It is my honor to write this issue’s opening letter. I am a 2011 and 2013 graduate of ��ݮ��Ƶ, and the current President of the EOU Alumni Association Board of Directors. It has been my pleasure to work with the Alumni Association for the last six years, and stay involved with the university that gave me so much.

It was because of EOU that I moved to La Grande in 2009. It was because of EOU that I stayed to complete my MBA. It was because of EOU that I met my husband and found my place as a Financial Advisor with Edward Jones. So much of my life was impacted when I moved to the beautiful Grande Ronde Valley, all thanks to EOU.

This edition of The Mountaineer is all about “Women On The Rise,” and as a woman still rising, I know I am in good company with those featured. We come from all different backgrounds, but our desire is all the same — to be the best versions of ourselves for our families, friends, community members, associates, and society.

Each of the stories features the work, creativity, leadership and abilities of women from EOU — alumnae, faculty and students. These profiles illustrate the incredible value and skills they bring to our world and how they have made a difference. I am so proud of these friends and colleagues, and I know that there are many, many more just like them in our lives and communities.

EOU has played a part in all of our lives, in many different ways, and I hope you enjoy reading about these incredible women as much as I have.

All my best,

Mary Horn, ’11, ’12

President, EOU Alumni Association

Photos, stories and videos posted online keep alumni and community members connected to the university, while reaching new and prospective students with an authentic picture of life on campus. Over the last several years EOU has upped its social media efforts on all platforms, and a new internship position boosted its standing even further.

By December 2018, EOU outpaced all other regional and technical universities in Oregon with the fastest growing fanbase on Facebook and Instagram. Engagement with followers also reached a new high last fall, according to site analytics.

A significant part of this growth comes from the work of and student Berenice Chavez, who served as social media intern for admissions throughout 2018-19. Her photos and posts capture campus life from a student perspective and engage alumni, students and stakeholders in university culture.

A first-generation student, Chavez’s focus on photography as an art form dovetails with an interest in documenting civilizations and customs.

“My dream is to be a photojournalist, where I could document people and their stories in photos,” Chavez said. “This internship has given me a whole new way to apply art in modern media.”

Chavez has introduced a series of “People of EOU” posts that feature authentic stories from students. She said she takes the responsibility seriously, and seeks to balance the weightiness of academia with the lighthearted world of emojis and “likes.”

“It’s a lot of pressure to represent an institution and capture that in an image,” she said. “I play a big part because of how many people view my photos, or interact with the polls and questions I post.”

Her inaugural post on quickly became the most-liked photo EOU has ever posted on platform. Since then, she’s combined her creative approach with distinct strategy and goals.

“This is totally setting me up for success,” she said. “Now I can see myself being able to do this for another institution because I could show them the increased engagement and followers we’ve gotten this year.”

Chavez plans to complete her art capstone this spring, and wrap up her anthropology capstone next year. She said her experience as an intern has improved her confidence and enthusiasm to collaborate with a team.

“Whenever you do something new, you’re going to be scared and there are going to be challenges, but you have to just do your best,” Chavez said.

Follow us!

Nancy Knowles, an EOU English professor, has coordinated the event since 2005, and said about 150 students in grades 3 to 12 attend the event with their teachers or parents. Students choose from a range of age-appropriate workshops, then revise and edit their work before sharing at the Open Mic session.

“The goal is to make it fun,” Knowles said. “Writing in school is often more about assessment than the student’s individual voice, but every time we write we’re expressing ourselves.”

She said if students view writing as pleasurable they’re more likely to succeed in exams and required assignments throughout their education. In fact, she’s had multiple alumni of the Student Writers’ Workshop enroll in her EOU classes later in life.

Knowles volunteers her time to write grants and organize the day-long event, but said she hopes the positive experience influences attendees to pursue higher education at EOU.

Groups bus in to campus from places like Monument, Prairie City and Milton-Freewater for half-a-dozen lower level and three upper level workshops led by teachers. EOU student-teachers, those enrolled in the College of Education and in their final stage before graduating to classrooms of their own, often run three or four workshops at the event.

“It’s a great opportunity,” Knowles said. “They get to run the same

Nancy Knowles, EOU English Professor

lesson four times and tweak it, testing it with different kids.”

Knowles recalled a favorite workshop where the teacher used a parachute, industrial fans, and fishbowl on an overhead projector to create an underwater experience for upper-level writers. She said the closing session remains the best part of the day, though.

“The Open Mic is always amazing,” she said. “You see these kids, in the course of a day, go from unsure to ‘I have something to say,’ and they’re standing there on stage in McKenzie with a microphone.”

She said she plans to develop an online anthology chronicling the students’ work, but she’s most passionate about fostering connections among young writers as they find their unique voices.

Get Writing!

Draw a map of a favorite place. Label key features. Choose one of the key features, and write a story about something that happened there or that might happen there.

The iconic Grand Staircase at EOU has touched generations of students and community members as a link between campus and downtown La Grande.

Anne (Hanford) Olson remembers when graduation and Evensong took place on the steps. As the ceremony concluded, graduates carried their lit candles (the light of knowledge) out into the community. Today, the staircase is on the National Register of Historic Places but has fallen into disrepair. The includes funding for its restoration and historic preservation, which is currently before the Legislature for consideration.

Olson and her younger sister Marcia (Hanford) Loney, ’73, grew up at the base of the Grand Staircase, climbing it each day to attend Ackerman Elementary School. Although their interest began on a personal note, Loney said her passion for the project has become a point of regional pride.

“We need to identify it as the architectural treasure that it is,” she said. “When I started writing about the staircase, it was based solely on nostalgia and sentimentality, but with research it became apparent that there weren’t very many staircases like this.”

Loney and her sister got involved with restoration efforts about five years ago and have partnered with , the , the , the EOU Foundation and the to continue building awareness and funds. Private donations to the EOU Foundation’s staircase renovation fund are designated toward restoration efforts, and will assist in returning the Grand Staircase to its original glory.

