After a six-year pause, the resounding, powerful echo of drums was once again heard across campus. On May 16 and 17, the 50th Annual Spring Powwow returned to Ŕ¶Ý®ĘÓƵ, filling the Fieldhouse with color, music, and dance.

This year, the special celebration was more than a milestone; it was a homecoming.

For many students, alumni, and friends, the Powwow has always been a place to reconnect, honor traditions, and carry stories forward. This year, it was also a return to something sacred that had been missing since 2019. The Powwow welcomed dancers, families, alumni, and community members from throughout the Northwest to celebrate heritage and healing

“There are so few of us here, so it feels good. It helps to heal my spirit with dance,” said EOU senior Sara Dowty, a member of the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla, who graduated in 2025. “When I’m dancing, I’m sending up prayers.”

Sara’s words were a reminder that this wasn’t just a performance, it was ceremony.

Returning to Roots

The Powwow was originally launched in the early 1970s by the Speel-Ya Club as part of EOU’s Native American Arts Festival. Kathy Burke ’16, a proud EOU alumna and current Alumni Association board member, remembers those early gatherings vividly. Her father, Peter Quaempts, a Native American educator and artist, helped bring the original event to life.

“We used to have the arts festival all over the lawn,” she recalled. “I still have the original program my dad created, with his artwork on the cover.”

For Burke, attending this year’s Powwow was personal. She sponsored an alumni special and donated blankets and jewelry in honor of her father.

“It’s meaningful,” she said. “And hard, too. So many of our people are gone. But we still dance for those who cannot, and we carry on our traditions.”

The meaning of the Powwow, she said, lives in the details, the regalia worn by dancers, each piece tells a story.

“It’s about practicing our culture—our regalia, our feathers, everything we wear has meaning,” Burke said. “My dad used to say it takes a lifetime to make your outfit. You add to it as you move through different stages of life or as you earn something. That’s why it’s so meaningful. Much of our regalia is very old—passed down through generations.”

Fred Hill, master of ceremonies and a respected elder, reflected on the broader legacy of the Powwow and the importance of maintaining Native visibility on campus.

“It’s a long-standing tradition, 50 years says a lot about the strength of the organization,” Hill said. “The important thing is that it has created a space for Native students to have a presence here. The Powwow isn’t just a celebration; it’s about promoting higher education and encouraging our young people to continue their academic journey.”

 Hill spoke to the deep emotional and spiritual resonance of the event.

“Our spirits long for drumming and singing,” he said. “There’s a spiritual aspect to it, the songs we share, we don’t get to hear every day. They’re offered prayerfully. That’s the healing.”

“Sometimes our students can’t get home to attend longhouse services,” he continued. “But hearing these songs brings inner strength. It reminds them of who they are.”

Carrying the Vision Forward

This year’s event is the result of months of student-led planning, coordination, and fundraising. Under the guidance of Pepper Huxoll ’01, Native American, Indigenous & Rural Programs coordinator, students traveled to Pendleton to learn from experienced organizers and ensure the Powwow’s traditions were honored.

“It’s been a rebuilding process,” Huxoll said. “We hadn’t had a Native American program coordinator for five years before I came on. But these students, especially Speel-Ya, have stepped up. This Powwow is their achievement.” Huxoll herself is an EOU alumna and was a member of Speel-ya as a former student. 

The event featured grand entries, traditional regalia, and songs in celebration of graduates, elders, and veterans. The Fieldhouse transformed into a sacred space filled with social connection and joy.

For many, the location itself added to the experience.

“It’s a nice space to have it in,” Burke said. “I’m just happy to be here, to be a part of it again. It’s beautiful.”

More Than a Milestone

As Sara Dowty said, “It puts us on the map.” For many, it also brought healing and a renewed sense that EOU is a place where these traditions can continue to grow. The 50th Annual Spring Powwow is more than a number on a calendar. It’s a symbol of resilience, a celebration of a culture that continues to thrive. 

For EOU, it reaffirms a commitment to Indigenous students and communities that stretches back generations and will continue into the future

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

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

Finding Purpose Through Music & Service

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

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

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

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

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

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

Turning Passion into Profession

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Blending Music and Literature

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Advice for the Next Generation

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

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

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

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

Though time and weather eventually forced the Staircase to be closed for access, dedicated efforts have brought it back, and now, a new generation is ready to make it their own.

A Symbol and Childhood Playground

EOU Trustee Dr. Chuck Hofmann, who attended Ackerman Elementary School in the 1950s and EOU in the 1970s,

Hofman remembers the Staircase as both a playground and a pathway.

“All my buddies lived that direction,” he said. “We played on that Staircase all the time. We never went down 8th Street, we went down the stairs.”

Hofmann recalls the Grand Staircase as more than just a way to get to school. It was part of something bigger. Once held on the Stairs each year during commencement week, the Evensong ceremony drew the entire community to L Avenue along the base of the Stairs to watch performances.

“Everybody turned out for that,” Hofmann said. “It was such a connection to the university. Back then, there were the university people and the mill people, and things like Evensong brought them together.”

Though some of those traditions are no longer part of campus life, the sentiment behind them lives on.

From Closure to Comeback

The Staircase was closed in 2004 due to structural issues, but alumni and advocates never gave up hope. Groups like the Friends of the Grand Staircase and the EOU Foundation helped University leaders campaign for funding for over 20 years to address the stairs. In 2022, their efforts paid off when the Oregon Legislature allocated $4 million for its restoration.

