Eastern Magazine | Fall 2017

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Dear Alumni and Friends: Sometimes people ask me if I work in the summer.

“Doesn’t Eastern pretty much shut down in July and August?” they’ll ask.

I remind them that almost 6,000 students take summer classes. More than 5,000 kids and people of all ages come to campus for a variety of academic, athletic and cultural camps and other activities. And since our campuses operate year-round, the EWU staff, – from business services to student support, from groundskeepers to IT professionals, from food service to electricians and plumbers, – is working every day, no matter what month, to keep our university safe and functioning.

My calendar is as full in July as it is in November. But the summer days have a special excitement as we plan for the year to come.

Every autumn is a new start. New students move into the residence halls. New faculty and staff move here and get settled and organized for fall. This fall we will welcome many new faces, including Shari Clarke, PhD, founding vice president for Diversity and Inclusion, and Ahmad Tootoonchi, PhD, new dean of Business and Public Administration. We will also be joined this fall by 35 new faculty members.

With your support and the contributions of so many outstanding faculty, staff, alumni and friends, EWU continues to thrive, transforming lives for thousands of students. The new academic year will be awesome.

Thank you for all you do!

Mary Cullinan President, Eastern Washington University

Mission Statement:

EWU expands opportunities for personal transformation through excellence in learning.

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features

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How the Fisher family changed a young man’s life

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EWU’s Jon Hammermeister – an expert in sports and performance psychology

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The impact of gifts

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FAMILY, FAITH AND FOOTBALL

EWU FOUNDATION CELEBRATES 40 YEARS OF GIVING AGAINST ALL ODDS

Obstacles didn’t stop the Santanas from achieving their dreams

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Outstanding graduates improve their communities

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Eagles make it to the next level

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AHEAD OF THE CURVE

2017 ALUMNI AWARDS

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GOING PRO

on the cover Rodrick and Adam Fisher’s life-changing relationship.

departments 32

2 up front 4 let's get social!

6 on the road 8 eastern etc.

26 centerfold poster 38 faces & places 42 class notes 48 in memoriam 50 flashback 1965

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let’s get social!

Check It Out: ewu.edu/easternmagazine

FALL 2017 EDITOR Kandi Carper ’05

Eastern magazine’s website allows you to read the latest issue from your laptop, desktop, tablet or smartphone. And check out the Eastern magazine blog!

ART DIRECTOR/SENIOR DESIGNER Ryan Gaard ’02

Go Green

ASSISTANT EDITOR Christine Tully

Sign up to receive Eastern magazine online only. Just email easternmagazine@ewu.edu, and we’ll take it from there!

CONTRIBUTING WRITERS Christine Tully Brad Brown Kandi Carper ’05 Dave Cook Dave Meany

Web Extra

When you see the WebExtra icon, you can find bonus content online.

CONTRIBUTING DESIGNERS Ginny Baxter ’05 Steve Bateman Jessie Coney

Photo Caption Contest Send us your best caption – in 13 words or less! The winning caption will be featured in the spring issue of the magazine, and the winner will receive some Eastern swag! Email your caption to easternmagazine@ewu.edu.

The photo is from the 1970 EWU Kinnikinick.

PHOTOGRAPHY David Lane Eric Galey ’84 Pat Spanjer ’80 Larry Conboy Josh Best VICE PRESIDENT FOR UNIVERSITY ADVANCEMENT Angela Jones ’06 DIRECTOR OF MARKETING & COMMUNICATIONS Teresa Conway DIRECTOR OF ALUMNI ADVANCEMENT Lisa Poplawski ’01, ’94 EWU ALUMNI ASSOCIATION PRESIDENT Jeff Stannard ’91

From the spring issue: Winning caption: “I’ll stun them with the flash. You tie them up with the chain.”

Submitted by Gene Williams ’93, ’72, MBA, BA philosophy

EDITORIAL BOARD Cassie Devaney ’96 Karene Garlich-Loman ’03, ’98 Kory Kelly ’98 Nick Lawhead ’07 Lisa Leinberger ’98 Kelly Naumann ’10 Kayla Northrop ’08 Al Pjosek ’06 Robin Pickering ’03, ’97

LET US KNOW WHAT YOU THINK

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EMAIL easternmagazine@ewu.edu PHONE 509.359.6422 WRITE Eastern Magazine, 102 Hargreaves Cheney, WA 99004-2413

@EasternMagazine @EWUalumni

easternmagazine ewualumni

Eastern magazine is published spring and fall by EWU Marketing & Communications and is mailed free to alumni of record in the United States. View this and previous issues online at ewu.edu/easternmagazine.

Part social hour and part career booster, the EWU Young Professionals Network is the perfect place to meet fellow alumni while getting insider career advice.

Join us from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. Locations vary.

Network in Your Community Holiday Social Speed Networking All Things Money YPN Volunteer Day

Oct. 12, 2017 Nov. 16, 2017 Feb. 8, 2018 March 8, 2018 April TBD

More information and registration for YPN programs is available online at alumni.ewu.edu/events.

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A. Tracy (Brockie) Wertman ’86 traveled to Punta Cana, Dominican Republic. She works in the Edmonds School District.

B. Scott Glabb ’85 and son, Logan, visited the “Fields of Dreams” in Dyersville, Iowa, on their quest to visit Major League Baseball stadiums across the country. Glabb lives in Costa Mesa, California.

C. Dave ’09 and Lindsay ’10 Takisaki celebrated their 10th wedding anniversary and their upcoming third child in Kauai, Hawaii.

D. Shawn Kelly ’85 celebrated his 55th birthday on Grand Cayman Island at a little place called Hell.

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E. Michele Slider ’84, at Trinity College Library in Dublin, I. Jason Burke ’97 and sons Eamon Donnelly and Fox Burke,

Ireland, in May. F. David Watson Jr. ’67, with Des Howarth, who was a World War II B-24 navigator in the RAF 100th Group. They attended the RAF 100th Group Association’s 20th reunion in Norwich, England, in May. G. Future Eagle Kohl Yankovsky, Rita Zorozua ’70, Danielle Casper ’06 and Wayne Brokaw ’83, at the Central Oregon Llama Association Black & Blue Festival, in May. H. Sonya (Gaubinger) Elliott ’88, husband, Jason Elliott ’90, with Jill and Mark Haigh ’88, celebrating 50th birthdays in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico.

vacationing in Cozumel, Mexico, on spring break.

J. In Kauai, Hawaii, celebrating Lewis Rathbun’s retirement from EWU, with Sandie Rathbun ’96, Gail Peterson ’74 and Brian Peterson ’75.

K. Twenty-six EWU students and three faculty traveled to Paris and London as part of the Psychology and Science in Literature, History and Practice Study Abroad Program in March. Pictured at the Musee d’Orsay in Paris.

L. Ron Lazor ’86 and Scott Lazor ’78 in Cibola National Forest, Albuquerque, New Mexico.

on the road with eastern magazine Where will Eastern magazine be spotted next? You are invited to send photographs holding up the latest issue. Include some information about yourself with your submission. We may not be able to publish every submission. Extras will be posted on the Eastern magazine Facebook page and on the magazine’s website.

Send to easternmagazine@ewu.edu or Eastern Magazine, 102 Hargreaves Hall, Cheney, WA 99004-2413.

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M. Scott LaPlant ’03, a certified public accountant, and Q. James Sloan, wife, Krisann Hatch ’88, with daughter U. Fran Bennett Wicht ’77 and Sandy Wicht visited

his wife, Andrea, visited Europe to celebrate the end of tax season. This photo was taken in front of one of the canals in Amsterdam.

N. Mike Van Matre ’88, ’76, Jeff Miller ’84, ’79 and Gayle Van Matre ’96, ’74 (along with Jeff’s wife, Paula) ended their Trans-Atlantic Cruise to Europe visiting Buckingham Palace in London, England, in April 2017.

O. Emily Fisher ’08 at the point where the Netherlands, Germany and Belgium meet. Fisher is an award-winning wedding photographer in Spokane and owner of Emily Fisher Photography.

P. Jerry Mellick ’67 with U.S. Army‘s shiny black Cobra

Tatum Sloan, Betty Hatch (Krisann’s mom) and son, Trey Sloan, visited Victoria, British Columbia.

R. Jaclyn (Mallery) Jacot ’02 and Stacey (Timm) Rasmussen ’03 visited Magnolia Market & Silos in Waco, Texas, the home store and recreation area of HGTV’s Fixer Upper hosts Chip and Joanna Gaines.

S. Sarah Graham ’70 moved to Green Bay, Wisconsin, two years ago. She’s still representing EWU, the Seahawks and Sounders amid all the Cheeseheads.

T. Brian Cloherty ’68 and wife, Jennifer, their son, Sean and daughter, Caitlin, visited Eyre Square (JFK Memorial Park) in Galway City Center, Ireland.

Highclere Castle, in Hampshire, England, in April. It’s the location where the TV series Downton Abbey was filmed.

V. Shelby Oas ’06 and her husband visited Rome for spring break. She’s a third-grade teacher for Spokane Public Schools.

W. EWU football coaching crew visited Florida Gator head football coach Jim McElwain ’85 in Florida in March.

X. Tara Culler ’07 and Vickie Sheehan ’90 visited the Colosseum in Rome, in May. They were there on a study abroad program for their MBAs at the University of Washington-Tacoma.

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Eastern Celebrates Its 135th Birthday April 3 was a significant day in Eastern’s history. On that day in 1882, the Benjamin P. Cheney Academy opened its doors to more than 200 students.

Benjamin Cheney, a railroad industrialist and visionary, donated $10,000 to build the teacher’s academy that became EWU. Annual tuition in 1882 was $30, and the first class graduated in 1888.

The academy became the State Normal School at Cheney in 1889, the same year in which Washington was given its statehood.

By the time it became Eastern Washington College of Education in 1937, Eastern was already a fully accredited four-year, degree-granting institution, offering majors in numerous subjects.

The campus grew rapidly in size and program offerings in the decades following World War II. In 1961, the name was again changed, this time to Eastern Washington State College. It was increasingly evident that the region needed professionals in many fields; in response, Eastern added a wide range of undergraduate and graduate degree programs.

Finally, in 1977, the state legislature changed the school’s name to Eastern Washington University, and academic departments were grouped into schools and colleges.

Survey Says Eastern Washington University’s latest Life After Eastern Survey reveals EWU graduates continue to find success across all sectors of the job market, from high-tech to health care.

The annual survey reveals where Eastern’s alumni are and what they are doing within the first year of graduation. This year, 2,146 alumni from the class of 2016 were surveyed with a 32 percent response rate.

Among the highlights: 93 percent of EWU alumni are employed (full time, part time), in graduate school, or both. This is up six percent from last year, which was well above the national average 57 percent reported having at least one internship while they were in college, reflecting the importance of gaining hands-on experience before graduating.

EWU alumni employed full time are also making good salaries: 20 percent make $60,000 or more 16 percent make $50,000 or more 22 percent make $40,000 or more

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Survey respondents reported finding jobs in the health care industry (17 percent), engineering (13 percent) and human services (8 percent).

Eastern alumni are finding good jobs at well-known local and national companies, such as Microsoft, Boeing, Avista, Nike, Century Link, Itron, Providence Health & Services, Jubilant HollisterStier, STCU and Boise Cascade.

To search for jobs, or find Eagles to intern or work for your company, join Eastern’s Handshake community: ewu.joinhandshake.com.

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Center for Entrepreneurship EWU’s Center for Entrepreneurship has had an eventful year, turning students’ ideas into businesses and handing out a few awards along the way.

Newly housed within the College of Business and Public Administration, the center now offers major and minor degree options in entrepreneurship, providing courses designed with a philosophy of learning by doing. While the major is aimed at business students, Bruce Teague, director of the center, is excited about the potential for reaching all students on campus by offering the minor.