Support from the university and the EOU Foundation, as well as research by Loney, recently culminated in the installation of interpretive signs at the top and bottom of the staircase. Loney said the illustrated stories create a sense of place, and her sister echoed the feeling.

“The signs are important because they declare that this place is important,” Olson said. “They’re a symbol of the value of this public place, and that it’s worth preserving.”

The cultural and historical significance of restoring the Grand Staircase combines with its very practical uses, she said. It was and could again be a connector — symbolically and logistically — between campus and town.

“Everybody has a story attached to it that’s significant to them,” Loney said. “It holds significance to the community as well as the campus. I’m always surprised at how many people said they’d just go and sit there.”

Generations of La Grande children walked it every morning on their way to school. Olson and Loney were among them, and developed a curiosity about it then.

“I remember looking up the street, seeing the staircase and asking my mother what that was because it was so different from the other things I had seen,” Olson said. “Even as a small child, I knew on an intuitive level how amazing it was.”

Learn more about the Grand Staircase, plans for restoration��and its status in the state legislature for funding at savethegrandstaircase.org

Tyana Musrasrik, ’18

New advocate gives sexual assault survivors options

Privilege means more than special treatment for Tyana Musrasrik, ’18. In her new role as Privileged Campus Advocate at EOU, it signifies her ability to provide resources and services while keeping information confidential.

Musrasrik, who earned her degree in social welfare, has an on-campus office, but technically works for , a domestic violence and sexual assault organization in Island City. She was an intern at the nonprofit last spring before applying for the full-time, grant-funded position.

Since starting the job last summer, she has spent most of her time raising awareness among student, faculty and staff.

“I want students, staff and faculty to know about and use these services, especially students because they’re often the most vulnerable population,” she said.

Colleen Dunne-Cascio, Title IX Coordinator at EOU, worked with Shelter from the Storm to secure funding from the Oregon Crime Victim and Survivor Services Division. The grant requires applicant institutions to partner with organizations that have a history of effective work concerning domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault and stalking.

Those who have been impacted by abuse can connect with the PCA and access services without the pressure of mandatory reporting or investigation. The PCA is a resource for students and employees to access without involving the Title IX Coordinator, who is required to report incidents and pursue investigations to their resolution. EOU joins many colleges across Oregon that have already initiated or will be initiating this program to close gaps and remove barriers to services.

“This position closes the gap,” Dunne-Cascio said. “All EOU staff and faculty members are considered ‘Responsible Employees’ and must report to Title IX, but sometimes survivors prefer a different first step.”

Musrasrik said the Title IX process can re-traumatize people and the results are often disappointing, especially when survivors aren’t clear on the extent of investigations required.

“Employees can refer students to me first so they can make an informed decision about when and whether to report through Title IX or access these resources confidentially,” she said.

Students and employees have access to safety planning, emotional support, emergency shelter, information and referrals, assistance with protective orders, escort to court or law enforcement interviews, transportation, gas vouchers, food boxes, clothing, legal representation, art therapy, 24-hour hotline and transitional housing.

Originally from the Micronesian island of , Musrasrik now considers Oregon her home. Starting the program from scratch has meant adapting existing practices to EOU’s rural environment.

“I can go to court or on-campus hearings with them, bring a detective here to my office, transport them to medical appointments, complete restraining orders right here,” she said. “It’s all in one place through one person so they don’t have to re-tell their story to strangers over and over again in places that can be intimidating.”

For more information and resources, contact Shelter from the Storm at 541-963-7226 or their crisis hotline at 541-963-9261.

By Katy Nesbitt

More than 3,500 healthcare providers throughout the Pacific Northwest depend on for timely and accurate results — often overnight. Alumna Judy Kennedy, ’88, leads the company alongside her husband Tom.

Headquartered in Pendleton, Interpath’s three healthcare companies employ over 1,000 people, including lab technicians, medical technologists, IT specialists, physicians, and human resources staff, as well as drivers who collectively rack up 10,000 miles every day collecting and delivering specimens. These couriers uphold the heart of Interpath’s principles — to provide quality medical results for patients in rural areas.

Many of Interpath’s 68 locations are outside of metropolitan areas, but Kennedy said they often win out over national chains with longer turnaround times. The Pendleton headquarters is the largest laboratory, employing 170 people, with a number of EOU graduates among them.

Kennedy said about 60 to 70 percent of all decisions to diagnose, treat, monitor or admit someone to a hospital are made using lab information.

“Every night we are making critical value calls,” Kennedy said. “We take orders and we test and we grow every year because people know we are reliable and service-oriented, and that comes from the people who work inside.”

Kennedy said laboratory testing has evolved rapidly over the last 10 years due to technological advances.

“Our technologists calibrate machines at least daily, creating control process that keeps values very defined,” Kennedy said. “We have to have quality, capable people to run those tests and we look hard and long for those folks.”

Sashka Zungul, ’12, has been with Interpath for five years. Like many technologists, she was a pre-med major. When she decided to pursue research in a clinical setting she stumbled upon a phlebotomy internship with Interpath in what she called the “hidden world of the medical professions.”

“I went from collecting blood to being a technical assistant, then I got additional education and certificates to become a lead technologist,” Zungul said. “Now I manage our chemistry and hematology departments – quite a leap from not knowing Interpath existed five years ago.”

Lately, she’s been overseeing the introduction of further automation. A new lineup of machines will sort and siphon patient samples more accurately and efficiently than humans can. Zungul said speedier processing supports Interpath’s expanding services. The lab conducted 90,000 tests in January alone.

They test for 300 types of allergies in one area, check for strep throat and E. Coli in another, and hold thousands of samples in walk-in fridges and freezers. Machines measure chemiluminescence, while scientists assess bacterial growth in petri dishes. Every night, couriers pick up and drop off specimens at the Pendleton lab. Kennedy said they’re often able to post results within hours.

