When she started teaching in 1971 the 2nd graders in her class called her Miss Linda, but after she married Ray Jones, Linda (ne’e George) Jones, ’71, became Mrs. Linda.

A degree in elementary education powered Jones’ 30-year teaching career throughout Eastern Oregon. After three years teaching on the Warm Springs Indian Reservation she returned to her hometown of Baker City, where Ray was working as a radio DJ. He had a lifelong love for community theatre, and that’s how they met.

“He was playing Candy in ‘Mice and Men,’ and it was the last night of the show,” Jones said. “He invited me to the cast party at his apartment, and we were together ever since.”

Ray passed away in 2014, and their shared legacy of involvement in the arts lives on in Linda. She volunteers for local performing arts organizations and set up an endowment with the EOU Foundation in her will. The fund will provide scholarships for music and theatre students at EOU.

Legacy gifts often set aside a percentage of the estate for the beneficiary. In the Jones’ case, they decided to give 100% of their remaining estate to EOU students (after specific bequests in the will have been made).

“We decided to put our money into Eastern performing arts,” she said. “Education has always been important to me. I’m pleased to know it’s going to be used by people who have that desire and need it.”

She said she’s been impressed by recent performances on campus, and was inspired to contribute to the purchase of a new concert grand piano for McKenzie Theatre in 2019.

Although Ray got most of the stage time, Linda also sang and played piano. She was involved in 4-H and was one of seven members of the university’s last Evensong Court in 1971. She and her fellow princesses wore traditional Grecian gowns for the ceremony on the Grand Staircase.

She said EOU offered a higher education experience that suited her rural roots, and it continues to do so today.

“I grew up on a dairy farm. I’m a small town girl, and I needed small for college,” she said. “I didn’t want to get swallowed up on a big campus. That’s why Eastern was so great for me and still is now.”

Learn more about the EOU Foundation’s Legacy Society and how to support students through a gift of any size at .

Umatilla Superintendent George Fenton, ’57 and ’60, was recognized in Oregon House Continuing Resolution (HCR 13) for his years of service.

Russell Fecht, ’99, superintendent of Pershing County School District in Lovelock, Nevada, was named the 2022 Nevada Superintendent of the Year.

Gary Will, ’00, of Forest City, Iowa, accepted the position of Assistant Professor of Criminal Justice at Waldorf University.

Jorge Pulleiro, ’08, was named Idaho’s 2021 Teacher of the Year for his work leading a dual immersion Spanish Language Arts program at Wood River Middle School in Hailey. He was also recently named to the Carnegie Corporation of New York’s annual list of Great Immigrants, Great Americans. This year, Pulleiro will be moving to a new role as the Associate Principal at Twin Falls High School.

Lynette Longchamps, ’16, was named the 2021 Shoshone School District Teacher of the Year.

Emeritus Professor George Venn was highlighted in a short documentary about his career as a writer, poet and fixture in western American literature. A full-length feature documentary is currently in the works.

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Obituaries

Leslie Randall, ’88

Adapted from The Daily Evergreen.

Leslie Randall, ’88, passed away in March, leaving behind a legacy in Native medical research and advocacy for education.

After dropping out of high school, Randall earned her GED and then attended St. Edward’s University in Texas, but moved back to the Nez Perce reservation in Idaho before completing her studies. Randall was a single mother when she completed her degree in nursing from EOU.

She went on to earn a doctorate in nursing from Washington State University, and focused on maternal-child health among Indigenous communities. Randall’s oldest son died in 2009, which increased her interest in maternal healthcare.

She worked in Arizona on the Navajo Indian Reservation as a labor and delivery nurse, and traveled as far as Hawaii, South Dakota, Nebraska and Iowa to provide healthcare.

Randall co-founded the Native Research Network in 1997. The organization created a community of researchers for Native Americans across the continental U.S., Alaska, Hawaii and Canadian First Nations.

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.”

In the fall of 2022, the first cohort of Agriculture Entrepreneurship students will begin their studies at ��ݮ��Ƶ.

The one-of-a-kind undergraduate degree program will equip the next generation of food producers to find success across this essential industry. Modern farmers and ranchers need to be knowledgeable about environmental policy, water quality, price analysis, demand forecasts and production margins in order to be successful.

Visiting Assistant Professor of Agriculture Entrepreneurship Chad Mueller explained how the new program fills gaps left by more traditional academia, where agricultural science and agribusiness are typically separate degrees.

“The reality is that in ag you need to have both the business know-how and fundamental science background,” he said. “It’s unique that we’re balancing both science and business in this curriculum, and we anticipate developing much more balanced professionals.”

The program includes courses on marketing, finance and human resources, as well as biology, chemistry and intensive agriculture management. Leadership and experiential learning flow through both areas, Mueller said.

“They have to put everything they learned into play,” he said. “We expect active participation from these students as they build communication, planning and decision-making skills. They’ll be engaging with peers and industry professionals at the nexus of business, science and leadership.”

Field-based courses and projects will allow students to identify a problem, propose solutions, and work toward enacting them alongside peers and industry leaders. They’ll also engage with industry experts and get input from relevant organizations or government agencies.