“The minor really is our focus,” said Teague. “Part of what makes this program unique is we haven’t designed it around being just a business school program. We designed it around being a set of tools that are available to support students in any college across the university.”

The newly introduced Eagles’ Nest Pitch competition, which draws its format from the hit television show Shark Tank, saw its team registration numbers jump from nine teams in

the first-ever qualifier in November 2016 to 31 in the second qualifier in March. In the end, 35 new business ideas were pitched, with the winner, Victoria Simboli, taking home $2,500 for her innovative portable hard firewall device to protect users from any dangers that may arise while using public WiFi. Over 60 business professionals, including entrepreneurs, bankers, intellectual property lawyers and other small-business owners, backed the new competition by serving as judges.

The 20th annual Celebration of Entrepreneurship Breakfast, which is hosted

by EWU to recognize entrepreneurial accomplishments by members in the Spokane community, was particularly special this year, with EWU alumnus Corey Ross ’01, BA finance, winning the Entrepreneur of the Year award.

To help continue the growth of the program, the Herbert B. Jones Foundation grant is helping send faculty to the University of Florida every year to get world-class training in designing entrepreneurship courses.

Looking forward, the center plans to launch a new “Meet the Entrepreneur” speaker series to give students the opportunity to speak with entrepreneurs. Additionally, the center is looking to find a place on campus for an innovation and entrepreneurship center to help facilitate bringing entrepreneurialminded students from different backgrounds together.

EWU Awarded NSF Grant EWU has received a $1.4 million grant from the National Science Foundation (NSF) under the Robert Noyce Teacher Scholarship Program to help recruit and retain outstanding STEM teachers across the state of Washington.

The five-year project will provide financial and professional support to scholars from Eastern and the Community Colleges of Spokane (CCS). The grant money will be targeted toward at least 33 pre-service teachers, with $10,000 scholarships available for juniors and $16,000 scholarships available for seniors.

Noyce Scholars will be recruited through various avenues, including collaboration with CCS and EWU STEM faculty. A major feature of the grant is that pre-service teachers will graduate with degrees in STEM disciplines, not just teacher education.

The goal is to increase the number, quality and diversity of secondary teachers in STEM disciplines, as well as to strengthen teacher preparation.

This is the second Noyce grant EWU has received. Through the implementation of the first Noyce project (2010-16), 48 scholars were supported, and 80 percent are meeting their obligation to teach in underserved school systems and provide quality instruction to underrepresented students across eastern Washington.

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Senior Send-off 2017 EWU alumni, faculty, staff and students honored the accomplishments of the graduating Class of 2017, and, wished them well as they enter alumni life with the second Senior Send-off.

Graduates took their final, symbolic walk down the Showalter Hall walkway June 8 through the Herculean Pillars. A celebration followed with a barbecue reception, music, games and a photo booth.

Master of Professional Accounting Degree Now Offered The College of Business and Public Administration has announced its new Master of Professional Accounting (MPAcc) program, a highly specialized professional program to prepare graduates with practical skills used in the accounting workforce.

Designed for graduates of an undergraduate accounting program, the program’s 36-credit professional degree will increase the preparedness of graduates to pass the challenging Certified Public Accounting Examination required for professional licensure.

For more information about the MPAcc, email MPAcc@ewu.edu, or call 509.828.1260.

Student-Athletes Continue to Shine The streak continues for EWU student-athletes for a 30th straight quarter, as the athletic department posted a spring quarter grade-point average (GPA) of 3.38.

Additionally, 11 athletic programs finished the quarter with a GPA of 3.0 or higher. The 3.38 GPA marks the third-highest quarter GPA during the duration of the streak, which dates back to spring quarter 2007.

A remarkable 68 percent of EWU student-athletes (171 out of 252) finished the spring quarter with at least a 3.0 GPA, while 42 percent posted a 3.5 or higher GPA. Additionally, 18 student-athletes boasted a perfect 4.0 GPA. Eastern's Athletic Department now holds a cumulative GPA of 3.46 during the 30-quarter streak.

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Giving Joy Day Campaign Wins Highest Award Spokane Regional MarCom Association’s Highest Award – the Dussault Community Impact Award – went to EWU and its marketing partner, DH (Desautel Hege), at the 2017 annual Spark Awards in April. The community award is given to a campaign entry that demonstrates clear impact within the Spokane community.

Judges’ comments about the Giving Joy Day campaign included, “Great ads and video clips, excellent results and a fantastic inaugural campaign,” and “I like the different lines of study that were depicted and the joy depicted when receiving a scholarship.”

What is Giving Joy Day? On Nov. 29, 2016, EWU’s inaugural Giving Joy Day campaign raised $274,770 for scholarships. It was the University Advancement team’s take on “Giving Tuesday,” an annual global event, created in 2012, that takes place on the Tuesday after Thanksgiving. It’s dedicated to encouraging people to give back to the causes they care about. Mark your calendars for this year’s Giving Joy Day Nov. 28!

If you would like information on becoming a Giving Joy Day ambassador, call Alumni Advancement, 888.EWU.ALUM.

Lt. Gen. Volesky Offers Words of Encouragement at ROTC Commissioning Ceremony Before taking the oath of office to become second lieutenants in the U.S. Army, the 11 cadets in EWU’s ROTC Class of 2017 heard from one of the Army’s most decorated and respected generals.

EWU President Mary Cullinan, Lt. Gen. Gary Volesky and Maj. Michael Eliassen

“Are you ready?” three-star Lt. Gen. Gary Volesky ’83 repeatedly asked the cadets as he returned to his alma mater and delivered the keynote speech June 16 in historic Showalter Auditorium.

The cadets were encouraged to be great team builders, and Volesky expressed no doubts they will represent their country – and Eastern – well.

“I just want to tell you I’m really proud of you,” Volesky told the cohort. “You represent the less than 1 percent of our nation that has volunteered to serve in something bigger than yourselves, with a mission to protect our freedom and our way of life.”

Volesky calls himself “just a soldier,” but his distinguished military career has taken him to every corner of the world. He’s now back close to home as the commander of I Corps at Joint Base Lewis-McChord (JBLM), near Tacoma. He also commanded the 101st Airborne Division, served as the operational commander of U.S. ground forces in Liberia (2014) and in Iraq (2015), and has received the Silver Star and Purple Heart for service in the Gulf War, Iraq War and in Afghanistan.

“You will be superb officers making a difference every day for your soldiers and our nation. And I just hope I get the opportunity to serve with each of you,” he said.

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Tootoonchi to Lead CBPA

Program Accreditation

Ahmad Tootoonchi, PhD, has been named the new dean of the College of Business and Public Administration.

The Bachelor of Arts in Health Services Administration with LongTerm Care program at EWU has received its program accreditation.

Eastern is the first program west of the Mississippi with the accreditation, which is valid for five years.

Tootoonchi comes to EWU after more than 25 years as a faculty member and administrator at Frostburg State University (Maryland).

At Frostburg, he served as chair, associate dean, interim dean and dean in the College of Business. Most recently, he served as the interim provost and vice president for Academic Affairs at Frostburg. He began his duties at EWU July 1.

CHSPH and St. Luke’s Collaborate EWU’s College of Health Science and Public Health (CHSPH) and St. Luke’s Rehabilitation Institute have created a collaborative outpatient therapy clinic program located in the recently opened Spokane Teaching Health Clinic (STHC).

The emphasis on this program focuses on student learning opportunities within a clinical environment that provides excellence in patient care to meet the health care needs of the local community.

Located on the Spokane campus, STHC is housed in Washington State University’s Spokane Teaching Health Clinic, which was designed, in part, to train future health care providers to collaborate on patient care.

The clinic opened April 27 and is St. Luke’s 10th outpatient clinic within the community. Therapists hired to work at the STHC will work closely with EWU faculty to provide excellence in education to students enrolled in programs in CHSPH. The site demonstrates inter-professional care, in which a variety of health care professionals collaborate to provide the best care outcomes in the least disruptive and most cost-efficient way for the client and organizations involved. This means health care professionals will acknowledge overlaps in practice in order to design the most cost-effective service delivery plan while ensuring the highestquality outcomes.

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Antigravity treadmill at Spokane Teaching Health Clinic

“Having this clinic and partnership with St. Luke’s gives us a way to give students clinical experiences earlier in their programs, to build clinic-based experiences into our program, to model for our students what inter-professional care looks like when it’s done well, and to give them access to potential participants for research studies,” said Donna Mann, OTD, associate dean of CHSPH and associate professor of OT. Mann’s hope for the future of the clinic is to create opportunities for other CHSPH programs, such as communication sciences and disorders, dental hygiene, health science administration, and public health students, while also focusing on contributing inventive ideas to health care delivery.

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2017 Hall of Fame Inductees Announced Tiera Como-Irby, the first soccer player in school history, will be joined by football players Tony Brooks and Jackie Kellogg and basketball players Ronn McMahon and Fay Zwarych-Shaw as they are inducted into the 17th class of the EWU Athletics Hall of Fame. They, and the 1992 football team, will be inducted in ceremonies in conjunction with EWU’s home football game Sept. 30. *Lt. William “Bink” Wall, an Evergreen All-Conference football linebacker in 1967, will be recognized posthumously as this year’s recipient of the Hall of Fame Service and Contribution Award. Wall was killed in Vietnam in 1970. The Eastern strength and conditioning center is named in Wall’s honor.

Tiera Como-Irby was Big Sky Defensive MVP in 2005 and 2006 for the Eagles, who won the soccer program’s first-ever Big Sky Conference title in 2004 with her as goalkeeper. She played in 65 games and made two appearances in the Big Sky Conference Tournament. She was also honored academically and named to the Big Sky All-Academic team for four seasons. In 2007, she earned a BA in mathematics and now resides in Spokane. *Jackie Kellogg, a first-team All-Big Sky football selection as a junior and senior, he played on the ’92 team. He finished his career (’90-’93) with a school record of 41 passes broken up that still stands. He graduated in 1994 with a BS in communication studies and was selected to the Big Sky All-Academic team in each of his four seasons. As a professional, he played in four different leagues during his 10-year career, including eight seasons (1995-2002) in the CFL. He lives in Calgary, Alberta, with his wife, Jodi, and their two children. He continues to stay involved with football, coaching at Foothills Composite High. *Tony Brooks, an All-American, finished his EWU football career (’90-’93) with all four school receiving records. He played on the ’92 team that shared the Big Sky Conference title with Idaho. He earned firstteam All-Big Sky honors as a junior and senior. Brooks was selected to the Big Sky All-Academic team in each of his four seasons. Brooks, an insurance agent, and his wife, Leonor, graduated from Eastern in 1994. They live in Tacoma with their children, Allie and Lisi, who attend Lincoln High School where Brooks is an assistant football coach.

During the ’89-’90 season, basketball player Ronn McMahon led the NCAA Division I in steals. After graduating with a BA in business, he played for the Yakima Sun Kings (’91-’92), and on the Canadian National Team (’92-’94). He was Canada’s starting point guard, and played on the ’92 squad that played against the U.S. “Dream Team” (John Stockton, Michael Jordan, Magic Johnson and Charles Barkley).

McMahon and his wife, Lisa (Dabalos ’91), met at EWU. He is the president and CEO of the Greater Wichita YMCA. Basketball player Fay Zwarych-Shaw was a first team All-Big Sky Conference selection (known then as the Mountain West Athletic Conference) in 1984. She earned second-team honors in 1983 and helped Eastern finish 12-2 in the league as a senior. She graduated in 1984 with a BA in public recreation and played two seasons in Australia. Originally from Vernon, B.C., she resides in Riverside, California.

