Some students leave college with a degree. Others leave with a calling. For ��ݮ��Ƶ alumni Holly Sorenson ’13, Luke Basile ’13, and Gregory Rawlins ’11, ’22, music was the inspiration that set their futures in motion. Though their careers have taken them in different directions, they share a common thread: the mentoring they received.

At a small university where professors double as mentors, guides, and lifelong supporters, each of them found the confidence to turn their passion into a profession.

Finding Purpose Through Music & Service

Holly Sorenson never expected her bachelor of music degree from ��ݮ��Ƶ to pave the way for a career in health. Yet, more than a decade after graduating in 2013, Sorenson has blended her passions for music and helping others into a career that transforms lives.

“I didn’t set out to work at a nonprofit,” Sorenson said. “But during my final year, I completed an internship with NEON through a community service program. That experience opened my eyes to a field I’d never considered.”

Needing credit hours, she was directed by a faculty member to the Northeast Oregon Network (NEON). During her internship, Sorenson impressed her team with her quick learning and ability to build connections. By the time she graduated, NEON offered her a staff position, and her role grew over the years.

Today, she works with community health workers who help clients navigate complex systems, such as the Oregon Health Plan, and access vital resources like language interpretation and transportation.

While her career demands focus and dedication, Sorenson hasn’t left her music behind. She performs regularly with Bag of Hammers and the Depot Street Syncopators, local ensembles known for their energetic shows and community spirit.

“Both [music and nonprofit work] are about connection,” Sorenson said. “Whether it’s through a song or helping someone access healthcare, it’s about reaching people where they are.”

Turning Passion into Profession

For Luke Basile, music was never just a hobby; it was a calling. After earning his bachelor’s degree in music performance in 2013, he turned his passion into a full-time career as a professional musician, recording engineer, and live performer.

Basile credits his mentors, including Dr. Matt Cooper, a faculty member at EOU for 31 years, and professor Luke McKern, a multi-instrumentalist and sound engineer, for shaping him as both a musician and a person.

“These mentors shaped me, and I couldn’t have asked for better role models,” Basile said. “The faculty at EOU were all gigging musicians themselves; seeing how seriously they took their craft made me realize that if I wanted to do this for a living, I had to take it just as seriously.”

Professors like McKern and Cooper provided Basile with a deeper understanding of music theory, structure, and rhythm. While he had always played by ear, EOU gave him the technical foundation that took his skills to the next level.

“I came into school as a self-taught musician, but I didn’t really understand the rules of music,” Basile said. “EOU taught me theory, timing, scales, and even how to break the rules creatively.”

After graduation, Basile built a career as a versatile musician, playing solo shows and collaborating with other artists. He also

found a home at Rainmaker Studios, where he has worked for the past decade.

“The studio gives me a way to stay connected to music even in my slower seasons,” he said. “In the winter, when there are fewer live gigs, I’m in the studio recording, mixing, and mastering. It keeps me creating year-round.”

Blending Music and Literature

If there is a throughline in Gregory Rawlins’ life, it has been a love for writing and music. A poet, writer, and former high school athlete, he found a community in EOU’s theatre department, an unexpected turn that shaped his artistic and professional path.

“It took me a little while to discover the notoriously weird theatre people,” Rawlins said with a laugh. “But once I did, I was taken with the community. It set me on a new trajectory. I say ‘weird’ in the most loving way.”

Restless and eager to explore, he took a break from school in 2005 to do relief work in post-Katrina New Orleans. The experience was transformative.

“The first night, we went straight into the French Quarter,” Rawlins recalled. “It was surreal—an entire city, nearly empty. It felt post-apocalyptic.”

While in New Orleans, Rawlins experienced the raw power of blues music in its most authentic form.

Traveling with fellow musician Luke McKern, the experience left a profound impression on the young musician.

“It changed the course of my life in many ways, especially musically,” he said. “I had never felt such a reverence for the arts as I did in New Orleans.”

When the pandemic hit in 2020, Rawlins lost many of his gigs and decided to re-enroll at EOU to earn his Master of Fine Arts. He reached out to former faculty before enrolling.

“I had known Dr. Nancy Knowles, a writing professor at EOU, for a long time, so I reached out to her,” he said. “That can only happen at EOU, with the incredible teacher-to-student ratio. I got in touch with people who are so passionate about the arts, and it just stayed with me.”

Today, Rawlins balances teaching in North Powder with writing and playing music. Though the road for independent musicians can be unpredictable, he embraces the challenges that come with it.

“Any working musician who isn’t Taylor Swift will tell you 99.9% of us are slumming it, sleeping on couches, hustling side jobs,” he said. “But it builds character, and for me, music is what grounds me. It’s my best offering to the world.”

Advice for the Next Generation

Sorenson encourages students to embrace exploration and adaptability. “You don’t have to know exactly where you’re headed,” she said. “Be open to discovering new paths, your experiences will guide you.”

Basile urges young musicians to stay dedicated to their craft. “Surround yourself with great musicians, and always be open to learning,” he said. “I was lucky to have mentors at EOU who helped me understand not just how to play but how to make a career out of it.”

Rawlins keeps it simple: “Follow what fulfills you. Stay open to discovery. And most of all, keep creating.”

Whether performing, teaching, or working in nonprofit leadership, they prove that a passion for music, nurtured by strong mentors, can lead to meaningful and fulfilling careers and lives.

In the spring of 1956, the Grande Ronde Symphony Orchestra played Mendelssohn’s Cornelius Festival March as graduates processed into the Inlow Hall Theatre for commencement at Eastern Oregon College of Education. Among them was Evelyn Duddridge Huston, a determined young woman who had just earned her Bachelor of Science in Education.

Nearly 70 years later, Evelyn, now 91, is giving back to the place where it all began.

She and her late husband, Richard “Dick” Huston, established an endowed fund to support students studying education at EOU. The scholarship honors their legacy as first-generation college graduates and longtime educators. “The reason why I gave was I remember getting myself through college,” Evelyn said.

I worked three jobs. When I started, I had enough money for two semesters. This is my reason for giving. I remember the challenge.”

For Evelyn, giving back is deeply personal. She received no financial support from her family, and often found herself scraping by. As a skilled typist, she asked the dean for help and was hired to work on campus, which allowed her to continue her studies.

“I know there are people who need help financially,” she said. “I hope what we did will be helpful to someone. I hope it can make a difference in a student’s life.”

Evelyn taught for 30 years across eastern Oregon, including Hermiston and Pendleton. She eventually became a child development specialist, a role that later evolved into what is now known as a school counselor. Her husband Richard earned his degree in 1955. He taught in Imbler before being drafted in 1956, the same year they married.

Their gift to EOU is more than a scholarship—it is a tribute to grit, determination, and a shared love of education.

“I remember wanting to be at the head of the class,” Evelyn said. “I had such a desire to learn.”

The Hustons’ scholarship supports students who, like them, face financial hardships and have a passion for teaching.

Although she retired in 1991, Evelyn still recalls her college days with fondness, especially her time living in Dorian Hall, where she slept on the top bunk.

“I hope what we did helps someone get through college just a little bit easier than we did,” she said

Doctor Abio Ayeliya, ’08, was selected by the EOU Alumni Association as the 2022 Distinguished Alumni for his work helping others and he continues to affect change years after his graduation from ��ݮ��Ƶ.

The young man, who once went to a school without electricity or water, slept in the school he was attending, and had to scavenge for food he cooked over a fire, has come a long way. Ayeliya holds a bachelor’s degree in business administration from ��ݮ��Ƶ, and a Master’s in Public Administration (MPA) from The University of Utah. He is also the Executive Director and founder of Sabu Help International, a nonprofit organization focused on eliminating poverty and transforming lives through microloans, training and education in Africa.

In 2007, while Ayeliya was a student at EOU a flood hit his village in Ghana, Africa. As a senior, Ayeliya decided his capstone project would be to fundraise to make a difference in the lives of those affected back home. The community of La Grande responded to his call to action with clothes and donations. The high cost of shipping delayed those donations until a local church stepped in.

“It was going to cost $7,000 to ship (the donations) home,” Ayeliya recalled. Instead Ayeliya made a deal with the church and traded the donations for cash. “It was a temporary solution and I was looking for something permanent.”

Ayeliya feels indebted to the La Grande community members who helped him establish his charity.  They raised money and helped teach his village to be self-sufficient to “mulitply and give a them a lifetime of sustainability, not just clothing or shoes that will last less than a year.”  The funding raised was the seed of his microloans project.

“Growing up, there were times there was never food in the house; I was always hungry,” Ayeliya recalled.  “Having the opportunity to come here to get the education, I was empowered to change my situation.  I could change my family’s dynamics. But, I didn’t want to just change my home, I wanted to change the community.”

Ayeliya’s opportunity for education came after Izaak Edvalson, a Peace Corps worker from La Grande, met him in Ghana. Eventually Edvalson would raise funds to send Ayeliya to an academy in Ghana that prepared him for his education at EOU.

“American education is designed to teach people to think critically about issues; it’s not just memorizing or following the majority. Education gives you a way to think for yourself.”

“EOU is my second home.  This was a community that gave me a sense of belonging, purpose, and a sense of empowerment to make me think critically.  And because of this, I need to give it to other generations,” Ayeliya said.

When asked how he measures success, Ayeliya recalls a story about his father in Africa. “My dad has always been an example of putting people first,” Ayeliya said. He remembers when a man from a neighboring village came looking for a chicken to feed a sick child and his father gave the man the family’s last chicken. “It comes back to you,” Ayelia said.

“It’s not the material things that make you successful,” Ayeliya said. “I am happy where I am, I am happy I am able to help people and feel a sense of purpose in society. I believe God created us for a reason.  If there was no reason for you, why would God have created you?”

I look at my family, my children, my brothers and sisters back home, and they don’t miss their meals.  The clients we are supporting are able to go to college,” Ayeliya said.  “That is the level of standard for life; I consider that a success.”

Ayeliya, who is still at the head of Sabu Help International, speaks passionately about empowering individuals and communities, from microloans to providing goats to make sure new families have milk, to supporting exceptional students from year one to graduation.

“I was the only one in my village to have earned a college degree, and also a master’s degree. I think with that, people will call for help with initiatives. The government alone can not provide that.” Ayeliya said.

The founder of Sabu Help International said he has been conditioned to look inside himself to be the change.

“I create tools to help people help themselves,” Ayeliya, an ambassador for change, said. “We all have a sense of responsibility, if they can they should help us to raise the resources, stand up and help.”

Ayeliya said he remains grateful to the community of La Grande. “I want to express appreciation to the people who continue to support this organization in the city of La Grande and Portland areas, and across the state. They open up to share with others in need. But, I cannot do it by myself, it takes a village,” Ayeliya said. “I wouldn’t be where I am today without Izaak, without the La Grande community and without ��ݮ��Ƶ.  I love Eastern.  It is like my home, it is my spirit. Eastern is in the heart of me and I really want to express that.”

After graduating from Eastern Oregon College cum laude in 1969 the ��ݮ��Ƶ guitar and banjo instructor was hired in 1973 to teach music. Eastern Oregon State College would not change its name until 1997 when it became ��ݮ��Ƶ. At that time the state of Oregon required education majors to learn to play an instrument.

Sitting in a nondescript office in Loso Hall on the EOU campus, with pegboard for walls, Boyer is surrounded by sheets of music and guitar cases. An analog clock ticks away above his head. Hanging to the left is a proclamation ceremoniously presented to Boyer during an EOU Board of Trustees meeting in 2022, celebrating a man who has dedicated his life to teaching music.

Boyer said he didn’t think about his footprint for a long time.

“I guess at this point, looking back,” Boyer said, “ it feels like I’ve thrown a big rock out into the water and the waves have rippled out in all directions.”

Boyer smiles broadly and appears modest about his life’s work. When encouraged, he admits he has created a musical community he could not have fathomed after 4,000 EOU students.