She and her husband Tom came to Pendleton when Tom was hired by Interpath as a microbiologist and medical technologist. He supervised the chemistry department and eventually became general manager.

A few years after the couple purchased the company, Kennedy left her job as an auditor with the U.S. Department of Agriculture to manage the sales department.

Career opportunities like those Zungul found encourage other employees to complete their education and move into positions that require two and four-year degrees, even those areas outside medical research.

“Our IT staff develops software and the working components of the lab,” Zungul said. “We have a lot of different career avenues, like computer science and business, besides those for medical students.”

In 2013 Interpath moved to a new building near Pendleton’s St. Anthony Hospital, raising the profile of the company that has been in business since 1967. The facility houses human resources and billing staff, who support about 150 independent physicians.

“With the new building, the community could see a vibrant growing business right here in town,” Kennedy said. “Students who come to us can see their position as the beginning of a full career.”

With the onset of increasing automation, watchful eyes like Zungul’s are needed more and more. Hyper-sensitive machines require constant human oversight. What automation offers in speed and precision, it often lacks in critical thinking and care.

“I tell our techs to think if each sample as one from your own grandmother,” Kennedy said. “The work we do here has far-reaching effects.”

A Workforce of Women

Tom Kennedy owns Interpath Laboratory with his wife Judy, ’88. Based in Pendleton, the company has 63 facilities around the Pacific Northwest and employs over 1,000 people. Tom Kennedy said Interpath Laboratory’s growth and success is largely due to its staff members and their dedication to providing a quality service.

“My entire career has been focused in laboratory medicine and I’ve seen the progression of the medical laboratory scientist’s work go from a very manual process to a highly technical platform where expertise in equipment and data technology are now the norm,” Kennedy said.

Like nursing, women dominate the field of medical technicians and technologists.

“The women who work in the laboratory excel in this evolving industry and it is satisfying to see them become the leaders in their departments or laboratories,” he said.

Interpath has collection sites and laboratories near hospitals and medical clinics, adding jobs to small communities and providing fast results and diagnoses to local patients.

“The laboratory offers a medical career that is not evident to most, but is a significant contributor to the welfare and health of patients,” Kennedy said. “The most effective laboratorian seeks this challenging career that allows them to use their education and skills to help others.”

One of Oregon’s most rural counties is home to one of its fastest growing centers of commerce. The is the second largest port in the state, but the county’s population density is . And developing its growing workforce has become a top priority.

That’s where Kalie Davis, ’07 and ’12, and Jacque Noland, ’06, come in. Davis serves as the Workforce Training Program Manager for the Port of Morrow, while Noland is the Senior Regional HR Manager for , the county’s largest employer.

Jacque Noland, 06

Davis said economic development in the region has been happening for years without much recognition. Expansion at Lamb Weston and Tillamook facilities, paired with an increasing number of data centers and a new power station at the Port, created a host of new jobs. She said community programs and grants have recently seen equal benefits, such as childcare providers, a pool and recreation center, plus homebuyer incentives and apartment developments. Next, the county looks to use federal and state grant funds to improve transportation in the area.

“The Port is very proactive finding grant opportunities, but also re-investing back into infrastructure so we can continue to grow,” Davis said. “We’re really excited about the opportunities that will bring for employers and residents.”

One such employer is Lamb Weston, where Noland oversees eight facilities that each have about 3,000 workers.

Kalie Davis, 07, 12

The plants make and package french fries and other frozen potato products for restaurants and consumers around the world.

“If you eat french fries, guaranteed you’ve eaten some of our fries,” Noland said. “Lamb Weston is the largest producer in the US, and second-largest in the world.”

The company makes fries for restaurants and grocery stores. Boardman alone is home to three large plants, and the finished products ship out of the Port of Morrow.

Davis’ role at the Port puts her in touch with a range of businesses, collaborating to develop worker trainings and building relationships among organizations.

“Kalie has an incredible ability to collaborate with so many businesses and work toward their needs,” Noland said.

Davis started working for the Port seven years ago as the first director of the . She described the organization as “a smaller scale OMSI,” that promotes the region’s sustainable agriculture and energy goals.

Two years ago, she shifted into her current role but continued introducing young people to the many career opportunities in rural Oregon as a member of the
Advisory Board. GO-STEM coordinates events and programs that

encourage middle and high school students to explore the science, technology, engineering and math fields.

“I thought GO-STEM was a great opportunity to bring the region together, network and share ideas,” Davis said. “Figuring out projects that are beneficial to teachers and students, and sharing ideas that have been successful in other areas.”

The first Nuts, Bolts and Thingamajigs camp took place last summer, and she said about 20 students got to try their hands at STEM and manufacturing careers. She said the experience was particularly meaningful for the girls who got involved.

“It’s intimidating to try something for the first time, and often they don’t know that there are actually a lot of women in STEM,” she said. “We’re always looking for more opportunities to expose them to those careers and be really informative about the pathways to get to the job they’re really interested in.”

Noland knew what career she was interested in from a very early stage, and waited for the exact opportunity to arise. About a year after she graduated from EOU with a business degree, she was hired as a human resources coordinator for a small farming operation. Less than a year later, Lamb Weston bought out the company and Noland started climbing the corporate ladder.

“When I graduated I didn’t just want a job, I wanted an actual career where I could stay for a long time that would provide a lot of opportunity,” she said. “I love the trust people have put in me to grow and stretch myself.”

Originally from Hermiston, Noland said she feel fortunate to have built her career in a rural place. Lamb Weston is often present at career fairs on campus, and Noland said she hopes to open students’ eyes to the possibilities that are right in their backyard.