The 1992 football team, under Coach Dick Zornes, won its first Big Sky Conference championship, sharing the title with Idaho. Four of Zornes’ assistants from ’92 – Jim McElwain, Mike Kramer, John Zamberlin and Jerry Graybeal – went on to become NCAA Division I collegiate head coaches. Eight players from the 1992 team went on to play in the NFL or Canadian Football League. *Selected to EWU’s “100 for 100” All-Time Football Team in 2008.

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Diversity Officer Named EWU President Mary Cullinan has named Shari Clarke, PhD, as the founding vice president for Diversity and Inclusion at Eastern.

“Eastern Washington University is uniquely poised to lead in the areas of diversity and inclusion based on the institution’s visible commitment to inclusive excellence,” said Clarke. “I am excited to be a part of President Cullinan’s leadership team and to work in collaboration with the faculty, students, staff and community in moving a diversity agenda forward.”

Clarke comes to EWU from Ohio University, where she has served as vice

president for Diversity and Inclusion and chief diversity officer since 2014. Over the past 25 years, she has held leadership positions at Marshall University, the University of Nebraska, the University of Maine-Orono and Whitman College in Walla Walla.

She received her PhD in educational leadership and higher education at the University of Nebraska; her MA from Bowling Green State University; and her BA from Lance College in Jackson, Tennessee.

EWU Celebrates Its 125th Commencement Ceremony This year, 2,620 undergraduates and 493 master’s and doctoral students were eligible to attend commencement.

For the second year, morning and afternoon ceremonies for all programs were held at the Spokane Veterans Memorial Arena on June 17. On May 5, commencement for semester programs was held at the Spokane Convention Center.

This year’s commencement speakers were Maj. Gen. Kenneth Privratsky and former board of trustees member Jo Ann Kauffman.

Privratsky spoke at the morning ceremony to students from the College of Social Sciences and the College of Business and Public Administration. He graduated from Eastern Washington State College in 1969 as an ROTC Distinguished Graduate. He served as an infantry platoon leader in combat in Vietnam and commanded units at all levels. He spent 33 years in the U.S. Army before retiring in 2002 as a major general.

Kauffman, who served on the EWU board of trustees from 2003 to 2015, spoke at the afternoon ceremony to students from the College of Health Science and Public Health, the College of Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics, and the College of Arts, Letters and 14

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Education. A Nez Perce tribal member, she has been instrumental in helping the university create the Lucy Covington Center in support of Native American students at EWU. She formed Kauffman & Associates in 1990 and is a nationally recognized advocate for Indian health and justice.

Kauffman, Privratsky and his wife, Kathy ’73, ’69 (who spent more than 20 years providing speech-language services to those in need), were conferred honorary Doctor of Arts degrees during their respective ceremonies.

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University Presidents Meet to Discuss Asia University American Program EWU President Mary Cullinan and Asia University’s President Michiharu Kurita met for the first time on June 2, to discuss the importance of the collaborative partnership between EWU and Asia University.

Since its inception in 1989, more than 3,800 students have participated in the program at EWU. Next year will mark the 30-year anniversary of Asia University America Program (AUAP).

For five months, students from Asia University in Tokyo have the opportunity to learn English and learn about American culture while living on the EWU campus, typically with American roommates.

International peer advisors, who are Eastern students, help AUAP students navigate the university system. The campus friends program hosts events in which EWU and AUAP students can socialize.

EWU students who have participated in AUAP have gone on to study, intern and work in Hong Kong, Guatemala, China and Singapore.

EWU President Mary Cullinan and Asia University President Michiharu Kurita

Martinez Honored Nydia Martinez, PhD, is a 2017 recipient of the Rep. Timm Ormsby Award for Faculty Citizenship, an award created in 2013 in recognition of Ormsby’s efforts to promote civic leadership across the state. Sponsored by the Washington Council of Faculty Representatives, this award seeks to encourage, recognize and honor exemplary civic engagement by faculty from each of the state’s six public higher education institutions.

Martinez is an assistant professor of history and Chicana/o studies. Since arriving at EWU in 2015, she has worked with college students from migrant backgrounds in the federally funded College Assistance Migrant Program. She has collaborated with high school teachers who work with Latina/o students and has inspired Washington high school students in the Dare to Dream Academy through Washington State OSPI. Martinez was also the primary organizer of an October 2016 first-time voter registration project and the February 2017 Immigration Conference at EWU.

She also conducts public presentations and workshops to build awareness of the needs of Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) students and undocumented communities. She is building a study abroad program to take undergraduates to Mexico City in 2018. Her research focuses on issues facing Washington state residents, on community-based programs that facilitate democratic or electoral processes, and on complex relations established between Mexican nationals and people of Mexican ancestry in the United States.

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Family, Faith

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and Football

By Kandi Carper ’05

Rodrick Jackson’s life changed forever Dec. 21, 2016. It was his 18th birthday, the day he changed his name to Rodrick Fisher and was adopted by the family who saved him from an uncertain future 10 months earlier.

During the emotional adoption court hearing, Jolene Fisher spoke on behalf of her husband, Adam, and daughters, Ally and Sydney, saying, “Rodrick, you swooped into our lives on March 2, 2016, so that we could rescue you from the conditions of your life.

Little did we know that you would rescue us right back. Welcome to the Fisher family, Rodrick. We will love you today, tomorrow and for eternity.”

This joyous moment was shared a few weeks later on NBC Nightly News as a follow-up to the network’s previous story that aired in October. The Fishers’ story was reported in local and regional newspapers, and ABC’s Spokane affiliate produced a special feature on the family. In November, they appeared on The Rachael Ray Show.

Why so much media attention? The Fisher family is living a real-life Blind Side movie with an added twist – dad’s the football coach.

Sydney, Adam, Rodrick, Jolene and Ally Fisher at their Spokane Valley home, July 2017

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Adoption day, Dec. 21, 2016, back row: Court Commissioner Michelle Ressa, Ed Fisher, Ally Fisher, John Lee, Adam Fisher, Sydney Fisher, Jolene Fisher; front row: Wendy Hagen Lee, Rodrick Fisher Rodrick and Adam Fisher celebrate a first-place win at the Pasco Track Invite, April 15, 2017

The beginning Imagine being 15 years old, homeless, without an education, structure or he wanted to play he’d get on the right path. To be honest, we had side boundaries. The possibilities for poor choices and mistakes are endless bets in the office as to how long he was going to last. Fast forward – he – even for a good kid. made it. He showed up every single day. He played five games that year In fall 2014, Rodrick left what has been described as a “tough, volatile” and did pretty well getting second-team All-League honors.” home life, dropping out of school the beginning of his sophomore year at During this time, Rodrick was living in someone’s detached garage. It East Valley High School in Spokane Valley. wasn’t an ideal situation.

He was under a CHINS Order (Child in Jolene Fisher said that their church group Need of Services) at the time, meaning he was praying for Rodrick at the time, but she had shelter, food and a court-appointed only knew him as No. 88 on the team. She This kid needs love, and he needs told the group, “He’s really struggling, and guardian. Before that, from age 14 to 15, he spent time living on the streets, sleeping in parents. He doesn’t need to live with I don’t know what he’s going to do after parks or bouncing from one friend’s house football season. Football is what he works a bunch of boys in a group home. for and lives for; it’s why he goes to school.” to the next. It was a scary, sometimes dangerous time in his life.

Football season came to an end, and in How’s he going to get to school Adam Fisher, East Valley’s head football January 2016, Rodrick was couch surfing and practice? Who is going to hold again. Coach Fisher saw him at school coach, was one of Rodrick’s ninth-grade teachers. He wouldn’t see Rodrick again one day in late January and, realizing that him accountable for his grades? until June 2015, what should have been the something was wrong, asked him if he I knew the answer.

We are! end of his sophomore year. needed to talk. They went to a small training “I recognized him, but he didn’t look too room where they could talk privately, and good,” said Fisher.

Rodrick broke down. In an act of courage Rodrick told the coach that he wanted and of desperation, Rodrick reached out to to play football in the fall, but the reality was that he’d need to make up the one man he knew he could trust – someone he respected, who had and pass five classes by the end of June or he wouldn’t be eligible to play always been straight with him. that year, at least for the first five weeks.

“Within the first 20 seconds, he just loses it. He said, ‘Coach, I have “He turned out for what we call spring football,” said Fisher. “He was nowhere to go and nowhere to be. I want to make life changes and play allowed to do that without grades because it’s just practice. I always knew college football.’ I said, ‘You’ve got to make life changes first before we he had some athletic talent but there were just so many distractions in can ever talk about college football. I’ve heard a lot of kids say a lot of his life.” things over the years, but I just don’t see the follow through.’ He said, In August, Rodrick showed up with the necessary paperwork to play ‘No, I’m serious,’ and I said, ‘Well, so am I.’” football, but grades were another matter.

There, on the spot, without checking with Jolene, the coach offered “I told him that if he wanted to play, he’d have to prove it, and if he their home to Rodrick. “I just felt called by God to reach out,” he said. “I missed one day of practice, and any day of school, it would be over. If knew that for him to have any chance of ever graduating from high

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school, let alone playing football – at any level – he would need structure and a stable family life. I was just trying to get this kid on the right track. With the path that he was on, he was either going to be dead or in prison.”

Adjusting to a new life The Fishers did their due diligence before Rodrick moved in. “As a head coach you have to prepare for everything,” said Adam.

Jolene called a couple places that take in homeless boys. “The more I looked into it I thought, ‘This kid needs love, and he needs parents. He doesn’t need to live with a bunch of boys in a group home. How’s he going to get to school and practice? Who is going to hold him accountable for his grades?’ I knew the answer. We are!”

Since moving in with the Fishers and their daughters, Ally, 14, and Sydney, 13, in March 2016, things have been mostly positive, but like every family, there are ups and downs. At 41 and 40, Adam and Jolene are still learning how to parent teenagers, and with a son in addition to daughters. There’s been a learning curve for all of them. That, along with the added dynamic of Adam being the high school’s football coach.

“Rodrick and Sydney joke around a lot and tease each other the most,” said Jolene. “Ally, because she’s closer in age, seems to really get where Rodrick’s coming from a little bit more. She accepted him right away. Sydney really struggled with it. She’s the baby, and all the attention was on the two girls, and now it was split three ways. That was really hard for her. It took her longer to get there, but she’s there now. On adoption day, we all felt like one and that it was meant to be. The girls had fully accepted him by then.”

During the past year and a half, the family has shared exciting big things like family vacations, as well as little things like home-cooked dinners, chores, homework and church. Rodrick is making progress in the classroom, he’s gotten his driver’s license, he’s gained 30 lbs., and his self-confidence has blossomed.

“Rodrick really has a new lease on life,” said Jolene. “He’s so happy and hopeful. It’s amazing what hope brings to someone’s life. You see it in his eyes.”

In May, Rodrick finished first in state in the Track and Field Championship for the 100- and 200-meter competition, with the best time in all divisions. And in June, he was awarded a $1,000 scholarship presented in the “Against All Odds” category at the fourth annual Spokane Youth Awards ceremony.

Because Rodrick missed so much school over the years, Adam is working to get the necessary waiver from the Washington Interscholastic Activities Association for him to play football at East Valley this fall.

Rodrick is well on his way to realizing his dream. In May, he made a verbal commitment to play football for Washington State University in 2018, something that would have been impossible two years ago.

The Fishers have been generous in sharing their story, not for personal glory or recognition but to offer hope to others in a similar situation. Adults have reached out to Adam and Jolene, and kids from around the country have reached out to Rodrick.

“Rodrick loves telling the story because he knows it will inspire others,” said Jolene. “To profess how important we all are to each other is so important in bonding in a heartfelt way. We love telling our story over and over again. It gives us a chance to relive what we’ve been called to do and how far we’ve come as a family.” E

Meet the Parents Adam Fisher ’03, MEd curriculum and instruction, ’99 BA physical education; head football coach and weights/physical education teacher at East Valley High School in Spokane Valley; played football at EWU (’94-’96); graduate of South Kitsap High School in Port Orchard, Washington; son of Susie and Ed Fisher ’71.

