Forever Eastern: Even as EWU moves to embrace a new identity as “the region’s polytechnic,” it’s worth remembering that much of what makes Eastern special will never change. That’s especially true in the fall, when returning students bring the campus back to life, filling the autumn air with their laughter, excitement and eager anticipation for the coming academic year. In this brief, beautiful moment before the coming of winter, there is no better time to be an Eagle.
by
We are the region’s polytechnic. It’s a bold phrase that I was honored to pronounce earlier this year, and since then we have seen remarkable enthusiasm for this earnest expression of who we are and why we’re different. Across our state and region, people are excited that Eastern is moving forward with the polytechnic approach, using applied learning opportunities to prepare students to thrive after graduation.
We are not starting from scratch in this effort; in fact, many of our programs already incorporate some form of hands-on learning as part of their curricula — student teaching, live performances, and research symposiums addressing community issues are just a few examples. Now we are moving forward to make this a hallmark of an Eastern degree, no matter the program.
Over the past several months, I’ve attended national conferences, legislative forums, and intimate business gatherings. At each one, the message is clear: higher education must act to prepare the next generation of leaders. New students are seeing new challenges, and Eastern is leaning in to meet those needs. Already, our passionate faculty have submitted nearly 200 proposals to modify programs, positively affecting over 2,000 courses to make the student
About half of our students graduate with no debt, which means that new teachers, nurses, cybersesecurity hawks and mechanical engineers are able to more quickly build a comfortable life while contributing to our region’s economic vitality.
experience at Eastern both more relevant and effective.
Do challenges remain? Of course. But Eastern has never shied away from change, and we haven’t become the region’s oldest university by standing still.
In this transition, I am most proud of our commitment to continue making a college degree affordable for all students. Even as the national media continues to ignore regional universities while talking about the high cost of college, EWU has quietly continued to remain our state’s best value. About half of our students graduate with no debt, which means that new teachers, nurses, cybersecurity hawks and mechanical engineers are able to more quickly build a comfortable life while contributing to our region’s economic vitality. However, as budgets in the state of Washington continue to fluctuate, this is becoming increasingly
difficult to achieve through public funding alone. As a result — as you’ll learn from our story on Page 20 — it’s more important than ever to have financial support from our community and Eagle family.
No matter the challenges, I look to the future with optimism. Yes, our newest students, both the Gen Zers and soon-to-be-arriving Gen Alphas, will learn differently (see Page 26). But they have remarkable new ideas and dreams. Our faculty and staff will have the opportunity to shape those dreams into realities, ensuring that Eastern remains a place where students can build their futures with confidence.
I have never been more proud to be an Eastern Eagle!
Shari McMahan, PhD President
EASTERN MAGAZINE
FAL L / WINTER 2024-25
EDITOR
Charles E. Reineke
ART DIRECTOR
Ryan Gaard ’02
CONTRIBUTING DESIGN
Emily Ausere ’22
CONTRIBUTING WRITERS
Avery Knochel
Melodie Little ’91
PHOTOGRAPHY
Luke Kenneally
Chris Thompson ’19
VICE PRESIDENT FOR UNIVERSITY ADVANCEMENT
Barb Richey ’92, ’99
DIRECTOR OF ALUMNI RELATIONS
Kelsey Hatch-Brecek ’21
MAGAZINE ADVISORY BOARD
Joseph Haeger ’10
Nick Lawhead ’07
Lisa Leinberger ’98
Brian Lynn ’98
Kelly Naumann ’10
Robin Pickering ’97, ’03
easternmagazine@ewu.edu
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Eastern Magazine 102 Hargreaves Hall Cheney, WA 99004-2413
Eastern magazine is published twice each year by University Advancement and is mailed free to alumni and friends in the United States. View this and previous issues of Eastern online at ewu.edu/magazine
Just after the beginning of the 2023 academic year, Eastern’s Board of Trustees met to discuss, among other pressing issues, how the university could better share its strengths with the wider world: “How might we more authentically communicate who we are,” they asked, “while differentiating ourselves in our region’s competitive higher education landscape?”
Eastern’s leadership responded by working with a Baltimore-based consulting group, idfive, and faculty representatives from EWU’s four colleges to engage the entire campus community in the quest for answers.
After months of research and market analysis, strategic-planning and surveys of stakeholders, a plan that emphasizes Eastern’s long history of hands-on, experiential learning took shape. And earlier this year, with the BOT’s approval, that plan became official: Eastern, in both mission and messaging, would now publicly define itself as “the region’s polytechnic” “polytechnic” being broadly defined as an emphasis on applied learning — as it works to provide its students with experience-based pathways for success.
“There has been a lot of chatter, and even a few news stories already, about this next evolution for Eastern — our regional polytechnic brand,” Shari McMahan, Eastern’s president, said with a laugh during her annual convocation address in September. “As I continue to say, this is an exciting opportunity for us to differentiate ourselves and to capitalize on the work we are already doing… Our goal is to make applied learning a hallmark of every EWU degree.”
“To be clear,” she continued, “we are still a regional comprehensive public university grounded in a liberal arts education.”
Currently, some 75 percent of EWU students graduate with experience in their intended career fields. Eastern will now be working even harder to provide professional experiences to all of its students. “There has been a lot of listening that’s gone into this a lot of back-and-forth and creativity,” McMahan said. “To me, it really defines the authentic Eastern Washington University.”
Stu Steiner, student-centered champion of all things cybersecurity, earns EWU’s highest faculty honor.
One of Eastern’s most prominent faculty members, Stuart “Stu” Steiner, in June was awarded the Trustees’ Medal, the university’s most prestigious faculty accolade.
Steiner ’01, an associate professor of computer science and electrical engineering, is the founder and director of EWU’s Center for Network Computing and Cybersecurity. The center is home to a nationally prominent program that has placed Eastern students at the forefront of international efforts to make digital technologies less vulnerable to attacks.
The Trustees’ Medal is the university’s highest form of recognition for faculty achievement. Since 1978, it has honored teaching excellence, significant contributions to scholarship and research, and accomplishments in the development of academic programs and curricula. The award consists of a silver medallion and a $1,500 cash prize from the EWU Foundation.
His largerthan-life presence can be felt in every corner of the campus, and
we have
always known that we can turn to him with any concern, however big or small.
Steiner, who has served on the Eastern faculty for more than 20 years, has a reputation for operating an inclusive program that opens doors for all students. This commitment to the university and his “unwavering support” for students was cited in the multiple endorsements that supported his Trustees’ Medal nomination.
In a letter signed by more than 60 Eagle undergraduates, for example, Steiner was credited for significantly advancing their academic and personal development.
“His larger-than-life presence can be felt in every corner of the campus, and we have always known that we can turn to him with any concern, however big or small,” the letter said.
On a professional level, his students’ experiences include helping small Washington cities, among them Liberty Lake and Kittitas, fend off cyberattacks. An Eagle team coached by Steiner also earned a national title for EWU at the 2023 NCAE Cyber Games in Florida.
His contributions to the university aren’t limited to academic work. In addition to serving on the EWU Foundation board, Steiner and his wife, Shirlee, have contributed significant scholarship support for students who are underrepresented in the cybersecurity field. Steiner also works to engage next-generation students by organizing cyber camps, regional competitions and mentoring activities.
Beyond the EWU campus, his work has earned the attention of the federal National Security Agency, which tapped him to mentor faculty members at other universities as they work to establish their own cybersecurity programs,
“In all my time working in higher education, I can think of few people with both the passion, the expertise and, most critically, the commitment to the institution that Stu Steiner embodies,” said David Bowman, dean of Eastern’s College of STEM. “I can think of no person more deserving of EWU’s highest honor.”
Like many colleges and universities, Eastern is always looking for ways to better serve its students, support its faculty, and maximize the value it provides to the wider community.
One recent initiative, a potentially transformative, two-year “strategic resource allocation” review, reached a critical phase earlier this fall.
In September, senior administrators issued their initial response to recommendations made by a Strategic Resource Allocation Task Force comprised of EWU faculty and staff members.
Those recommendations, divided into separate reports for “university services” and “academic programs,” contained the task forces’ findings on whether particular university programs and services should be expanded and invested in, maintained as currently operated, streamlined, transformed, or disinvested.
IMoving forward on the recommendations will be a multi-year process, Shari McMahan, EWU’s president, has stressed, adding that she does not expect that any of the reallocations will involve faculty or staff layoffs. But some form of restructuring, she wrote in a letter to the university community, is inevitable.
On the services side, McMahan said, her leadership team “has prioritized finding ways to maximize productivity, reduce redundancies, and build a better customer service and learning environment for the campus community and visitors.”
Decisions on investment, transformation, or disinvestment of academic programs, meanwhile, will be finalized in early 2025, said Jonathan Anderson, EWU’s provost, in an earlier campus communication.
At this stage, he said, 27 programs have chosen to make program modifications, whether through curricular reorganization
An
and/or resource reduction. Plans from those programs were completed by Nov. 1.