Davis, too, works directly with future wage-earners. She’s setting up an internship program that will connect high school students with jobs in the medical field, finance, manufacturing, tourism and agriculture. She arranges tours of the Port and Lamb Weston for junior high students, and coordinates a teacher externship program that gives educators a direct link to real-world applications for their classroom curriculum.

Both women have a passion for the people and place of Morrow County, and together they shoulder a significant responsibility for the success of both.

“We are both trying to make Morrow County a place where people are familiar with the opportunities in the area,” Noland said. “We’re trying to get qualified people to come to our area knowing that opportunities are available and there are plenty of them.”

“I had just gotten out of an abusive relationship where I was told how stupid I was for 16 years,” she said. “And I was convinced I was going to flunk out.”

She quickly found out that wasn’t true. She completed her associate degree in Coos Bay, and then moved to La Grande and finished her bachelor’s at EOU, receiving four major awards at graduation.

Cornish was accepted at more than 30 law schools and received scholarships as well. But unwilling to uproot her son as he was entering high school, she stayed in La Grande as a psychosocial skills trainer.

After a year, though, she faced a use-it-or-lose-it situation with her scholarship, and enrolled at Lewis and Clark Law School in Portland.

“For the first year at least, I felt so out of place — a 40-year-old single mom whose previous education had given her little if any preparation for the study of American law,” Cornish said.

She persevered and embarked on a law career that included stints at the Oregon Supreme Court, a family practice firm in Portland, and finally her own practice. But she began to realize the field wasn’t right for her.

“I had eight years in and I tried to make it work, but it wasn’t a good personality fit,” she said. “By nature, I’m more of a coach than an advocate.”

So she closed all of her cases and moved to Moscow, Idaho, where she felt an affinity with the mountains and the weather. It wasn’t long before her offer to look after a neighbor’s elderly parent turned into a rewarding career, one that grew from her experience in law school.

Cornish founded , a method of caring for people with dementia by targeting the emotional distress that accompanies cognitive decline.

“The DAWN method came from my experience of going into law school so abruptly, where my intuitive thinking skills were of no value,” she said. “Law is so focused on the use of rational thought. [My clients] were experiencing the opposite: losing their rational thinking skills and being forced to function with only intuition.”

Cornish’s DAWN Method has resonated with caregivers, who laud it for helping improve clients’ quality of life and ability to remain in familiar surroundings. Her 2017 book, is one of Amazon’s top-selling publications on the subject, and she delivered a .

The road to success hasn’t been easy or direct for Cornish, but she never expected any different.

“Life is convoluted,” she said. “We should expect difficulties and detours, and just keep on carrying on.”

This article first appeared in Community Vitality, Spring 2018, a publication of The Ford Family Foundation, . It is reprinted with permission.

“I’ve always been interested in how art, science and technology crossover to create interactive experiences,” she said.

Neon District’s innovative approach integrates grassroots puzzle-solving with a new kind of utilitarian artistry. DeCourcelle, an art alumna turned creative technologist, stepped onto the Bitcoin scene in 2013 and realized that art could play a role in the emerging marketplace. Bitcoin mining involves a network of computers using algorithms to solve a puzzle. Why couldn’t people do something similar? So she created the first in 2014, a painting called .

“There’s a that lays out the whole trail, but the image is basically a portal to multiple platforms across the internet. It’s a rabbit hole that keeps leading you back to the painting for the next clue,” deCourcelle said. “I wanted to mimic the concept of Bitcoin mining by creating an image that holds secrets.”

The painting garnered huge attention and spawned a new outlet for the growing Bitcoin community. DeCourcelle is more interested in bringing people together around a digital puzzle than making money, she said. But her puzzles continue to serve tech companies and organizations by engaging users.

“The most incredible art pieces become special because of their lore,” she said. “The stories and secrets you can unravel take art beyond something nice to look at, into something you can interact with.”

A puzzle created specially for the EOU community. The answer is an Ethereum private key that gives access to about $200 worth of $ETH. This puzzle uses a cipher.

After graduating from EOU, deCourcelle focused on traditional fine art for about four years before moving to the very cutting edge of what curators consider artwork. DeCourcelle said the crypto-puzzles demonstrated, “you can pull value out of art.” But she’s not talking about the price of paintings hung in a gallery. DeCourcelle trades in art with utility.

If an artist creates a texture for a jacket that video game characters wear, every time players trade or re-sell the jacket, a fee goes to the artist. DeCourcelle said consumers, sellers and artists all win with this decentralized arrangement, in which digital assets maintain their bond with the original artist. Likewise, players in this system own the game assets they invest in, and can carry them into other games. The idea has been around for decades, but recent advances in blockchain technology make it possible to monetize the exchanges.

DeCourcelle, a fine art major who now uses her skills in digital media, founded Blockade Games in early 2018. Today it employs over a dozen people across the globe and produces several blockchain-based games and interactive experiences.

“Blockchain is to Bitcoin, what the internet is to email,” Technology Reporter Sally Davies said. “A big electronic system, on top of which you can build applications. Currency is just one.”

Blade Runner meets Terminator in Neon District, the company’s largest undertaking yet. The party-based role-playing game sends a group of characters, equipment and other assets through a series of challenges against robot enemies. Unlike other video games, weapons, clothing and armor in Neon District evolve with each triumph or defeat, and become more valuable as gameplay progresses.

The allows players to buy, sell and trade the crypto-collectibles among peers and across platforms. Industries from stock trading, to business contracts, voting polls, file storage, identity protection, and land title registration could soon benefit from the transparency and security of blockchains.

Blockade Games employs a number of independent artists, fulfilling deCourcelle’s aim of freeing her peers from the paradox set up by the conventional art world. She said creative technologists have often been excluded from opportunities to make a living from their most innovative work. Her company opens the door for artists and developers to invest in passion projects without sacrificing their own financial stability.

“Video games aren’t considered fine art, but 50 percent

of game development is really intense art production,” she said.