Ed Fisher played football at Eastern (’67-’70); inducted into the EWU Athletics Hall of Fame in 2009; coached football at South Kitsap High School for 23 years before returning to Spokane to serve as vice principal at North Central High School.

He later helped Adam coach at East Valley alongside former Eastern head football coach Dick Zornes.

Jolene (Lee) Fisher ’01, MS exercise science, ’99 BS athletic training and exercise science, has her Holistic Health Coaching Certification through the Institute for Integrative Nutrition and owns No Bad Days, a health, nutrition and fitness coaching business. She is the founder of Spokane Women’s Heart Link Networking Group and is a former instructor at EWU and Whitworth University.

The partnership: Adam and Jolene Fisher have been a couple since first meeting in middle school in Port Orchard, Washington.

She was 14 and he was 15. After graduating from South Kitsap High School, Adam came to Eastern on a football scholarship and, a year later, Jolene followed him there. The couple graduated together but didn’t make it to Eastern’s commencement because they were walking down another aisle on June 12, 1999, on their wedding day.

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Ahead of the Cur Jon Hammermeister – An Expert in Sports and Performance Psychology At the highest level of professional competition, all athletes and organizations relentlessly search for ways to gain an edge over their opposition. Their ambition for success is equally preternatural. And they all train to the outer edges of physical capability.

works in the areas of sport and performance psychology, learning enhancement, leader behaviors, and health psychology – also authoring a book titled Cornerstones of Coaching.

With more than 20 years of experience working with various sports organizations, So what sets apart the perennial MLB All-Star Hammermeister has been well-suited to take on new challenges from the struggling minor league prospect, both and has found his way to the forefront of the ever-evolving field. drafted in the same round in the same year?

However, recent technological advancements have pushed him Is it simply talent? Luck? Sure, every out of his comfort zone and into the realm of psychometrics. circumstance is significantly affected by an array Hammermeister has been working with the Pittsburgh Pirates of variables, but a rising as a consultant and is responsible for their amount of data reveals personal and professional development that a large portion of programs. While organizations have strength an athlete’s success and They use the term mental coaches to improve athletic performance, failure boils down to one Hammermeister works with more than 200 conditioning because they athletes in their system to train the strength distinct variable – their mental conditioning. want the athletes to think of of the athlete’s mind.

Once used as a tool “The Pirates don’t use the term sports their mind as muscle. If they psychology,” to help save the careers said Hammermeister. “They of problem athletes, train it in the right way it’s use the term mental conditioning because sports psychology has they want the athletes to think of their minds going to get stronger. recently morphed into as muscle. If they train it in the right way it’s a highly influential and going to get stronger.” respected field. So much Mental conditioning not only affects the so that professional way the Pirates train their athletes within the organizations have started hiring sports organization, but new technology allows them to acquire “numeric psychologists to help elevate their athletes’ peak approximations” of how athletes think when they are looking to performance and gain an emotional and mental acquire new players – and Hammermeister is at the forefront of edge on their competition. this cutting-edge research.

Enter Jon Hammermeister, PhD, an EWU “Ten or 15 years ago, we would just guess at that kind of stuff,” professor since 1999 in the Department of said Hammermeister. “Now we’ve got a much more direct way of Physical Education, Health and Recreation, measuring these things. We are much more confident now in putting who specializes in psychosocial aspects of sport, together these characterizations of how any individual thinks and exercise and health. what are the reasons behind their action.”

Over the years, Hammermeister has been These quantifications play a large role in what Hammermeister called upon to work with some of the world’s does with the MLB draft. In baseball, scouts traditionally define a most prolific Olympic and professional athletes, player’s ability by identifying the number of tools a player has, with a and has generated more than 100 academic five-tool player being proficient in fielding, running, throwing, hitting

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rve

By Brad Brown

for power and hitting for average. However, part of Hammermeister’s job is to make sure the players the Pirates are interested in drafting have the mental tools that they are looking for in an athlete.

“There’s certain personality traits that are important for high achieving,” he said. “The thing with traits is that they generally don’t change much over time. That’s why it’s important that we are able to identify what these traits are, because if certain combinations of these traits aren’t in place, then it’s hard for us to layer the type of training on top of what we think is going to help develop the athlete in the most effective way.”

Neuropsychology is something Hammermeister says has evolved rapidly in the past five years and is what he tries to bring back to his students at Eastern. Drawing comparisons with the modern-day student and the modern-day athlete, Hammermeister thinks the outof-the-box techniques used by the Pirates to make learning not seem like school is important for getting the message through to the student.

“I think when you’re trying to teach anybody anything, whether it’s sports psychology or physics, you’ve got to be able to connect with the person,” he said. “Modern-day college students and modern-day athletes are just raised in a slightly different way than most college professors or coaches were. Obviously they’re expecting more technology to be built into the process, and I think they expect to have more of a say in the process as well.”

While the field continues to rapidly change and adapt with the emergence of new technology, Hammermeister has been forced to adapt to it as well.

“I didn’t get a lot of training with this when I was in college, so it’s really been an area that I’ve had to grow in,” he said. “The biggest problem is that it’s uncomfortable, just because change is uncomfortable. But I think I’ve come to grips with the fact that if I want to stay on the cutting edge, discomfort is just a part of the process.”

To stay ahead of the curve, Hammermeister is continuing to explore new and better ways to assess personality. He says it keeps him sharp, and in his field, “if you want to stay relevant, you’ve got to evolve.”

“I think neuropsych and all the technology being developed around neuropsych are going to have a huge influence on the field,” he said. “It’s been exciting, fulfilling and interesting, and it’s the stuff I try to bring back to Eastern.” E

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EWU Foundation

Celebrates 40 Years of Giving Success at Eastern Washington University is about giving our students chances to learn, grow and dream big.

Here, the playing field is leveled through scholarship opportunities and academic support so everyone gets the opportunity to succeed.

Preparing our students for the world beyond the classroom involves much more than textbooks. At Eastern, we excel at giving our graduates the skills and practical training critical to succeeding in today’s changing work environment.

Alumni and friends of the university are key to providing the much-needed support to ensure that Eastern students have the right tools and experience before they launch into the real world. For more than four decades, the Eastern Washington University Foundation has successfully managed your

generous support, whether it be investments or donations.

The Foundation exists to support the university as it leads boldly into the future.

By increasing awareness of, engagement in, and giving to Eastern, the EWU Foundation will open doors of opportunity for students, faculty, alumni, friends, the community and the region. The combination and coordination of communication, engagement and fundraising efforts are critical to the university’s success.

EWUF ENDOWMENT MARKET TOTAL

EWUF SCHOLARSHIP AWARDS $1,000,000

$20M

$900,000

$18M

$800,000

$16M

$700,000

$14M

$600,000

$12M

$500,000

$10M

$400,000

$8M

$300,000

$6M

$200,000

$4M

$100,000

$2M

2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016

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As we move forward, the Foundation continues its commitment and values its partnership with the university’s board of trustees and the university’s leadership team to identify funding needs, set priorities and maximize your generous support.

Through the efforts of the Foundation and your generous gifts, Eastern students like these have greatly benefited:

2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016

Gabrielle Lucente: Through the Presidential Scholarship and the Daniel and Margaret Carper Foundation Scholarship, my undergraduate studies were greatly supported and allowed me to focus on my education. I also had the opportunity to pursue my aspiration of attending graduate school, and I will be attending Carleton University for my graduate degree in forensic psychology this fall. Additionally, through the Daniel and Margaret Carper Foundation, I had the amazing experience of meeting

Jacqueline Gates Honors Scholarship: It was spring of 2013 and after many college visits, nothing felt like the right fit. On a whim, I scheduled a visit to Eastern with my mom for the next weekend; the beautiful colors of the campus in spring and the bright red turf of Roos Field drew me in, so I applied. A couple of weeks later I received a call saying that I had been accepted and that my high school GPA made me eligible for the Honors Program and the $16,000 scholarship that came with it, which finalized my decision to attend EWU starting that fall. The last four years have flown by in a whirl of tailgates, bonfires and late nights in the library.

Starting this fall, I will be teaching math at Chiawana High school, and I cannot thank the scholarship donors enough for allowing me to have made it to this point.

Ashley Benedict: The Rural American Scholarship helped me to afford the completion of my undergraduate degree in developmental psychology. This scholarship has further helped me to be accepted into the EdS School Psychology graduate program at Eastern Washington University in the fall. With the support of such wonderful scholarship opportunities, I can continue my academic journey. This will allow me to succeed as a school psychologist for a rural school district, allowing me to help shape the academic and life successes for students of all demographics. Thank you for the opportunity to continue my goals.

luminary scholars from many different academic fields. I got to explore Mongolian history, the beginnings and ends of the universe, and the underestimated intelligence of chimpanzees, bonobos and many other animals. Being exposed to such a diverse array of academic disciplines has been an eye-opening experience and challenged me to critically think about the world I once knew.

I am very grateful to both EWU and Daniel and Margaret Carper for investing in my and other students’ education.

Isaiah Henderson, Trustees’ scholarship: Receiving this scholarship means that I have others that also believe in me to further my education. This scholarship will assist me tremendously in pursuing my goal of becoming an HR manager. Being selected also signifies that hard work pays off, and I will continue to strive for success. I am truly grateful and honored to be able to receive a scholarship from EWU, and I look forward to my future.

For more stories on the Impact of Gifts, go to ewu.edu/foundation/give-to-ewu/the-impact-of-gifts.

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LOOK

INCREDIBLE

bookstore.ewu.edu |

509.359.2542

EVERY DAY.

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Cristina '04 and Arturo Santana

By Christine Tully

Cristina Santana’s small stature and quiet, comforting manner are nearly lost in her sizable bulletproof vest. She roams the streets of Sunnyside, Washington, with her husband, Arturo, whose mediumsized build fits his T-shirt labeled U.S. Probation in large, yellow letters on his back. They walk with confidence among the streets of their hometown, often stopped by passersby for a quick hello.

rehabilitation facility.

“I was a big disappointment because I could see it in my parents’ eyes – they just felt powerless,” he said.

“They tried everything they could to keep me on the straight path.”

Because he was considered a lowrisk individual in the criminal justice system, Arturo was moved to an The Santanas’ confidence and determination to beat alternative detention facility. A probation counselor worked with Arturo, asking him to set goals for his future beyond high school. their obstacles led them to where they are today – Cristina, a “I began to create this plan of where I wanted to be, community corrections officer in Sunnyside; Arturo, a federal but then I had all of these barriers probation officer in Yakima. and obstacles still in my community For Arturo, the influence of gang because ultimately I was going to go and drug activity in his hometown of Sunnyside didn’t stop him from I was a big disappointment back home,” he said. “Now that I’ve been in trouble, I have more baggage pursuing his goal of higher education. because I could see it in to carry, in a sense, when I came back For Cristina, the lack of support from her parents didn’t end her dream my parents’ eyes – they just to my community – peer pressure and other factors. But it was a turning point for something beyond working in felt powerless,” he said. for me.” the asparagus fields. Together, their He knew at that point he wanted obstacles didn’t prevent them from “They tried everything to become a probation officer to make graduating high school and becoming they could to keep me on a difference in others’ lives. first-generation college students at the straight path.

Arturo was sent to a halfway and graduates of Eastern. house and released in November 1996.

Fighting influences He returned to school with new goals in mind: he wanted to go to college. He Arturo was born the son of field made a pact with his best friend who was in a similar situation workers who wanted him to follow a different path. They shielded Arturo from the work in the fields and focused on – they were trying to break free of bad influences.