Additionally, Anderson wrote, “55 programs mutually agreed to consolidate or eliminate their offerings. There are currently 20 programs working through the program review and discontinuance process as outlined in academic policy. We expect the Board of Trustees to take final action on discontinuance recommendations in February 2025.”
Strategic allocation decisions are never easy, and administrators have said difficult choices will need to be made throughout the university.
But the goal, they add, is straightforward: “To ensure that our academic programs are best aligned to meet regional workforce needs, and our university services aligned in such a manner as to ensure the student experience is meaningful and campus resources are efficient and effective.”
Eastern investigator earns support for creating
“tangible solutions” to STEM-field barriers.
ncreasing participation among underrepresented university faculty members, particularly in STEM fields, is critical to building and maintaining our nation’s knowledge and science economies, experts say. Now, thanks to a three-year, $975,000 initiative funded by the National Science Foundation, EWU will be better equipped to make its own STEM faculty more representative. Led by principal investigator Edwin Elias, an associate professor of Chicana/o/x studies at EWU, the new program is called Utilizing Practices to Leverage Institutional & Intersectional Formative Transformation, or UPLIIFT. It was funded through the NSF’s ADVANCE program, which, since 2001, has invested over $270 million to support projects at more than 100 university and STEM-related not-for-profit organizations. Eastern last received support from the ADVANCE program in 2010.
“[The grant] allows me to conduct research and to provide tangible solutions for retaining and recruiting historically excluded faculty,” Elias says, emphasizing that at Eastern, as elsewhere, barriers to boosting inclusivity remain substantial.
According to an UPLIIFT project overview released by Elias and his team of co-investigators, the new work at Eastern will utilize “an intersectional approach to examine and mitigate the processes that create inequities.”
This approach, says Elias, will help him and his team create a “more complete picture of the specific challenges underrepresented groups face, allowing us to enact institutional practices, structures, relationships and campus climate into an equitable and meritocratic workplace.”
Work for the UPLIIFT project began this fall. It is funded through the summer of 2027.
JFK Library celebrates a summer of upgrades.
It’s not at all surprising that university research libraries, according to the nonprofit Council on Library and Information Resources, are taking on a range of new roles in the digital age, becoming “more deeply engaged in the creation and dissemination of knowledge.”
Eastern’s JFK Library & Learning Commons is no exception, having evolved in recent years to accommodate the latest advances in collection development, information access and user services.
This summer saw more progress as the library completed a much-anticipated series of services upgrades, including an expansion of digital resources, improved organization, greater access to its collections and an increase in quiet study and collaborative spaces.
Many of the changes, library officials say, came in response to feedback from the campus community, including faculty members who requested additional databases to support student-faculty research and experiential-learning projects.
Other improvements included a consolidation of books on the upper level of the library’s campus
building, which increased access to — and convenience in — browsing among the stacks. Books that hadn’t been borrowed in 20 or more years were shipped out, creating additional space for current and emerging curriculum needs. Maps were redesigned to help students more easily discover resources, services and study areas.
“We’ve already had positive feedback from patrons over the summer and intercession. We encourage everyone to check out the improvements, both physical and new online resources,” says Ielleen Miller, an associate professor at EWU who serves as library faculty chair and director of the School of Libraries.
Many of the projects were years in the works, says Miller, adding that “they were only made possible with the dedication of all of the library staff, faculty and our fantastic student workers.”
Drew Shirk is the latest BOT appointee, joining Carol Evans and Alexis Alexander on EWU’s governing body.
In September, Drew Shirk, director of the Washington State Department of Revenue, was named by Gov. Jay Inslee to the university’s Board of Trustees. He joins new members Carol Evans ’91 and Alexis Alexander ’08, ’14, who were also named to the eight-member board in 2024.
As Eastern’s governing body, the Board of Trustees establishes and reviews university policies and oversees the general management of EWU. It also sets the university’s strategic direction, approves budgets and ensures its fiscal integrity.
Shirk comes to the board with a long history of public service. In his current role as director of the Department of Revenue, he leads an agency of 1,500 employees. The Wenatchee native earned his Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Washington, and attended the Master of Public Administration Program at EWU. Shirk received the Governor’s Leadership in Management Award in July 2013.
Carol Evans was named to the board earlier in 2024. She was the first woman to serve as tribal chair for the Spokane Tribe of Indians, breaking barriers and paving the way for future generations of Indigenous women leaders.
In addition to her bachelor’s degree from EWU, Evans was awarded an honorary doctorate from Eastern last June in recognition of her outstanding contributions to her tribe and community. “We must continue to educate ourselves throughout life,” says Evans “I am honored to be appointed to the EWU Board of Trustees, and hope to help make college education a success for all students.”
Alexis Alexander, also appointed earlier in 2024, holds both bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Eastern, where he was a standout student athlete. He currently serves as director of information-technology infrastructure with Spokane’s Avista Corporation. “I am humbled by the opportunity to serve the university, particularly among such a talented leadership team,” says Alexander.
State funding will help Eastern lead the way to a more sustainable future.
Across the nation, the use of clean, renewable energy sources is revolutionizing the way Americans power their lives and livelihoods. Already, according to the U.S. Department of Energy, alternatives to the carbon-based status quo are generating hundreds of billions in economic activity, with much more to come.
Now, thanks to a Washington Climate Commitment Act grant from the state’s Department of Commerce, EWU is poised to play a bigger part in pioneering more planet-healthy ways of fueling our future. Earlier this fall, EWU was awarded close to $2.2 million to support two projects that will advance both Washington’s and the university’s clean energy goals. Project leader Erik Budsberg, EWU’s director of sustainability, says the clean energy initiatives will also provide applied-learning opportunities for Eagle students who one day hope to solve tough climate challenges as working professionals.
“These learning opportunities will give students a chance to get hands-on experience as they build careers that will ultimately tie into the clean energy revolution and help them secure good jobs — jobs in which they can help address the root causes and impact of climate change,” Budsberg says.
The bulk of the funding, $1.9 million, will support development of a carbon dioxide capture component for the university’s natural-gas powered steam heating
system. EWU will partner with CarbonQuest, a local engineering and manufacturing firm, to implement this “demonstration carbon capture system,” which will reduce emissions while providing a research space for investigating new, emission-reduction technologies.
The hands-on study of emission capture, Budsberg says, will position Eastern to provide a road map for other institutions and businesses seeking to mitigate their own near-term, carbonemission challenges — all while planning for deeper decarbonization in the future.
The state also awarded EWU a $275,000 planning and pre-development grant to explore installation of a 3.5-megawatt solar-energy system. Among the issues to be investigated, Budsberg says, are potential construction challenges, utility impacts and interconnection agreements.
EWU’s projects were among 46 grants funded as part of the Washington Climate Commitment Act. “We’re very thankful to the Department of Commerce and the state of Washington for seeing the potential for clean energy development in Eastern Washington and, specifically, at Eastern Washington University,” Budsberg says.
Cola Boyer returns to make a difference at her alma mater.
Cola Boyer , an Eastern graduate who has excelled in training next-generation tribal leaders, was recently named the university’s new director of tribal relations.
Boyer ’20 says she’s “incredibly excited” to return to EWU where, she adds, “I’m going to be in a place where I can make a difference with tribal relations and tribal communities.”
EWU President Shari McMahan said Boyer, an enrolled member of the Shoshone-Bannock Tribes of the Fort Hall Reservation, brings a wealth of knowledge, cultural advocacy and relationship-building experience to the role. “We’re confident in her abilities to lead with passion and dedication in fulfilling the mission of EWU,” McMahan said.
Prior to accepting her position at Eastern, Boyer established herself as a force in leadership training and development via her role as administrator of the
Kalispel Leadership Academy, a tribal education program established by the Kalispel Tribe of Indians. Her success with the academy was recently recognized by the Spokane Journal of Business, which last year selected Boyer as a “rising star.”
As an alumna, Boyer has stayed active at EWU by volunteering, most notably as a member of the EWU Alumni Association Board of Directors. What stands out about her service, says Kelsey Hatch-Brecek, director of alumni relations, is her collaborative leadership style.
Cola makes everybody just come together… I am really excited for the doors she will open here.
“Cola makes everybody just come together. She is all about unity and how we can use even our differences to come together,” Hatch-Brecek says. “I’m really excited for the doors she will open here.”
For her part, Boyer says her leadership role at Eastern will allow her to grow a stronger campus presence for Native people, helping both students and tribal community members overcome obstacles, and build upon successes, as they go forward.
“I look forward to spending some more time with all the faculty and staff and really building that strong collaboration with everybody,” she says.
for “highest level” operations.
For Police Chief Jewell Day , and the officers who serve with him at Eastern’s University Police Department, keeping up with best practices in policy, procedures and enforcement techniques has always been crucial to serving and protecting the campus community.
In June, that dedication to professionalism was recognized by a certificate of accreditation from the International Association of Campus Law Enforcement Administrators, IACLEA, the nation’s leading authority for campus public safety.