DeCourcelle oversees game development for all of the company’s products, including its free mini-games like Plasma Bears and the Pineapple Arcade. She also heads its strategic marketing and fundraising efforts. , which launches a private beta version on May 1, is already valued at more than $13 million.

“Making a video game, especially a fun one, is very difficult,” deCourcelle said.

As the company has grown, deCourcelle has learned to navigate the rocky terrain of managing finances, employees and production simultaneously. She said early mistakes taught her to identify the organization’s priorities and adapt quickly to change.

“That’s the thing about being an entrepreneur,” she said. “You have to take hard hits, then get back up and try to do better. That’s the differentiator between being successful or not.”

Blockade’s staff is fully distributed: they all work online, meet through video calls, and maintain ongoing chat threads that keep team members in touch. The company’s business model mirrors the blockchain itself, decentralizing an entire office. The TechStars incubator connects start-ups with “a network of people who will be successful alongside” one another. This spring, deCourcelle’s team is one of just 10 young companies participating in the New York City accelerator’s blockchain-focused program.

“We’re in a good position to show vision for the industry and it’s exciting to be there as a pioneer,” deCourcelle said. “We want to help steer the course of where these blockchain applications can go in a crossover with game development.”

By Katy Nesbitt

When Angelica Fuentes, ’18, enrolled at EOU, she found an institution that invested in her career and success as an individual.

An early childhood education professional, Fuentes attended Treasure Valley Community College and EOU in a variety of non-traditional ways – online from home and by taking intensive weekend classes on the TVCC campus in Ontario.

“When I started, it was after I had kids – I needed to work and still attend school,” Fuentes said.

In 2008 Fuentes enrolled in EOU’s online program and continued to work full time. For nine years she took classes when she could fit them into her schedule. Meanwhile her career was evolving.

She was hired as an early home visitor for the in Ontario in 2011. Within two years she became the home visitor coordinator at the Coalition’s center in Nyssa.

After years of taking classes sporadically, Fuentes said the trigger to finishing school was an opportunity to be the Nyssa center’s education coordinator. A bachelor’s degree was required for the job.

“I met with an advisor and developed a game plan to fast-track a degree that would incorporate what I do,” Fuentes said. “It was a good move and about time to finish school.”

By integrating her sociology and anthropology classes with her early childhood coursework and experience, Fuentes designed her individualized Integrative Studies major through EOU’s Ontario Regional Center.

Fuentes’ degree advanced her career, an aggregate of disciplines itself. The center she runs works with both migrant and non-migrant farm working families, preparing their children for school holistically.

“I’ve always worked with kids and I felt like something was missing,” Fuentes said.  “The relationship with parents and the child allows me to help the whole picture.”

Serving children from six weeks to five-years old, the Center provides family services geared to meeting parents’ education goals for their children, the Coalition’s standards, and Head Start requirements.

The staff is bilingual, Fuentes said, so the children can speak their home language in the classroom while learning English.

“We try to make it less stressful so they learn and feel comfortable in their environment,” Fuentes said.

The Center also helps families connect with basic services like dentist and doctor visits and keeping up with immunizations. Fuentes said she sees a benefit in offering wrap-around services along with early childhood education.

“It’s more about helping as a whole instead of just one aspect,” she said.

The Carl and Sandra Ellston Ars Poetica Literary Lecture Series invites professional writers to visit campus in La Grande each term, where they read from published work, answer questions, and collaborate with students.

Mason was a dean and professor of English at EOU, and she and her late husband participated in a range of cultural events.

“One of my major joys was to recognize and celebrate the way in which EOU is the cultural center of the region,” she said. “I thought it would be nice to have our name attached to an experience like that for students and the community.”

Now retired, Mason has published four books since 2011 including the well-received novel “The Lighthouse Ghost of Yaquina Bay,” and she has two more in the works. She has met Toni Morrison, Seamus Heaney, multiple Poet Laureates and other well-known writers who inspired her to keep honing her craft.

“Over my own lifetime, some of the things that made a lasting impression on me were poets and writers reading their own work,” she said.

Her gift to the Foundation established an endowment that provides ongoing funding to keep writers coming to EOU for generations, passing on the experience that meant so much to her.

“How great to bring in working writers to share the details of their craft, as well as the fruits of their labor,” she said.

Mason reflected on her own experience entering the field during great upheaval of traditional literary criticism and the canon itself.

“When I was a student, especially as I became a grad student, the discipline of English was starting to blow apart,” she said. “As we became professors, the curriculum changed to be more inclusive first of women and then people of color. It was a sea-change of the whole degree program.”

Mason stays engaged with literature and writing programs on Oregon’s central coast. She’s been running a writers’ group for about a decade, and served as president of the nonprofit Writers on the Edge. Mason organized and hosted a region-wide conference called The Northwest Poets’ Concord for six years, and she co-founded Turnstone Books of Oregon, which publishes volumes by Oregon writers.

“I endowed the Ars Poetica series to ensure that students could experience writers ‘off the page,’” Mason said.,“…reading their own work and discussing the creative process.”

EOU’s all-time winningest coach and the said she’s driven by a fear of failure more than a love for trophies. That humility grounds Weissenfluh, who said she’s grateful for the many supportive coaches and staff members in the athletics department.

“There are new challenges and rewards every day,” she said. “It’s result-driven, which adds pressure, but you get to see the outcome right away.”

Almost two decades as a coach and five years as Athletic Director haven’t dulled Weissenfluh’s passion for the game or the students she gets to know each season.

At the helm of more than 50 coaches and staff members in the department, Weissenfluh said the group is united by a competitive spirit and a willingness to pitch in.

“It’s not just me running the show, we have a good team,” she said. “Everyone helps, coaches, administrative staff, assistants, everyone steps up and fills the gaps. There’s no way you could balance coaching and being an A.D. otherwise.”