“We started formulating a plan, and I think it was only us sending him to school. For them, Arturo’s education was a two because the small group that we had were just so focused priority.

Although Arturo’s parents tried to keep him on the straight- on going to graduate high school and that’s it. That’s the biggest accomplishment,” Arturo said. “They were not looking and-narrow path, gang and drug activity in the neighborhood made it difficult to make the right choices. Gang activity was at long-term college or anything like that. It was only us two that widespread in the area, with criminal records often running where like, ‘We want bigger and better things.’”

Unfortunately, Arturo was caught in the wrong place at the through generations of families.

Despite his parents’ best effort, Arturo was arrested wrong time. While waiting to go on his first date with Cristina, at the age of 16 and sentenced to 36 weeks in the juvenile Arturo was arrested again.

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Cristina and Arturo Santana and their dog, Max, at their home in Sunnyside, Washington

Although Arturo wasn’t involved, he was sentenced to serve jail time. He wanted to leave the past behind him and focus on graduating high school, so Arturo was allowed to serve his sentence on the weekends. The summer before their senior year, Arturo and his best friend took classes to make up credits in order to graduate on time.

With college in mind and probation check-ins during the week, Arturo and his best friend tried balancing their goals of college with outside influences and increasing violence in the area. After checking in with their probation officer on Sept. 10, 1997, Arturo would never see his best friend again.

“He was my partner. We were going to school, we were going to college, and we put all of that behind us. We were honor roll students.

We were on track to graduate – the first of our families to graduate.

We had these dreams and goals that we’re starting to develop and get to,” he said. “And he was murdered that night.”

Arturo struggled to overcome the devastation of his best friend’s death. Arturo felt alone, but also felt the need to keep good on his promise and continue excelling in school. Arturo began to confide in Cristina, and they continued to develop plans for their future that extended beyond high school. “[Cristina and I] were in this together,” he said. “We needed to get out of here. We needed to do something.”

‘She didn’t have to tell me twice’ Cristina doesn’t recall having a first day of school. She often alternated schools, shifting between curriculums in two states because of migrant field work with her family.

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depending on the season. She would often miss school due to the intensity of the field labor and the need to help her family.

“When my dad came to the U.S., my dad was like 33 years old and he had eight kids,” she said. “He really struggled to make ends meet, you know, to make sure that we had everything we needed. And to him, working was really important, so education was never a priority.”

Cristina never had a role model for education, and four of her five sisters quit school to work. It wasn’t until college recruiters visited Sunnyside High School during her senior year that Cristina began to think about attending college.

With a newfound goal, she visited her guidance counselor to ask for advice on the college application process. Unfortunately, the odds stacked up against Cristina – neither her family nor her guidance counselor offered support for her dream. “[The guidance counselor’s] response to me was like, ‘No, you keep on doing what you’re doing with your family. Keep working in that field with your family. You are attractive. You’re attractive enough that one day the foreman will see you and want to marry you,’” Cristina said.

“And I was kind of disappointed for the fact that this is the only person that I have that could get me to college, and he’s not.”

Cristina stayed determined. She asked heard of Eastern before.

Arturo for help with the financial aid form and “With the big banner out there for We already had this kind applied for a nine-month dental assistant Eastern, then the Chicano Education of mindset that this is just program in Texas – she figured some type program – that just rang a bell, a cultural of program was better than nothing at all. connection,” Arturo said. “It was not just another stepping stone on our She was accepted, received a scholarship school, but also on a personal level, and I path to where we want to be,” think for me that’s what kind of led me in and packed her bags.

Although Cristina’s father didn’t direction.”

Arturo said. “Nothing’s going thatArturo support her going to school, her mother had never left the Sunnyside to happen to prevent us had a change of heart. area before he applied to Eastern; he “[My mom] went to my room and was was planning on applying to University of from getting there. like, ‘Here’s $100. Go wherever you want Washington or Washington State University, to go,’” Cristina said. “She didn’t have to but the Chicano Education program felt tell me twice.” like home. He applied to Eastern and was She grabbed her stuff, walked to the accepted with a scholarship.

Greyhound Bus Station and bought a ticket to Texas. The trip took But attending college came with its own set of challenges for both her three days.

Cristina and Arturo, including staying focused on academics and the Once she arrived in Texas, Cristina had little money left to buy food, culture shock that came with a new city and environment. scrubs, books or a car to get to class. She borrowed her grandfather’s “There was this time where I started questioning if I should be truck, which was unreliable and left her stranded several times. there, and maybe my dad was right and maybe my counselor was “I don’t know if it was in my own mind, but I didn’t want to ask right – this was not a life for me and that I should stay with what I my parents for help because I didn’t want my dad to be like, ‘See, you know and do what I know how to do and not try to get something failed. See, you need me,’” she said. more,” Cristina said.

After completing her dental assistant program, Cristina decided Cristina felt out of place, but the Chicano Education program to enroll at Eastern to be with Arturo and earn her bachelor’s degree in provided the support she and Arturo needed to make it through. social work. Cristina’s parents began to see how important education Their determination to finish college helped them to avoid outside was for her when she asked her dad to drive her to the SAT testing influences like parties and instead work on their academics. center in Texas, about an hour-and-a-half away.

“We already had this kind of mindset that this is just another “My dad is like, ‘You know what, I apologize. I apologize for stepping stone on our path to where we want to be,” Arturo said. everything I had you go through. You want to go to school, you can “Nothing’s going to happen to prevent us from getting there.” go to school. I’ll support you through whatever you need to do,’” she Graduating from Eastern with their degrees in social work, said. “That was kind of the starting point of my dad seeing education Arturo in 2003 and Cristina in 2004, they now work to improve their and looking at it a different way, as not something bad.” community through their jobs and volunteering. As probation officers, The perception of education for Cristina’s family has since the ultimate goal, Cristina said, is to create permanent change and changed. Now, Cristina and Arturo’s nieces and nephews attend or never supervise the individual again. have aspirations for college.

The Santanas are involved with their community with programs “Ever since then, my dad has just been so supportive of everything like Upward Bound, providing support to low-income high school that we’ve done and everything that we’ve accomplished,” she said. students who would be first-generation college students. Despite “So after I ended up taking my test, then I ended up getting accepted their hurdles, Cristina's and Arturo’s grit led them to be a beam of into Eastern.” light for others.

“We’re making a difference. We are working with people that live Unstoppable in our community. They are going through difficulties in their lives, During Arturo and Cristina’s senior year at Sunnyside High School, and we have the opportunity to help them make change to better a representative from Eastern’s Chicano Education program themselves as people,” Arturo said. “But, more importantly, to better visited to present options for higher education. They came at a our community and have this be a great place to live in.” E perfect time – Arturo knew he wanted to go to college but hadn’t E ASTERN: FALL 2017

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2017 EWU Alumni

By Brad Brown 32

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Crowds of old friends, dressed in their evening finery With Champagne Glasses In Hand, Gathered For The 2017 Alumni Awards Gala Held May 19 At The Spokane Convention Center To Honor Eastern’s Inspiring Alumni.

Alumni were nominated for the awards in December, and a committee selected winners in March. The committee is composed of past winners, EWU Alumni Association board members and campus community partners.

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JACK LUCAS ’77 Lifetime Achievement Award

ALAN ’73 AND JO MCDONALD ’78, ’73 Eagle4Life Spirit Award

Since graduating in 1977, Jack Lucas has had a hard time turning down opportunities for community involvement and volunteering.

Alan and Jo McDonald are the quintessential example of a husband and wife team, fanatical about EWU athletics.

Serving on multiple civic boards, including the Lilac Services for the Blind, Goodwill Industries, Big Brothers Big Sisters, Eastern Washington University Foundation, Inland Empire Officials, International Ticketing Association and the Eastern magazine editorial board, Lucas has committed his life to assisting the community in leadership positions.

Alan, a former two-sport athlete playing both football and basketball for Eastern in the late 1960s, and Jo, a former gymnast who was later inducted into the EWU Hall of Fame, have always been involved in athletics in some way.

“What Jack represents for EWU is the perfect mix of professional accomplishment, personal passion for service and making a difference and the loyalty to the institution from which he gained his education,” Doug Kelly, regional account executive at Avista Utilities, once said.

Just 45 days after being honorably discharged from the Navy, Lucas became a student at Eastern Washington State College, and later graduated with a BA in music education. To get by as a student, he was noted to have worked up to six jobs at a time, including directing church choirs, driving a wheat truck and playing Santa Claus at the Bon Marche.

Lucas also played hockey in college and later became a USA Hockey referee.

After graduating from Eastern 1977, Lucas first went on to teach music and theatre for grades 5-12 in the Davenport school district, later becoming the president of the Davenport Teachers Association. He then went on to teach music and social studies in the Mead school district.

During that time, Lucas also began his career in the entertainment industry, working part time as an usher and an event supervisor for the City of Spokane Entertainment Facilities at the Coliseum and the Opera House.

Lucas currently serves as the president of WestCoast Entertainment and has won numerous awards after more than 38 years in the ticketing and entertainment fields.

In addition to his professional achievements, Lucas has been a licensed pilot since 1977, owning and flying a Cessna 172 Skyhawk.

“It’s definitely a pinch-me type of look back on my 30 years,” said Lucas.

“It certainly has been a great career and one that I wouldn’t change for anything.”

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Along with attending nearly every EWU football game, as well as the men’s and women’s basketball games, the now-retired couple have found themselves officiating EWU track and field meets and coaching various sports camps over the years.

Alan and Jo met at EWU and have been married for 46 years. The first time Alan saw Jo was at one of the football games, when she was a twirler in the band. He later asked Jo out on a date, which, by mistake, was on her mom’s birthday. Jo declined. Alan later got his first date, and two weeks later he asked Jo to marry him. She said yes.

Through negative two-degree games with Costco-sized boxes of hand warmers, electric heated socks and red sleeping bags, to driving 15 hours through the night to attend the next EWU game, Alan and Jo are die-hard fans unconditionally.

Bump into them and the chances are you’ll see them sporting some of EWU’s latest apparel. Along with the obvious Eastern sweatshirts, their cars are clad the university’s license plate covers and bumper stickers, and they proudly display EWU decals in their windows at home with an EWU windsock flying on their front porch.

From once being in the spotlight as student-athletes, to later sacrificing their time to run athletic camps and officiate sporting events at EWU, Alan and Jo are much more than just fans on the sidelines and exemplify the spirit of supporting the EWU community through and through.

“I think the beauty of what we’ve learned over the years in athletics, from participating, coaching and spectating, is the friendships we’ve gained over the years,” said Alan. “We have just built this friendship that goes beyond what you could do any other way.”

EWU v. Central Arkansas, Dec. 3

PATRICK JONES

JODEE GARRETSON ’91 Alumna of Service Award

LEAH HORTON ’12 Inspirational Young Alumna Award

RORY TALKINGTON ’81 Exceptional Military Service Award

JoDee Garretson has been an impassioned advocate for the vulnerable populations in her community for over 20 years at the Support, Advocacy and Resource Center (SARC), a not-for-profit agency that provides free and confidential services for victims of crime.

Leah Horton’s passion for philanthropy runs deep. Often working behind the scenes, she has been a driving force for mobilizing volunteers, coordinating events and raising funds in the greater Spokane and EWU communities.

When Rory Talkington first got to Eastern, he had no intentions of pursuing a military career. As a college football player at the time, Talkington became interested in the Marines when a group of officers came to campus and set up a display on flying jets.

Serving as the executive director at SARC, Garretson’s work is often times working with survivors of sexual abuse and other violent crimes, the majority of whom are children.