“I do feel a sense of accomplishment, and it is becoming more apparent as I meet more and more people I had as students, who express they still enjoy music and still play,” Boyer said. “It makes me feel like I wasn’t just here spinning my wheels.”

The Power of Music

Boyer said former students will occasionally reach out to him. In fact, he tells a story about a student who contacted him using social media. The student asked, “Are you the Duane who taught guitar at EOU?”

The student, who took guitar lessons the first year Boyer taught, said he had always wanted to thank him.

“I’ve wanted to thank you for years and years; you’ve given me the motivation to keep going,” the former student told him.

Every term a new wave of students comes through the building and Boyer said they are what keeps him going. He knows some students will set the instrument in the closet after the term, but his hope is that some will continue.

“To watch someone who is learning to play, to see the light come on as they develop the ability to play, is a great feeling,” Boyer said. “I thrive on that.”

Boyer said when he first started teaching he had no idea where it was going to lead.

“I’m still here because I enjoy it. I enjoy working with the students and I’m two or three years past legitimate retirement age, to say the least,” Boyer jokes.

Boyer believes in the power of music, and is not shy about saying music can help students with other stresses. He encourages students to pick up an instrument, let go of the tension and worry. Put simply by a man with decades of experience, “It cleanses the palate.”

Generational Ripple

One of Boyer’s most successful students is EOU alumni Jesse Jones, ‘05. Jones earned his masters degree at the University of Oregon, taught at Eastern for a year, and went to Cornell for his doctorate. Today, Jones is an Associate Professor of Composition and Director, Division of Contemporary Music at Oberlin Conservatory in Ohio.

The former Mountaineer has played music around the world.

“The thing about Duane is he has been a constant in my life and that is rare,” Jones said. “He is incredibly generous with his time.”

Jones said Boyer got him interested in music while he was still in high school. Jones, who had broken his arm, asked Boyer to help him learn a few chords, after watching Boyer tutor a friend.

Jones called Boyer his biggest champion. The former student of Boyer’s said as he gets older he appreciates his former instructor for more than just music.

“Since I am teaching, a lot of him goes to the next generation, a sort of generational ripple,” Jones said.

King of Loso

Boyer jokes, “I thought maybe they would make me king or something if I stayed long enough.” “Looking back over 50 years, I want to be remembered for what kind of appreciation for music I developed in [the students]. In particular what it has meant to them, what it has meant to others, from teachers to performers.”

Conrad Woodhead, a 2002 EOU alum, was looking for a one-of-a-kind experience and found it in remote Alaska.

“I was in this village, a remote whaling community with a totally subsisting lifestyle. You can look over and actually see the Siberian Mountains. We were looking through the International Date Line. And this was on a whale and walrus hunt!” Woodhead recalled of his first few moments in Gambell, Alaska. “Not a lot of people get to experience that and I love it. I have never looked back. I was looking for something completely different and I found it.”

How exactly do you end up going from Canby, Oregon, to an undergraduate student at ��ݮ��Ƶ to a village off the grid, off the North American road network in the Alaskan Bush? While two alumni took very different paths to the Lower Yukon School District, their passion for community resonates in all they do.

Though nearly a decade apart in studies, EOU alumni Woodhead and Samantha “Sammy” Carlon, ’10, have found camaraderie in Alaska as they reminisce over memories of EOU. “I grew up in a town of less than 250, my triplets and I were three of thirteen in our graduating class,” Carlon said. “I got up to this village and life was so similar to eastern Oregon. Everyone is so caring. Even now, I’ll video-conference with current students of the professors I had. I still feel so connected to EOU.” Woodhead reflected on his time at Eastern, “I felt connected and supported all the way. Everyone was rooting for me and supporting me.”

After a number of years teaching in different Alaskan villages, Woodhead and Carlon’s paths crossed at the Lower Yukon School District in an innovative project focused on creative ways to prepare students for all aspects of life.

“Four years ago the Lower Yukon School District invested in a project to help close the gap between what rural and urban students get out of Alaska career and technical education,” Woodhead said. “More than $2 million was invested to convert a hotel into the Kusilvak Career Academy, home of King Tech High Boarding School. We are becoming an example of how school districts are getting creative at providing opportunities for our kids. So far, we’ve secured nearly $10 million in grants since we started.”

At the Kusilvak Career Academy, students learn everything from team building and leadership skills, to acclimating to modern amenities, like ordering from a restaurant menu, navigating traffic and sidewalks, or shopping in a grocery store. Students also gain exposure to skills and careers unknown in their home villages, and vocations they can use to supplement their traditional ways. Things many people take advantage of knowing.  “We are really teaching kids how to survive in any setting they find themselves in,” Woodhead said. People can survive in the bush, but the skills they learn at this school offer them an opportunity to be successful elsewhere.

“In La Grande and at Eastern, every single person – faculty, staff, advisors – had that very close investment in each and every single one of its students. Everyone was so great to work with; someone was always willing to help or point you in the right direction,” Carlon said of her time at EOU. “Now, we have the same opportunity. I have a very unique position where I don’t teach in a traditional classroom setting. I don’t administrate by sitting in an office in the traditional sense. I get to do a little bit of everything for these students. I am an educator in the broadest sense. Working with students is how I want to spend my life, helping them learn and grow into their potential.”

Teaching was in both Woodhead’s and Carlon’s genetics, as was a sense of adventure. “My adoptive grandmother and father became teachers, my sister is a teacher,” said Woodhead. “I remember being five or six and telling my uncle, who was a professor at Southern Oregon, how I wanted to be a teacher. I don’t remember a time in my life when I wanted to do anything else,” recalled Carlon. “It might be ironic that we’re working together, but it’s not uncommon for EOU and Alaska to draw folks who are looking for an adventure,” Woodhead commented as he and Carlon visited.

Woodhead’s father was one of seven children born in Alaska and put up for adoption. “Everything about my dad’s culture, I read in a book. I wanted to come here and experience it firsthand.” While at Eastern, Woodhead was a recipient of the EOU Foundation’s First Citizen Scholarship, and recognized the influence this had on his decision to pave a path from EOU to Alaska. “When Eastern invested in me, it was the push and incentive to finish strong. But, it’s also the thing that said ‘You know what, I’m coming to Alaska because I want to do right by the people who made the investment in me.’ It was really what made me know that going back to my family roots was the right path for me. EOU is so good at showing its students support. And now it’s my turn to pay forward that same support to these students.”

Caring professors and coaches made a lasting impact on Wilda Stratton, ’72, and now she’s determined to pay it forward. 

Stratton and her husband Marcus Watt have set up a $2 million estate gift to the EOU Foundation that will benefit women in STEM fields and student-athletes. Adding this legacy to their will ensures a legacy of education and opportunity for rural students.

As a biology student and multi-sport athlete at EOU, Stratton built connections with peers and mentors across campus. These relationships kept her on track during a difficult time in her young adulthood

“I was very adrift because both my parents had passed away and I had to leave our home, but I kept coming back to EOU because I knew the professors,” Stratton said. 

State scholarships and a consistent flow of weekend and evening jobs allowed Stratton to stay in school and enter the medical field. She built a career overseeing blood banks and transfusion services for major hospitals. Traveling to inspect facilities, Stratton used her experience at EOU to make friends everywhere. 

“The big thing that stuck with me was the ability to get along with all kinds of people and appreciate their strengths,” she said. “In a team sport each person brings something different and you have to respect each other.”

Stratton and Watt are both volleyball players, and 15% of their gift will benefit EOU’s women’s volleyball team. The other 85% will provide scholarships for women in science, technology, engineering and math, fields like Stratton’s that have historically been dominated by men. 

The process of establishing an endowed estate gift was new to Watt and Stratton, and they found expert help in EOU Foundation staff.

“I wasn’t sure what to expect, but a couple of phone calls really solidified those particular desires I had in mind,” Stratton said. “Once we started the process, you could focus on it and keep making progress to get it right.” 

“If people are unsure, they should really just call and ask!,” Watt said. “Staff do this every day, and so often people don’t realize those resources are there. It can be intimidating to know who to call, but once you start there are resources to guide you. Hesitancy shouldn’t be a barrier.”

Room 214 in Inlow Hall is not a classroom, but it’s where two recent graduates learned critical skills, discovered mentors and applied theoretical knowledge. 

Briana Rosenkranz, ’20, and Samantha Wegermann, ’20 and ’21, earned degrees in business from EOU, while gaining real-world experience through on-campus jobs and internships with the university’s marketing team. 

After graduation, they both entered Boise’s rapidly growing start-up market and quickly climbed the ranks. Rosenkranz started as a junior content marketer at Verified First, a human resources technology company. When she was promoted, Wegermann happily filled the vacancy and later became a full-fledged content marketer.  

Rosenkranz, now a Partner Marketing Manager, said her year-long role as EOU’s Public Relations Intern filled her portfolio with published press releases and gave her a big-picture perspective on strategic marketing. 

“I had collaborated with multiple stakeholders and worked directly with administrators, plus mentorship to learn about analytical tools,” she said. “I was already familiar with using strategic language to align every topic with company goals and presenting progress reports.”

Wegermann, who also served as ASEOU President, was a leader in Residence Life and held a student job as a graphic designer for EOU. She credits all three extracurriculars with landing her the job. 

“I came into the interview with real projects I had done,” she said. “When I came into this position, they expected me to do graphic design, as well as copywriting. Even though I hadn’t done that directly, I had been observing marketing team members.”

Marketing courses provided a solid foundation and faculty ensured they had an understanding of the basics, but adapting to the demands of an actual workplace set both alumnae up for early success. 

“In a small community there are so many chances for hands-on experience,” Rosenkranz said. “We had those transferable skills and real-world projects coming into the workforce.” 

Wegermann discovered flexibility and opportunity from a rural education.

“EOU works really hard to ensure there’s a wide range of opportunities. I was hired straight out of my MBA and my supervisor has said I’m way ahead of where she’d expect a recent graduate to be,” Wegermann said.

Verified First helps organizations attract and hire high-quality employees more effectively. Rosenkranz hosts an industry podcast and works directly with HR professionals, connecting them with technology and colleagues to improve hiring, workplace environments and employee engagement, while Wegermann creates a range of materials and imagery to support them. 

From classrooms, to campus offices, to corporate success, Mountaineers are avid learners in every environment. 

Jose de Jesus Melendez went to college at the age of 27 in order to expand his career opportunities. By the time he graduated, education was both the journey and the destination.

Born and raised in a remote village in Mexico with no electricity or services of any kind, Melendez said he  was barely literate in his own language when he came to the U.S. He attended first through fourth grade, but those years were constantly interrupted.

“The teachers assigned to our village were not willing to teach school there,” Melendez said. “We would get a young teacher who would stay a couple months and then leave. Then there would be several months before we would get another teacher.”

When he was 15 Melendez came to the U.S. The oldest child in his family, it was his responsibility to join his uncles in California and make money to help support the family in Mexico. He said he worked in the Greater Salinas Valley for many years in the produce industry. By the time he was 24, he was still struggling to master the English language.

“I started to feel a strong desire to access systems that were obviously English-only systems of employment,” Melendez said.

Melendez said he started focusing on learning English, bought books and was Sesame Street’s No. 1 fan.

“I was glued to the TV to learn from that little program,” Melenedz said.

Eventually, learning English wasn’t enough and Melendez wanted an education. At 27, while living in Southern Oregon, he hurt his back while doing migrant labor work. He wanted to improve his situation and while reflecting on what to do next, he was encouraged to enter a 12-week, on-campus, GED program at the University of Oregon. But there were obstacles.

“When I showed up they said the program was for recent high school dropouts who were no older than 20, but I convinced them to let me stay,” Melendez said.

One of his teachers, Donna Wong, had also come to the U.S. as a child and understood the language and culture barriers. She helped him navigate the system and was integral in his success not only earning a GED, he said, but getting him to apply to college. He received a full scholarship to what was then called Southern Oregon State College in Ashland.

Lack of education and cultural differences continued to present challenges for Melendez.