Fewer than 100 agencies have earned this recognition, and Eastern is the only university in Washington to be IACLEA accredited.
“We are extremely proud to have earned our first ever accreditation as a police agency,” Day ’95 says. “This signifies that we have achieved the highest professional standards for policing, and have made a commitment to our community to continue being progressive in implementing and adhering to industry best practices and standards.”
According to its statement of standards, IACLEA accreditation signifies an agency’s ongoing commitment to excellence and state-of-the-art performance in every aspect of its operations. Such standards, it continues, should guide the recruitment, selection, training
and professional development of agency personnel and overall agency operations.
Eastern received its accreditation after a rigorous evaluation process that included a site visit to EWU by an IACLEA assessment team. Eastern’s police prepared for the visit, in part, by updating policies and operations. Police officials also gave the public an opportunity to provide comments to the visiting assessors.
Among the benefits of accreditation are increased accountability from agency personnel and a commitment to continuous improvement to maintain excellent operations, Day says. The EWUPD will seek re-accreditation in four years.
“We congratulate the Eastern Washington University Police Department on achieving IACLEA accreditation, a unique distinction among campus police and public safety agencies,” said IACLEA President Paul Dean, chief of police and assistant vice president for public safety and risk management at the University of New Hampshire. “The men and women protecting your campus have proven through policy and practice the commitment to operate at the highest level of the profession.”
NIH announces a $350,000 grant to help two EWU
The itpa protein plays a crucial role in several metabolic processes that are essential to human life. Severe defects in ITPA are uncommon, but the results can be devastating.
Infants born with a rare ITPA abnormality, for example, face the risk of a lethal neurological condition known as Developmental and Epileptic Encephalopathy 35. Few diagnosed with the disorder live past their third birthday. Even patients with less severe ITPA deficiencies can experience dangerous side-effects to medications prescribed for other conditions — including life-threatening conditions.
Nick Burgis, professor and chair of chemistry, biochemistry and physics at EWU, is perhaps the nation’s leading authority on the ITPA protein and the genetic processes it regulates. Together with his colleague Yao Houndonougbo, also a professor of chemistry and biochemistry at Eastern, Burgis is using that knowledge to pursue development of first-generation molecular-level treatments for ITPA-related disorders.
Burgis’ and Houndonougbo’s efforts recently received an important boost from the National Institutes of Health, which last month
announced a three-year, $350,000 “research enhancement” award that will extend the agency’s previous support for the two scientists and their students.
The focus of the work supported by the grant, says Burgis, is to identify a molecule that can restore the ITPA’s proper functionality. To do this, he, Houndonougbo, and their students will deploy a battery of digital and biochemical tools to look for promising molecules among a virtual and physical library of 300,000 molecules housed at UCLA.
As part of this effort, Burgis — along with two, yet-to-be-named Eastern undergraduate researchers — will travel to Southern California to conduct the molecular hunt with Robert Damoiseaux, the professor of molecular and medical pharmacology who directs UCLA’s Molecular Screening Shared Resources Laboratory.
The hoped-for outcome, Burgis says, is a molecular-drug therapy that would benefit all at-risk populations: both infants with encephalopathy as well as older populations with less severe forms of the ITPA deficiency.
The project is funded by the NIH’s National Institute of General Medical Sciences.
Picked to be cellar dwellers, Eastern asserts itself as a true contender.
For most teams , a painful season like EWU’s 2023 soccer campaign would take years to bounce back from.
Matches were usually tight, play was always competitive, but poor results spoke for themselves: Just two wins, 14 losses and one draw. After a particularly frustrating, season-ending losing streak that concluded with a dismal 4-0 beatdown at Northern Colorado, there seemed to be only darkness at the end of the tunnel.
“Our record didn’t match our ability” added Chloe Pattison, the team’s superstar striker. “A lot of the Big Sky felt we were a good team; we just couldn’t find our results.”
That all changed this fall. Picked in preseason polling to finish eighth, Eastern instead finished 4-1-3 in conference play, earning third place and their first conference tournament appearance since 2019. It was one of the most dramatic win-loss turnarounds in the nation.
Egypt Simmons
But the Eagle women were undaunted. And well before the 2024 season commenced in August, they were laying the groundwork — both mentally and physically — for the powerful comeback that propelled this years’ squad to conference-title contenders. “I saw it last year,” said junior defender Becca Gaido. “I knew the players on our team were capable of this, and I knew what we could do. We were just not getting the results we thought we deserved.”
Pattison, a junior from Lake Stevens, Washington, was a catalyst for the Eagle offense all season long, leading the conference in goals, shots on goal, and points. In November, she was named the Big Sky’s co-offensive Player of the Year and, along with the Eagle’s attacking midfielder Kendall Moore, earned a place on the Big Sky’s All-Conference First Team.
Pattison and her teammates credit the confidence and work ethic of fourth-year head coach Missy Strasburg for fueling the turnaround.
That assessment was shared by Strasburg’s coaching colleagues, who awarded her the Big Sky’s Coach of the Year honors, the third Eastern coach to be so named.
All told, Eastern earned four Player of the Week awards in 2024, and matched 2017 with a total of six players named to All-Conference teams. Eastern’s junior goalkeeper, Kamryn Willoughby, was one of these six standouts, leading a defense that kept five clean sheets.
Unfortunately, after earning a three seed in the conference tournament, the Eagles’ title hopes ended — after 20 minutes of overtime and a penalty shoot-out — against Portland State, 1-1 (7-6). “Having such an incredible season end in PKs is absolutely gut-wrenching,” said Strasburg after the match. “But our women put everything they had into that tournament quarterfinal, and we are deeply proud of their effort and commitment to each other.”
By Avery Knochel
Over five decades of service, Eastern’s School of Social Work has never stopped improving lives and communities.
At the beginning of the 20th century, the United States was riding an extended wave of rapid industrialization and explosive urbanization — developments that, in a sense, created the modern nation we live in today.
For millions of average Americans, however, our nation’s rise came at significant costs. Harsh working conditions, child labor, social inequities and extreme economic disparities seemed features, not flaws, in a system that championed the unchecked power of big money and those who controlled it.
Reformers of the era saw this reality as a threat to good governance and social harmony. Their response, in part, was to deploy methodologies of the newly emerging “social” sciences to create systematic, thoughtful paths toward building a more caring, equitable society. Though it didn’t yet have a name, the discipline of “social work” was born.
Fast forward to the 1970s. Thanks to the success of these early, Progressive Era reformers, along with subsequent advances associated with the New Deal and Great Society initiatives, the United States was far less unforgiving to those in need. Still, in the Pacific Northwest as elsewhere, the conditions that gave rise to the need for social work persisted: poverty, racial inequality, urban decay, limited economic mobility, and systemic barriers to success among them.
work practice in the curriculum,” says DePaolis. “The school was committed to serving the needs of an ‘Inland Empire’ that was comprised of small cities and towns, agriculture areas, large areas of wilderness, and a few metropolitan areas.”
Over the course of its next five decades, the school has continued to serve these areas of the region and others, both as part of its policy of providing hands-on student practicum opportunities and its success in preparing graduates to hit the ground running, says Sarah Featherly, field education director for the School of Social Work.
“There is a need for our graduates to fill the roles of case managers, navigators for those most marginalized, advocates for social justice, and agents of change,” Featherly says. And in order to become “agents of change” upon graduation, she adds, Eastern’s social work students move out of the classroom and into Greater Spokane communities to gain experience with the community members they will eventually serve.
“These opportunities provide students a chance to understand how policies, organizational structures, and resources impact individuals and communities. Through practicums, students are able to apply theoretical knowledge to real problems and see how those theories function in diverse settings,” says Featherly.
I truly believe the MSW program at EWU provides a solid foundation for navigating
trauma and motivating change in the clients we serve.
Since the late 1950s, Eastern had offered a program of study for social work students, and many of its graduates were already making a difference as professionals in both public and private sector roles. But from the start, EWU faculty members and local professionals had advocated for a school of social work, one that could serve as a home to both research faculty and graduate students. After close to seven years of lobbying, the state legislature finally gave its approval, and the school hired its first dean, John O’Neill, in 1974.
“The new school broadens our responsibility to serve the Spokane community and is a major development in our goal to provide graduate work in human and social development,” Raymond Whitfield, dean of graduate studies at the time, told The Easterner
Fifty years later, the school is still serving the Spokane community and the wider region. That regional approach, says Kathryn DePaolis, associate professor and interim chair of the School of Social Work, was always intended to be part of the program.
“We began with a focus on interdisciplinary and rural social
One of these former students , Geneva Prigan ’01, ’17, has applied that theoretical knowledge to a 23year career in child welfare. It all began with an EWU practicum placement at Spokane County Head Start.
Head Start is best known as an early childhood education program. But it also provides essential child development and support services to low-income families. These include dental, vision, health screenings and growth assessments — assessments that are made available to the child’s pediatrician.