“The work is hard and the stories are horrific,” said Angela Escobar, previous advocate at SARC and Garretson’s sister. “In one day your heart can break 20 times. This work takes a supportive team. Advocate positions have a high turnover rate. However, JoDee has worked extremely hard to maintain a positive environment via vicarious trauma reduction methods in order to bring sunshine into the office.”

Garretson has utilized her business administration degree in keeping the business side of the nonprofit secure. She’s led SARC through the critical Community Sexual Assault Program (CSAP) accreditation process, and has overseen the tripling in the size of the agency.

While she was busy earning her degree at EWU, she and her husband, Rick ’91, BA economics, were raising their baby while attending classes.

Their senior year they staggered their classes and swapped the baby in the hallways, all the way to graduation, where he wore a little Eastern outfit.

As the resource development manager at Spokane County United Way, she is responsible for raising more than $1 million to fight for the health, education and financial stability of people in the community.

In addition to her own volunteer efforts, Horton has also been leading a charge to get more young professional volunteers engaged by providing a vision and structure to the Spokane County United Way affinity group, the Emerging Leaders Society.

“What resonates most with me regarding her reputation and in interacting with Leah, and is mirrored in EWU, is her unique ability to wrap around you in an experience or interaction and truly assess and listen to your needs while making you feel valued,” Laura Martini, one of her nominators, said.

Horton spent numerous hours at EWU cultivating her love for philanthropy. As a student, she was awarded the President’s Cup for high academic standards and community engagement, was the chair for Eagle Entertainment and was a member of the inaugural class of the Eastern Advantage Program dedicated to helping firstgeneration college students succeed, something she has demonstrated with every challenge she has undertaken.

“Of course the Marine officer said at the time, ‘You’ll never make it; You don’t have what it takes,’” said Talkington. “That was the hook that got me interested. I thought to myself, ‘I’m an Eastern grad; I can do anything.’”

After graduating from EWU in 1981 with a degree in history, Talkington went on to serve in the U.S. Marine Corps for 28 years.

In his early years, he received airborne and scuba training and became a member of the elite combat unit, Recon. Talkington later commanded a Recon company in Desert Storm and the 1st Recon Battalion in Iraq.

Talkington retired as a colonel in 2007, having received a Bronze Star for Valor, a Purple Heart and two meritorious medals among many other awards.

“Eastern is the gem of this area of the state, and we should continue to be in that vein of taking care of our veterans,” said Talkington. “There are Eastern grads in the farthest reaches of the world now, as fellow grads and fellow alumni, let's keep an eye on those men and women, make sure they get home and continue to be in good shape.”

Photos from the event can be found at www.flickr.com/photos/ewuphoto/albums E ASTERN: FALL 2017

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1.

2.

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4.

5.

GOING PRO June 15 was a big day in the life of Cooper Kupp. The four-year All-American former Eagles wide receiver celebrated his 24th birthday and signed a $3.8 million contract, including a $954,760 signing bonus, with the NFL’s L.A. Rams. Kupp, a third-round pick (69th overall) in the NFL draft held in April, has been the most consistent rookie performer during workouts and minicamps, according to most experts.

Joining Kupp on the Rams team is former Eagle defensive end Samson Ebukam, who was selected in the fourth round of the draft. The Rams traded up with the New York Jets to select Ebukam, who signed a rookie contract to play as an outside linebacker with the team in June. The four-year deal is potentially worth $3,006,000 if Ebukam plays all four years, with an annual contract value of $751,000.

At press time, Eagle wide receiver Kendrick Bourne signed as an undrafted free agent with the San Francisco 49ers. He capped his time at Eastern this past season with career highs in receptions (79) and receiving yards (1,201) and finished with seven touchdown catches.

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Shaq Hill, also a wide receiver with huge numbers, signed with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

Hill has the distinction of being the winningest player in school history and the first player to see action in four years and win Big Sky titles each year. He also became just the second Eastern player in school history to letter in four playoff years (2012-13-14-16), joining kicker Kevin Miller (2009-10-12-13).

Former Eagles quarterback Jordan West received a free agent tryout with the Chicago Bears. West started 14 games in his career (104 record) and had a career passing efficiency rating of 153.6 to rank fourth in school history.

Former Eagles Since 1984, when Eastern became a member of the NCAA Championship Subdivision (FCS), 85 Eastern football players have either signed free agent contracts or have been drafted by National Football League (NFL) or Canadian Football League (CFL) teams.

Eleven have been drafted by the NFL and five drafted by the CFL to go along with four NFL draftees from 1965-74. Eastern has also enjoyed a recent influx of players into other existing or now-defunct leagues. They include the Arena Football League (AFL) and arenafootball2 (af2), as well as the United Football League (UFL) and Indoor Football League (IFL). Before that, several played in the World League, which became NFL Europa before it folded.

PROFESSIONALS IN 2017 LOS ANGELES RAMS (NFL) 1. Cooper Kupp Wide Receiver – 2013-14-15-16 2. Samson Ebukam Outside Linebacker – 2013-14-15-16 SAN FRANCISCO 49ERS (NFL) 3. Kendrick Bourne Wide Receiver – 2013-14-15-16 TAMPA BAY BUCCANEERS (NFL) 4. Shaq Hill Wide Receiver – 2012-13-14-16

6.

7.

8.

*CHICAGO BEARS (NFL) 5. Jordan West Quarterback – 2014-15-16 DALLAS COWBOYS (NFL) 6. Clay DeBord Off. Tackle – 2012-13-14-15 PHILADELPHIA EAGLES (NFL) 7. Aaron Neary Offensive Guard – 2012-13-14-15 PITTSBURGH STEELERS (NFL) 8. Jake Rodgers Offensive Tackle – 2013-14

9.

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OAKLAND RAIDERS (NFL) 9. Taiwan Jones Cornerback/Running Back – 2008-09-10 *EDMONTON ESKIMOS (CFL) 10. Cassidy Curtis Offensive Line – 2012-13-14-15 MONTREAL ALOUETTES (CFL) 11. Vernon Adams Jr. Quarterback – 2012-13-14 BRITISH COLUMBIA (CFL) 12. Tevin McDonald Safety – 2013-14 13. T.J. Lee III Cornerback – 2010-11-12-13

12.

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CALGARY STAMPEDERS (CFL) 14. Bo Levi Mitchell Quarterback – 2010-11 EDMONTON ESKIMOS (CFL) 15. J.C. Sherritt Linebacker – 2007-08-09-10 WINNIPEG BLUE BOMBERS (CFL) 16. Matt Nichols Quarterback – 2006-07-08-09 *MONTREAL ALOUETTES (CFL) 17. Ryan Phillips Defensive Back – 2003-04 *Released/no longer with team.

15.

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17.

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FACES &PLACES FOR MORE EWU PHOTOS, VISIT FLICKR.COM/PHOTOS/EWUPHOTO

39TH ANNUAL ORLAND KILLIN DANCE & AUCTION CHENEY | APRIL 29 Proceeds benefit Eastern Athletics.

Orland Killin was dedicated to academics and EWU. He was a professor, faculty athletic representative and faculty president, and an Eastern football letter winner in 1941-42.

Get Lit! Alumni Reading Barrister Winery, Spokane | April 23

Alumni Day Mariners Spring Training Peoria, Arizona | March 5

4TH ANNUAL CONNECT AND RECONNECT SWAN EVENT CHENEY | MAY 13 The Social Work Alumni Network event was an opportunity to reconnect, network and enjoy a silent auction and dinner.

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30-Year Physical Therapy Reunion EWU Spokane | May 6

YPN VOLUNTEER DAY SPOKANE | APRIL 13 EWU YPN volunteered with Spokane Neighborhood Action Partners, as part of Spokane Gives Back Month, to provide assistance with painting and yard cleanup for families in the Riverwalk community.

Lt. Gen. Gary Volesky Installation Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Washington | April 3

CELEBRATING TEACHERS SPOKANE CONVENTION CENTER APRIL 28

The Education Department celebrated the history and legacy of teaching and honored Education alumni and Teachers of the Month.

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Bikes Helmets

Sunglasses !

Eagle Pride

Eagle Pride. Got yours? $28 from each specialized-plate fee is directed to EWU SCHOLARSHIPS.

In 2017, 28 students received $1,000 scholarships from the specialized plates.

Personalized and motorcycle plates are available.

The $28 plate fee is tax deductible.

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VISIT EWU.EDU/PLATES

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STAY CONNECTED TO YOUR EAGLE COMMUNITY!

EWU alumni events help you continue to build Eagle memories long after you graduate. Whether it’s a family fun day at Silverwood Theme Park, discounted tickets for cultural events, networking and mentoring opportunities, or athletic fans' gatherings – there’s a lot to do when you’re an Eagle4Life!

Here are a just a few of the many exciting events that you won’t want to miss.

Red Zone on the Road, Saturday, Sept. 16, Fordham University, New York Join alumni and fans (11 a.m.-1 p.m. ET) at the alumni pregame at Fordham University. Red Zone tailgate includes lunch and beverages. Cost: $50/person.

Eagle Red Day, Friday, Nov. 2 Celebrate Eagle Red Day in conjunction with Homecoming Weekend! It’s a day to show your Eagle pride, no matter where you are in the world, by wearing Eastern’s signature red. Be sure to post your photos to social media with #Eagle4Life.

Giving Joy Day, Tuesday, Nov. 28 Giving Tuesday is a global day of giving. At Eastern, we have our own spin on the day – for us, it’s Giving Joy Day. Last November, EWU alumni, students, staff, faculty and friends raised a whopping $324,925 for scholarships and spread joy throughout the community. On Nov. 28, let’s make it our goal to top last year’s huge success!

Register for upcoming events at alumni.ewu.edu/events. Contact us at 888.EWU.ALUM.

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class notes EMAIL YOUR NOTES TO EASTERNMAGAZINE@EWU.EDU.

17

’17, ’14 Kyra Phelps, MS communication studies, BA visual communication design, is working as the marketing communications coordinator at the Humane Society of Northeast Georgia. Previously, she worked as a graduate student associate for EWU’s Outreach and Engagement (2015-17) and as a social media intern for EWU Marketing & Communications (2016-17), while attending graduate school.

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’16, ’13 Breann Booher, MS physical education, BS athletic training, and ’16, ’12 Katie Del Monte, MPH, BA interdisciplinary studies, were married July 1 in Spokane. Breann teaches sports medicine and is the head athletic trainer at Mt. Spokane High School. Katie works for the Spokane Regional Health District. Several members of their bridal party are also Eastern alumni. ’16 Samantha Charlton, BA communication studies, has joined Hanna & Associates as traffic coordinator. She has two years of previous marketing experience and specializes in project organization and management.

15

’15 Nicolas “Nico” Phelps, BS technology manufacturing, will be working with the National Football League’s Atlanta Falcons as an equipment assistant. He worked with the EWU football team as an equipment manager (201317) and as an intern with the San Diego Chargers in 2016. ’15 Amanda Strong, BA communication studies, has been selected to the board of directors of Partnering for Progress, a nonprofit that sends volunteer teams to help with infrastructure in Kenyan villages.

She is a program manager at CHAS Health.

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14

’14, ’08 Alexis Alexander, MBA, BS electrical engineering, has been selected to the Eastern Washington University Foundation’s board of directors. He works at Avista.

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’13 Jessica L. “Jessi” Johnson, BS applied developmental psychology, and Joe Kraudel married June 24, at Mader Farms, near Genessee, Idaho. Johnson is a member of the support staff at Frontier Behavior Health in Spokane.

12

’11 Scott Spears, BA criminal justice, and Connie Kirk married July 15 at the Inn at Spanish Head resort in Lincoln City. Spears is a security guard at St. Joseph Regional Medical Center in Lewiston, Idaho. ’11 Jeremy S. Vincent, MEd, has been hired by the Ferndale School District to become the principal of Ferndale High School, effective July 1. ’11 Mark Woodman, BA music, is the 70th president of the Rotary Club of Downtown Puyallup, Washington.