“I was struggling so much I almost dropped out,” Melendez said. “I didn’t have the background to carry the class load.”

While at Southern Oregon, his counselor helped him get into appropriate academic classes and steered him toward EOU and its bilingual education minor. Melendez jumped at the suggestion, but what he expected to be a program taught in two languages turned out to be an English for Speakers of Other Languages minor. He felt isolated and again considered dropping out of school.

“The EOU Ambassadors Coordinator, Mindy Morrison, told me, ‘No, you are not leaving, end of story.’ She convinced me that going to college was the greatest missed opportunity I would ever have.”

Morrison helped Melendez navigate a system that confused him and pointed him to the Learning Center and tutoring programs.

“I was their best customer, getting help with science, math, and geography,” Melendez said.

With the transfer and the extra year of classes necessary to teach school, Melendez finished his degree in five years. During his student teaching stint in Ontario, he kept an eye out for a job working with second language learning students. He was hired to teach dual language split kindergarten and first grade classes.

“They had a contract for me to sign before I finished student teaching,” Melendez said. 

There was a lot of regional interest in my teaching career. Local newspapers covered his first day in the classroom.

Education was no longer the path to a lifelong career for Melendez—it was the career and a calling as a student and a teacher. He taught elementary school for several years and earned a master’s degree in curriculum and instruction with emphasis on English Language Learner education. 

Wanting to move into administration, Melendez earned another master’s degree in educational leadership. He became an elementary principal. Still hungry for learning, he went on to earn an Educational Specialist Degree, culminating with his superintendent credentials.

He helped open a new school in Mesa County in Colorado, then returned to the Northwest to serve the Meridian School District outside of Boise. His next stop was Washington state before coming to La Grande last year to head up the school district as its Director of Student Success.

He said the position is to assist families, connect them with community resources and help students be successful in La Grande’s K12 system.

“Our initiative is to create a culture of care,” Melendez said. “We make sure children are socially and emotionally healthy. We watch carefully and monitor when we include or exclude students and why.”

The other part of his job is coaching the district’s elementary school principals.

“I really love that part,” Melendez said. “When I was a school principal I needed coaches, too.”

The successful lifelong learner and educator, Melendez said he had some discouragement along the way, but chose to focus on the positive reinforcement he received.

Melendez said , “People would ask, ‘Why are you struggling here? You could go back to where you came from and you would be way better off.’ But I relied on the folks who gave me life and hope because they wanted what was best for me.”

Katy Nesbitt

Somewhere between a miscommunication and the eagerness to start a new career, Lynette Longchamps found herself teaching kindergarten, a job she vowed to never have.

After graduating from EOU with a bachelor;s degree in education Longchamps interviewed for a third grade position in Shoshone, Idaho.

“After the interview I was told the job announcement was listed wrong, it was actually for kindergarten,” Longchamps said. “I needed to pay off student loans, so I took the job.”

While she said she had the utmost respect for kindergarten teachers, Longchamps didn’t think she had the patience for the job. 

“That first day—staring at 22 faces—I thought, what did I get myself into? I have to get them ready for first grade in nine months!”

Now in her sixth year, Longchamps wouldn’t change her position for the world.

“I love the growth I get to see them go from babies to independence. It’s fantastic to watch the confidence that grows in them,” Longchamps said.

From her earliest memories, Longchamps knew she wanted to teach. She grew up in the northern Nevada town of Battle Mountain and attended Boise State University before transferring to EOU to study English for Speakers of Other Languages and complete the teaching program.

Longchamps said she teaches in a Title 1 school, meaning 40 percent of enrollment or more are from low-income families. Many of the children have no preschool education, so to prepare 20 or more children for first grade with no para-professional help is a tall order, but she has some tried and true methods to keep order and deliver the children’s lessons.

To get their attention, Longchamps rings a doorbell she wears around her neck.

“As soon as they hear it, they put their hands on their heads and eyes on me to listen for directions,” Longchamps said.

It takes training to have 20 kids with different rhythms at home work as a cohesive unit. 

Longchamps keeps a stack of M&Ms on her desk and feeds her students large doses of compliments and positive feedback.

“Praise is huge for my little people, but treats don’t hurt!” Longchamps said.

She said teaching young children is all about the little processes.

Longchamps said, “Just to teach kids to raise their hands before they talk takes six or seven steps!”

Once her students get into the rhythm of Ms. Longchamps’ kindergarten class, they readily adapt.

“They love their routine,” Longchamps said. “If I miss something, they ask for it.”

Favorite class time activities, Longchamps said, include timed math tests, being the line leader or even better, the line caboose who gets to hold the door as the students walk out to the buses.

The rudimentary lessons of kindergarten are so integral in the preparation for the entire K-12 existence, and Longchamps said she wants to give her students a solid foundation for entering school.

“Everyone remembers their kindergarten teacher,” Longchamps said. “Every person I ever talked to since I took this job said they remember her name and they always have fond memories. I would like to give that to my kids.”

Her commitment, dedication and passion for her work has not gone unnoticed. In May of 2021, the students, parents and staff at her school recognized her as Teacher of the Year. 

Longchamps said her reward as a kindergarten teacher goes beyond the accolades and the progress her students make during their first year in a formal education environment. 

“They teach me acceptance,” Longchamps said. “I’ve had some tough students—like a table flipper—and the other kids take them in with their whole heart and love them with genuine joy.”

Longchamps may not have felt prepared for the busyness of five year-olds, but she said she did feel prepared to face a career as a teacher after graduating from EOU.

When she started in Shoshone she was one of four brand new teachers.

“I knew what the programs in the schools were and that first year I never felt uneasy or had a lot of questions,” Longchamps said.

She even had colleagues tell her she was well-prepared for her first year and said she’s happy with her decision to go to EOU.

“My professors had a love for education, for kids and for making us the best educators we could be,” Longchamps said.

Garrett Christensen 

Home means something different to everyone. Amelia Ettinger, a 2021 MFA graduate, expresses home, or rather how to find home, through poetry in her 2020 collection “Learning to Love a Western Sky.”  

“It really is looking for home in many ways,” she said. “I think that a lot of the collection is a narrator’s voice of looking how to find home when you have been displaced from your original place of birth. It’s about maturing in a foreign land and how nature becomes a place of solace and renewal for the speaker.” 

Ettinger has a master’s degree in biology and taught Spanish and science at La Grande High School for 26 years. She worked on the collection, 50 poems in total, through 2019, and it was quickly picked up by Arlie Press. 

“Learning to Love a Western Sky” tackles themes of belonging and identity in an unfamiliar land along with human relationship to nature. Ettinger explained that the book carries on themes from her first collection, “Speaking Out of Time,” with a more mature voice and view of the world. 

“I wanted to start with Puerto Rico and then from there move into the internal angst that the displacement makes and into the mature woman,” she said. “There are a lot of poems that have to do with life in Eastern Oregon, but throughout all the themes, one thread that you can find is nature. Nature is where the voice in the poems finds redemption from whatever, whether it’s stress, melancholia, whatever it might be. Nature is the bond that brings the beauty into the voice,” she said.

A notable piece from the collection is “Vulgarization,” a commentary on the general harshness and divisiveness of modern political discourse. The idea struck while she was mountain biking. 

“I really like what it says. Even though it’s talking about something so negative, the narrator has hope,” she said.

Arlie Press sent the collection to the 2021 Portland Book Festival, and Ettinger was invited to speak about her work.

“They treat you like a celebrity,” she said. 

She was interviewed by Erika Stevens alongside another author, Teresa K. Miller, in a block called “Homelands and Inheritance.” 

“[Erika] noticed some particular vocabulary where my science background shows through the poems. She asked me about the diaspora in Puerto Rico, so we discussed that and how does that feel to be gone from the island, particularly now that the island has been going through difficult times. So, that was the thread of home,” Ettinger said.  

The festival includes readings and books from other authors, including Louise Erdrich and Rita Dove and concluded with book signings at Powell’s Books, which was completely packed.

“It was just very heartwarming to do a book signing with that many people, because the Portland Book Festival brings a lot of readers, not only writers,” she said.

Even as a seasoned author, hearing the experiences and works of other professional writers left an impact on Ettinger.  

“You get so inspired by the amazing work that so many people are doing. You just don’t want it to end. You just want to sit there like, ‘Keep reading! Keep enlightening me,’” she said. 

The festival is not just for published authors, though. Ettinger believes that event could be both a learning experience and career opportunity for upcoming student authors. 

“Eastern Oregon students not only should participate in it hopefully one day, but they should start going and see what it is about and get to hear some amazing presentations,” she said. 

Currently, Ettinger has a new poetry collection, “Between the eyes of the lizard and the moon,” releasing in fall 2022 along with a new chapter book, “These Hollowed Bones,” though she is still searching for a publisher.

Q&A with Alexander Ortega

Second-year MFA student Alexander Ortega, who attends EOU while based in Salt Lake City, recently had his short story “A Real Man” published in the collection “Evergreen: Grim Tales & Verses from the Gloomy Northwest.” 

Q: What is your piece in the “Evergreen” anthology about?

A: The folkloric Coco Man (his anglicized New Mexican name; El Coco/El Cucuy in Mexico) has kidnapped the narrator, a 10-year-old boy. Yet this is the child abduction that has finally broken the Coco Man, and a boy makes him a deal to get back home. Shifting power dynamics complicate the matter more than either expect.

Q: What inspired you to write the piece?

A: I grew up with my gramita and great-uncles warning me, my brothers, mom, and aunts about the Coco Man. He’s a rhetorical tool to get children to behave or to play/prolong pranks on the entire family when you drive up in the middle of the night, in the tiny, rural town of El Rito! But once, according to my gramita, my great-grandparents got someone—maybe a neighbor or one of her uncles or something—to come to their house on or around Christmas, make her and her siblings say Catholic prayers, and insinuate that he’d take them away in a sack if they misbehaved. 

Q: How does it feel to submit your work for publication?

A: As far as the emotional end of the process, it’s really intimidating at first. You need a cover letter, often a bio, and to follow all the directions of submitting. But I promise, once you do your first one, it gets easier. There’s a lot of research involved, too. It behooves us to research the publication and the kind of work it publishes, its editorial staff, and the other aesthetic elements that may make work a good match for any given publication. Then, once you submit, you start again.

Q: What was significant about the first work you ever published?

A: The first work I published may best be described as a flash fiction triptych, called “Nubes,” that was published in “Moss,” a literary journal of the Pacific Northwest. For me, what’s significant about this triptych’s publication is the amalgamation of absurdist fabulism and my Chicano, Hispanic, and Mexican-American roots. Since my maternal grandparents are from Northern New Mexico and my paternal grandparents are from Northern Mexico, my cultural position as, functionally, a third-generation Chicano and third-generation Salt Laker infuses my harebrained premises, but allows me also to navigate what I hope is original imaginary territory.

Q: What are you working on now?

A: I’m working on the short story/flash collection that will be my thesis! Herein, I’ll continue with my affinity for fabulism. One of the stories that will appear in this collection will be “Gramita’s House,” which “Quarterly West” published last year. You can read it at .

Joan Gilbert, ’90, is stepping outside her comfort zone.

Gilbert, a graphic artist who lives in Enterprise, is seeking to expand her artistic ability while completing a major project that will be three years in the making.

The project, called “Wallowa Lake: 55×55,” will be completed next year and displayed at the Josephy Center for Arts and Culture.

“Basically, I started two years ago with a three-year project (that) by the time I turned 55, I will have done 55 pieces of artwork — all pertaining to Wallowa Lake,” she said.

That 55th birthday — and with it, the project’s deadline — will arrive in August 2022.

Gilbert, a La Grande native, originally got a degree in economics from EOU and didn’t seriously consider art until she was prodded by her parents (former EOU President David Gilbert and Carolyn Gilbert) to take an art class. She finally took their advice during her junior year, and then finished the core classes for art at EOU before transferring to Oregon State University to get a degree in graphic design and illustration.