Just months after completing her EWU practicum work, Prigan was hired as the family service coordinator at Head Start. Her job, she says, was to do the assessments that helped her determine whether kids’ needs were being met: “In my role, I addressed any concerns I might have for a child with the family. We talked through any barriers they might have and how to better address those issues and needs.”
Her seven-year service at Head Start, Prigan says, laid the foundation for what has become a career-long focus on childrens’ wellbeing, one that has included work with the Indian Child Welfare service of the state Department of Children, Youth, and
Families, or DCYF. The goal of that position, she says, was keeping Native children connected to their culture by working directly with the child’s tribe for care and services.
After 13 years on the job, Prigan then returned to EWU to complete a Master of Social Work degree. She now serves as a child welfare supervisor in the Spokane office of DCYF, where she manages a team of social workers who work to ensure a safe and smooth transition for children going into foster homes.
It’s often difficult, emotionally taxing work. “The information in some of the cases is really hard to take in and can be terrifying, quite honestly,” says Prigan. “The things that were happening to children in child welfare, and the level of trauma that these kids experienced, creates secondary trauma in the case workers and in the case work.”
Prigan credits her master’s degree program at EWU for helping her through the more difficult parts of her work, thanks in part to its emphasis on trauma-informed training.
“I truly believe the MSW program at EWU provides a solid foundation for navigating [our] trauma and motivating change in the clients we serve,” says Prigan. “Having that foundation of trauma work, and looking at how trauma impacts the way that we live and the way that we heal, is probably the most impactful piece of my master’s degree.”
What’s more, Prigan says, by helping her focus on the children and families she serves, her academic experience has helped her keep sight of the most rewarding parts of her job, like helping to reunify children and families, finding permanent adoptive homes for kids who have long been in foster care, and connecting Native children culturally with their tribes.
“As social workers, I think that we all have the ability to impact a person’s life for the better,” she says.
Making lives better, even while still a degree candidate, has long been a hallmark of EWU social work. Before students move on to create positive change professionally, they typically engage in practical, hands-on approaches to confronting challenges faced by their fellow Washington residents.
One example of this practicum work can be found at the central branch of the Spokane Public Library, where students labor alongside library professionals in assisting the unhoused population that often seeks shelter and services there. While on the job, Eagle students respond to a variety of immediate concerns, like handing out winter jackets or bottled water, and also provide guidance on mental health and housing options.
Master’s degree students have also worked to address the opioid crisis, this via an interprofessional, team-based training alongside WSU students. Over the past five years, the training program is something all first-year MSW students have completed.
In order to better serve such students, the School of Social Work is always looking for new ways to help when needed. Recognizing students’ need for flexible schedules is one of those ways, and the social work program has in recent years become more accessible than ever.
“We have established part-time options in lieu of the full-time, inperson, MSW program,” says DePaolis. “The part-time programs use a hybrid format, meaning that the coursework is a combination of inperson and online instruction. The structure of the part-time programs
is designed for individuals interested in social work, but their work and/ or family obligations pose a barrier to obtaining a MSW degree in the traditional way.”
For students with financial challenges, scholarship opportunities, such as the one provided through Ballmer Behavioral Health, can also be a game changer. The Ballmer Scholarship covers the cost of attendance in exchange for three-years’ work at an approved behavioral-health agency in the state. Another program, the Child Welfare Training and Advancement Program, provides a similar opportunity, one in which students receive scholarship funding in exchange for two years of service at Washington’s DCYF.
Such partnerships help Eastern students overcome financial barriers while fostering relationships with often understaffed social service agencies. And the combination of such practicum and scholarship opportunities give soon-to-be Eastern grads an edge as they prepare for their careers.
To celebrate these and other successes, the School of Social Work hosted a 50th anniversary event on Oct. 12. During the celebration, held at Hargreaves Hall, EWU students, alumni and staff were able to reconnect and network as they applauded past achievements and shared insights into today’s challenges.
And what about the next 50 years? “Social work education at EWU will remain grounded in a framework of social, economic, racial, and environmental justice,” DePaolis says. “Then, as now, our job is to transform how our graduates practice, advocate, research, develop policy, and lead in diverse and global communities.”
AS OF JUNE 30, 2024
Funds in the EWU Foundation endowment are managed as a single investment. Like an individual who invests in a mutual fund, an endowed fund purchases units in the endowment pool and participates in a per-unit allocation of investment pool earnings and distributions. This investment and comparative endowment performance report illustrates the performance of the pooled investment for the fiscal year July 1, 2023-June 30, 2024
The EWU Foundation manages the investment pool with direct oversight provided by the EWU Foundation Investment Committee. The committee actively works with Northern Trust Institutional Investment Services to select asset allocations and achieve a welldiversified asset mix that balances maximum return with acceptable risk over time. Northern Trust, founded in 1889, has core principles of service, expertise and integrity.
FOR THE PERIOD
• EWUF endowment value:
• The endowment fund distributed over support of
• Endowment received designated gifts of $3.4 million
Jessica Avalos (left) and Brooklyn Parkey joined the first student cohort in EWU's new School of Nursing in fall 2023. Both were awarded the Proud Eagle Nursing Scholarship, established by alumni donors Kathy and Ken Privratsky. Grateful for the scholarship’s financial boost, Jessica and Brooklyn are giving back through their efforts in establishing the Eagle Nursing Student Association to assist future nursing students. Read the full story: ewu.edu/give/stories/proud-eagle-nursing/
n 2023 n 2024
$3,000,000
$2,700,000
$2,400,000
$2,100,000
$1,800,000
$1,500,000
$1,200,000
$900,000
The EWU Foundation endowment investment goal is to match or exceed the return of a benchmark consisting of public market indices weighted to asset allocation targets.
All figures represent returns net of fees
EWUF ENDOWMENT RETURN
EWUF ENDOWMENT RETURN, BLENDED BENCHMARK
NACUBO-COMMONFUND* STUDY OF ENDOWMENTS
*An industry standard, the NACUBO-Commonfund Study of Endowments is based on data received annually from over 800 U.S. college and university endowments and affiliated foundations.
In spring 2024, five years into the Prairie Restoration Project, EWU students, faculty and staff continued research and hands-on learning to reduce and eliminate noxious weeds on the 120-acre property located behind Roos football field. WHAT'S NEXT? Scan the QR code to learn more. ewu.edu/stories/prairie-restoration-moving-forward/
ASSETS
REVENUE, SUPPORT AND GAINS
THE EWU FOUNDATION has a responsibility to be accountable to our constituencies; to our board of directors (who serve without remuneration and at their own expense); to EWU and its leadership, faculty, staff and students; to our donors; to our volunteers and to the advancement staff.
ALEXIS ALEXANDER (EWUF Chair)
ROB DIETZ
CURTIS GRIFFIN
KRISANN HATCH (EWUF Immediate Past Chair)
SEAN HOAGLAND (EWUF Treasurer)
CLAUDETTE KENMIR
JAY KIRKPATRICK
RICHARD MARLL (EWUF Secretary)
RICHARD MOUNT
MIKE MUMFORD
JEFF STANNARD
STU STEINER
VIN VU
KAREN WEIS
BRETT WRIGHT
EX-OFFICIO (voting)
NATE PETERS (EWUAA Representative)
DICK DONLEY (EWURA Representative)
LUCAS FRYE (ASEWU President) (VACANT) (ASEWU University Advancement Council Representative)
EX-OFFICIO (non-voting)
DR. SHARI MCMAHAN (President, EWU)
BARB RICHEY (Vice President, University Advancement and Executive Director, EWU Foundation)
MARY VOVES (Vice President, Business and Finance, EWU)
VICKI WILSON (EWU BOT Representative)
SCAN THE QR CODE TO GIVE TODAY.
Hands-on learning is at the forefront of the EWU experience. Our students don’t just learn: they do. With academic offerings that reflect employer demand, we educate graduates who are aligned to meet current and future workforce needs.
This forward-thinking approach benefits our region. Experiential opportunities at EWU connect students with local industry. The result? Graduates with real-world experience and a vetted passion for professions that serve the Greater Spokane community.
Explore how we are focused on the future as the region’s polytechnic.
ewu.edu/polytechnic
IMPACTTRANSFORMATIVE EASTERN GOES PUBLIC WITH ITS $100 MILLION “BUILD OUR FUTURE” COMPREHENSIVE CAMPAIGN.
The frontier settlement that had recently become Cheney wasn’t yet 5 years old when a committee of concerned citizens convened an urgent meeting at the offices of the town’s first newspaper.
The topic? Education, or the lack thereof. If their growing community was to thrive, the attendees agreed, it needed a place for the instruction of its young people. And soon.
Among those in attendance was an official of the Northern Pacific Company, the railroad line whose newly laid tracks had put the budding town on the map: “Why not ask our new director, Benjamin Cheney, to help?” he said.
Letters were promptly dispatched, and a short time later a second railroad official confirmed that, yes, its director was indeed interested in helping. Cheney would, he said, “furnish the means to build a school edifice, which would stand as a monument to Mr. Cheney’s memory, as well as provide the educational opportunities which he himself never had.”