’12, ’10 Sean Moss, MEd, BA visual arts education, has been selected as the new K-12 principal by the Quilcene School Board. Quilcene, Washington, is located on the Olympic Peninsula. Moss has worked for the past six years as an art, history, technology and senior-project teacher, as well as principal intern for the Rosalia School District in eastern Washington.

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’10 Jack K. Schneider, BS electrical engineering, has been promoted to associate principal at NAC Architecture.

’11 Kira Burt, BS physics, has accepted a tenure track position in physics at Spokane Falls Community College. She earned her MS in physics and PhD in nuclear and particle physics at the University of California, Riverside.

She previously worked as part of an international team inside the CERN (European Organization for Nuclear Research) in Switzerland. ’11 Kelli Hills, MS communications, is the research and prospect management specialist at Eastern Washington University. Previously, she served as assistant director of Annual Giving for the university.

’10 Hilary Ishii, BS athletic training, was part of the Eastern Oregon University’s athletic training staff recognized as the Cascade Collegiate Conference Athletic Training Staff of the Year. Ishii joined the EOU staff in January 2016 after serving as an assistant at Eastern New Mexico University from 2012 to 2015.

’10 James Wohrle Jr., BA marketing, and Alexis Dandelles married June 17 at Whistle Punk Brewing Company, Newman Lake, Washington. Wohrle is an account executive with Lamar Advertising.

09

’09 Brandon Rapez-Betty, master’s degree urban and regional planning, has been named one of 10 Spokane Journal of Business Rising Stars for 2017. He is the customer and community relations manager for Spokane Transit Authority.

class notes Williams Named Principal of the Year Eastern alumnus Mike Williams ’87, MEd was named the 2016 Principal of the Year by the Idaho Association of Secondary School Principals and the National Association of Secondary Principals. He’s the principal of Middleton High School, Middleton, Idaho. He represented Idaho in the national program.

Williams graduated from EWU in 1980 with a BA in education.

In 1987, he earned his MEd and principal certification in 1988.

While at Eastern, he played football.

All the state winners are honored during a Principal’s Institute in Washington, D.C., every year, and that event also functions as a forum for honorees to advocate for education and share best practices and expertise.

Williams’ career as a principal started in 1988. Over the years, he’s worked in many different communities, each with its own story and culture. “I have adapted my leadership style to each environment to ensure student achievement is a priority,” says Williams. “From working on a reservation in Northern Idaho to serving as a P-12 principal in Washington to leading three distinctly different central/southern Idaho high schools, the clientele that I have served has each been unique and required varied approaches. These approaches have grown my depth and range as a leader.”

His bio in the NASSP Principal of the Year magazine described his career highlights as “developing electronic teacher portfolios, and electronic student portfolios for college admission.”

08

’08 Chad M. Kubik, BA marketing, has been recognized

by Banner Bank as one of nine Spokane-area “Banner Bank’s Best.” He is a loan officer. ’08 Mynor A. Veliz, MBA, is the new chief financial officer at Headwaters Health Foundation. He has more than 10 years’ experience in the health and medical services sector. Previously, he served as CFO of Intermountain, a behavioral health care system serving more than 2,000 children and families each year throughout Western Montana. He also serves as a member of the National Society of Hispanic MBAs, providing career guidance to young professionals.

07

’07 Rachelle R. Green, BA criminal justice, has been recognized by Banner Bank as one of nine Spokane-area “Banner Bank’s Best.” She is an assistant vice president.

’07 Alicia Kinne-Clawson, BA government, will be the new policy director for King County councilmember Jeanne Kohl-Welles. Previously, she served as the assistant director of government relations for Eastern Washington University. ’07 Lindsey Knopik, BA journalism, has joined Multnomah Group Inc. as the marketing manager. Previously, she was the marketing manager for K&L Gates.

06

’06 Craig Fischer, MA English, is the director of faculty enhancement for Washington State University and is an adjunct instructor of ethics in business, public administration, at Whitworth University. Previously, he was the training manager at SCAFCO Corp.

05

’05 Emily S. Gwinn, MFA, received a $1,500 Spokane Arts Grant to compile and publish an anthology celebrating the Spokane Poetry Slam. All proceeds from the sales of this collection will support the Individual World Poetry Slam coming to Spokane in October 2017. ’05 Latisha Hill, master’s degree urban and regional planning, has been named one of 10 Spokane Journal of Business Rising Stars for 2017. She is senior vice president, at Avista Development. ’05, ’04 Bryan Ryerse, MS and BA communication studies, joined Korsmo Construction in Tacoma as a project manager. He has over 10 years of work experience in the construction industry.

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class notes Rolling the Dice to Success When Nate Chatellier ’05, BS computer science, arrived in Houston for the first day of the widely popular PAX South gaming festival in January, the Kickstarter project he and his business partner launched to crowdfund their game Dice Throne had already surpassed its humble goal of $15,000 – all in less than 48 hours.

Today, Dice Throne has amassed over $187,000 in pledges from more than 3,650 backers in 45 countries.

“This was way, way more than we expected,” said Chatellier. “We were selected to be a part of the Indie Showcase, which was really huge. It was in all of the brochures, and we were in the center of the show with a huge banner overhead, and my business partner Manny’s artwork is absolutely brilliant.”

Beginning as a video game – Chatellier and his co-founder and creative director Manny Trembley’s forte – Dice Throne transitioned to a tactical dice-rolling tabletop game with colorful artwork and different heroes to choose from. The game can be played in single player or in teams with character styles that are “vastly different than one another” in 15-to-30-minute games.

Based out of Spokane, this is the first game Chatellier and Trembley have designed through their new company, Mind Bottling Games, with hopes of using their experience in video game and app development to expand to a digital version if they acquire a big enough audience to warrant it.

Aside from his current venture with Dice Throne, Chatellier also works as a contract developer and designer for Niantic, the software company that created Pokemon Go with Nintendo.

The PAX South Indie Showcase winner Dice Throne is expected to be in the hands of its numerous backers by November.

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’05 Shelly M. Colomb, BA human resource management, has been named one of 10 Spokane Journal of Business Rising Stars for 2017.

She is a commercial banking team leader at U.S. Bank.

04

’04, ’03, Thom Caraway, MFA, BA English, and partners Bethany Taylor and Derek Landers, received a $7,500 Spokane Arts Grant for Millwood Print Works, a nonprofit letterpress and screenprint shop whose mission is to train new production printmakers, provide access to letterpress and screenprint artists, and develop the regional text-based artists’ community. ’04, ’03 Grant Pemberton, MA English, BA history, has been named one of 10 Spokane Journal of Business Rising Stars for 2017. He is the general manager of Nicks Handmade Boots.

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’04 Randi Aud Holm, BS communication studies, co-owner of the family business, Holm Made Toffee Co., announced the expansion of their production facility/commercial kitchen to 1,200 sq. ft. in Bend, Oregon.

The company won the 2017 Oregon Chocolate Festival Best in Show and Best Chocolate Candy - honorable mention for its cardamom and vanilla hazelnut toffee. ’04 Kathryn E. Smith, MFA, received a $2,000 Spokane Arts Grant for a poetry project called The Chosen Companions of the Goblin based on three sisters whose claims to communicate with the dead sparked the American Spiritualist movement.

03

’03 Shawna Benner-Erickson, MPT, is the new owner of Lake Country Physical Therapy in Sandpoint, Idaho, where she has worked for the past 12 years as a physical therapist. ’03 Heleen Dewey, BS community health, of the Spokane Regional Health District, has been selected for The Kresge Foundation’s Emerging Leaders in Public Health Initiative. She leads the Health District’s Active Living Program.

01

’01, ’94 Lisa Poplawski, MEd, BA graphic communications, director of Alumni Advancement at EWU, has joined Wishing Star Foundation’s board of trustees.

class notes Alumni Association Announces New Leadership Jeff Stannard ’91, BA communication studies, began his term as EWU Alumni Association president on July 1. He is married to Leslie (Dumont) ’91, BA business. They have three children and live in Kent, Washington. Jeff works for Mondelez International as a customer category manager and recently celebrated his 25th anniversary with the company.

The EWU Alumni Association (EWUAA) is the official body representing EWU alumni.

The organization is a volunteer-driven, non-dues paying, nonprofit organization, working in partnership with the university’s Office of Alumni to continue to strengthen the bond between the alumni and the university. EWUAA encourages and fosters lifelong involvement of the alumni, in partnership with the university, through advocacy, support, service and communication. All EWU graduates are automatically enrolled in the Alumni Association upon graduation and are invited to join in alumni activities.

New board members include Alvaro Figueroa ’13, Rick Garretson ’91, Holly Johnson ’14, Lori Johnson ’05, Rusty Madsen ’07 and Morgan Willis ’16.

Board members serve a two-year term and the number of vacant positions varies annually. A complete list of board members is available at www.alumni.ewu.edu.

00

’00 Wendy K. Dodge, BA accounting, CPA, has joined Siegfried’s Detroit market as an associate director. Most recently, she was at Deloitte, one of the big four accounting firms, where she served as an audit senior manager. ’00 Angela Dubay, BA journalism, of Delta Dental of Washington, has been elected treasurer of the Spokane Association of Health Underwriters. She was also selected as president-elect and will serve as president for 2018-19.

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’99 Shae (Olson) Johns, BA social work, Southern Oregon Goodwill executive, joins Goodwill Industries International board of directors.

She will also serve as a member of the social enterprise’s Conference of Executives (COE) Executive Council, representing the Goodwill membership at the national level.

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’98 Casey (Spencer) App, BA marketing, has been appointed vice president of product marketing for Bridgepoint Education Inc. in San Diego.

Previously, she served as vice president of marketing at NuFACE, where she led the highest revenue-generating product launch of 2015 with the NuFACE Mini. ’98 Angela B. Gardea, BEd reading, has been named School Counselor of the Year for 2016 by the Washington School Counselor Association (WSCA). She is the counselor for Garrison Middle School in the Walla Walla School District. Gardea began her career with Walla Walla Public Schools in 1999 at Pioneer Middle School. She transitioned to school counselor in 2007, first at Pioneer Middle School and most recently at Garrison Middle School. She was recognized at the WSCA annual conference in March.

’98 Maura C. Jackson, BA sociology, of Spokane’s Special Assault Unit, was named Community Corrections Officer of the Year at the Washington State Department of Corrections Annual Agency Awards in Tumwater, Washington, in April. ’98 Wade C. Johnson, BA psychology, has been appointed president and CEO of St. Peter’s Hospital in Helena, Montana. He has more than 15 years of experience in health care leadership.

Previously, he served as the CEO of Valor Health in Emmett, Idaho. He has achieved Fellow status in the American College of Healthcare Executives and is a certified change management facilitator.

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class notes

98

’98 Deborah Lacombe, BS physics, has joined HLA Engineering and Land Surveying Inc., a civil engineering company in Yakima, Washington, as a senior planner. She has 14 years of local, state and federal transportation planning experience.

’98 Mark Richard, BA government, was named to Catalyst Business/Spokane CDA Living magazine’s “Power 50,” a list of business people and political figures who are the power players in the region. He is the president of Downtown Spokane Partnership.

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’96 Kevin Wiley, BA recreation management, is the district branch manager at the Silverdale, Washington, office of Waddell & Reed. Previously, he was a financial advisor at Ameriprise Financial Services Inc.

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’95 Michael S. James, MURP, has joined the Phoenix Public Transit Department as the city’s first BRT administrator, after spending the past four-and-a-half-years planning and managing rail and transit corridors in Seattle. He is a member of the American Institute of Certified Planners.

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’93 Corey Doty, BA sociology, a community corrections officer with Spokane Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS) West, received an Innovation Team Award at the Washington State Department of Corrections Annual Agency Awards in Tumwater, Washington, in April.

