce on Twitter.
“I don’t know how further they can degrade my degree—but I’m sure they’ve more up their sleeve,” wrote Boyce on Twitter.
Evergreen State College (whose enrollment has tanked to 50% pre-protest) has hired someone to run a “Office of Spirituality & Meaning Making.” Their job includes a daily Tarot reading.
— Benjamin🗣Boyce (@BenjaminABoyce) January 31, 2021
I don’t know how further they can degrade my degree—but I’m sure they’ve more up their sleeve. pic.twitter.com/62c7X0r6C7
In a message from Evergreen’s Student Activities, the office advertised its “Tarot-a-Day & Other Social Media Goodies,” stating:
“Enjoy a daily tarot reading at the Student Activities Instagram page. Posted daily in our Instagram stories, I pull a tarot card and offer some insight and practices that might brighten your day. We also post information on student organizations and other happenings on campus.”
Following the virality of Boyce’s post, the office’s Instagram page has become markedly absent of tarot readings. In correspondence shared on Twitter, a current student at Evergreen told the commentator that the individual in charge of the office “has a [Master’s degree] in divinity and has literally spent years studying Christian theology but flat out denounced it for the purpose of being inclusive.”
Boyce also posted a message from the college’s public records officer showing that the position effectively amounting to “College Tarot Reader” carries a salary of $52,596.
Add "College Tarot Reader" to your career prospects, at $52,596, not including benefits pic.twitter.com/M24pVMR0SV
— Benjamin🗣Boyce (@BenjaminABoyce) February 2, 2021
The existence of the office itself is not unprecedented, and has been traditionally used by school chaplains to promote religion as a positive influence on students. Cornell University runs a similar office that, according to the university’s “mission and vision” website envisions “a community whose commitment to the integration of moral and intellectual development forms graduates who are spiritually mature, aware of their ethical agency, and committed to action in service of the common good.”

Ian Miles Cheong
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Ian Miles Cheong is a freelance writer, graphic designer, journalist and videographer. He’s kind of a big deal on Twitter.
https://twitter.com/stillgray