She said the balance is a tricky one, but her win percentage has increased since taking on the leadership role in addition to coaching. Kaki McLean Morehead, EOU’s head volleyball coach since 2007, has worked with Weissenfluh throughout her long tenure and said she appreciates having a leader who is also a teammate.

“She understands the demands of coaching and what it takes to be successful,” McLean Morehead said. “In her time at Eastern, she truly has done a great job of getting the athletic department all on the same page.”

Weissenfluh’s philosophy as a coach all comes back to trusting relationships and high expectations.

“Kids don’t care how much I know about basketball until they know how much I care about them,” Weissenfluh said. “I’m not an easy coach. I push our team and individuals, and I constantly want to get better, but they know where it’s coming from.”

Weissenfluh was a four-year starter for the women’s basketball team, and coached the first Mountaineer softball team for 11 seasons. Her own legacy mingles with the university’s as both grow in national acclaim.

“EOU has always made a strong commitment to athletics,” she said. “I’m grateful the university recognizes the value athletics brings to the community and the vitality it brings to campus.”

Student-athletes are retained at a higher rate than the general student population on campus, and athletics encourage a sense of pride that forms the foundation of school spirit.

Weissenfluh said she’s proud of recent investments in campus facilities. The new stadium turf and competition track promise expanded capacity for athletes and spectators alike.

Weissenfluh said increasing funding for scholarships, programs, staff and facilities are creating more opportunities for students to be part of EOU, and the new indoor fieldhouse widens possibilities even further. The planned structure will house an indoor track, climbing wall, lab and classroom space, as well as training rooms.

The Oregon legislature approved $9 million toward the project. While additional funds are needed, construction is set to begin in 2020. External events like trade shows and concerts could make use of the large gathering space, as well as athletic tournaments and EOU varsity teams.

But Weissenfluh still has a soft spot for the arena she’s spent most of her life in.

“There’s nowhere I’d rather be than Quinn Coliseum,” she said. “I’ve been walking into that building for 30 years. It’s been my home.”

And throughout those years, she’s opened her home to colleagues, community members and students. She’s developed an atmosphere that instills what she calls “the intangibles” — the values and principles that athletics impart to every person who comes in contact with the community Weissenfluh has built.

Season to season, her team is a winning one.

WINNING STATISTICS

Win-Loss record: 437-149

Win percentage: .746

15 seasons of 20+ wins

11 appearances in the national tournament

11 CCC regular season titles

6 conference tournament championships

First head coach in program history to earn 100th career victory

Best season in program history with a 33-3 overall record (2012-13), and first team in CCC history to accomplish the feat

First NAIA Division II Women’s Basketball National Championships victory

10 NAIA All-Americans

4 CCC Player of the Year honorees

23 All-Conference selections

School record holder for steals (227)

Ashlee Munsey, ’10, ’11, held onto her 375-pound metal frame for about a minute before she ��claimed victory as lightweight women’s champion of the last fall.

Her husband Andy, ’12, who also competes in Strongman events, and her sister ran out onto the floor to congratulate Munsey. She said the face-off tiebreaker made her win extra sweet.

“In 2016, I finished second and missed a pro card, in 2017 I went to a different competition and missed out on my pro card by half a point,” Munsey said. “That’s why I didn’t want to let go. It was a really awesome moment.”

The pro card Munsey finally earned is a ticket to the next level of competition in Strongman events. She started competing as a novice before entering open events four years ago.

“You can win money as a pro,” Munsey said, “But I’ll probably never break even with what it costs to go to the competitions.”

Munsey played basketball at EOU and was a thrower on the track team. After college, she was on the lookout for a competitive outlet. She accompanied her husband to the Strongman nationals in 2014 and after finishing a marathon that same year, decided to give the sport a try.

“I dreaded getting up to run, but I had always enjoyed lifting,” Munsey said.

She placed second in her debut competition, sandwiched between two national champions in first and third. She had found her sport.

Munsey’s weekdays begin at 4 a.m., when she and Andy get up for their morning workout. Three days a week they head to their backyard gym to do squats, deadlifts, and other strength training for a couple of hours before they both go to work at Munsey’s other alma mater, North Central High School in Spokane.

Now in her eighth year at NCHS, Munsey teaches math to teens who she said would probably never suspect her hobby.

“Most people picture really giant human beings when they think of Strongman, but if you saw me on the street you wouldn’t guess that I can deadlift 400 pounds,” she said

On Saturdays the Munseys spend several hours working with more unusual equipment, including farmer’s handles, a yoke, giant concrete spheres called atlas stones, and even an actual log from a tree in their yard. Cardio, nutrition and a lot of recovery fill the rest of their days.

Their commitment is paying off. Andy finished seventh at nationals in 2018, a personal best. Munsey’s win this year was her fourth appearance at amateur nationals.

Along the way, Munsey continues to advocate Strongman as an entry point for inexperienced weightlifters.

“You can do more than you think,” she said. “People are a little intimidated at first, but it’s a sport that’s easy to enter and it’s a really friendly environment.”

Munsey recently got an endorsement to teach P.E., and hopes to introduce a women’s weightlifting class at her high school in the fall.

“It’s an opportunity to show girls that there’s a lot to gain in the weight room, and you do belong there,” she said. “Every day is an opportunity to get stronger, every day you can make progress — even if it’s just one more rep or 2 more pounds.”

Amateur Nationals 2018 (Oct. 27-28 in St. Louis)

Points are awarded for how many people you surpass in each event. Since there were 23 women competing in the lightweight category, Ashlee earned 23 points for each first-place finish. Second place earns 22 points, third gets 21, etc.

Day 1

Axle Clean & Press
Lift the 140-pound bar to shoulder height, and then raise it overhead as many times as possible in a minute.
Ashlee finished in the middle of the pack with 10 reps.

Frame Carry
Stand in the middle of a 440-pound metal frame, pick it up and carry it 60 feet as fast as possible.
Ashlee won with 9.78 seconds.