With his subsequent gift of $10,000 and eight acres of land —
along with two teachers and several crates of books — Cheney made good on his promise.
The Benjamin P. Cheney Academy, constructed in 1882 on the hilltop site where Showalter Hall stands today, was a humble, two-story structure with an uncertain future. But thanks to the vision and determination of those who believed in its potential, the academy and its successors persevered, bouncing back after every setback to become one of the Pacific Northwest’s most dynamic engines of opportunity: Eastern Washington University.
Today, that visionary spirit lives on as EWU begins the final phase of the most ambitious fundraising effort in its 142-year history.
“Build Our Future: The Campaign for Eastern” is a $100 million comprehensive campaign that aims to open doors for a new generation of students, much as Cheney’s academy provided opportunities for aspiring educators in the late 19th century. By expanding scholarships, enhancing facilities, bolstering faculty hiring and investing in cutting-edge programs, the campaign will position Eagle students to earn life-changing degrees that prepare
Our goal is to make an applied learning experience a hallmark of an EWU degree, ensuring that every student has the opportunity to participate in hands-on learning that prepares them for a goodpaying job and a meaningful career.
campaign is Eastern’s first. So why now? Why are tuition dollars and state support no longer enough?
them for personal, professional and community-leadership success.
October’s elegant Red Tie Gala was the campaign’s joyous public debut, an announcement event almost a decade in the making. During two years of preparation and a subsequent seven-year “quiet” phase, the EWU Foundation and the university’s development and advancementservices teams were busy laying the groundwork for what was to come. Their work has already yielded impressive results, with donors stepping up to pledge more than $68.5 million — proof that the spirit of philanthropy runs as deep as ever in the Inland Northwest. These initial gifts are already funding scholarships, developing innovative learning hubs, and providing hands-on experiences that translate classroom concepts into real-world skills.
While universities have long relied on similar comprehensive fundraising efforts to support their students, the Build Our Future
The answer illuminates a worrying shift in American higher education. Over the past several decades, public universities nationwide have grappled with challenges related to the ups and downs of state and local backing. Even here in Washington, a state with a history of robust support for its colleges and universities, per capita spending on higher education tells a similar story. According to a study released by state education officials, “higher education is cyclical. When a revenue problem develops due to a recession, state support declines. Tuition increases have continually shifted costs to students, and state revenue shortfalls accelerate this process.”
Such uncertainties leave institutions like EWU in a tight spot. The university must either raise tuition — potentially pricing out the very students they aim to serve — or make cuts. Enter the comprehensive capital campaign, a fundraising tool that’s become increasingly crucial for public universities nationwide.
THECONCEPT OF THE COMPREHENSIVE capital campaign originated in the early 20th century, as universities sought to fund expansion plans and endow professorships. In 1905, the University of Chicago launched one of the first, a groundbreaking $10 million effort that set the stage for the era of organized institutional fundraising. These days, comprehensive fundraising efforts like EWU’s Build
$18,000,000
$13,373,200
$37,067,000
$5,000,000
$9,000,000
$9,000,000
$9,000,000
Our Future campaign are a cornerstone of university advancement efforts, allowing institutions to tap into the generosity of alumni, corporations, foundations and community members to create a more diversified funding base. They serve as a focused, time-limited effort to secure gifts that can shape an institution’s trajectory for decades to come, supporting capital projects, endowed faculty positions, research initiatives and, crucially, scholarships that open the doors of higher education to students of all backgrounds.
Eastern’s President Shari McMahan sees each donation, no matter its size, as a vote of confidence in EWU’s mission. “Our generous donors are helping to create more opportunities to invest in the people, programs, and possibilities that define Eastern Washington University,” says McMahan. “Together, we are building a brighter future for our students and the communities we serve.”
Much as Cheney’s founding gift laid the groundwork for the successful careers of generations of Eastern graduates, McMahan sees EWU’s campaign as extending that same promise to a 21st century student body. The university’s goals are manifold, she says, but most dovetail into EWU’s renewed emphasis on experiential learning as “the region’s polytechnic.”
“Our goal,” McMahan said earlier this fall, “is to make an applied learning experience a hallmark of an EWU degree, ensuring that every student has the opportunity to participate in hands-on learning that prepares them for a good-paying job and a meaningful career.”
$68,440,200 MONEY RAISED
CURRENT USE: Available immediately
ENDOWMENTS: Invested for annual payout in perpetuity
PLANNED GIFTS: Promised through estate plans
$32,000,000
Applied and Experiential Learning and Student Support*
School of Nursing and Other Naming Opportunities
Athletic Facilities and Student Athlete Health & Wellness
*Includes Eagle On and other student success funds
In short, Eastern aims to leverage Build Our Future donations to bring a diverse cohort of high-potential learners to its Cheney and Spokane campuses; to expand student research and internship options; to build bridges with regional businesses and organizations; and to recruit passionate, outstanding faculty members who will mentor the next generation of successful Eagles.
One example of the campaign already delivering on those ambitions is the Krumble Foundation’s Internship Stipend. Established by the foundation’s forward-thinking donors, the program provides up to $3,000 to EWU students who accept unpaid internships at nonprofit groups or government agencies. In an era where real-world experience is essential but often unaffordable, the stipend makes it possible for Eagles from all walks of life to access résumé-building opportunities that help launch careers.
INDEED, FOR MANY FIRST-GENERATION STUDENTS, it is scholarships and programs like these that make the dream of a university degree attainable.
Jessica Avalos, who grew up in the agricultural community of Grandview, Washington, is one such student. Avalos’s parents, who didn’t have the opportunity to complete their own education, emphasized to Jessica and her 10 siblings that college enrollment was their best shot at future contentment. “And your happiness,” they said, “is what matters most.”
I believe it’s amazing what philanthropy can achieve when you share the dreams, the stories, and the aspirations of our students and faculty members.
Avalos found that happiness in preparing for a career in healthcare. Initially aspiring to become a surgeon, she moved to Spokane after high school to pursue premed at EWU. In the fall of 2023, she changed course, joining the first cohort of students in the university’s new School of Nursing — all while working as a barista to make ends meet. Thankfully, the Proud Eagle Nursing Scholarship, established by alumni donors Kathy and Ken Privratsky, allowed Avalos to transition from her coffee-house gig to work as a nursing technician as she finishes her degree.
“I really needed it,” Avalos says. “The Spokane housing market is so expensive, but this scholarship helped me to remain in stable housing while I changed jobs to work in my field.”
The Privratsky’s scholarship was established to honor the heroic sacrifices of doctors and nurses during the Covid-19 pandemic, while helping students earn nursing degrees. Avalos hopes to someday meet the Privratskys and thank them in person. “They sound like such amazing and generous people,” she says. “I can’t believe they would do this for me, but I am so happy that they did.”
Brooklyn Parkey, who also received the Proud Eagle Nursing Scholarship, was inspired to pursue nursing by her mother, who went back to school to become a nurse while raising four children. “I admire her so much,” Parkey says. “I never thought about how hard that was!”
With the scholarship’s support, Parkey can work less and focus more on her studies. When she graduates, she plans to stay in Spokane and follow in her mother’s footsteps, helping to meet the healthcare needs of families in the region.
Both Avalos and Parkey are now paying forward Privratsky’s generosity. Together they established the Eagle Nursing Student Association to assist future nursing students as they prepare for careers in the Spokane region.
Carlos Valdovinos ’22 also understands how scholarships can make the dream of a university degree attainable. Born to parents who encouraged him to flee an increasingly dangerous mountain village in rural Mexico, Valdovinos arrived in Spokane with his sights on becoming a dental hygienist (read more about Valdovinos’s inspiring story in our Spring/Summer 2022 issue).
Donor-funded scholarships opened the door for him to pursue that calling at Eastern, where he quickly made a name for himself at EWU’s nonprofit Dental Hygiene Clinic, a teaching facility providing quality, low-cost preventive and restorative oral
healthcare for Spokane and the surrounding region.
Gaining hands-on experience while serving the clinic’s diverse clientele, Valdovinos earned a reputation for his work ethic and empathy. Eastern’s attentive faculty, its scholarship support and experiential learning opportunities, meanwhile, positioned him for post-graduation success. Today, he is living his professional dream, delivering high-quality dental care at a Kirkland practice.
“I’m super happy that I chose dental hygiene at Eastern for my career path, because it was the perfect way to set up my future,” says Valdovinos. “It allowed me to explore the job I wanted, and to be prepared for it.”
Sometimes the impact of donor support extends beyond enabling students to pursue their chosen paths; it provides a lifeline in times of unexpected crisis. Samuel Steege, a hardworking 22-year-old communications studies major, received some well-timed assistance in the summer of 2023, thanks to the community of Eagles that support the university’s Giving Joy Day.