Designed for flexibility, coursework can be completed on-campus or remotely. Particularly for students from agricultural areas or backgrounds, their location or existing responsibilities can be a barrier to obtaining their degree. The program’s hybrid model takes this into account, and allows students to continue academic progress regard less of their location.

It’s also an ideal complement to many community college agriculture programs, providing transfer students a clear pathway to a bachelor’s degree.

Agriculture is one of the largest employers in the country, and central to many of the rural communities EOU serves. Mueller said this degree provides graduates with the tools to reinvigorate and sustain the small towns they hold dear.

“This degree creates a way for the next generation to recognize how to build a livelihood as well as a lifestyle,” Mueller said. “A livelihood is what allows people to retire, allows the next generation to go to college, and it’s how agriculture becomes a social and economic driver for communities.”

But, wait! There’s more!

Additional degree programs launch this year at EOU.

Marketing

This online and on-campus program offers hands-on coursework that covers a wide range of specializations within the marketing industry. Faculty bring firsthand experience as experts, and the curriculum is designed to stay up-to-date with the latest trends in this fast-moving field.

Data Analytics

Students who want to tailor their computer science degree to the evolving field of data analytics can earn their degree online or on-campus. With a focus on practical application, this program promises to equip the next generation of tech leaders.

Special Education

Special education teachers are in high demand across the country, but particularly in rural places like Eastern Oregon. With that in mind, this program delivers a series of practicum experiences that qualify students to graduate with state licensure and immediately enter the classrooms where they are so needed.

EOU economics professor Jeff Dense’s research focuses on the political economy of vice.

After establishing himself as a nationally recognized expert on state lotteries, his current research focuses on the craft beer industry. He has served as a consultant for some of the world’s leading craft beer competitions and festivals, including the World Beer Cup and Great American Beer Festival. Dense conducts survey-based analysis of the events in order to ascertain the economic impact the events have on local economies.

“Craft beer is a real economic driver in communities” he said. Dense teaches a series of craft-beer-focused classes at EOU, including Beer and Politics, Beer and Tourism, and Globalization and Beer. The classes are offered in conjunction with the Oregon Brewers Festival and Bend Brew Festival.

Students in the classes conduct surveys of event attendees to better understand demographics and spending patterns. Visitors often stay in area hotels, eat at local restaurants, visit breweries and engage in retail shopping.

Community events that attract large numbers of out-of-state attendees have a significant economic impact on the local economy. Nearly half of Oregon Brewers Festival attendees are out-of-town
visitors.

Dense explained that economics and politics are permanently linked, and his work touches on both areas. For example, part of the reason Oregon’s brewing industry grew from less than 100 breweries in the 1970s to over 9,000 today is due to low taxes. Dense has served as a legislative advocate for the craft beer industry in Oregon, and his research has played a vital role in keeping excise taxes low and promoting a business-friendly environment for new breweries.

Oregon has a long history with the brewing industry. Hops and barley grown in the Willamette Valley and Wallowa County remain a critical source for breweries. Interdependence among farmers, millers and brewers instigated a web of interdependent relationships that strengthen agricultural economies.

Keeping craft beer on the up-and-up requires constant innovation, both in product and process. Dense highlighted two aspects of brewing that are adapting to changing times: gender inclusivity and environmental concerns.

“We’re in the midst of a real reckoning with gender,” he said. “Brewing culture for a long time hasn’t been female-friendly.”

Dense’s research has shown that almost half of the attendees at beer festivals are women, and newly popular products like hard seltzers and sour beers are developed for this growing market.

While growth is good, more and more breweries are finding ways to expand more sustainably. Repurposing spent grain as cattle feed, minimizing water waste and sourcing equipment and malt locally all cut down on the environmental impact of brewing.

The COVID-19 pandemic has offered a stern challenge to the Oregon craft beer industry, as a number of breweries have had to curtail operations. Despite this, Dense argues breweries play an essential cultural role, especially in rural communities.

“All beer places create a third place, a community gathering spacewhere people from different backgrounds can meet,” he said. “Every small town should have a brewery to serve that purpose and provide culture.”

As I write this, students are in classes with their peers and professors. The return to in-person instruction and activities is a triumph achieved by every member of our university community.

Many of you can attest to the impact of engaging, one-on-one conversation with faculty and mentors. Those relationships are central to what makes EOU so special and allows our students to thrive and achieve their dreams.

As always, we remain committed to the health and safety of the EOU community. Last year, we came together and found the optimal balance of in-person activities and health protocols that enabled EOU to be one of just a handful of universities to have in-person classes. And, this year, tools such as vaccines, masking, daily health checks, and testing allow us all to safely come together for learning.

The energy created when Mounties are together is transformative. Throughout this issue of The Mountaineer you’ll find stories of alumni interacting in the world beyond EOU. Whether they’re leading young people through national parks, or leading one of Oregon’s largest beef companies—EOU alumni recognize one another through a shared set of values and principles.

Lately, I’ve been struck by how often interdependence arises as crucial to our shared success. I’m grateful to count each of you as a member of our EOU family.

Thank you,
Thomas A. Insko, ’94
President