SPRING 2022
Thank you, Wim and Alice After five successful years at L&C, President Wiewel and wife Alice prepare for retirement.
An Adventure in Antarctica In January, a group of 37 intrepid travelers—led by Ken Clifton, professor of biology—experienced the dramatic vistas of Antarctica as part of the L&C Travel Program. If you missed this trip to Antarctica, another is planned for January 2023. The L&C Travel Program is open to L&C alumni, family, and friends. For more details—and to check out additional travel opportunities—visit www.lclark.edu/piotravel. PHOTO BY EM ILY DECKER B A ' 85
In This Issue SPRING 2022
14
10
President Wiewel’s Top 10 As Wim retires, we recap a few of his many accomplishments.
5
On Palatine Hill
2 | L&C | Spring 2022
|
22
18
From Book to Film
On a Pedestal
Pauls Toutonghi’s book is the basis for a new Netflix movie.
“What is an appropriate monument for this time and place?”
28
Campaign News
|
30
Alumni News
|
32
24
The Road to a Successful Business
Transforming Lives
The law school’s Rural Program provides legal help to Oregon businesses.
The TransActive Gender Project supports transgender youth.
Class Notes
|
40
Bookshelf
|
44
Back Talk
President’s Letter
L&C Magazine The L&C magazine is published for alumni, parents, and friends of Lewis & Clark College. President: Wim Wiewel Associate Vice President of Communications: Stacey Kim BA ’94 Editor: Shelly Meyer Design: Reynolds Wulf Inc.,
Robert Reynolds, Letha Wulf Class Notes Editor:
David Oehler BA ’14 Web Design and Production:
Lawrence Siulagi Follow Us
lewisandclarkcollege @lewisandclark lewisandclark lewisandclarkcollege View the L&C magazine online at: www.lclark.edu/magazine. Keep up with campus events; subscribe to our monthly email at www.lclark.edu/events/email. Contact Us
We welcome letters and emails from readers about topics covered in the magazine. Correspondence must include your name and may be edited. Write:
Office of Communications Lewis & Clark 615 S. Palatine Hill Road Portland, Oregon 97219 Phone: 503-768-7970 Email: magazine@lclark.edu
A Fond Farewell to Lewis & Clark It has been a joy and a privilege to serve as Lewis & Clark’s president these past five years. Having spent all my life in large public institutions, I always was a bit skeptical about the claims of small private colleges regarding their special culture and atmosphere. But it only took me a few weeks here to see it, feel it, and know it. Lewis & Clark, perhaps more than almost any other small private college, really does take care of its people. I have heard more alumni stories about faculty or staff who went the extra mile during my time here than in my entire previous career. Yes, we have challenges, and, at times, we fall short. There is never enough time or money to do all we want. But boy, do we individually and collectively create amazing learning and research opportunities; outdoor adventures; professional training and internship experiences; cultural events; and deep personal connections. And not just for students, but also for the community at large, here in Portland and globally. A president can only do so much. Elsewhere in this issue, you’ll find an overview of the main accomplishments during my time here. Obviously, all of those are the result of collective effort. A president’s main job is to offer hope and a road map to a better future. If done right, that will marshal the creativity, hard work, and generosity of the community. That’s how a better future is created. I am so grateful to everyone who has been part of this effort. This includes the Board of Trustees, led so ably by board chair Stephanie Fowler; our many advisory councils and boards; my wonderful colleagues on the Executive Council; all of our faculty, staff, and students; and the alumni and other friends and supporters who made progress happen through their philanthropy and daily work as well as their thoughts and ideas. From the beginning, you welcomed and embraced my family and me, and we continue to love you all right back.
C O U RT E S Y O F C O N V E R G E 4 5
Next year, I will enjoy a sabbatical (my first ever!), involving lots of travel. But Alice and I will be back— in fact, our new residence is just down the street on Palatine Hill Road. I will remain involved and of service to Lewis & Clark when and where useful. With Robin Holmes-Sullivan as president, the college is in good hands, and I will do whatever I can to help her advance Lewis & Clark even further.
Cover: President Wim Wiewel and his wife, Alice, with Templeton Campus Center in the background.. P HOTO B Y NINA J OH N SO N
Again, thanks to everyone who supports this college and contributes to making it a wonderful community. Alice and I so appreciate the friendship and support you have shown us and our family.