She has turned that into a career as a graphic designer, and has worked with more than 100 businesses since moving to Wallowa County in 2002. She’ll complete watercolor and acrylic paintings of Wallowa Lake, but also expand to less familiar mediums, too.

“Part of the reason I started this project was to give me an excuse to sample all types of media and techniques. I’ve done illustration before, and children’s book illustration,” she said.

Pastels. Oil. Cold-wax paintings. Wood carvings. Mosaics. Potentially a monochromatic, black-and-white piece.

“I may even have a bronze in the show, and that is way out of my comfort level,” she said. “You name it, I am going to try to experiment.”

Wallowa Lake serves as the subject for several reasons.

“My family spent a lot of time up there — it’s sentimental,” she said. “I spent six years being art director at Wallowology. I learned a lot about the lake and learned how special it is with the moraine and the protections.”

Choosing just one subject for the focal point, she said, was a way to keep her from having to decide which subject to focus on in different mediums.

The pieces won’t be identical in scope, though. One is a pastel of fireworks over the lake. Another is an icy winter scene painted in watercolor. Yet another has the lake in the background and is focused on a bird nest in the trees.

The bronze piece she hopes to complete — and currently is in the process of making a clay sculpture of — is Wally, the Wallowa Lake sea monster.

The high volume of pieces gives her plenty of opportunity to experiment, and will help her work through a fear she carries with her artwork.

“If I did just three pieces, then I might get over-obsessed with those. I wanted to keep things loose and keep moving forward. If I have a goal of a lot of pieces I keep moving forward,” she said. “One of the things I always knew I had — and I have to work through it, is sort of the fear of finishing. I tend to overwork things. It could be pretty darn good and I keep noodling with it, and it ruins it.”

To prevent “noodling,” when she reaches a point where a piece is close to done, but needs that final, finishing touch, she’ll shelve it for a while, focus on another piece, then return to the incomplete one.

As a result, she is approaching two-thirds of the way through the project, but many pieces are in this limbo stage of close, but not quite done. A year away from her deadline, 18 of the pieces were complete and several others were at about 75% done.

Working on “55×55” three days a week from her home studio, Gilbert said she may be putting final touches on things the night before the display is set up.

And while her graphic design work has been rewarding — and could be a fall-back plan — she is hopeful this step outside of her comfort zone could be successful enough to allow her to become a full-time artist.

“Can I actually start a career from this? That is the big question,” she said. “I’m hoping by the end I’ll have fallen in love with a medium and I’ll want to work with that. If I get a gallery representation that would be great.”

When Wandering Dragon Productions set out to make a horror movie in 2019, founder Amanda Rae Jones, ’01, knew the horror genre and community was ready for something different.

After two years of production and pandemic delays, “The Stairs” premiered this summer in select theatres and on digital streaming platforms.

“This is not a typical horror film,” Jones said. “Everybody’s got their ideas of what a horror film is, and this doesn’t fit into any specific categories. It’s suspenseful and visceral because you feel like you’re in it. There’s this really beautiful throughline that centers around relationships and which relationships are important.”

She called it dramatic horror.

Jones’ day-to-day in her Seattle office is pretty far from Hollywood drama—horrifying or otherwise. She left the world of finance to start Wandering Dragon Productions, and her role in the company focuses on the logistical, budgetary and business-minded aspects of filmmaking.

“Making a movie is much like starting a business,” she said. “But you have 5 to 7 months to get set up and make it happen, rather than 5 to 7 years.”

She put together a pitch to raise money and reviewed the script to ensure the company could afford to cinematize the story they’d written. They cast well-known actors and shot the movie. Post-production jobs like editing, coloring, sound and scoring happened during the pandemic.

“Then we held it for six months because of COVID, and then we held it longer so we could release it in summer.”

In January 2021 they decided to enter the festival market rather than keep waiting for theaters to open. “The Stairs” was shown in 20 festivals, and to date has won 25 awards.

The path to success, though, is paved with patience.

“What you see on the screen in those 94 minutes took us 20 days of filming, six months of writing and pre-production, then a year of post-production,” Jones said. “It’s a long process for an hour and a half.”

She’s seen a wide range of motivations that keep filmmakers committed to these long-term projects, but Jones does it out of a drive to inspire others to realize their dreams.

“Everybody has their personal reason for getting into movies,” she said. “For some it’s the proximity to glitz and glamor, for some it’s the opportunities to advance and for some it’s the creative process to make something you had imagined.”

The real magic happens when all of those individual reasons come together. It took more than 200 people and businesses to make “The Stairs.” From volunteers handing out coffee, to IT specialists, lawyers and bus drivers, Jones is adamant that it takes all types of people to make a movie.

“Film sets are the only working environment I’ve seen where everybody comes from a different walk of life and they’re working toward a common goal,” she said. “You need music, wardrobe, makeup, people making food or making travel arrangements—there’s room for everyone.”

Jones goes a step further to ensure inclusion and equality in every Wandering Dragon Production project. Every movie they make guarantees 50-50 men and women in the crew, with a portion of the proceeds committed to a profit share. Specifically for The Stairs, 30% of the cast and crew were over 65 years old and 60% of employees were self-identified people of color. Additionally, everyone was paid the same day rate.

Jones is acutely aware of the powerful role she plays in owning a media production company, and she wants her movies and film projects to be a beacon of equality and reflect the diversity of the real world.

“You don’t always see that in the film industry, and rarely do you see a woman in charge,” she said. “Of course you can sit outside of any industry and want change, but you can’t make systemic change from the outside. You have to go in there and change things if you want it to be different.”

Wandering Dragon Productions has a slate of upcoming movies that will keep Jones busy for another 10 to 15 years. Before she dives into those, they’re figuring out how to safely navigate the landscape while committing to safety on set during a pandemic and into the future.

Never losing sight of the meaning of college education, Robert ‘Bob’ Stubbs was recognized for his lifelong pursuit of a degree with the title of 2021 Honorary Alumnus.

Since the age of 17, Stubbs has had the goal of obtaining a bachelor’s degree. Now 81 and with his health declining, he finally achieved his dream that was 60 years in the making.

“His work ethic began as a young child when he started to work at the age of 6 for the family business. Although he went to the Air Force, he always knew the value of an education. Married with children after the Airforce, he was determined to complete his bachelor’s degree,” his daughter Amy Stubbs said.

His deep passion for education was obvious and has translated to his children, all of whom completed bachelor’s degrees. Amy recognized that the value of education had been prevalent throughout her childhood as she would watch her father drive an hour each way from work in order to continue progress toward a degree.

Following his military service in the U.S. Air Force and National Guard, Stubbs built a career in software development and project management that took his family all over the nation and world. He took classes throughout his career, and after retirement he enrolled at EOU in 2007.

Stubbs was able to earn 30 credits through Agency Sponsored Learning, a program EOU offers non-traditional students who bring a wealth of knowledge from outside the classroom. He took a hiatus, then returned again in 2017-18, but his ailing health caught up with him, and Stubbs had to withdraw from his final terms.

A lifetime of friends and colleagues stepped up to advocate for Stubbs, and succeeded in nominating him as an honorary alumnus. A number of people wrote letters to EOU, including his friend Lisé Hamilton.

“Bob’s pursuit of the degree at age 81 and his class performance speaks volumes about his courage and commitment. He has already demonstrated that he possesses the intellectual capacity and drive that would be required to earn the degree,” Hamilton wrote. “His decision to withdraw, despite his passionate desire, is yet another hallmark of an individual whose life epitomizes service to others. Equally, his daughter’s advocacy for this honorary degree, is another indicator of Bob’s devotion and integrity.”

Amy collaborated with EOU staff to make Stubb’s goal a reality. This fall, the EOU Alumni Association named him the 2021 Honorary Alumnus.

“Education has been a part of my dad’s lifelong pursuit and the number of college credits completed by him would provide most a bachelor’s degree with many credits over,” she said.

Editor’s note: We are happy to report that Bob is now actively taking classes again at EOU and expects to complete his degree soon!

His oldest daughter is six, and this week she’s dreaming of growing up to be an astronaut, a mommy and a teacher.

“She doesn’t take anything off the list—she just keeps adding,” said Damien Tracy, ’21.

Tracy transferred to EOU and completed his psychology degree entirely online while working two full-time jobs and being a dad to four kids. Caring for others has been a theme in his life and career.

He works for Caption Call, a relay service for people who are deaf or hearing-impaired. Before that, though, he was accustomed to assisting and communicating with people who have disabilities.

“My whole life and culture is the community of the disabled,” he said. “Both my dad and sister are intellectually disabled, and I’ve grown up around people who are disabled so my heart is set in that. It’s been my life passion.”

After five years working as a mentor and supervisor, his bachelor’s degree gave Tracy the boost he needed to obtain a management position. He went from overseeing 20 employees to joining four colleagues to supervise 500 staff members.

“I was offered the position a month after graduation,” he said. “The position is all about communication and enhancing performance. Having a degree helped on paper, but I also use it on tasks with the job.”

His new role required a move from Caldwell, Idaho, to San Antonio this summer. Before hitting the road, the Tracy family visited campus for the second time ever. They had come for a tour before he transferred to EOU, and the welcome affirmed his choice.

“I toured EOU even though I was going to be a fully online student,” he said. “It felt personal, and the advisor was very interested in me and excited for me to come. Everybody was very patient with my kids and so hospitable.”

When they returned, it was for graduation.

“My favorite memory was walking across the stage and watching my kids being all excited,” Tracy said. “Being greeted by psych faculty, and getting to see my favorite professors in-person after being online the whole time was also great.”

Tracy was one of the last graduates to walk across the stage, but he said the atmosphere stayed fresh and exciting all day. The occasion capped a challenging educational career of juggling responsibilities at home, at work and in the classroom. Tracy said his professors kept him engaged in learning by sending personalized videos for statistics classes to answer his questions.

As he completed his final assignments and took his last tests, Tracy’s kids were counting down alongside him.

“They were excited that I’d have more play time,” he said. Now with a new job and settling into their new home, Tracy tells his oldest daughter that she can do anything—just like him.

It was 1977 in La Grande, and Elizabeth Estabrooks, ’01, hadn’t really planned on joining the U.S. Army. She had just accepted a higher paying job and bought a new Nova SS, but the job fell through and a friend talked her into going down to the recruiters’ office together.

“At the time, women had to give up custody of children to join the Army—men didn’t, but women did,” Estabrooks said. “I didn’t have kids at the time, but my friend did. She didn’t join the Army that day, but I did.”

Estabrooks has burnished the resilience and intelligence she had then. She now serves as Deputy Director of the Center for Women Veterans in Washington, D.C., ensuring women veterans across the
country have equal access to benefits and services from Veterans Affairs (VA).

About 12 years after leaving the Army, she embarked on a career in social work and assisted people who had experienced domestic violence or sexual assault. She eventually enrolled at EOU as an online student to earn a degree in Liberal Studies, and later received a Master’s of Social Work from Columbia.

“I use what I learned in the Army and at EOU and in my career,” Estabrooks said. “All of those experiences combined have brought me here and allowed me to help women veterans and women in general.”

At EOU, she focused on political science and gender studies, and became one of the first graduates with that concentration. Estabrooks was a single parent when she was taking classes online from Baker City. Her daughter was 17 and her son was 5 when they watched her walk across the stage in Community Stadium.

She attended some weekend classes, but primarily interacted with faculty and peers through the then-new online classroom.

“EOU was doing a lot of work to make sure people could get their college education in a legitimate way from home, and showing that a quality university could provide a quality degree to students who weren’t sitting in their chairs in that town,” she said.

A degree from EOU equipped her to pursue larger roles in a field she had long been interested in exploring.

“I’ve always been a feminist,” she said. “I’ve always understood that women are disenfranchised and there’s a need to acknowledge that in anything you approach. [My degree] put a finer point to that and gave me an academic lens to look through.”

Serving in the Army in the late ’70s affirmed her feminist stance.