Steege was working as a server at Cheney’s Farmhouse Café when he got an urgent call from his father. A massive wildfire was approaching, and his dad needed help evacuating the family from their house in Medical Lake. Steege raced over to join his parents and siblings as they packed up possessions and the family pets. Two hours later, the Gray Fire destroyed their home.
An older brother’s house in Cheney became temporary housing
for the family while they developed a plan to rebuild their lives. All told, the fire, just miles from Cheney, claimed some 240 homes and displaced hundreds of people.
“I’ve seen it in the movies, and heard about it, but never thought it would happen to me,” Steege says.
The EWU Student Emergency Fund quickly stepped up to help, providing assistance that kept Steege moving forward toward his degree. The Krumble Foundation also pitched in, providing Steege with an internship stipend to ensure he could cover living expenses while working as a communications assistant for EWU’s Office of Development.
“It feels good to know that there’s resources to help during crazy, unexpected times,” Steege says.
AS IT LOOKS AHEAD to the concluding three years of its campaign, the EWU Foundation team is confident that stories like these will inspire support from additional donors eager to make an impact.
“I think that the philosophy of our philanthropy team is that we take pride in the investment our donors make,” says Barb Richey, vice president of university advancement and executive director of the EWU Foundation. “And that we can ask for that investment knowing that our donors will share that pride.”
Richey ’92, ’99 joined the university’s leadership team five years
ago. At the beginning, she recalls, there were doubts about whether a $100 million campaign goal was feasible. After all, the reasoning went, Eastern had never before sought donor involvement on such a scale and, as a result, had never developed the “giving culture” that bolsters similar fundraising initiatives at other universities.
Richey had little time for such thinking. “Building that giving culture isn’t easy, it’s true,” she says. “It can take years and years to get there. You have to really press hard — and keep your foot on the gas — to continue it. But you have to start somewhere. If you don’t ask people to give, you’ll never know if they will give. You have to build a case for support. And I don’t think that Eastern, in the past, had a collective sense of that need.”
That has changed, in no small part thanks to her.
“I’m a firm believer in what we’re doing here,” Richey says. “All gifts are significant, and I think that value message has resonated. I’m a dream maker; a storyteller. I believe it’s amazing what philanthropy can achieve when you share the dreams, the stories, and the aspirations of our students and faculty members; when you remind our community what private gifts can do to make Eastern’s shared vision a reality.” Remember also, Richey adds, that the power of giving has been woven into the fabric of EWU since Benjamin Cheney promised to provide a new school for an ambitious little frontier town. Eastern is now poised to offer a similar promise to a new generation. And to do it in ways that may come as a surprise.
“When we talk about our history, we always emphasize our humble beginnings.” Richey says. “We’ve always instilled humility: never been a ‘loud and proud’ kind of place. What a comprehensive campaign can do is change the culture. To make it okay to show your pride. For you to get out there on the street and yell, ‘Go Eags!’ We can be humble, sure. But we can also be loud and proud. That’s what we hope to achieve.”
An EWU professor’s conversation about artificial intelligence, with artificial intelligence.
Text-based, generative artificial intelligence has emerged as a powerful tool for creating content and exploring ideas across various domains, including education. Travis Masingale ’03, an EWU professor of design, is a nationally prominent authority on AI’s potential for advancing student learning. In a recent conversation with Open-AI’s Chat GPT 4o, he explored the potential benefits and pitfalls of text-based generative AI in university classrooms and labs through what he calls “a series of prompts that guided the AI's output, while also serving as a metanarrative showcasing the AI ’ s role in crafting the content itself.”
The integration of AI into education, Masingale adds, “represents a transformative opportunity to reimagine teaching and learning in the 21st century. As we look ahead to a future where AI and humans collaborate more seamlessly in the educational landscape, we must approach this partnership with a spirit of curiosity, creativity and care, while also grappling with the profound philosophical questions that arise from it.”
MASINGALE: So the editors of Eastern magazine have asked me to engage with you on a feature story about your influence, for better or worse, on classroom instruction at colleges and universities. Thoughts?
CHATGPT: Using AI to craft a consistent narrative across a lengthy magazine piece can indeed streamline the process and bring your vision to life more effectively.
Artificial intelligence has undergone a remarkable evolution over the past few decades, transforming from early machinelearning models to the sophisticated generative AI systems we have today. As generative AI continues to advance, its potential applications in education are becoming increasingly apparent, from personalized learning experiences to intelligent tutoring systems that adapt to each student’s needs and learning style.
MASINGALE: Fair enough. To me, it’s more, I guess, about your second point rather than the first. It’s cool that we’re at the place where I don’t need an advanced computer science degree, or to hire someone for lots of money, to be able to use this technology to increase productivity, to boost education outcomes, or even something like this, where you and I are having a conversation about writing a story. I think it’s rad and amazing and awesome that these tools can act as a leveling mechanism and, really, like all tools, only be limited by the imagination of the user.
CHATGPT: It sounds like you appreciate the accessibility and the transformative potential of AI technologies, especially how they democratize the ability to use advanced tools without needing specialized training. This opens up many possibilities for creativity and innovation in education. (1)
MASINGALE: True. One is to act conversationally — to have the AI help you brainstorm; to start using it for everything that you possibly can think of, instead of being like, “Oh, I shouldn’t use it because I might use it for everything.” Of course, on the back end, you need to make sure you’re being ethical and upfront about what you’re generating with AI. Ideally, you reach a point where something becomes your own content. The crappy first draft is developed by AI, but then you take over as editor and content creator, to produce something that’s your own. I think of AI as like having a best friend that never gets tired of talking about exactly what you want to talk about. That friend can really help you push ideas or ideations further. You start with a “what if” question and see then where it goes.
CHATGPT: It’s clear you see AI as a powerful collaborative tool that can act as both a brainstorming partner and an aid in the creative process, enriching your work and teaching. The idea of starting with a “what if” scenario and exploring possibilities with AI certainly encourages a dynamic learning environment. (2)
MASINGALE: I don’t really have a comment on “dynamic learning.” I’m not sure if it needs to be in the story. My vision of AI in teaching is that AI can act, as I mentioned before, as a leveling agent for firstgeneration students; one that allows each student to reframe questions with metaphors they live by, so that they can tirelessly ask questions about assignments without a professor or instructor getting annoyed.
I also see it as a massive helper and productivity boost to educators who live in a faster-and-faster-paced world. We no longer live in the era of the professor in a tweed jacket, smoking a cigar and drinking scotch in the midday. Professors now work tirelessly to create classroom and digital experiences that help narrowcast the means of acquiring knowledge to each learner.
CHATGPT: Your vision emphasizes AI’s role as a supportive and inclusive tool that is particularly beneficial for first-generation students by offering endless patience and personalized assistance. This approach could revolutionize the accessibility and individualization of education, allowing for a more tailored learning experience that adapts to the needs of each student. (3)
MASINGALE: I would say it aligns 100 percent. I mean, it’s what I believe; it’s what I’ve seen through my own experience, even in using AI to write in Grammarly. If something tells me what I’ve written is in the passive voice, I can take the actual sentence I wrote, put it into a large language model and say, “Why is this passive? Teach me how to write it in active voice.” And it gives me active voice based on my example, not an abstract example.
CHATGPT: That’s a fantastic instance of how AI can serve as a real-time educational tool, enhancing understanding and skill development through personalized, immediate feedback. It’s great to hear how these tools have positively impacted your own writing and learning processes.
MASINGALE: I really believe that when more educators get involved in using AI, and more students end up using it, we’ll come up with unique ways to put it to work in the classroom. And that this will help us arrive at better solutions for improving learning outcomes. With the boost of AI, we can go from not “A to B,” but from “A to Z” in a fraction of the time we’re used to. And, sometimes, in places where we’d been forced to stop, we can now go further because we’re not limited by previous barriers to productivity — or, perhaps more to the point, by blockages in our
own mind. We have an assistant that can help us see around corners, and can help us set — and reach — a goal that might not have seemed attainable before.
CHATGPT: That’s an insightful perspective on how AI can extend the boundaries of what’s possible in education, enhancing productivity and overcoming mental blockages. It sounds like you value AI most for its role as a catalyst in the creative and intellectual processes, enabling both educators and students to achieve more in less time and push beyond traditional limits.
MASINGALE: Yes, I think that’s really important. It’s not my focus. I don’t have a philosophy degree. I’m a designer who researches emergent tools to see if they’re viable or not. I think this is a viable emergent tool. I am aware of the ethical issues. I think it’s important to point them out to students. (4) I tell all the educators that I speak to about this, and I talk about it often, that it’s important for us older citizens of the planet to teach our students how to be ethical with these tools. Otherwise, they don’t know where the fences are. They don’t know what they should or shouldn’t be doing. And it’s our job as educators, and people who’ve been around awhile, to be good stewards of technology; to model good, ethical behavior. Is everybody going to be ethical? No, but if we set that precedent and put that ethical voice in their heads, if we help students see how to be moral with this technology, then at least we plant the seed for it.