Left: An image from First Fish Herons, submitted by the Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde, for the Prototypes exhibition. See story on page 18. P H O T O B Y M A R I O G A L L U C C I ,
Keep Exploring for the Global Good!
Wim Wiewel President © 2022 Lewis & Clark College Spring 2022 | L&C | 3
Board Chair’s Letter
Dear Lewis & Clark Community, On January 28, I had the great pleasure of announcing that one of our own, Vice President of Student Life and Dean of Students Robin Holmes-Sullivan, will be the next president of Lewis & Clark. Today I have a less pleasurable task: saying goodbye to Wim Wiewel, our 25th president and the man who has led our institution with grit, determination, and tremendous skill during one of the most difficult times in our history. The Board of Trustees and the entire Lewis & Clark community are deeply grateful to Wim for his transformational leadership and his unwavering commitment to our college. Lewis & Clark is a much stronger institution now than when Wim first arrived five years ago. We enroll more degree-seeking students than ever before. The faculties of all three schools have launched new cutting-edge programs that build on our many strengths. The Campaign for Lewis & Clark, the first fundraising campaign in 20 years, is well on its way to meeting its $155 million goal. Major upgrades to campus infrastructure are under way. Our bottom line is strong and continues to improve. And, most important, our students continue to excel as thoughtful, dedicated citizens, both here on Palatine Hill and out in the world. These have not been easy years to be a college president. A pandemic forced us to rethink everything we do. Wildfires and ice storms tested our resilience. Demographic changes are stiffening competition for students. Growing inequality and polarization have strained the fabric of our democracy in ways few of us expected. Yet with Wim at the helm—and a strong leadership team and dedicated faculty and staff at his side—Lewis & Clark has not only weathered these storms, but has thrived. Few other colleges can claim to have emerged from the pandemic stronger than before, but Lewis & Clark can. There is someone else who shares credit for Wim’s success: Alice Wiewel. Wim and Alice are a true partnership. We have benefited greatly from their shared deep commitment to our students, faculty, and staff. Their regular presence at athletic events, concerts, lectures, and performances across campus will be missed. As Wim and Alice both ease into their well-earned retirement, we hope they remain active members of a community that they have enriched and strengthened over these past five years. Again, my deepest thanks to Wim and Alice. Due to their leadership and commitment, the future of Lewis & Clark has never been brighter. The campus will bid its final farewell to Wim on Friday, June 24, from 4:30 to 6:30 p.m., on the Great Plat Field as part of Alumni Weekend; please RSVP at go.lclark.edu/june-reception. I hope to see many of you there. With gratitude,
Stephanie Fowler Chair, Board of Trustees 4 | L&C | Spring 2022
N I N A J O H N SO N
On Palatine Hill
Dr. Robin Holmes-Sullivan Named 26th President of Lewis & Clark In January, Lewis & Clark announced the historic appointment of Dr. Robin Holmes-Sullivan, the first woman and the first person of color to serve as president of the college in its 155-year history. The selection of Holmes-Sullivan followed a rigorous nationwide search that attracted more than 100 applicants. A respected higher education leader with three decades of experience at universities and colleges in Oregon and California, Holmes-Sullivan will assume the presidency in July 2022, following the retirement of President Wim Wiewel. Holmes-Sullivan is currently the vice president for student life and dean of students at Lewis &Clark and has been credited for her creative leadership during the COVID-19 pandemic. “Robin rose immediately to the top of an impressive field of candidates,” said Stephanie Fowler, chair of Lewis & Clark’s Board of Trustees. “Through her management of campus crises large and small, Robin has proven herself to be a natural leader who knows how to bring people together to get things done, even in the most challenging circumstances.” Holmes-Sullivan enjoyed “significant support” from the faculties of all three schools and was the favored candidate of all three academic deans and President Wim Wiewel, Fowler said. “In these tumultuous times, especially in regard to student issues, I can’t think of a more levelheaded and experienced leader than Robin,” Wiewel said. “I look forward to working closely with her in the months ahead to make this a very smooth and successful transition.” Upon the announcement, Holmes-Sullivan expressed her gratitude to the board and the Lewis & Clark community for their faith in her. She said being selected as president is the logical next step in a career dedicated to helping students realize their full potential. “I am so proud that my becoming president of Lewis & Clark can influence and inspire a generation of young people to see that they can dream big; that when they speak, people will listen; and that when they lead, people will follow,” she said. Holmes-Sullivan told members of the campus community that she looks forward to working collaboratively with all of them, saying her own experience as a Black woman has shown her the importance of “having a diversity of voices at the table in order to influence and build a sense of inclusion, community, and excellence.” Holmes-Sullivan came to Lewis & Clark in 2019 from the University of California, where she served as vice president for student affairs overseeing the undergraduate admissions process and other studentrelated issues for the 10-campus, 200,000-student system. Prior to her time at the University of California, she spent 27 years at the University