The Women’s Army Corps had just been dismantled and leaders were working to integrate women into the Army. Estabrooks went through basic training with the second group of women to ever complete the course alongside men.

“We did everything they did. We threw hand grenades, ran the same distance, fired the same weapons,” she said.

She scored highly on the Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery (ASVAB), but was shuttled into the supply field with a mass of recruits.

At that time, thousands of Army jobs were still closed to women. Estabrooks wanted to be a Ranger, but a sergeant told her, “girls can’t be Rangers.” She finished the 12-week course in half the time and requested to join the 82nd Airborne. A different sergeant gave her a familiar answer, “girls can’t be Airborne.”

“As a woman in the Army, it didn’t go well for me—discrimination, sexual harassment and no bonuses, so I left when my three years were up,” Estabrooks said. “I didn’t hate the Army, but discrimination was embedded in every structure, and I hated that.”

Since May 2020, she’s helped lead the Center for Women Veterans and worked to dismantle some of the structures that pushed her out of the military decades ago.

There are two million women veterans, but only 800,000 are en- rolled in the VA and just 500,000 use VA-provided healthcare.

“One of the biggest barriers is being recognized as veterans,” she said. “People assume men are veterans and they assume women are not. I’ve seen it over and over again.”

This basic acknowledgement has big implications. Being recognized as veterans has the power to tangibly improve women’s lives and quality of care, Estabrooks said.

“Women have served in the military and in combat in this country since the Revolutionary War, and the fact that they’re not acknowledged is shameful,” Estabrooks said. “It’s a shift that needs to happen because it matters how women see themselves, too. Those barriers are so real.”

She cited statistics that men tend to talk about their service more than women do. That internalized divide, corroborated by popular culture, can stand between women veterans and benefits, healthcare or policy change.

“I met a woman who’d been a Marine for 13 years, but she told me she’s not a veteran. For years I said, ‘I’m just a girl who was in the Army, I’m not a veteran,’” Estabrooks said. “It sounds simple, but not applying that word to yourself gets in the way of the things you deserve.”

When women don’t self-identify as veterans, there’s less data about their needs or the ways current policy overlooks specific issues. Estabrooks said women veterans are the fastest growing group of homeless veterans.

“When they don’t say ‘she’ on Veterans Day or have women standing up there, they’re leaving out what we’ve done, our experiences and our honor,” she said.

Her own negative experiences have fueled a lifetime of work toward honoring other women.

“People hear so much about military sexual trauma, and I always point out that even with the negative experiences, women veterans are resilient,” she said. “Resilience is a big piece of the character of women veterans. We’re not defined by the bad things that happen to us. We’re defined by the strength and resilience that we as veterans have gained.”

We’ve all been there. You show up some where new, and try to find a group where you fit in. As it happens, cattle aren’t all that different.

“Cattle perform a lot better when they’re in groups with similar cattle—those of the same size or frame,” said Emily Folkestad, ’08 and ’11.

She knows from experience. Folkestad has been the Chief Financial Officer at , Oregon’s largest cattle feeding company, for 10 years.

The company uses new technology to sort cattle into appropriate groups when they’re received at the feedlot or headed to market. Folkestad said they’re one of few cattle companies that has invested in individual radio frequency ID tags for each animal in the feedyard. The pricey technology allows Beef Northwest to attend to specific needs and identify trends.

“Everybody thinks of cattle as a herd, but we track each animal as an individual,” Folkestad said. “We can track their entire journey: their weight, what they’ve eaten, any vet care including medicine or treatment, all the way to the characteristics of our finished meat products.”

She explained that raising cattle is a low-margin business—like most types of agriculture—but there’s increasing demand from consumers and retailers to trace where their food comes from. Plus, the data helps Folkestad’s team make informed decisions to improve efficiency and quality.

Folkestad works at the company headquarters in North Powder, Oregon, but she grew up in an urban environment.

“When it was time to go to school I wanted to get out of the city, so I picked Eastern,” she said. A part-time job at Beef Northwest has become a decades-long career, and Folkestad is in good company. Five other EOU alumni work alongside her: Kathryn Wilson (ne’e Pointer), ’10, Celena Hefner, ’16, Adam Sullivan, ’11, Katelyn Smith (ne’e Hefner), ’11, and Taylor Folkman (ne’e Robinson), ’20. They work in a range of jobs from IT to human resources, to financial analysis.

One of EOU’s newest degree programs, Agricultural Entrepreneurship, acknowledges this diversity of roles in food production businesses. Folkestad said the degree meets a growing need.

Mounties at work

The Beef Northwest headquarters in North Powder, Oregon is flush with EOU alumni, whose degrees range from accounting, to computer science and agriculture!

Kathryn Wilson (ne’e Pointer), ’10
Senior Financial Analyst

Celena Hefner, ’16
Price Risk Management Analys

Adam Sullivan, ’11
Lead Develper, IT

Katelyn Smith (ne’e Hefner), ’11
Cow/Calf Analyst

Taylor Folkman (ne’e Robinson), ’20
HR Coordinator

“Ag has a stigma for being disconnected from the modern world, but we have to be fiscally and ecologically sustainable,” she said. “There’s a lot of room for entrepreneurial people to come into ag and treat it like a business or career: I’m living proof of that.”

Folkestad spent three years riding hunter/jumper horses after high school, and changed her major several times before landing on a Liberal Studies degree. She completed much of her coursework through distance education services, and returned for an MBA in 2011. Eager to give back, Folkestad recently joined the EOU Foundation President’s Circle with a gift of $1,000.

She said Beef Northwest uses a range of technology for cattle and cattle health. They’ve completed trials with automated heavy equipment, and they use drones to manage surface conditions in pens or measure piles of corn.

The company has grown since Folkestad started as a receptionist. Beef Northwest sources cattle from the Pacific Northwest, cares for them in feedlots in Eastern Oregon and eastern Washington, and provides beef products to retailers across the country. She said they produce about 250,000 cattle each year. Beef Northwest cattle become steaks, roasts and burgers on American dinner plates, while products like tongue, oxtail and liver are exported overseas where they’re more popular.

From farm to market, Folkestad’s role offers a peek inside the food system and shines a light on the individual people and animals behind so many meals.

“It’s not a typical consumer business,” she said. “But that’s what makes it fun because it’s definitely a challenge.”

After 12 years of working in traditional Hopi homelands at the , Sarah Herve, ’03, got to introduce a group of young people from the Indigenous tribe to her own origins in the San Francisco Bay Area.

The trip was part of the summer internship program that Herve founded with fellow park ranger and alumnus Todd (Tatsuya) Hisaichi, ’92. They worked together in northern Arizona implementing education programs for kids and teens in the Petrified Forest National Park. Hisaichi had been wondering for a while about how to better include indigenous groups like the Hopi, Zuni and Dine (Navajo) in the park, and a grant opportunity arose that allowed them to do just that.

“I thought that we could have a better partnership with Native American tribes, since the park is surrounded by tribes and it’s an ancestral homeland for many tribes, but we didn’t have any targeted programs then,” he said.

With $15,000 from the National Park Foundation, he and Herve launched the first Native Conservation Corps (NCC) crew in 2011 with seven Dine teens. The high school students lived in the park, received a stipend, and shared aspects of their culture with visitors during ranger talks. They also pursued job skills in a variety of areas.

“Parks have a wide range of career options: law enforcement, IT, customer service, scientists, it goes on,” Hisaichi said. “They can represent their culture to the public in national parks, so people can have a better understanding of the place they’re visiting while students develop public speaking skills.”

Participants chose a range of cultural practices to share, from hair and clothing, to ceremonial structures, foods, and storytelling. They introduced themselves in their own languages and using traditional names.

“It may have been the first time those languages were heard in the park because for a long time it was forbidden,” Hisaichi said.

Herve explained that from the 1880s to the 1920s the U.S. mandated that Native American children attend boarding schools, where they were punished for speaking native languages.

“Hearing them introduce themselves in the traditional way, by talking about who their mothers and grandmothers are—I get chills thinking about it,” Herve said.

Their visit to Herve’s hometown was also laced with the reverberations of oppression. The group went to and land, a location that carries heavy history for Hopi people.

“Perceptive people noticed the significance of this endeavor,” Hisachi said. “When I went with the Hopi students to Alcatraz, people who were aware of the history were excited to see some justice done.”

He explained that Native American communities were sanctioned for refusing to send their children to boarding schools, and Alcatraz served as a military prison where Hopi elders were held for defying the government mandate.

“The history is so well-hidden that many Hopi are not even aware of this,” Hisaichi said. “It was a chance to explore this history with those students and contemplate the whole history, not a selective or sanitized version.”

“We’re not here to just talk about just the happy bits of history,” Herve added. “Interpretation is also provocation. We hope to help people connect to these places that have been set aside for future generations in ways that affect them in their hearts and in their gut. Sometimes that can be parts of history that are disgusting or difficult, but have to be shared.”

Visitors seem to agree with her. Upwards of 70 people attended the students’ ranger talks when the program hosted a crew at Muir Woods, while others interacted with the NCC at Glen Canyon.

“Visitors found it amazing and were very curious about the program and the kids,” Herve said. “There are people in our country who think that all Native Americans live in teepees, and that’s so incredibly wrong and missing out on so much diversity. Different tribes have their own languages, dances, creation stories, ceremonial costumes—it’s rich, and visitors get a lot out of that.”

Although Herve and Hisaichi never crossed paths at EOU, they’ve since discovered a myriad of commonalities. Herve earned her degree primarily through distance education courses while she worked at the John Day Fossil Beds. Hisaichi was an international student from Japan, and attended on-campus. He said Mountaineers share a set of values and a level of trust.

“EOU attracts certain people,” Hisaichi said. “It’s a special place, and that shows in the people who went there and graduated. EOU is a beacon for people who make a difference in the world.”

“Going through [distance education] has 100% made me the kind of self-motivated employee that I am for the park service,” Herve said. “I’m able to champion things, get things done.”

That attitude brought the NCC to life.

While the first summer program included all Dine students, the following years have integrated young people from different tribes. Hisaichi said he hopes this practice opens lines of communication and encourages friendships among students who wouldn’t otherwise meet.

Now, Herve and Hisaichi hope to see the program replicated at other parks. “Every park is the ancestral land of some tribe or tribes,” Hisaichi said. “Each tribe is unique, but they share the same challenges to thrive amid the dominant culture.”

Ten years of NCC crews have yielded impressive results. Herve said participants have gone on to study or work in conservation, criminal justice, biology, archeology and other subjects related to their internship experience.

“One young person at a time, it starts to have a broader impact,” she said. “They’re going into professions and bringing [their culture] with them.”

When you have a great-grandma (Faye Adams Howell, ’31) and a great-great grandma (Nell Colton Parker Sieg Grant, ’30) who were both among the first students at your alma mater, you know the blue and gold roots run deep.

Faith Nickerson graduated in June 2021, and became the fifth generation of her family to do so.

EOU has been part of Nickerson’s childhood long before she became a student herself. Her mom, Kathy Howell Nickerson, ’92 and ’93, brought Nickerson to campus for bike rides and to walk the family dog, while her grandma, Patti Clarke Howell Stinnett, ’71, brought the kids to on-campus art shows and plays.

Nickerson’s great-grandma, Zona Parker Clarke, ’82, attended first grade in the basement of Inlow Hall while Zona’s mother took some of the first classes the university offered.

All told, Nickerson was at least the seventh person from her family to graduate from EOU. They celebrated with a backyard party after watching the livestream ceremony.

Completing her biology and chemistry requirements through remote learning presented a real challenge, and Nickerson said she’s been grateful for support from her family. Greater access to in-person labs and research boosted her through the final terms of her degree.

“It was nice to have that interaction back this year,” she said. “Not necessarily how I planned to end my four years of college, but a nice way to be able to see people and communicate with those professors for the last time.”

She hopes to pursue her interest in ecological biology and work for a nonprofit or the U.S. Forest Service.

Regardless of where she lands, Nickerson said she can count on the firm foundation she gained at EOU.