Construction began in the fall of 2023, and engineers and preservation experts carefully deconstructed and rebuilt the Staircase. The new version honors the spirit and design of the 1929 original.

“It’s not the exact same Staircase,” Hofmann acknowledged. “But I love it. The finances just weren’t there, and the craftsmanship of that era doesn’t exist anymore. I thank my lucky stars this is done. It’s the result of hard work by a lot of dedicated people.”

Stepping Into the Future

Today, the Staircase is open again, and students and the public are already finding ways to incorporate it into their lives.

Walking the steps from town to campus echoes a long tradition. With each step, new memories are created to strengthen the connection between EOU and the La Grande community.

Sally Nusser, who attended EOU in 1960-61 and grew up just four blocks from the Staircase, recalled the music department hosting performances on the steps.

“The graduation ceremony was wonderful, and people gathered to watch,” Nusser said.

To continue the tradition of musical performances on the Staircase, the Grande Ronde Community Band performed at the Ribbon Cutting for the new Staircase and Inlow Hall remodel.

Scott McConnell, dean of the College of Business and co-owner of Side A Brewery, understands firsthand the importance of that connection.

“The Grand Staircase is more than a historic structure—it’s a symbol of connection,” McConnell said. “It reminds us that the university and the community don’t just coexist; they thrive together. As a local business owner, I see its restoration as a sign of renewed energy and shared investment in La Grande’s future.”

“The Staircase exists now,” Hofmann said. “The connection is there. It’s up to the students to decide how they’ll use it—how they’ll make it their own.”

Facing much larger programs such as Arizona State, Colorado State, and Boise State, the Mountaineers captured two team titles and 19 medals at this year’s West Coast Championship. Their performance exemplified what happens when athletes put the team first.

“We didn’t just compete as individuals,” said sophomore Clayton Dill. “We competed for each other.”

That spirit drove them through six events—trap, skeet, and sporting clays, doubles trap, doubles skeet, and super sporting—and six intense shoot‑offs, five of which the Mountaineers won. Every time an EOU shooter stepped to the line, teammates gathered behind them, offering encouragement, quiet focus, and a reminder that no one stood alone on the range.

Rising to the Moment

The championship weekend marked the high point of a season defined by grit and growth. Eli Tolfesson, an online student from Ohio, clinched the overall men’s title, and freshman Ashley Huff finished second overall in the women’s division. Savannah Shorts won the women’s sporting‑clays event, and her sister, Makenna Shorts, took first in women’s trap.

“Our team went down to Las Vegas and showed up in every event,” said head coach John Shorts. “We won first place in trap as a team and swept the podium in men’s trap with first, second, and third.”

Coach Shorts leads both the EOU and the La Grande High School squads and has daughters on both teams.

Coaching from Within

Unlike other sports, shotgun competition requires coaches to step back once shooting begins. On the range, athletes coach one another. A shaky stance or a mistimed shot doesn’t go unnoticed; it gets corrected by a teammate.

“If someone’s struggling, we step in,” said sophomore Makenna Shorts, now a veteran leader.     “We know each other’s rhythms. We coach each other mid‑competition. That’s what makes this team special.”

Scoring works like track and field: officials add the top individual scores to determine the team ranking. That format raises the stakes for every shooter and deepens everyone’s sense of shared responsibility

A Bridge to the Past

Long before the Mountaineers captured medals in Las Vegas, Jim Cash was stepping up to the line at competitions across the Pacific Northwest.

A 1971 graduate of EOU and La Grande native, Cash joined the college’s rifle team in the 1960s, coaching teammates in gun safety and marksmanship before leaving to serve in the U.S. Air Force. He returned to EOU as a student under the GI Bill and rejoined the rifle team.

“When you’re competing, you’re under a lot of pressure,” Cash said. “You learn how to breathe, not get into a hurry. It teaches you to relax and focus.”

Cash remembers the rifle range on campus fondly, recalling weekend practices and matches in La Grande. Though he no longer shoots, his memories of the rifle team and the values it instilled have stayed with him.

“It was a lot of fun,” he said. “I think about the rifle club at Eastern all the time.”

Beyond the Range

For today’s athletes, shooting is more than a sport; it’s a mindset. They talk about it as a way to build discipline, stay focused, and manage pressure, both on and off the range.

“Shooting is a mental game,” said freshman Nick McLaughlin. “You learn to keep your nerves in check and trust your training. That carries over into the classroom, especially during tests or presentations.”

Being part of a team like Shotgun Sports builds confidence in subtle ways. Members of the team agree that the same focus they bring to competition helps them feel prepared for everyday challenges—whether that’s public speaking, managing classes, or stepping into leadership roles.

Research backs that up. A University of Kansas study found that student-athletes tend to have better attendance, higher graduation rates, and a lower risk of dropping out compared to their

non-athlete peers. Feeling connected to a team and part of something bigger than yourself can make a real difference. At EOU, being part of this team teaches commitment, time management, and accountability.

“That pushes me to stay on top of my schoolwork and balance practice, classes, and everything else,” McLaughlin said. 

Eyes on Nationals

With the West Coast title behind them, the Mountaineers now set their sights on the ACUI National Championships in San Antonio, Texas, where more than 100 teams and 1,000 shooters will compete.

Win or lose, they’ll carry something more valuable than medals: trust, focus, and the quiet confidence that comes from knowing they never face challenges alone.

“We know what we’re capable of,” Coach Shorts said. “Now it’s time to prove it—on the range and in the classroom.”

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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