“I am so proud that my becoming president of Lewis & Clark can influence and inspire a generation of young people to see that they can dream big." —Dr. Robin Holmes-Sullivan, Incoming President of Lewis & Clark
of Oregon, working her way up from a position as a clinical coordinator in the counseling center to vice president of student life. While at UC, Holmes-Sullivan worked closely with UC President Janet Napolitano, former governor of Arizona and U.S. secretary of homeland security under President Barack Obama. Napolitano praised Holmes-Sullivan’s contributions to the UC system and called her “an excellent choice” to be the next president of Lewis & Clark. “Robin possesses the leadership, vision, and personal qualities that one wants in a college leader,” Napolitano said. “I can’t think of a better selection.” Holmes-Sullivan credits her father and mother, who worked their way up from entry-level jobs to management positions as a Marine and a health care worker, with instilling in her a lifelong commitment to honesty, integrity, hard work, and care and compassion for others. “Those values will continue to be my north star as your president,” she told Lewis & Clark community members. Holmes-Sullivan earned her bachelor’s degree in psychology from California State University at Fullerton in 1986. She received a master’s degree in experimental psychology from California State University at Fullerton in 1990, and a second master’s in clinical psychology from the California School of Professional Psychology that same year. She earned her PhD in clinical psychology from the California School of Professional Psychology two years later in 1992. Robin and her wife, Kathy, have two grown sons, a daughter-in-law, and a grandchild. Watch for the fall issue of the L&C magazine, which will include a feature story about Holmes-Sullivan. Spring 2022 | L&C | 5
On Palatine Hill Top State Department Fellowships Go to L&C Grads Two members of the Lewis & Clark community have received prestigious fellowships to prepare for diplomatic careers in the Foreign Service.
Rangel Fellowship
Pickering Fellowship
Sarah Lind-MacMillan BA ’22, an international affairs major and L&C’s current student body president, has been awarded a 2022 Charles B. Rangel International Affairs Graduate Fellowship, funded by the U.S. Department of State and administered by Howard University. The Rangel is awarded annually to only 45 students nationwide. The fellowship subsidizes two years of graduate study and extensive professional development opportunities. As a Rangel Fellow, Lind-MacMillan will intern with a member of Congress on issues related to foreign affairs. She will then be sent overseas to intern in a U.S. embassy or consulate. Upon successful completion of the program, Lind-MacMillan will become a U.S. diplomat. Lind-MacMillan credits her background and upbringing with inspiring her to follow this path. “As a Chinese transracial adoptee, I am particularly excited about showing that all kinds of people can represent America,” she says. “I remember numerous times growing up when people would tell me I was not an American because I was Chinese. I want to help
Ellie Miller BA ’20 has been awarded a 2022 Thomas R. Pickering Foreign Affairs Fellowship following a highly competitive nationwide contest. The Pickering Fellowship, funded by the U.S. Department of State, supports extraordinary individuals who want to pursue a career in the Foreign Service. The Pickering Fellowship will support Miller through a two-year graduate program to receive a master’s degree in an area relevant to the conduct of U.S. foreign policy. She will also have the opportunity to intern for the State Department in Washington, D.C, and overseas, with the goal of becoming a U.S. Foreign Service officer. Miller, who is the child of foreign correspondents, spent much of her childhood in Europe. She graduated from Lewis & Clark with a double major in French studies and psychology. As an undergraduate, she spent a summer teaching English in Ladakh, India; studied for a semester in Paris; and interned for a summer with the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Counterterrorism as a Council of American Ambassadors Fellow. Currently, she is working with CorpsAfrica in Rabat, Morocco, helping manage a volunteer program for Africans modeled on the Peace Corps and applying for graduate programs.
remind others that America is a diverse country with many ethnicities and backgrounds represented.”