“[My family] tell me stories of these places on campus where I’ve actually been,” she said. “It adds a special significance to EOU.”

Paul Phillips, ’82, didn’t plan to go to college. Nobody else in his family had done it, but a clandestine visit to campus led him to baseball coach Howard Fetz’s office and the rest was history.

He joined the Mountaineer baseball team as an outfielder in 1979 and never looked back.

Phillips’ time at EOU led him to a career as an Army officer and a job in the Pentagon, as well as master’s and law degrees. More than that, though, he learned to dream big.

“EOU gave me a good start,” he said. “It gave me the foundation to go forward and do some things. Life would have turned out quite differently if I hadn’t stumbled into the opportunity to attend Eastern, and I’m so very pleased that I did.”

His writing skills grew as a public relations officer for the Secretary of Defense and through a master’s in journalism, but the inspiration for his most successful endeavors came from the courtroom. He’s been a judge in Wyoming since 2017.

Phillips authors a series of legal drama novels that currently rank in the . His first, published in November 2020, is titled “Misjudged” and ranked No. 8 of all books on Kindle, and No.1 among legal thrillers and mystery series. It’s the No. 1 legal thriller and No. 1 political thriller in print, as well.

Before it became a hit, though, Phillips’ manuscript got more than 100 rejections from publishers. When it was accepted by Seven River Publishing, they required that he write three more to make a four-part series.

“A year and a half later here we are,” he said.

Like his time at EOU, Phillips stayed the course even when it got rocky.

“I would not have stayed in school if I hadn’t been on the baseball team,” he said. “I was floundering on the education side, and frankly on the baseball field too, but there was a group of guys I enjoyed being part of, and that kept me there while I began to figure out what I wanted to do.”

A few English classes and one key conversation with a professor planted the seeds of Phillips’ law career and entrance into writing. Finishing his undergraduate degree allowed him to progress as a military officer. With a gift to the EOU Foundation, he hopes to nurture the next generation of students and student-athletes.

“Whatever I am, it wouldn’t be the same without the experience I had at EOU,” he said. “The hope is that with a little donation of thanks, there’s another guy or gal out there who doesn’t really know what the future holds, but if you can provide something—facilities, activities, an environment they can learn in—they enjoy some success and failure that will prepare them for what’s ahead.”

Phillips met his wife on campus, too. Ann (ne’e Simmons) Phillips earned her associate degree in 1983. Their daughters enjoy advantages that Phillips never had as a first-generation college student.

“I got a letter after my first year of law school saying most people with my grades don’t finish or pass the bar, but I was working full-time, going to my daughters’ soccer games and dance recitals,” he said. “I didn’t do well in college, but I had no idea what to expect there. People who don’t come from an education-oriented family don’t have an advantage, but if you can get through it and get into life, if you’ve been paying attention, and if you work hard and listen, you’ll find that you can be a success.”

These days, he spends evenings and weekends writing on legal pads or adding thoughts to a Notes app on his phone—progress toward the next installment of his book series.

“I’m writing all the time,” he said. “I’m always making notes about something.”

Rather than writing a mystery from start to finish, Phillips said he skips around, writing a courtroom scene or a more reflective section depending on how he’s feeling. He outlines the plot first, and then creates a draft.

“The hardest part is coming up with an idea,” he said. “Coming up with plots that are realistic and courtroom-centric is the hardest part.”

After he has a draft, he adds twists and revises the storyline. He said he almost always changes the ending. The surprise twist in his second book, “One and Done,” wasn’t part of Phillips’ original outline, but the added drama caught readers’ and reviewers’ attention.

He pointed out that although he draws inspiration from his day job, the comparisons aren’t exact.

“I certainly know my way around a courthouse and try to make the books as realistic as possible, but I don’t use any local events or characters,” he said. “I’m not Sam, Gillette is not Custer, but we are sort of the whole of our experiences. I see stuff everyday that could be fodder for books.”

And he plans to continue gathering story ideas for the foreseeable future.

“I enjoy being a judge and serving the people of northeast Wyoming,” Phillips said. “Writing is still a hobby, so I plan to continue doing both. If I gave up the day job, writing would turn into a job and I’m not sure I would enjoy it as much.”

Phillips calls himself an “accidental author,” and he’s also an accidental Mountie. He wasn’t recruited to play baseball. He was visiting campus with a friend, and walked into Howard Fetz’s office. Coach Fetz told him to enroll in classes that fall.

“I showed up in September and spent four years trying to convince him to put me in. If I hadn’t taken that left into his office… Hopefully there are people on campus this year who will encounter those moments that make a big difference in their lives,” he said. “I didn’t go into this thinking I’d have three books selling in the top 100 on Amazon, but it happened. Dream big.”

Building a family within his sports team motivated Blake McNall through his undergraduate experience and now, his master’s degree.

Sports can be a gateway for community, and for Blake McNall ’20, the offered a sense of structure and fueled his dedication for his undergraduate degree. 

”Wrestling has provided me with a family while I’ve been at EOU. Our team is really close and I feel like I can count on these guys for anything,” McNall said. “If I need anything they are always there, and Coach Azure has done so much for me as a wrestler and as a person. I owe him a lot. I am very thankful for EOU wrestling being a part of my life.” 

Originally from Gladstone, Oregon, McNall decided to attend EOU when he was offered a wrestling scholarship. While at EOU, he was the 2018 133-pound Champion and a three-time NAIA National Tournament Qualifier. His coach Dustyn Azure was named the 2020-21 Cascade Collegiate Conference Men’s Wrestling Coach of the Year.

While completing his undergraduate degree, he majored in History and Anthropology/Sociology with an emphasis in social welfare. Following his graduation in 2020, McNall was unsure what path his degree would lead him down. He reflected on his wrestling career for inspiration on what would come next. 

 “I didn’t know what I wanted to do with those degrees…[But I knew] I really enjoyed working with kids. I’ve volunteered at schools, and the wrestling team had read books to kids before. We would have youth wrestling practices, and I just really enjoyed working with kids.”

McNall enrolled in EOU’s Master of Arts in Teaching (MAT) program in fall 2020 to become a teacher. The program allows individuals from any field to apply their subject expertise in elementary or secondary classrooms with effective teaching techniques. 

McNall’s wrestling experience led to a graduate assistant position with the team, providing financial support while keeping him connected to a sport he loves. He said it has given him an opportunity to focus on school and becoming a better wrestling coach. 

McNall began student-teaching face-to-face in Union, Oregon. He said he has learned a lot already about lesson planning and loves the hands-on aspects of being in the classroom. Even though his schedule is very busy, he is excited for his future and working with high school students. 

Finding wrestling at EOU opened many doors for McNall and allowed him to have a family within his teammates.

A life of military service and a legacy of giving began with teammates who stood together in defeat, agreeing to enlist en masse if they lost one more game. 

In the fall of 1948, the entire EOSC football team capped their losing season with a march downtown to join the . Among them was Willard “Bill” Carey, ’49, who would go on to serve as the youngest federally recognized brigadier general in the Army National Guard of the United States. 

Carey earned his associate degree at EOU and transferred to the , where he was student body president and president of Phi Kappa Psi. From there, he earned a law degree from Willamette University. 

In 1959, he married the love of his life, Audrey, and they set up a life and a law practice in La Grande, eventually with three children. Toward the beginning of his law career, Carey started the EOU Foundation and continued to contribute to the university until his passing in May 2001.   

“He wanted young men and women to have the kind of opportunity that he had.” – Audrey Carey

“Coming back to his own community, he recognized the need for a fundraising source for the college, so he formed the Eastern Oregon Advancement Association,” Audrey said. “He’d go out and raise money among the business people in Eastern Oregon to fund this committee, which then became, under his leadership, the [EOU] Foundation.” 

When Carey took an assignment at the in San Francisco, he commuted from his La Grande Law office and was the Deputy Commanding General for Reserve Components, Sixth US Army, which covered the 13 Western States. During this time, Carey was responsible for over 100,000 people, his wife said. 

“It was just the most wonderful experience,” Audrey said. “I got to watch him go from Captain and La Grande Company Commander all the way to Major General.” 

Carey was the first President of the EOU Foundation and served on the board for 24 years. In 1982, he was awarded the Distinguished Alumnus Award and was twice recognized with the Jaycees Distinguished Services Award in addition to being named Man of the Year by the Chamber of Commerce in 1966 and 1986. His wife remembers Carey teaching a business class at the college as well. 

When he retired from the military in 1987, Carey’s troops gifted him with their personal funds to start the “Major General Willard Carey Scholarship” and he continued to put his money into it, too. At the time of his death, Carey’s family directed donations in his honor to expand the scholarship even further.  

“He had a close attachment to Eastern and that’s why the scholarship became [what it did],” Audrey said. “He wanted young men and women to have the kind of opportunity that he had. It was becoming more financially difficult for people to go to college and so it was really important to him that there was this scholarship. He wanted it to go to people who were going to have a military career, as well a college education.” 

The scholarship provides up to $2,500 annually, and has allowed students to access higher education since 1989. To qualify for the annual scholarship, students must be part of the GOLD program, which aims to strengthen the officer candidate program at EOU while providing training exercises and trips to historical military sites across the country. 

Audrey Carey has received many letters of thanks from student recipients over the years, and she treasures their words of gratitude. One excerpt reads: 

“I look forward to the day I am also able to give back to young soldiers like myself and continue the tradition of loyalty, duty, respect, selfless service, honor, integrity, and personal courage throughout our armed forces community. I promise you, personally, I will continue to work hard and become an exemplary model for others to follow.”

The recipient of , Jeremy Bard, ’16, is finishing his doctorate in chemistry this spring and just secured a teaching position for fall. Supportive undergrad faculty and involvement in an EOU club helped set him on his path to success.

A La Grande native, Bard said he hadn’t taken chemistry in high school and was considering a career in math or engineering. He said the enthusiasm of the chemistry faculty and the nature of the topic quickly piqued his interest

“When I took general chemistry at Eastern it kinda clicked,” Bard said. 

He said he went on to finish the general chemistry sequence. For his efforts the faculty recognized him as the department’s Outstanding Freshman Chemist.

Bard said, “I liked chemistry and the award made me realize I was able to succeed in it.”

The faculty is credited for exciting his interest in chemistry, but it was the Chemistry Club that started his path of mentoring and teaching. 

“Growing up in La Grande taught me that even little actions can help an entire area,” Bard said. “EOU was one of the first places I could find an established way to do that—through the Chemistry Club.”

Club members travel to schools in small cities and towns throughout the intermountain regions of Oregon, Washington and Idaho. As a senior at EOU, Bard became the club’s president.

“Chemistry and science are daunting topics for a lot of people and perceived as too hard to even pick up,” Bard said. “People are afraid or intimidated, but if you can break down that barrier something difficult can be a lot of fun, too.”

The fun part of chemistry, according to Bard, was the opportunity to work with kids on experiments and demonstrations—methods he said broke down the science into digestible bites.

Eager to continue his journey with chemistry, Bard went directly into U of O’s doctorate program. In his first year, he worked as a teacher’s assistant for labs and lectures, creating a heavy load on top of his own studies and lab hours.

“My first year was a huge hurdle, but EOU was a great launching pad and taught me how to recognize challenges and overcome them,” Bard said. “I became confident and learned how to finish something I put my mind to, which created a good attitude for grad school. It’s tough, especially the first year, where you are learning chemistry at a much deeper level, and much more is expected of you.”

Beyond what he called a marathon of learning and teaching, Bard said much of his time revolved around research, primarily working in a lab making molecules that emit light. The applications of his work, he said, are in cell imaging, detecting certain molecules in soil and water and can be used from medicine to agriculture.

Most of the time, Bard said, what he mixes together doesn’t work. He described his research as iterative.

“There’s a difference between something not working because I did it wrong and when the chemistry simply doesn’t work,” Bard said. “Synthetic research can turn out 10 different ways even if you do something exactly the same way.” 

His induction into the world of research was fast and furious—becoming the most senior grad student on his research project in just his second year at UO.