CHATGPT: That’s a very balanced and responsible approach. Highlighting the importance of modeling ethical behavior and educating the younger generation about these issues ensures that, as AI technology evolves, it’s used thoughtfully and responsibly. (5) Offering this perspective on guiding students in understanding the ethical boundaries and implications of AI in their work is crucial for fostering a conscientious and informed approach to emergent technologies.
MASINGALE: Right. We need more scientists, ethicists and well-educated people to get involved with testing and modeling. We need to help companies make better models; to make less biased models and eliminate biases if they can. But we also have to be realistic. I don’t think it is possible, for example, to fully eliminate biases in AI-generated content. But the more educated brains that are involved in the process the better. Instead of railing against it or burying our heads in the sand, we need to get more deeply involved, to use AI tools ourselves, teach others to use them and to share what we find. Let’s make this world better!
1
As AI continues to advance, its potential to transform education is immense. AI-powered learning platforms will play a crucial role in providing personalized, on-demand learning experiences that enable individuals to adapt to the changing needs of the workforce.
2
AI is changing the way instructors teach and students acquire knowledge with adaptive learning platforms, language-learning apps, and automation of administrative tasks. While these applications have raised concerns about the potential for AI to replace human teachers, it’s important to recognize that AI is intended to augment, rather than replace, human expertise.
3
These days, AI is already enhancing teaching and learning experiences through intelligent tutoring systems, accessibility tools and personalized learning pathways.
4
As AI becomes increasingly integrated into education, it is crucial to address, among other issues, concerns about the potential for AI to perpetuate biases and exacerbate existing inequalities in the educational system. We’ll also need to weigh issues related to the protection of student privacy and data security.
5 The incorporation of AI into education, and society at large, raises profound philosophical questions about the nature of intelligence, creativity and what it means to be human. Ultimately, the implications of AI’s integration into our lives is complex and multifaceted, requiring ongoing reflection and dialogue as we navigate this uncharted territory.
1. Casey Furuya ’22, a middleschool science teacher in Salem, Oregon, displays his Eastern magazine outside the Haedong Yonggungsa Temple in Busan, South Korea. Furuya’s temple tour came during a six-week summer sojourn to visit family.
2. Earlier this year John Nelson ’90, and his wife, Cami, rode the Fløbanen funicular to the summit of Mount Fløyen, a popular peak high above the historic city of Bergen on Norway’s southwestern coast.
3. Dan Obenchain ’79, ’82, and his wife, Maria, recently celebrated their 40th wedding anniversary with a river cruise through Germany’s enchanting Rhineland.
4. Taking time out from what she describes as a “fun, touristy weekend”, Lauren Hegge ’10, posed for a photo at the iconic, and enormously popular, “I AMsterdam” sign.
5. Newlyweds Emily Ausere Holman ’22 and Zander Holman ’22 offered to add their magazine to the collection of the Library of Celsus in Ephesus, Turkey, an important center of scholarship during both classical and late antiquity.
6. During a two-week trip to Southeast Asia this summer, Shyann Morton ’18, and her brother, Trace Morton, stopped by a sanctuary for elephants in Chiang Mai, Thailand. Trace is a student in the EWU nursing program.
7. While visiting Kinderdijk, a UNESCO World Heritage site near Rotterdam, Holland, Kent Richardson ’69 and Nancy McKay ’68 took in a scenic view of one of the town’s 18th-century windmills.
Where will Eastern magazine be spotted next? Share a photo of you, our latest issue and the details of where your travels have taken you. We’ll print as many as we can, with extras appearing on our website. Send to
’69 Rick Allen, BA journalism, has published two recent books. The first, Inside Pitch, is a history of the quirky — and spectacularly unsuccessful — executives who ran the ill-fated Seattle Pilots during their single year as a Major League Baseball franchise. The second, Great by Eight, is a brain-science-focused volume on early childhood development.
’80, ’89 Susan Meyer, BA psychology, MA business administration, on Jan. 1 stepped down after 20 years as CEO of the Spokane Transit Authority. Meyer, who was featured in our Fall/Winter 2023 issue, is credited with leading the STA in two successful sales tax funding measures, the launch of its rapid-transit bus line (the region’s first), and its planned transition to a zero-emission fleet.
’83 Gavin Cooley, BA accounting, in August was named CEO of the Spokane Business Association, an advocacy organization that acts “as a bridge between business leaders and policymakers” in the region. Cooley had previously served as chief financial officer for the city of Spokane.
’83 Jim McElwain, BA education, in November announced plans to retire after four decades of coaching college football. The former EWU quarterback’s coaching legacy includes winning two BCS National Championships as the offensive coordinator at Alabama, and, as a head coach, two SEC East Championships at the University of Florida. He has spent the previous six seasons leading the Central Michigan University Chippewas.
’85 Allan Gainer, BA theatre and film, recently joined the newsroom staff of the Cheney Free Press. Gainer, a former mayor of Cheney, will lead coverage of local issues and the “inner workings of city government,” says Free Press owner and publisher Roger Harnack.
’93 Chad Whalen, BA business administration, this fall was named chief revenue officer for F5 Inc., a Seattlebased digital services company that specializes in application and application programming interface security.
’98 Jennifer Stapleton, MPA public administration, in July began serving as city administrator for Marysville, Washington, a city of 72,000 in Snohomish County. Stapleton, who has served with distinction in a number of local government roles, was previously the administrator for Sandpoint, Idaho.
’03 Levi Spencer, BA education, earlier this spring was selected to serve as assistant principal at Ephrata (Washington) Middle School. Spencer, who boasts more than 20 years of experience as an educator, most recently served as the principal of Soap Lake Middle/High School.
’04 Brandon Hauver, BA education, in June was named principal of Moxee Elementary School in the East Valley School District near Yakima. Hauver grew up in Moxie, and as a child attended the school he now leads.
’05 Amelia Marchand, BA anthropology, earlier this year was appointed to the federal Advisory Council on Historical Preservation by President Joseph R. Biden. Marchand, a citizen of the Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation, for more than two decades has provided expert advice to governments, academic institutions and other organizations on tribal sovereignty, Indigenous Knowledges, and climate issues.
’06 Kelly Guilfoil, BA education, was named 2025 Regional Teacher of the Year for Washington state’s Northwest Educational Service District 189. Guilfoil, an English teacher at Lake Stevens
Senior High School, was cited for her instructional abilities and success in “amplifying the power of young voices.”
’12 April O’Hair, BA business administration, is a vice president of human resources for Numerica Credit Union. Earlier this fall she was named a “2024 Rising Star” by Spokane’s Journal of Business. At Numerica, her colleagues told the Journal, O’Hair leads with an “optimistic personality that encourages others to help her fulfill her goals.”
’13 Michael Okamoto, BA business administration, recently joined the financial planning staff of EQ Wealth Management, a Bellevue, Washingtonbased firm specializing in investment management and wealth planning services.
’13 James Vanderholm, BA business administration, earlier this year was named chief financial officer for Olympia Federal Savings, a prominent savings and loan association based in Olympia, Washington. Vanderholm had previously served as vice president and controller at RiverBank in Spokane.
’16 Erin Braich, BA planning and public administration, was the inaugural recipient of the Association of Metropolitan Planning Organization’s “Rising Professional” award. Braich, who serves as a deputy director of metropolitan planning for the BentonFranklin Council of Governments in the Tri-Cities area, received the award this fall at the organization’s annual conference in Salt Lake City.
’19 Hailey Ahrendt, BS biology, recently earned a Doctor of Veterinary Medicine degree at St. George’s University in Grenada and, after completing clinicals at Oregon State University earlier in 2024, joined the staff of Mt. Spokane Veterinary Hospital in Mead.
’20 Felicia Hebner, BA political science, in 2023 graduated from the Gonzaga University School of Law and, earlier this year, passed the Washington state bar examination. While an Honors Program student at Eastern, Hebner was a member of Eastern’s Washington Legislative Internship Program in Olympia, where she worked as a legislative aide.
’21 Jonathan Godina, BA Spanish, in August was selected as one of The Wenatchee World’s “30 under 35” honorees. Godina serves as a migrant out-of-school youth specialist and family advocate for WestSide High School in Washington’s Wenatchee School District.
’21 Sigrid Houske, BA business administration, recently opened Bru Coffee Hause, a silo-shaped, drivethrough coffee stand in North Spokane that features house-made food and drinks.
’24 Josh Bergland, BS mechanical engineering, earlier this year joined the Burlington, Washington designbuild general contractor TRICO Companies as a project engineer. Bergland will be working in the firm’s food and manufacturing business unit.
’24 Jamie Loera, MA organizational leadership, returned to Eastern to join the EWU women’s basketball coaching staff as an assistant for player development. As a player during her final season, Loera (featured in our Spring/Summer 2024 issue) earned, among other accolades, the Big Sky Tournament MVP award and 2024 Big Sky Conference Player of the Year honors.
2025 Alumni Award nominations are officially OPEN! We are honoring seven alumni who are making a difference in their communities. Submit your nominations by Friday, February 14.