“You don’t have to major in international affairs to be a good diplomat,” says Miller. “What’s most important is that you are curious about the world around you.” FACULTY
Professor of Russian Wins Teaching Award
Serving Up a New Tennis Dome In January, nearly a year after the tennis dome collapsed in Portland’s historic ice storm of February 2021, Lewis & Clark inflated its new tennis dome. The facility includes a new scoreboard, cameras for each court, and other improvements.
6 | L&C | Spring 2022
Maria Hristova, assistant professor of Russian, is the latest recipient of the Arnold L. and Lois S. Graves Award. This prestigious award, administered by Pomona College and the American Council of Learned Societies, recognizes junior faculty who demonstrate teaching excellence in the humanities. The two-year award also includes an $11,000 grant to support new research opportunities. Hristova will use the grant for her proposed project, “The Environmental Turn in Soviet and Post-Soviet Cultures.” Her plan also includes a multifaceted approach to expand post-Soviet environmental studies, both at Lewis & Clark and in the wider Slavic studies community. “This award will help me expand and diversify the Russian Section curriculum,” says Hristova. “I think these new courses will attract students interested in environmental issues who might not otherwise consider taking a course in the Russian program.” Hristova’s award continues a string of Graves Award successes by the Lewis & Clark faculty. Previous recipients over the last 20 years include Magalí Rabasa (2020), Bryan Sebok (2018), Kristin Fujie (2014), Rachel Cole (2012), Joel Martinez (2010), Karen Gross (2008), and David Campion (2006).
N I N A JO H N SO N
Entrepreneurial Mindset on Display at Winterim In mid-January, nearly 30 Lewis & Clark students immersed themselves in the study of entrepreneurship and leadership through Winterim, a fast-paced and supportive experience where students collaborate in small groups to research, create, develop, and pitch their start-up ideas. More than 60 professionals—including a number of Lewis & Clark alumni—served as speakers, mentors, and judges during the weeklong program. Tony Abena BS ’86, L&C trustee, member of the Bates Center Advisory Board, and competition judge, generously donated $6,000 toward the cash prizes. Cliff Johnson, another competition judge, was so impressed by the caliber of the student pitches that he donated $750 on the spot.
Nearly 30 L&C students participated in the 2022 Winterim, a program of the Bates Center for Entrepreneurship and Leadership.
“When you add an experience like Winterim to a liberal arts education, you provide a path for students to display courage, and you provide an easy way for employers to see what these students will execute in the workplace,” says Chrys Hutchings, associate director of the Bates Center. Winterim recently received a 2022 Spotlight Award from the international Babson Collaborative (of which Lewis & Clark is a member). The award highlights “a member institution’s commitment to enhancing entrepreneurship education and a willingness to share and promulgate best practice and new possibilities.”
New to the Board Lewis & Clark’s Board of Trustees recently welcomed two new members: Jim Blakemore BA ’90 is a partner of GreenOak Real Estate, based in London, and has oversight responsibility for the firm’s European fixed-income strategies. Blakemore holds a BA in history from Lewis & Clark and a JD from New York University. He is married to Grace Hackmeier BA ’91, who serves on the Lewis & Clark Global Advisory Board. The couple has three children: Eliza, Henry, and Annabelle.
Andre Stewart is the chief underwriting and liability officer for Robin Healthcare, which is a newly established health care technology company. He currently serves on the advisory board of the Bates Center for Entrepreneurship and Leadership. He and his spouse, Renee Stewart, are parents of Ryan Stewart BA ’19 and Cameron Stewart BA ’23. Stewart holds a BS in finance from Northern Illinois University and an MBA from Keller Graduate School.