“I was given a lot of responsibility and there was an expectation to be a true chemist in a research lab, as well as navigating the stresses of grad school,” Bard said.

The recipient of good mentoring, Bard said leadership skills were quickly instilled in him—before long he was a mentor to many undergraduate and first-year graduate students. Squeezed into his intense schedule, Bard also spent two years on a grad student advocacy group gathering the opinions of his colleagues through surveys. 

“I have spent much of my time mentoring so the new students have a less rocky start than they may otherwise,” Bard said. “When there were rumblings that the student body was unhappy and wanted something changed I would bring it up to faculty.”

Bard organized a virtual panel discussion last fall with three fellow alumni, all of whom are now in grad school, to talk to current EOU students about their research and grad school experiences.  

Combining leadership, research and a passion for mentorship, Bard began applying for faculty positions while preparing to defend his thesis.

“I want to end up at a place similar to EOU,” Bard said. “I enjoy the combination of research and service. I see it as ‘paying it forward’: making new chemists for prospective research, much like the faculty at EOU did for me. They inspired me and encouraged me—that’s the kind of position I want to be in, where I am allowed to have the creative freedom that research entails and pursue an idea that is your own.”

In March, Bard found out he’ll get to do just that as a Visiting Assistant Professor of Chemistry at Roanoke College in Virginia.

The American Chemical Society named the EOU Chemistry Club an ‘Outstanding’ chapter for the 11th consecutive year in 2020!

A laurel fig tree grows over 40 feet tall in 37 years. At least, the one in the student union at the (UM) did. 

Kelly Chadwick, ’77, planted it in the building’s atrium when she first started her job there back in 1983. 

“I never got bored,” Chadwick said of her long tenure as the University Center Garden Manager. “I was so lucky to fall into my job: It suited me so well and I loved it. If you get to know plants, you can always get to know more.” 

Chadwick gained her know-how on-the-job, but said her liberal arts education at EOU prepared her for a career of continual learning. 

The University Center was designed around massive planters positioned beneath a glass ceiling, so Chadwick’s first task was to fill out the oversized terrarium with plants that would thrive inside. Along the way, she ran into a few challenges presented by indoor gardening. 

“Indoor gardens are limited by temperature and light,” she said. “It’s a totally unnatural environment.”

Even with a glass ceiling, the tropical plants required supplemental lights to artificially extend the day length. Chadwick installed a pond to increase humidity in the planters, but pruning and pest control were the biggest challenges to managing a jungle of tropical plants.

“We flooded the building several times by overflowing planters,” she said. “Controlling insects is the hardest thing to do, but most beneficial insects stay up high and eat the bad insects.”

Chadwick has released 10 batches of 1,500 tiny parasitic wasps and five swarms of 500 ladybug-like beetles to keep leaf-eaters at bay. 

“It’s a cruel little world, but benign to people,” she said. “These species don’t care about people at all, and predators in general follow a curve that’s in balance with prey.”

She also developed a team of student workers who hunted insects and used non-toxic means of controlling pests. But the hours of work by Chadwick and her crew paid off when visitors were blown away by the living centerpiece of the student center. 

“I planted almost every one of the plants in that garden, so I’m attached,” Chadwick said. “I’m simply growing plants, but at the same time I’m constantly educating myself and students.” 

She selected specific varieties that could enhance educational opportunities. Biology and pharmacy classes have observed, touched and smelled medicinal plants humans have shaped for millennia. 

“The initial value is beauty and making the building attractive, but it has many uses: breaking up sound, providing oxygen,” she said. “Plants are important and plants can be used in an educational way.” 

She takes that approach outdoors, to a native garden that’s been cultivated for decades on the UM campus. Chadwick is part of a cohort of volunteers who nurtured renewed interest in the plot of flowers and shrubs that have adapted to Montana’s harsh conditions. 

She credits lectures and field trips from the native plant society with much of her botanical education. Chadwick went on to serve as a volunteer coordinator and organized those field trips for 15 years. She also expanded the range of species with several new gardens. She helps maintain the gardens year-round, and has been meticulously recording the first flower opening for every species for 7 years. 

“I love those native gardens, somehow my heart is in those gardens,” Chadwick said. “I found a group of kind, generous, admirable, humble people—they’re the heart of that garden. I just hope I can continue that passion with a new generation of outstanding people.”

Chadwick even chooses hikes based on finding a particular plant. She’s passionate about connecting people to native plants even if they can’t make it to the peaks and crags where they occur naturally. The garden also increases habitat for pollinators, and inspires visitors and students to plant native species at home.

Creative writing classes toured the garden to practice observing and capturing nature in words. Environmental studies students have done projects there, too, and a vegetable garden grows food for students, staff and the food pantry.

Chadwick sees plants as a gateway for connection, and an opportunity for humility. 

“If you really look at plants, they have adapted so well and they are so detailed,” she said. “If you stop and look at a little white flower, there’s this intricate detail. Plants can make you pay attention.” 

She’s worked with peers who can identify a plant from the impression of a leaf in the snow. Their place in the ecological web is equally complex inside as outside. 

“Plants are interconnected with us,” Chadwick said. “They are critical for our survival. They’re our food, they prevent erosion, they provide habitat, they’re material for our clothes, but they’re also important for their own sake and interesting on their own. They’re pretty amazing creatures.”

Happy houseplants

Alumna Kelly Chadwick cared for some really big indoor plants, and she has a few tips for anyone whose houseplants could use a lift. 

1. Most people care too much. Many people over-water their plants. Chadwick said it’s the No. 1 killer, and most plants do best when they’re allowed to almost dry out between waterings. Choose one day a week to water your plants. Always check first to see if the soil is dry, and leave it alone if it’s still damp.
2. Plants change seasonally, even inside. Differences in temperature and day length affect indoor plants, too. Running an air conditioner or a fireplace can affect the humidity in each room. Chadwick recommends being aware of the changing environment inside and out. 
3. Touch your plants! A plant’s leaves can tell you about water needs. If they’re firm, that means there’s moisture. Soft leaves mean the soil is drier.

The busiest fire department in Eastern Oregon is also one of the newest. formed in 2016 when voters approved consolidating three smaller districts covering Hermiston, Stanfield and areas east of Hermiston. 

Fire Chief Scott J. Stanton, ’12, oversaw the transition and worked alongside colleagues and citizens for several years to organize the effort. In fact, the first attempt at creating a new fire district was voted down shortly after he became fire chief of Hermiston and Stanfield. 

“People weren’t clear on what would actually change, but we learned a lot from the failure,” Stanton said. 

In 2016 he led efforts to better inform the public, and the initiative passed. The updated district structure resulted in better insurance rates, along with an increased coverage area. Stanton has staffed an additional fire station, cutting response times from eight minutes down to four for residents in that area. He’s also overseen the installation of a training tower at (BMCC) for its firefighter training program. 

Covering 47,000 residents, the ambulance service responded to about 4,500 medical dispatches within its 620-mile coverage area in 2020. Fire District 1 is also a base for the regional hazmat team that serves 6.5 counties. Nearly 40 full-time employees, plus 30 paid-on-call volunteer firefighters staff the district. 

Stanton earned a Fire Services Administration degree online from EOU while he was the Assistant Fire Chief in Hermiston, but his career in firefighting began back in 1986. 

“I grew up in Pilot Rock, where my family raised wheat and cattle,” he said. “I’m the first person to leave the ranch.”

Stanton joined his father as a volunteer firefighter at 19 years old. He started farming on his own, but quit in 1993 to train as a paramedic. Stanton started full-time firefighting in Hermiston in 1995. 

“I love helping people, and that it’s different every day,” he said. 

Stanton has seen plenty of change in 30 years — and he’s been the driving force for a lot of it.

“When I was a firefighter, change didn’t come quick enough,” he said. “I knew that I’d have to be the one promoting change.” 

So he earned more and more certifications — eventually holding over 20. His eagerness for education has nurtured a generation of incoming firefighters who are proactive about learning. 

“Firefighting forces are becoming more educated,” he said “It’s common now that applicants have at least a two-year degree.” 

Professionalizing the industry in this way means that most firefighters cross-train in several areas: hazmat, ambulance, rescue or emergency medical services. It also means that tools for technology and safety are increasingly important. Stanton said firefighters are almost three times as likely to get cancer as the average American.

“The way we take care of our people now, with cancer prevention and health and wellness opportunities, has transformed,” he said. “Thermal energy cameras and cardiac monitors are really the biggest change, but we still fight fire the same way — putting water at the seat of the fire.” 

Which is telling because Stanton has seen it all. He’s worked on numerous wildland fires, Hurricane Katrina aftermath, and even space shuttle recoveries. Stanton is set to become President of the in July 2021, and he’s bringing his penchant for education with him. 

“I always talk to my troops about furthering their education and I can talk about it because I went through it,” he said. “We’ve got to keep the pipeline full of people learning and growing.”

Valedictorian of her 1980 high school class, Republic of Palau native Sandi Wells, ’86, packed her bags, got her passport and traveled to La Grande to study business and economics.

Self-described as “wise beyond her years” and a go-getter, Wells followed her older brother to Oregon.

“There were not a lot of opportunities where I grew up, and I saw how hard my mother worked and my grandmother struggled,” Wells said.

Wells attributed this attitude to Palau’s maternalistic culture. 

“In Palau it is desirable to have girls,” Wells said. “They bring power and money into the family.”

It also means that family obligations fall on the oldest female child.

After raising a family and working in banking compliance and financial regulation, Wells’ status as her family’s oldest daughter came into play. 

“When my mother became older and needed more care the responsibility fell on me,” she said.

Wells moved back to the Pacific Islands to nurse her aging mother and put her decades of regulatory experience to work for the National Development Bank of Palau.

“The job held a lot of responsibility,” Wells said. “The bank makes low-interest housing, business, agriculture, fishing and commercial loans to develop the nation.”

Three years later, Wells’ mother had died and her contract with the bank had ended. She settled her mother’s affairs and returned to Oregon. While looking for regulatory work, Wells volunteered at the Milwaukie Center as a board member, raising funds to help people pay bills and receive Meals on Wheels. 

“Once I started volunteering with the Milwaukie Center and got involved with other nonprofit community-based organizations, I realized how many of my people are here that I did not know about,” Wells said.

Beyond those from Palau, she has learned more about Islanders from Micronesian, Polynesian and Malaysian islands. The defines a relationship between the United States and the independent governments of the Freely Associated States of  Federated States of Micronesia (FSM) and the Republic of the Marshall Islands (RMI), and the 1994 COFA with Republic of Palau (ROP). 

Similar to indigenous American tribes, Wells said Islanders face barriers to health care and other services because of discrimination, language barriers, interpretation access and poverty. Through her volunteer work, she got a job helping COFA citizens living stateside sign up for the Affordable Care Act.

The named her its 2020 “Food Hero” for her contributions to nutrition and community health. She was selected to chair the Multnomah Pacific Island Coalition, and helped institute the first Pacific Islander Community Health Worker (CHW) certification training. She also trained as a medical interpreter translating for Palauan native speakers. When the pandemic hit, Wells received certification as a COVID-19 contact tracer. 

“During the height of the pandemic from September to December I wasn’t sleeping,” Wells said. “The demand for help was incredible.” 

She even coordinated with Oregon Food Bank and Rengelkel Belau of Oregon to help EOU students get food gift cards and other services while they were unable to fly back home during the pandemic. 

“I’m not one to sit still and do nothing for long,” Wells said. “I’m a go-getter and I like helping people.”

An emerging approach to psychiatric care could mean receiving just a few treatments rather than taking a daily pill. 

Matthew W. Johnson, ’98, is at the forefront of research that could eventually bring psychedelic drugs into the field of psychiatry.

“There’s a potential for this to really be a paradigm shift within psychiatry,” Johnson said. “It’s a fundamentally different model of psychiatric drug because it’s only administered one or a few times, but people learn from the experience and have lasting effects rather than just treating symptoms every day.” 

