蓝莓视频

The first, not the last

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

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

鈥淐oach Turner鈥檚 outlook on football, culture, and diverse nature of athletics seemed extreme at the time, but it was absolutely wonderful,鈥� Smith said. 鈥淭he old weight room had a long mirror and we鈥檇 do hours of circuit training with music blaring. We played two songs of R&B, two songs of country and two songs of Islander music in a rotation.鈥�

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

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

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

鈥淲e were in a time of turmoil when they were talking about closing down either Western or Eastern鈥攚e were on the chopping block,鈥� he said. 鈥淚 picked up the mantle and decided to run.鈥�

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

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

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

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

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

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

鈥淲e opened the door for a lot of kids of color and different cultures starting to attend EOSC,鈥� Smith said. 鈥淚 really, really, really loved my school. It made a difference in my world.鈥�

His recent return to campus showcased a much more ethnically diverse student body than the one he led decades ago. He reflected that although he may have been the first person from an underrepresented group to lead the student body, he鈥檚 glad to find that he wasn鈥檛 the last.