Spring 2022 | L&C | 7
N I N A JO H N SO N
On Palatine Hill CURRICULUM
New Minor Focuses on Earth Systems Beginning in fall 2022, Lewis & Clark students will be able to pursue a new interdisciplinary minor in Earth system science. This program will focus on the interactions within and between Earth’s different spheres, including the lithosphere (rock), the hydrosphere (water), the atmosphere (air), the biosphere (life), and the cryosphere (ice). Jessica Kleiss, associate professor of environmental studies, and Elizabeth Safran, professor of geological science, spearheaded the new interdisciplinary minor. Rather than creating, say, a geology minor, the professors wanted to introduce a program that provides a framework for understanding Earth’s transformations on a large scale, along with pulling on L&C’s strengths in the natural sciences. “You can’t understand climate change and its related concepts if you don’t understand the basics of chemistry and biology,” explains Safran. “The liberal arts college experience is at its best when it takes advantage of our ability to cross boundaries.” Students taking measurements in Tryon Creek.
ENTREPRENEURSHIP
L&C Partners With Babson College Members of the Lewis & Clark community can now benefit from streamlined admission to graduate programs at Babson College, a recognized leader in entrepreneurship education. L&C students—along with alumni, faculty, and staff—can participate in a number of 4+1 programs to earn one-year master’s degrees in the fields of management, finance, and business administration. They can also bypass Babson’s regular application process with a waived application fee, attend special information sessions, and receive at least a $10,000 scholarship upon acceptance, among other benefits. “Babson ranks number one in entrepreneurship education—and has for over two decades—so they are the gold standard,” says Professor of Psychology Brian Detweiler-Bedell, who also serves as director of the Bates Center. “Their approach has strong liberal arts components, emphasizing the unique mindset and systematic practice of entrepreneurship. It’s been a model for our own program’s development.” In addition to the 4+1 program, Lewis & Clark is a member of the Babson Collaborative for Entrepreneurship Education, which connects the college to a network of nearly 30 international institutions with entrepreneurship offerings. “Babson’s graduate programs are for those who loved what they learned at Lewis & Clark and want to go deeper,” says Detweiler-Bedell.
GRADUATE SCHOOL
LAW SCHOOL
Building an Equity-Centered Principal Pipeline
New Degree in Animal Law for Nonlawyers
In an effort to build an equity-centered principal pipeline, the Lewis & Clark Graduate School of Education and Counseling is a partner recipient of an $8.2 million, five-year grant from the Wallace Foundation. Partners include Portland Public Schools, Portland State University, the Oregon Teacher Standards and Practices Commission, the Oregon Educator Advancement Council, and local community organizations. “The graduate school’s primary focus in the partnership will be collaborative design of educational leadership programming to prepare aspiring leaders of color as leaders for racial equity within the Portland Public School District,” says Mollie Galloway, chair of the graduate school’s Department of Educational Leadership and lead L&C contributor on the grant. “We are committed to working collectively to support leaders to transform school cultures and curriculum to be culturally affirming.”
Beginning in fall 2022, the Center for Animal Law Studies (CALS) at Lewis & Clark Law School will offer an advanced degree in animal law for nonlawyers, the first of its kind in the country. Designed for both U.S. and international students with a bachelor’s degree, the animal law MSL will be offered both in person at Lewis & Clark Law School and via a fully asynchronous online format. The new degree encompasses 27 credits and is designed for nonlawyers who want to focus on animal law in advocacy, academia, research, public policy, and more.
“By expanding our advanced degree offerings to include nonlawyers, we are broadening the types of advocates who will create a better and more compassionate future for animals around the world,” says Pamela Hart, assistant dean and executive director of CALS.