Psychedelic drugs like , found naturally in some mushrooms, seem to prompt a mental flexibility and psychological processes that can result in lasting change. Research in this field has developed in the last couple of decades, and recent findings have begun to fuel wider interest. 

Although Johnson works at in Baltimore, he followed the passage of closely. Voters approved the measure in November, which legalizes the therapeutic use of psilocybin. It also created a two-year period during which regulatory details will be worked out. 

“We could start to see clinics popping up and I want to play a role in ensuring this happens safely,” he said.

Johnson grew up near big East Coast cities, and transferred to EOU as a non-traditional student. As a psychology major, Johnson discovered a passion that has developed into a meaningful career.

“Working in the psych department was really incredible to me,” he said. “I valued the environment because I wasn’t in classes with 600 other students. I got involved with research and took on responsibilities as a research assistant in a laboratory.”

He developed an interest in the effects of drugs, from cocaine to caffeine. 

“There are good, bad and ugly effects,” he said. “These things were fascinating to me how they could have such profound effects on peoples’ lives.”

Studies with psychedelics

When he arrived at Johns Hopkins in 2004 for post-doctoral work, Johnson continued studying a  broad range of therapeutic and psychoactive drugs, including one that administered high doses of psilocybin. 

“People report having a highly valuable introspective experience that leads them to re-evaluate or change their habits,” Johnson said. “This is drastically different from a daily drug to relieve symptoms.”

He conducted another study that administered psychedelics to cancer patients experiencing depression and anxiety fueled by their diagnosis and treatment. Six months after receiving psilocybin, they reported a lasting reduction in depression and anxiety.

Participants go through several days of medical and psychological screenings for risk factors like schizophrenia and heart problems. Professional guides build a rapport with them and talk through the potential for a “bad trip” or anxiety reaction. Johnson has served as a guide for more than 100 psilocybin sessions. 

“With psychedelics we can give a high dose that’s medically safe, but psychologically really intense,” Johnson said. “You’re just telling them to pay attention to the experience and not to try to control it. The perceptual changes can be interesting, but they gain more meaningful experience by focusing inward.” 

Two guides watch over patients for eight hours while they lay on a couch with eye shades and headphones playing music. When it’s over, participants go home and write a description of their experience, then come in the next day to debrief. 

Beating a bad reputation

Small studies with LSD took place in the early 1960s, and found that LSD roughly doubled the odds of reducing alcohol use. Johnson followed up on this anti-addiction work by using psilocybin to help people quit smoking. His team is currently seeing a one-year success rate of 59% with the psychedelic drug, compared to just 27% success on the nicotine patch.  

Psychedelics were actively researched from 1950s through ’70s, Johnson said, and the findings were seen as breakthroughs at first, but then LSD started getting abused and it developed a bad reputation. 

“It took the passage of decades before research began again, and even then it was controversial because of that history,” Johnson said. 

Now, with 20 years of modern results—and safety guidelines Johnson authored in 2008—grants and research centers are emerging again. Two years ago, Johns Hopkins received $17 million to fund its Center for Psychedelic and Consciousness Research, the first full-fledged academic center for psychedelic research in the U.S. Similar institutes are forming in California, New York and elsewhere. 

After Johnson’s research showed an “extremely large” reduction in depression, two companies are moving forward with FDA trials that could approve it for treatment within the next few years.

“I think we’re seeing a sea change in the degree to which new groups are now starting this research,” Johnson said. 

In informal discussions with organizers for Oregon Measure 109, Johnson focused on the details. Since the law would allow for both medical and therapeutic use, what would the regulations look like? How would this be integrated with the state’s role in overseeing medical practice? 

“We need appropriate oversight and screening to address the known risks and maximize potential benefit,” he said. “There’s still a lot to be figured out.”

Psychedelics FAQ with Dr. Johnson

Q: What are shrooms or magic mushrooms? 

A: Magic mushrooms or shrooms refer to one of over 200 species of mushrooms, mostly in the genus Psilocybe, that contain psilocybin and psilocin, the main psychedelic compounds in these mushrooms. These classic psychedelics have effects similar to LSD and mescaline.

Q: How does a psychedelic drug affect the brain? 

A: Classic psychedelics exert their primary effects by activating a subtype of serotonin receptor in the brain, called serotonin 2A. They initiate a cascade of effects within the neuron, which has downstream effects on other neurotransmitters, and ultimately cause profound changes in the way brain areas synchronize or communicate with each other. There is still far more to figure out!

Q: How could doctors use psilocybin for medical treatment? 

A: It would have to wait until after the FDA has approved psilocybin for use in medicine outside of research use. If approved, a procedure would include patient screening, preparation, supervision of the psychedelic administration, and follow-up care. It would look more like outpatient surgery than typical psychiatric drugs that are sent home with people.

Q: What risks are associated with psychedelic drugs, and how are those risks addressed in a medical/research setting?

A: The possibility of a “bad trip” is always present, especially if the dose is high enough. This could mean anxiety, fear, confusion, or severe psychological distress. Reassurance and a calm presence typically help. In a clinical setting, professionals monitor the entire session and never leave the participant alone. 

Medical and psychiatric screening identifies people with heightened risk, such as those who have schizophrenia or severe heart disease.

For Margaret Simpson, ’16, a member, academia is like basketwork—full of self-discovery.

The general manager of the Mill Casino in Coos Bay, Simpson earned three degrees while working full-time, weaving her education into her jobs and her culture.

“Higher education, for me, was more about a journey,” Simpson said. “When I was at EOU I took a lot of sociology, anthropology and political science courses that have helped me understand intergovernmental workings and opportunities to leverage tribal sovereignty.”

A 2016 EOU graduate, the former hair stylist started her college career at .

Simpson said, “I went to cosmetology school and owned a salon, but then I decided I wanted to make a greater impact on my tribe and my people.”

Simpson attended community college while serving as the executive secretary for the Health and Human Services Director at the Coquille tribal health center. Based on her aspirations, one of her career counselors recommended she study public administration at EOU.

Attending classes online, Simpson graduated with a degree in Interdisciplinary Studies, a minor in Anthropology/Sociology with a concentration in Public Administration—a good foundation for the leadership roles she’s taken in her career.

“Understanding the way the legislature works and its processes, being able to interpret different bills and legislation and the dynamics of politics, whether it be state or federal government, was helpful,” Simpson said.

While she stayed in her ancestral land to attend college, Simpson said she still had the advantage of being exposed to a wide diversity of classmates and a wider world.

“In every area I explored there has been a certain naivety about Native Americans,” Simpson said. 

Interaction with her classmates helped her understand conceptions and misconceptions.

“People would be inquiring, sometimes respectfully, sometimes not, yet in every difficulty lies opportunity,” Simpson said.

Fielding inquiries into her culture gave Simpson the opportunity to help her classmates understand Native Americans and their history. It also strengthened her ability to relate to her peers and have fruitful discourse.

A year-long, accredited coach training further honed her interpersonal skills that Simpson said are difficult to learn in traditional academia. Through the iPEC program she said she improved her ability to work with people who struggle, whether at work or personally, without “owning” the employee’s burden.

Simpson said, “I go into every situation knowing that even if I am a teacher, I am a learner as well.”

Meanwhile, her career was advancing. About halfway through her studies at EOU, Simpson became Executive Assistant to the General Manager at The Mill Casino in North Bend, Oregon. About a year into that position she began developing a tribal member employment program.

“The project was a natural fit,” Simpson said. “I was passionate about the social and economic status of Native Americans and particularly my own people.”

Her task was difficult. Even though the casino had been open for 20 years, few tribal members worked there and there was a lack of a tribal presence in executive management.

“Back when tribal gaming started, big corporations ran the casinos,” Simpson said.

But the purpose of tribal gaming was also to provide tribal members with employment opportunities to achieve individual self-sufficiency and Simpson said that was not a focus at The Mill Casino. 

“It took tribes a while to gain competencies. A casino is different from running a normal business,” Simpson said.

The program didn’t seek to just increase tribal member employment, but to provide advancement opportunities within the organization; an undertaking Simpson said took several years.

Simpson said, “We wanted them to learn essential skills to advance—that’s at the core of achieving a higher standard of living.”

Within the first two years, Simpson said, salaries doubled and wages were funneled back to tribal members’ households.

In 2020, while earning her master’s degree from the University of Nevada-Las Vegas, Simpson was promoted to general manager. She wasn’t just juggling academia and career, an unprecedented pandemic was sweeping the globe.

“The impact of the  pandemic was devastating, we  had to close the casino which had harmful effects on our tribe, community, employees and revenues,” Simpson said.

The tribe responded quickly to new restrictions and was the last casino in Oregon to close and the first to reopen.

“When we saw the pandemic coming we quickly came up with a survival plan and we’ve done well,” Simpson said.

A lifelong learner, Simpson said she plans on pursuing a doctorate, but her goal is to apply her education to help her people.

“For me it’s all about having the greatest impact on my nation, or even another tribal nation, but right now I’m really grateful for the growth opportunities I have been provided,” Simpson said. “I will continue to embrace opportunities to advance my people and tribal gaming.”

Strikes and fouls occupy most of Ed Smith’s, ’83, time these days. The former EOU quarterback founded and runs the , training and mentoring referees across the Pacific Northwest. 

Smith was a member of Coach Don Turner’s highly ranked football team in the 1980s. He remembers the tumult of that era on campus. Turner recruited Black players from California, Pacific Islander players to hold the line, and white players from small, rural towns. 

“Coach Turner’s outlook on football, culture, and diverse nature of athletics seemed extreme at the time, but it was absolutely wonderful,” Smith said. “The old weight room had a long mirror and we’d do hours of circuit training with music blaring. We played two songs of R&B, two songs of country and two songs of Islander music in a rotation.”

Smith reunited with his teammates last fall when Turner was inducted into the . He said the relationships built in that tiny weight room have held firm. 

“It was amazing to me that after almost 40 years, there was not one iota of team spirit or camaraderie lost,” he said. “At the time in La Grande that team was all we had. It was a bit terse when these new athletes first showed up. It was a new horizon for the city and the school.”

With Coach Turner’s encouragement to get involved on campus and the activism modeled by his parents, Smith decided to run for student body president. He’d served on the presidential search committee and was politically motivated. 

“We were in a time of turmoil when they were talking about closing down either Western or Eastern—we were on the chopping block,” he said. “I picked up the mantle and decided to run.”

After initial pushback, Smith focused his campaign on building grassroots support. He found common ground with fellow non-traditional students, hanging around evening classes. Smith was an older student at 27, having served six years in the . He lived on campus and campaigned in the residence halls. Plus, he drew votes from student-athletes.

In 1982, EOU elected its first Black student body president and Smith was named Most Inspirational Player. 

“I was Obama before Obama was,” Smith joked. “I hosted a political forum with Gov. Vic Atiyeh and in their debate on campus… and we successfully lobbied in the legislature to not close the school.”

He said his time as a Mountaineer and his role as a leader on campus transformed his worldview. Smith had grown up in Detroit and lived on military bases in California, but in La Grande he worked with a local farmer and bucked hay for the first time in his life. He said the experience connected him with teammates from Elgin and Cove. 

“I had no concept of where milk came from or what it was like to be in a rural place,” he said. “I went out to Baker City and would kick bales of hay out to cows at 4 a.m…. Every city kid should do that at some point. I learned about the lifestyle, and hopefully people learned about these strange kids from the city.”

Smith remembers women shuffling to the other side of the street and clutching their purses when he first arrived in La Grande. He figured he’s probably the first and only student body president to have received death threats while he was on campus. But by 1982, the football team was holding community car washes. 

“We opened the door for a lot of kids of color and different cultures starting to attend EOSC,” Smith said. “I really, really, really loved my school. It made a difference in my world.”

His recent return to campus showcased a much more ethnically diverse student body than the one he led decades ago. He reflected that although he may have been the first person from an underrepresented group to lead the student body, he’s glad to find that he wasn’t the last.