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’92 Amy Shively Hawk, BA communication studies, has authored the book Six Years in the Hanoi Hilton: An Extraordinary Story of Courage and Survival in Vietnam, the story of Capt. James Shively, with foreword by prison mate Sen. John McCain. Shively Hawk is the stepdaughter of Capt. Shively, who married her mother after his release from the Hanoi prison. The author was 5 years old at the time. Shively Hawk and her family live in Hood River, Oregon.

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’91 Dave Spencer Crimps, BA radio/TV, is the new co-host of the Morning News Express, 590KQNT, iHeartMedia. He’s been the program director there since April 2016. For more than 30 years, he’s served as the public address announcer for EWU. ’91 Kathryn Lamb, BA sociology and criminal justice, from the Spokane Valley office was named Supervisor of the Year at the Washington State Department of Corrections Annual Agency Awards in Tumwater, Washington, in April. ’91 Yolanda “Lonnie” Tortorelli, BA sociology and criminal justice, a community corrections officer with the Spokane Community Justice Center, received an Innovation Team Award at the Washington State Department of Corrections Annual Agency Awards in Tumwater, Washington, in April.

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’90 Todd Mielke, BA business, was named to Catalyst Business/ Spokane CDA Living magazine’s “Power 50,” a list of business people and political figures who are the power players in the region. He is the CEO of Greater Spokane Incorporated, the regional Chamber of Commerce.

’90 Justin Watson, MA English and rhetoric, has been named provost at Holy Cross College in South Bend, Indiana. In 2000, he earned a doctorate in English at the University of Notre Dame. He’s worked as an English professor at Holy Cross for more than 20 years, directed its first BA program, and became the dean of faculty in 2007, and vice president for academic affairs in 2013. He served as the first faculty athletics representative when the college joined the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics.

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’89 Darrell Early, BA government, was named division chief of the Idaho Office of the Attorney General’s Office of Natural Resources division. He’s been with the attorney general’s office since 1999.

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’85 Collette C. Leland, BA history, was named Rising Star

by Super Lawyers Magazine – a list of the top attorneys in Washington. She is an attorney with Winston and Cashatt in Spokane. ’85 Dean Stuart, BA operations management, has been promoted to vice president of Crown West Realty LLC’s Spokane operation and general manager of Spokane Business and Industrial Park.

He has been with the company since 2000.

84

’84 Claudette Kenmir, BA finance, has been selected to the Eastern Washington University Foundation’s board of directors. She works as vice president and regional general manager for Physicians Insurance.

Music Alumni all-class Reunion homecoming weekend Nov. 3-4, 2017 * More information & registration: alumni.ewu.edu/MusicReunion2017

’84 Rob L. Stewart, BA finance, has been promoted to SBA loan officer at Columbia Bank. Most recently the vice president and market manager at Columbia’s downtown Spokane branch, he will work with teams in eastern Oregon, eastern Washington and Idaho.

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’81 Larry F. Soehren, BA marketing, was named to Catalyst Business/Spokane CDA Living magazine’s “Power 50,” a list of business people and political figures who are the power players in the region. He is the president and CEO of Kiemle & Hagood Company, one of the largest property management and commercial real estate companies in the region.

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’76 Steven Storey, BA urban and regional planning, has been selected to the Eastern Washington

University Foundation’s board of directors.

He works as senior vice president of commercial lending at Home Street Bank.

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’72 Randy Hatfield, BA recreation administration, was inducted into the Western Fairs Association Hall of Fame at the annual WFA convention held in Reno in January.

He started his career working at the Kitsap County Fair and Parks Department in 1972 and later became the fair manager and parks director in 1981.

Currently, he is the fair manager and CEO for the Del Norte County Fair in Crescent City, California. He plans to retire at the end of this year.

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’68 Rich Tschirgi, BA sociology, a retired teacher and administrator from the Medical Lake School District, was inducted into

the National Wrestling Hall of Fame in Stillwater, Oklahoma. He has been a board member, official, assigning secretary and active participant in wrestling for 42 years in the state of Washington. He assigns officials for wrestling for 61 schools in four counties. He is also the chief evaluator for the Mat Classic Wrestling finals held in the Tacoma Dome each February.

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’67, ’65 Kialynn Glubrecht, MA mathematics, BA mathematics education, is retiring after 50 years of teaching math at Spokane Falls Community College. She taught at Eastern, Shadle Park High School and Medical Lake High School before starting SFCC in 1967. She recently won a lifetime achievement award from the Washington Mathematical Association of Two-Year Colleges.

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in memoriam Kendall Feeney 1959-2017 In March, Eastern Washington University mourned the passing of longtime EWU Music Department faculty member Kendall Feeney.

An accomplished pianist, Feeney came to Eastern in 1990 and most recently was director of the EWU Contemporary Music Ensemble.

Feeney, the wife of EWU English professor Anthony Flinn, leaves a lasting impact on Eastern and the Spokane arts community. As a piano educator, she was nationally recognized for her work with injured musicians. She frequently performed piano recitals, appeared with the Spokane Symphony and was active with the Northwest Bach Festival.

In 1997, Feeney was awarded the Individual Artist of the Year by the Spokane Arts Commission and is included in Who’s Who in America and Who’s Who in American Women. From 1991 to 2003, Feeney was artistic director and founder of the critically acclaimed Northwest concert series ZEPHYR: A New Design for Classical Music.

’07

’82 Pam E. Close, age 70, died March 29

’74 Alice L. Danielson, age 85, died May 24

’04 Ragna Hamberlin, age 37, died June 2 ’00 Andrea L. Gonzales, age 40,

’82 Joanne M. McDonald-Elias, age 79, died Feb. 21

’74 D.L. Stevens, age 83, died Jan. 7

Elizabeth “Marie” Tripp, age 45, died May 11

died March 13

’81 Charles G. Bancroft, age 65, died Feb. 28

’00 Sarah J. Lewis, age 38, died March 12

’97 ’92 Alice V. Miller, age 80, died March 23 ’91 James M. Gun, age 68, died April 5 ’90 Bruce C. Johnson, age 66, died March 3 ’89 Buela Duty, age 61, died June 29 ’88 Kelly Triplet, age 53, died April 17 ’86 Jamie Eleanor Breedlove, age 66, David E. Carr, age 44, died March 8

died June 8

’86 Lisa K. Shellman, age 54, died April 18

’83 Sandra J. Anton, age 75, died Feb. 5 ’83 Robert “Bob” Bublitz, age 83, died July 12 ’83 Paula R. Salzano, age 56, died June 1

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’81 Dennis L. Adel, age 67, died Feb. 22

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’80 Krista L. Bighaus, age 59, died Feb. 13

’80 Don M. Potts, age 60, died May 6

’79 Linda H. Mikelson, age 60, died May 3 ’78 Robert J. Carroll, age 63, died Jan. 15

’78 Cary B. Day, age 63, died April 29

’77 Paul A. Cicero, age 63, died June 25

’73

Jody (Eisenman) Schierman, age 67, died May 12

’72 Lowell E. Reese, age 74, died June 7

’72 Gary R. Warren, age 70, died April 16

’71 Robert V. Bingham, age 73, died May 5

’71 Charles E. Gillard, age 77, died May 3 ’71 Vernon J. Madson, age 67, died May 12 ’71 James T. Norwood, age 86, died Jan. 28

’77 Glenn B. Eklund, age 63, died June 17

’70 Rodney L. Derusha, age 72, died May 20 ’68 Alan W. Knott, age 71, died May 13

’77 Marcia J. Stiltner, age 69, died Jan. 29

’68 John A. Zilar, age 78, died April 18

’76 John R. Erickson, age 71, died May 20 ’75 Gary K. Broyles, age 68, died Jan. 23

’75 Stephen P. Horobiowski, age 66, died Jan. 21

’66 William L. Boyle, age 72, died May 3

’66 Alvin Hymer, age 74, died July 1 ’66 Herman Littman, age 97, died May 24

’65 Paul D. Shepard, age 77, died March 2

in memoriam Eastern’s Oldest Graduate Dies On May 13, 2017, Vera Thrall Johnson died at age 108. She was a resident of Columbia Crest Care Center in Moses Lake, Washington.

In 1926, she left the family homestead in rural Marlin, Washington, to start her teaching studies at Eastern, then known as Cheney Normal School. She would eventually return home where she taught school, there, and at several other rural schoolhouses during her long career.

In the fall of 2014, Eastern magazine writer Jeff Bunch and Lisa Poplawski, director of Alumni Advancement, visited Johnson in Moses Lake. She was 105 at the time and a study in resiliency, beating colon cancer at age 94 and recovering from injuries sustained in a fall at home.

Her advice on how to live a long life – “Walk every day and eat your vegetables,” and “Get an education because no one can take that away,” she said.

’65 Walter D. Sheridan, age 80, died April 3 ’65 Terry N. Turner, age 74, died April 8

’54 Tom P. O’Leary, age 84, died April 13

’53 Awanna Kalal, age 86, died June 3

’64 Howard W. D. Bailey, age 81,

’53 Harvey L. Lochhead, age 85, died Jan. 9

’64 Gary C. Bean, age 75, died March 2

died March 11

died April 16

’64 Bud A. Stimson, age 75, died April 19

’63 Wallace Caviness, age 76, died March 3 ’61 Maj. Creed R. Morgan, age 81, died April 19

’60 Charles W. Wiltse, Jr., age 83, died Jan. 30

’59 Lois A. Woodell, age 87, died Dec. 31, 2016 ’57 Edward L. Angstrom, age 85, died March 2

’57 Jack E. Lane, age 82, died March 30

’54 George L. Cowan, age 85, died Jan. 4 ’54 Donelle Grob, age 84, died March 27 ’54 M. Lois Lunden, age 84, died Jan. 25

’52 Richard E. Hollingsworth, age 87, ’52 Mona F. Weber, age 86, died April 3

’51 Suzanne E. Moody, age 87, died April 11

’51 Robert R. Palmer, age 87, died Feb. 15 ’51 Neil D. Prescott, age 88, died April 30

’50 Wayne W. Worsham, age 93, died Feb. 20

’49 Richard M. Rogers, age 92, died May 27 ’48 Herbert R. Warriner, age 94, died March 3

’47 Sally W. Cole, age 92, died March 14 ’41 LaVerne Werner, age 100, died March 9 ’39 Jean F. Stevens, age 98, died March 24

Faculty & Staff

Eva Callahan, age 85, died April 26. She retired from the Education Department July 1, 1997, after 31 years of service.

Sanford E. “Sandy” Gerber, PhD, age 83, died in May. He researched and wrote extensively on communication disorders, auditory dysfunction and hearing science. He retired in 2000.

Chris Sublett, age 79, died April 3. He retired in August 2002 from the Art Department after 29 years of service.

Bill Turlington, age 63, died March 29, 2017. He was employed in EWU’s IT Department at the time of his death. He had worked there since September 1997.

Miriam (Micki) Werner, age 83, died Feb. 28, 2017. She retired from EWU in March 2003, after 14 years of service in the Women’s Studies Department. She resided in Indiana.

Lewellyn “Lew” Wilson, age 82, died June 10. He retired from the Communications Department in 1991, after 23 years of service.

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• Eastern Washington State College totaled 114 acres • New construction began: JFK Library, Student Union Building additions, Dressler Hall • Tuition and fees increased to $88 • New departments: Radio-Television, Speech and Speech Correction, Drama • Lyndon B. Johnson was president • The Beatles released the album Help • The miniskirt appeared in London • The Vietnam War escalated • Average new house: $13,600; average new car: $2,650 • Popular movies: My Fair Lady and The Sound of Music • 6.7 magnitude earthquake hit Puget Sound

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