8 | L&C | Spring 2022
New Coaches Join the L&C Lineup Lewis & Clark has a fresh roster of new head coaches to continue the momentum of three varsity sports. Golf: Brad Johnson Brad Johnson joins the Pioneers after a year as head coach of the University of La Verne Leopards, where he led the men’s team to a top 10 national ranking. Prior to moving to Southern California, Johnson led the New York University Violets to the 2019 NCAA Division III Women’s Golf Championship title, the same year in which the men’s team qualified for its second straight national tournament. “The Lewis & Clark program has incredible potential, being in an amazing city with the most beautiful campus I’ve ever visited,” Johnson says. “It’s an ideal environment for the student-athlete to prosper, succeed in their studies, and have an amazing college experience.” Volleyball: Erin Labasan Erin Labasan joins Lewis & Clark following a decade as a successful assistant and cohead coach in collegiate volleyball. Over the last two seasons, Labasan helped Grinnell College garner an NCAA tournament berth and a conference championship as well as set program records for win percentage and All-American, all-region, and all-conference awards. “I’m overjoyed and grateful to join Lewis & Clark,” Labasan says. “The opportunity to work with incredible student-athletes at a top liberal arts institution in my home state is absolutely unmatched.” Erin Labasan
Football: Joe Bushman After a stellar career as a Division III football coach, Jay Locey is retiring. Under his leadership, the Pioneers achieved their largest win totals since 2012 in each of the last two years and won the Wagon Wheel traveling trophy four straight seasons for the first time in decades. With Locey leading the program, Lewis & Clark won at least three games in consecutive seasons for the first time since 2011–12 and produced two of only five seasons with at least three victories since Jay Locey 2004. “I feel very positive about the progress that was made in building this program,” Locey says. “I want to thank all of our players and coaches for their blood, sweat, and tears over the last seven years as well as every person who has ever been a part of the Lewis & Clark football program.” Joe Bushman, who previously served as L&C’s offensive coordinator, will be taking over as head coach. Under Bushman’s leadership, the Pioneer offense ramped up in both 2019 and 2021, his first two seasons in the role. Lewis & Clark’s 29.3 points per game and 2,260 passing yards in 2021 are the program’s most in each category since 2011 and 2013, respectively. “I am grateful to Coach Locey for giving me the opportunity to coach at Lewis & Clark and show me the ins and outs of coaching the college game,” Bushman says. “He is a great mentor and role model for young men. The program has made some really nice strides during his tenure, and I’ve been fortunate to be a part of it the last few years.”
Joe Bushman (center), Lewis & Clark’s new head football coach, surrounded by members of the 2022–23 team.
As a quarterback at Benson High School in Portland, Bushman helped lead his team to a state title in 1988. Later, as a coach, he led Clackamas High School to its first-ever championship in 2017 and was named Oregon 6A Coach of the Year.
Johnson Scores a Record-Breaking Season Delsie Johnson BA ’21 hit a free throw midway through the third quarter in February’s women’s basketball game against the University of Puget Sound; then, on the next possession, she grabbed a rebound to surpass 1,000 points and 600 rebounds, respectively, for her career. Both milestones are remarkable, but given that Johnson missed an entire season after the COVID-19 pandemic canceled the 2020–21 schedule, her accomplishment is extraordinary. Following the conclusion of Johnson’s senior season, she finished with a 14.3-point-per-game average, the third best in Lewis & Clark history. She nearly averaged a double-double for her career at 8.9 rebounds per game. Johnson’s 632 career rebounds rank seventh all-time at Lewis & Clark, while her 1,044 points land her at 11th in school history. Johnson led the Pioneers to their most victories during her time on campus (11 wins) this season.
Spring 2022 | L&C | 9
President Wiewel’s
TOP 10 Accomplishments
After a storied 44-year career in higher education—including two presidencies, one at Portland State University and the other at Lewis & Clark— President Wim Wiewel is retiring. He leaves L&C with a long list of accomplishments, a few of which we’ve compiled into this “Top 10” list.
1
3
Instilled hope in a bright future for Lewis & Clark.
Raised more than $121 million in new private funding
President Wim Wiewel arrived on Palatine Hill in 2017 with relentless optimism and the experience and skills necessary to put Lewis & Clark on the positive trajectory it enjoys today. With a commitment to greater transparency and clear communication, he has sparked a renewal of hope, as demonstrated by the generous commitments of donors, improved student recruiting, exciting new programming, and the physical revitalization of campus.
for scholarships, faculty, facilities, and programs by launching the college’s first major fundraising campaign in 20 years. The campaign is well on its way to reaching its goal of $155 million. It has engaged alumni who have not been in contact with the college for many years, as well as those who have been ongoing supporters. The campaign is also an essential step toward establishing a strong culture of philanthropy at Lewis & Clark in which success today leads to greater success in the future.
2 Developed a strategic plan with clear goals and metrics for
success. Titled “Exploring for the Global Good,” L&C’s strategic plan has served as a road map for how to increase enrollment, enhance the academic experience, improve the college’s financial position, bring new focus to equity and inclusion, and revitalize campus facilities. The plan has successfully guided the college’s decision making since its adoption in 2018.