Frame Deadlift
Pick up a 375-pound frame as many times as possible in a minute. The handles are slightly bigger so it’s harder to grip.
Ashlee won with 16 reps and finished Day 1 in second place, behind the leader by just half a point.

Day 2

Circus Dumbbell Press
Lift a giant 85-pound dumbbell to shoulder height, and then raise it overhead with one arm and return it to the floor as many times as possible in a minute.
Ashlee tied for sixth with 9 reps, and was down 4 points going into the final event.

Moving Medley
Block Carry: Pick up a weighted metal box, carry it 30 feet, set it on a mat and sprint back.
Duck Walk: Stand over a 150-pound stack of weights with bar through the middle, grab it and waddle 30 feet as fast as possible.
Sled Pull: Use a rope to pull a 200-pound sled arm-over-arm 30 feet.
Ashlee placed second in the medley, tying for first overall with 98.5 points.

Tiebreaker

Frame Hold
Lift a 375-pound frame off the ground and hold for as long as possible.
Ashlee won, holding the frame for about a minute total.

Head coach of track and cross-country Ben Welch cut the ceremonial ribbon alongside Athletic Director Anji Weissenfluh and Mountaineer student-athletes.

“This Stadium and Track project has been in the works for years – at least since the time that our track became unusable – and it is not an overstatement to say that it is a game changer for us and for all of eastern Oregon,” Weissenfluh said.

Weissenfluh anticipates hosting youth and high school competitions, as well as community events on a collegiate-standard running surface. Executive Director of Philanthropy and the EOU Foundation Patrick Regan said an additional $650,000 is still needed to reach the campaign’s goal.

Give now at eou.edu/stadium-track!

Karin and Gust Tsiatsos with Deb and Merlyn Baker in The Landing’s lobby.

By Katy Nesbitt

, a boutique hotel in downtown La Grande, is quickly becoming a destination for tourists, business travelers and locals seeking a gourmet dining experience. According to owner Karin Tsiatsos, ’93, the hotel is just the right fit for the location.

Tsiatsos and her husband Gust, ’95, who own GCT Land Management, a general contracting, fire-fighting and rental management business, bought the 100-year-old home in 2015.

“My husband is quite the visionary,” Tsiatsos said. “When the building came up for sale and we realized is was zoned commercial, that got the ball rolling to do something different with it.”

Tsiatsos said the house was a single-family dwelling until the 1940s, when it was run as a boarding house for circuit court judges and railroad workers. She said when she moved to La Grande in the late 1980s it had apartments upstairs and an antique shop downstairs. In recent years it was run exclusively as an apartment building.

By the time Karin and Gust bought it, the building was in desperate shape.

“It was pretty run down,” Tsiatsos said. “The last ten years were pretty sad for that building.”

The couple saw its potential and began kicking around ideas for a downtown business.

The City of La Grande’s Urban Renewal Committee agreed that a hotel would be a good economic investment and granted them $75,000. The couple invested the same amount of their own money, as well as the labor of their construction crew into restoring the old building. Within a year and a half The Landing Hotel, with its five rooms, was open to the public.

“I’m happy people who are coming to La Grande stumble upon us,” Tsiatsos said.

By June, Tsiatsos said, they are booked until the first of November.

The Landing also boasts a full-service restaurant serving breakfast and dinner with Chef Merlyn Baker, formerly of Foley’s on Adams Street, at the helm.

“Merlyn is already established and makes amazing food, so that brings in a whole different slew of people,” Tsiatsos said.

A resident of La Grande for 30 years, Tsiatsos first came to La Grande for her brother’s wedding in 1989. A community college student from Texas, she visited ��ݮ��Ƶ during her stay. Within a couple months she was enrolled and a member of the track and basketball teams.

After graduating with a degree in physical education, she taught and coached at local schools, raised her children and helped run the family business. This spring her daughter is graduating from EOU and her son is graduating from La Grande High School.

Running the hotel is now a big part of Tsiatsos’ life, something she said she enjoys not only because of the guests, but because it is a vibrant part of the downtown business community.

“I love living here,” she said. “The area is beautiful, the people are great and the simple life is pretty terrific.”

Jayne-Leigh Thomas, ’04, is one of them. After earning a bachelor’s degree in anthropology and master’s in cultural resource management, she knew she wanted to study human remains. Thomas spent seven years in Scotland, conducting doctoral research in Slovenia and the Middle East, before returning to the U.S. for her dream job at Indiana University-Bloomington.

Thomas coordinates the repatriation of human remains to Native American and Native Hawaiian communities. She directs the university’s , ensuring that the law is followed at a university that houses one of the largest collections of Native American human remains in the country. She often works as a consultant or liaison between tribes and universities to support research, as well as compliance and respect.

“NAGPRA is essentially a human rights law,” Thomas said. “It provides equal protection for Native American human remains.”

A pivotal moment surfaced in 1976, when construction workers in Iowa hit graves while digging on a work site.

“Essentially, the white people were re-buried and the Native Americans went to a museum,” Thomas said. “NAGPRA requires that we return human remains to their rightful communities for proper burial.”

Thomas, a former softball pitcher and All-American for the Mountaineers, has visited 21 countries and 37 states during her career. She travels almost every month for conferences, scholarly talks, research and repatriation.

“NAGPRA is about relationships,” she said. “I go out to communities to meet people and talk to them.”

In 2015, she spent 10 days in the Iñupiat��community of Utqiagvik near the North Pole. A member of the community asked Thomas to personally escort their ancestors home and invited her to attend their annual whaling ceremony.

“I don’t believe that remains belong on a shelf, but I understand that sometimes things happen,” Thomas said. “They have a lot of scientific value, but if you’re going to study them — study them and then put them back.”