EWU’s
Elizabeth Cook-Lynn
was one of the nation’s most important Native American scholars.
Elizabeth Cook-Lynn , a professor emeritus of English and Native American studies at EWU, wasn’t just an influential novelist, short-story writer and poet — though her literary legacy speaks for itself — she was also a tireless advocate in support of research and instruction centered on tribal histories and cultures. Among her lasting contributions was a lengthy catalog of scholarly publications and a prominent role in establishing Eastern’s first Indian Education Program, where she introduced hundreds of students to the emerging field of Native American studies.
Working to establish Native studies wasn’t easy. Back in the early 1970s, even as Eastern Athletics finally moved on from its “Savages” nickname, tensions with administrators
’23, Kurtis Haren, age 33, died Oct. 25, 2024.
’16, Russ Mottram, age 44, died Aug. 25, 2024.
’10, Glenn Gollen, age 39, died Oct. 2, 2024.
’00, Deborah Wagner, age 76, died Aug. 1, 2024.
’99, Michael Shenefelt, age 61, died June 4, 2024.
’’95, Felecia Todd, age 52, died Aug. 17, 2024.
’’94, ’95, John Monroe, age 78, died June 11, 2024.
over the nature and scope of the new program were rife.
“It is my opinion,” Cook-Lynn wrote in 1973 to Emerson Shuck, then Eastern’s president, “that we must no longer do just what is expedient in Indian Education—we must define our basic philosophy, come to a reasonable agreement on that and get about working within the realities of that definition. There is a difference between the supportive services for Native American students, and Native American Education/Studies as an academic venture. The former is likely to be clutched quickly to the bosoms of all of us, the latter is less instantaneously gratifying and much more hard work.” In the end, it was Cook-Lynn’s vision that prevailed, and her “hard work” that moved it forward.
’93, Cleo Young, age 75, died June 6, 2024.
’92, Ronald “Ron” Hudson, age 75, died Aug. 7, 2024.
’88, Linda Dilley-Healam, age 75, died May 30, 2024.
’88, Cynthia D. Greyerbiehl, age 61, died May 29, 2024.
’83, Todd Wood, age 63, died Oct. 3, 2024.
’79, Greg Obenchain, age 67, died Sept. 11, 2024.
’78, Joanne Kruger, age 92, died July 29, 2024.
’77, ’93, Gina Smith, age 69, died June 13, 2024.
Another notable milestone in Cook-Lynn’s career was her service as founder and editor of the nationally prominent Wicazo Sa Review, a “journal devoted to the mission of assisting Indigenous peoples of the Americas in taking possession of their own intellectual and creative pursuits.” The Wicazo Sa Review remains in print, now published by the University of Minnesota Press.
Cook-Lynn retired in 1990 after 19 years of service. “It is difficult to imagine what Eastern would be like,” wrote a colleague after she stepped down, “if it were not for her enormous contributions of intelligence and care.”
Elizabeth Cook-Lynn died on July 5, 2023. She was 92 years old.
’75, Steve Dawson, age 75, died June 3, 2024.
’75, Michael Wavada, age 75, died Feb. 26, 2023.
’74, Charles Babbitt, age 73, died June 18, 2024.
’72, Patrick Feider, age 81, died June 25, 2024.
’72, Larry Morley, age 82, died July 10, 2024.
’71, Gary Gilbert, age 80, died July 23, 2024.
’71, ’76, Keith Reilly, age 74, died Oct. 27, 2023.
’70, James Lloyd, age 82, died May 21, 2024.
’69, Wayne Clairmont, age 84, died Sept. 12, 2024.
’69, David Luma, age 80, died June 22, 2024.
’68, Walter Lobdell, age 88, died June 11, 2024.
’68, Ray Oelke, age 77, died Feb. 9, 2024.
’65, Mick Heacox, age 86, died April 15, 2024.
’65, Dean Nichols, age 89, died June 24, 2024.
’65, Danny Scharpenberg, age 82, died Sept. 4, 2024.
’63, ’68 David Hundeby, age 87, died June 10, 2024.
’61, Kenneth Winn, age 89, died Aug. 6, 2024.
’60, Dean Owen, age 86, died March 4, 2024.
1950s
’59, Jean Greene, age 89, died June 17, 2024.
’57, Al Brisbois, age 91, died July 26, 2024.
’56, Larry Karlson, age 90, died June 3, 2024.
’54, Mary “Joan” Nelson, age 92, died Aug. 2, 2024.
’51, Carl Pearson, age 95, died Aug. 22, 2024.
James Allers, died on June 8, 2024. A construction professional with a passion for ecologically sustainable structures, Allers retired from EWU Building Maintenance in 2017 after 30 years of service.
Achilles Balabanis, died on May 29, 2024. Balabanis, a professor emeritus of music, began his professional performance career in the U.S. Army, playing cello with the Seventh Army Symphony in Europe. He joined Eastern’s music faculty in 1969, where, in addition to instructing students, he continued to perform, first as principal cellist for the Spokane Symphony and, later, with the Spokane String Quartet. Balabanis retired from EWU in 1994 after 25 years of service.
Dick Donley, died in November 2024. A professor emeritus and two-time chair of EWU’s Department of History, Donley’s teaching and research interests spanned a wide range of topics, from the American Civil War to the history of baseball. He retired in 1997 after 30 years of service, but remained active in support of the university through numerous leadership
positions with the EWU Retirees Association.
Janice Fanning, died on June 11, 2024. A former Homecoming Queen at Washington State College, now WSU, Fanning and husband moved to Cheney in 1971. After a brief stint working for the City Attorney’s office, Fanning accepted a secretarial position with Eastern’s Department of Fine and Performing Arts, where she served for 22 years before retiring in 1976.
Elizabeth Lynn-Cook, died on July 5, 2023. Lynn-Cook, a professor emeritus of English and Native American studies, retired from EWU on July 1, 1990 after 19 years of service. A novelist, short-story writer and poet, Lynn-Cook was also a tireless advocate in support of research and instruction centered on Native scholarship (see story Page 33).
Dawn McClenahan, died on Oct. 19, 2024. McClenahan retired from EWU Parking Services in 2008 after 31 years of service.
Barbara Tish, died on August 15, 2024. Tish was born in England during WWII — her mother and father met during the war and were married on D-Day — and as an infant she sailed with her mom to the U.S. on the Queen Mary, a ship full of war brides. Perhaps it was this storybook beginning that instilled in Tish her lifelong love of books and reading, a passion she turned into a successful career with the EWU Libraries. She retired in 2011 after 19 years of service.
Support EWU students on their pathway to a bright future, while maximizing your tax savings. Consider the benefits of making your charitable contributions to the EWU Foundation by:
• Transferring appreciated stock through your broker (avoid capital gains taxes)
• Directing your required minimum distribution from your IRA, if you are over age 73 (reduce taxable income)
• Funding a charitable gift annuity to receive steady income payments for life (receive a tax deduction for gift portion)
Many grateful alumni give back to support future generations at EWU. If we can assist with your giving plans, please contact our office.
EWU Foundation | Office of Gift Planning
COURTNEY GRAY Senior Director of Gift Planning cgray37@ewu.edu
509.359.6703 Visit:
Scenic Science: On July 30, 1937, President Franklin D. Roosevelt, signed Executive Order 7681 to create the Turnbull Migratory Waterfowl Refuge, a 23,000-acre, federally protected home for migratory birds and other wildlife in the Channeled Scablands near Cheney. Thirty-seven years later, after energetic lobbying by members of Eastern’s biology faculty, what is today known as the Turnbull National Wildlife Refuge also became a home for Eastern faculty and student researchers, as federal officials and the Washington State Legislature agreed to establish EWU’s Turnbull Laboratory for Ecological Studies. Now, after five decades of service, that laboratory is still fulfilling the mission imagined by its founders, serving as a research destination to “further our understanding of the biological processes shaping populations, ecological communities and ecosystems of the Inland Northwest.”
Unidentified students and their instructor at
FEB. 15 EWU ALUMNI + FAMILY DAY BASKETBALL VS. IDAHO
FEB. 18-20 EAGLES IN THE DESERT PALM SPRINGS, CA
FEB. 21 EWU NIGHT AT THE SPOKANE CHIEFS SPOKANE ARENA
APRIL 3 GIVING JOY DAY + EWU NIGHT AT THE SPOKANE ZEPHYR ONE SPOKANE STADIUM
APRIL 16 EWU NIGHT AT THE MAC NORTHWEST MUSEUM OF ARTS & CULTURE
APRIL 26 EWU ALUMNI AWARDS GALA NORTHERN QUEST RESORT & CASINO
MAY 10 A NIGHT OF CHAMPIONS THE DAVENPORT GRAND
JULY 20 EWU DAY AT THE MARINERS T-MOBILE PARK
Eagles! Connect with us, near and far! Keep up to date on all events: ewu.edu/alumnievents
Eagles! Connect with us, near and far! Keep up-to-date on all events: ewu.edu/alumnievents