10 | L&C | Spring 2022
4 Launched the first major building projects on campus in more than 10 years. Students, faculty, staff, and other
stakeholders were engaged in developing the Campus Facilities Master Plan, which is designed to enhance the residential experience; strengthen connection with the natural environment; and promote adaptive reuse of the college’s historic and contemporary buildings. The plan recasts the center of campus as a dynamic student life and residential district. The first step in that plan, a major renovation of our aging student center, is already under way. Improvements to Huston Sports Complex are queued up to follow, with renovation of the Stewart and Odell residence halls close behind.
5 Laid the groundwork for enrollment of the largest total number of degree-seeking students in the college’s history. Despite a global pandemic and demo-
graphic headwinds challenging colleges and universities across the country, Wiewel supported several initiatives that made the admissions achievement of fall 2021 possible, including: a) revised admissions and financial aid approaches that assure we are attracting and supporting students who can succeed at L&C; b) the 4-5-6 Commitment which enhances pathways between L&C’s three schools; and c) investments in strategic areas that build on our academic strengths, such as entrepreneurship and health studies. Applications for fall 2022 suggest next year’s enrollment will maintain this momentum.
6 Refinanced the college’s debt, which improved the institu-
tion's financial position and made additional funds available for infrastructure projects. Taking advantage of historically low rates, the refinancing provides lower annual debt service and additional capital funding. Proceeds from our bond sale were matched by donor funds to finance the renovation of the student center. They also will be used to renovate student housing and fund other long-delayed capital projects. A rendering showing the interior of the renovated student center, currently in progress.
Spring 2022 | L&C | 11
7 Renewed the college’s commitment to the overall student experience as an essential element of recruiting
and supporting students. Examples of this commitment include the renovation of the student center; the recently announced additions of women’s lacrosse and men’s soccer as varsity sports; and the launch of a holistic First-Year Experience program to improve the undergraduate experience of entering students.
8 Pushed the college to better reflect the diversity of our nation by establishing diversity, equity, and inclusion as
one of six major goals of the college’s strategic plan. Since 2017, the percentage of faculty who identify as Black, Indigenous, or people of color (BIPOC) has increased by almost half, from 16 percent to 23 percent, with staff diversity increasing by two points over the same time period. Wiewel also launched various initiatives to enhance student diversity, such as the Posse Scholars program, which welcomed its first cohort of exceptional students from diverse backgrounds in fall 2021. Two new cohorts will matriculate in fall 2022.
12 | L&C | Spring 2022
9 Led the college safely through COVID-19 and other crises,
including health and safety emergencies caused by ice storms and wildfire smoke. L&C’s success in weathering these crises with minimal disruption to its educational program is a testament to Wiewel’s steady leadership and the creativity as well as the hard work of his leadership team. Even more remarkably, the college emerged from these crises in a stronger position than before the pandemic, with increased enrollment, new programs, capital investments, and an improved bottom line.
10 Assembled a leadership team of talented and highly qualified individuals who are well positioned to help
L&C’s next president, Robin Holmes-Sullivan, lead the college forward. As Wiewel has noted, a successful president isn’t an individual who single-handedly achieves great things; it is an individual who creates a climate where community members can do their best work. Part of creating that climate is to bring together a team of leaders who are not only talented and competent, but who also communicate confidence in the future as well as commitment and support to their own teams. n
Spring 2022 | L&C | 13
A Family Story
14 | L&C | Spring 2022
From Book to Film Pauls Toutonghi’s book about the emotionally charged search for a family dog is the basis for an upcoming movie on . by Angie Jabine
MARGARET OWEN
ROBERT REYNOLDS
Dogs have always had star quality: Lassie, Benji, Toto, Pluto . . . and now, Gonker? In 2016, Pauls Toutonghi, associate professor of English, published Dog Gone: A Lost Pet’s Extraordinary Journey and the Family Who Brought Him Home. It tells the true story of Gonker, a goofy but beloved dog with Addison’s disease who got lost on the Appalachian trail in October 1998. The heartbroken family had only 23 days to try to find him and administer a lifesaving shot. As the father and son searched for Gonker, the mother began contacting every shelter, community center, and media outlet in the region, and soon legions of dog lovers were on the lookout for Gonker as the clock ticked down. Sound dramatic? Netflix thought so. The movie version, starring Rob Lowe,