She’s involved with an international organization that advocates for human rights for the dead. The group urges scientists to work alongside indigenous communities, by contacting religious and local leaders before analyzing or removing human remains. While some communities are interested in getting remains analyzed, Thomas highlighted the importance of seeking out answers rather than assuming they’re unknowable.

“Nobody should just be considered a specimen,” she said. “Funerals and wills are such an important part of our society today, so why would we think that 200 years ago that didn’t matter?”

NAGPRA protects artifacts, too. In Thomas’ words, “Why would you give grandma back, but not grandma’s wedding ring?” Lately, she’s branching out to international repatriation, which includes issues like Nazi-era stolen art.

“It’s about making sure that we don’t have something that we shouldn’t and returning things to the people they belong to,” she said. “It’s not to say that you can’t do research, but maybe you should ask the community first.”

The work of defining and protecting human rights for the dead is full of complex questions. Thomas said she tries to communicate these intricacies to undergraduate students in particular.

“Sure, it’s cool to go look at a mummy, but why has that become a spectacle while others get a proper burial?” she said. “I don’t have the answers, but it’s important that we think about it.”

BIRTHS
Derek Kruse and Connie (Nelson) Kruse, ’99, welcomed Hanna Grace Kruse on Oct. 18, 2018 in Oregon City.

OTHER ANNOUNCEMENTS
Norm Berney, ’68, and Craig Woodward, ’69, have been inducted into the national wrestling Hall of Fame.
Dr. John Nightingale, ’70,recognized with the Humane Hero Award for lifelong dedication ocean conservation work, research and public education.
Skye Fitzgerald’s, ’93, film “Lifeboat” was nominated for the Academy Award for Documentary Short Subject. Learn more about his walk on the red carpet at eou.edu/alumni.
Linda Gray McKean, ’03, and Tom Diamond (Emeritus) featured at Crossroads Carnegie Art Center in Baker City, Ore.

Obituaries

Robert “Bob” Terry, ’50, died peacefully at home on Sept. 1, 2018, at the age of 91. He was born in Pine Bluff, Ark., but his grandmother raised him in La Grande. Terry served in the Navy during WWII and returned to Oregon with a football scholarship to the University of Oregon. In the 1940s African-Americans could not live in the dormitories, so he returned to La Grande to live with his grandmother and attend EOU.
The first African-American man to teach in the Seattle School District, he eventually served as the President of Seattle Central Community College and Chancellor of the Seattle Community College System. Many young people in the Mt. Baker neighborhood viewed him as a role model and learned a deep sense of community and responsibility from him.

FACULTY & FRIENDS

Gerald R. Bradshaw
Paul Bruncke
Cristoph Brudi
John Wayne Jambura

ALUMNI

1940s
Kenneth Lilly, ’48
Della Jean Burgess, ’49

1950s
Robert Terry, ’50
Eugene D. Fox, ’51
Burl I. Green, ’54
Col. John Wayne Jambura, Ph.D, ’59

1960s
Robert F. Holznagel, ’60
Harry E. Trump, ’60
Larry G. Miller, ’64
Howard Waterman, ’65
Leah J. Conner, ’66
Edwin W. Hug, ’66
Donald R. Albert, ’67
George D. Patterson, ’69

1970s
Francis X. Miller, ’72
Beverly A. Haynes, ’73
Loren W. White, ’73
Thomas I. Rush, ’75
Julianne E. Colby, ’76
Jeffrey S. Jenkins, ’76

1980s
Joni L. Campbell, ’82
Jeffrey A. Green, ’82
Barbara M. Tipton, ’86
Rita L. Fisher, ’88
Donald R. Harvey, ’88

1990s
Mary C. Janke, ’99

]]> /mountaineer-magazine/mountaineer-tracks-spring-2019/feed/ 0 /mountaineer-magazine/donor-spotlight-linda-and-herb-jolliff/ /mountaineer-magazine/donor-spotlight-linda-and-herb-jolliff/#respond Thu, 25 Apr 2019 21:47:56 +0000 /mountaineer-magazine/?p=547 It all adds up

One good teacher can make the difference between loving math or hating it. But for Herb and Linda Jolliff, ’66, a calculus professor at EOU taught them even more.

The two met in Leroy Damewood’s class in 1963 and graduated together three years later.

“We met and got to know one another studying calculus and differential equations,” Herb said.��

Linda went on to teach in public schools, and Herb taught at the Oregon Institute of Technology after graduating with a master’s degree from Utah State University. They agreed, though, that Damewood’s example set them on their paths to success.

“It was a period of growing up for me,” Herb said. “He was an excellent teacher. The class was very tough, but you learned a lot.”

Linda, the only woman in Damewood’s class at the time, said she appreciated his no-nonsense “say what you mean, and mean what you say” approach. Linda and Herb’s shared passion for teaching in rural areas has only grown in 53 years of marriage. Where they live now, in Independence, Ore., Linda said a handful of colleges are within an hour’s drive.

“But in Eastern Oregon, EOU serves a real purpose,” she said.

Herb remembers living on a wheat ranch 23 miles from Arlington, Ore., and how that remoteness made his education challenging. During his senior year of high school, there weren’t enough fellow students to offer a math class at his level.��

Today, EOU fills that gap for rural students throughout the region. And the Jolliffs are already thinking about the next generation of math enthusiasts. As Oregon’s Rural University, EOU produces many of the educators that fill public schools in small towns. Herb and Linda established a scholarship this year, through the EOU Foundation, that will support those young teachers on their way to molding the minds of tomorrow.

“We both love math, and they always need good math teachers in rural areas,” Herb said. “It takes a special person … The best teachers have got to be tough, but they’ve got to be compassionate.”

They see the endowment as an investment in the future of rural communities. Linda said scholarships made college possible for her, and she’s eager to “pay it forward” to others.��

“We’ve lived in small places all of our married life, so that’s just our outlook,” Herb said. “That’s why we want to support someone from Eastern Oregon, who would give back to those smaller communities.”

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