will air on Netflix in the coming year. The exact date is yet to be determined. Toutonghi’s connection to Gonker’s reallife family is personal: he married into it. Virginia and John Marshall, the parents in the saga, are his wife Peyton Marshall’s parents. Fielding Marshall, the son in the story, is his wife’s brother. “This was the Marshalls’ famous family story,” he says. “When they told it to me, I was really captivated. Ginny is a great storyteller in person, and so is John, actually. The two of them together are just kind of a force of nature.” Toutonghi’s original plan for the story was to write it down and present it to the family as a Christmas gift. But as he talked about it with his mother-in-law, Ginny disclosed more and more of her own painful memories —of parental abuse and a cherished dog named Oji, who was her only solace as a girl. He began to understand that the urgency of her drive to rescue Gonker had been part of a much deeper story, and what started as a Christmas gift expanded into a published book. Dog Gone’s journey from book to film began with a writer/producer named Nick Santora, who happened to read the book, contacted Toutonghi, and asked his permission to pitch it to Netflix. Toutonghi, who already had too much work on his plate, told Santora to go ahead and pitch it, which he did, reportedly with tears in his eyes. “I’m not sure how it came about, but Rob Lowe also really loved the material and was excited to do it. I was shocked,” Toutonghi recalls. “Lowe played Sam Seaborn on The West Wing, one of my favorite shows ever, so that was just surreal.” Toutonghi sold the book option and film rights to Netflix, and Santora, whose writing credits include several films and episodes of The Sopranos and Law & Order, wrote the screen adaptation. Toutonghi is contractually restrained from sharing too many production details, but the story portrays both family
Spring 2022 | L&C | 15
S H U T T ERS T OC K BY KEL LY VA N D EL L EN
dogs, Oji and Gonker, and emphasizes how the desperate search for Gonker became a father-son bonding experience for John and Fielding Marshall, who was concealing an illness that nearly killed him during the ordeal. The film was shot last summer on Stone Mountain in Georgia, near the southern end of the Appalachian Trail. Pauls and Fielding spent a day on the set. They didn’t get a chance to meet Lowe that day, but both of them appear in the film as extras—which was not without its bumps. “I ruined a shot!” says Toutonghi. “The one thing you’re not supposed to do as an extra is look in the camera. And for the shot they were doing, the camera was positioned immediately over Fielding’s shoulder and I had to sit there facing him. To complicate things, Gonker was there, and his trainer was getting him to do a trick. There was all this commotion, and somehow I glanced into the lens, and somebody yelled, ‘Background mistake!’ So they had to start the take all over”—no small matter on a 27-day shooting schedule. He takes comfort in knowing that his onscreen time will be measured in seconds.
16 | L&C | Spring 2022
You might look for Toutonghi’s own life history in the two novels he published prior to writing Dog Gone. If so, you’d get it both right and wrong. Red Weather (2006) tells the story of a bookish teenage boy in a gritty Milwaukee neighborhood whose flirtation with local Socialists rankles his Latvian-born parents, both staunch anti-Communists. It feels hilariously and excruciatingly real— more so, perhaps, than his second novel, Evel Knievel Days (2012), about a medically fragile misfit from Butte, Montana, who is prone to hallucinations and who boldly crosses the Atlantic in search of the Egyptian father who abandoned him as a toddler. Toutonghi acknowledges he was a bookish teenager, but he did not grow up anywhere near Milwaukee or Butte. His father was Egyptian, not Latvian, but he didn’t abandon Pauls to be raised by a single mother. When readers jump to such conclusions, the author simply takes it in stride. “It’s funny. I think in novels, there is this real desire to believe in that first-person ‘I’ as being the author,” he says. “We want to know, ‘Are stories true?’ And if stories seem true, then we want to ask, ‘Well, but if this isn’t a true story, how come it seems so true?’ ” He counts such reactions as a success.
The facts are, Toutonghi himself grew up in Seattle, his mother was Latvian (he speaks Latvian and is very involved in Oregon’s Latvian community), and his father was Egyptian. Toutonghi jokes that he grew up in such an ethnically divided household that he felt the need to write two comingof-age novels, “one for each side of the family, I guess.” Unlike his parents, Toutonghi’s life’s journey took him east at first, not west. He attended Middlebury College in Vermont, where he earned a BA in 1999. Then he entered a program at Cornell University, where he earned an MFA in poetry in 2002 and a PhD in English literature in 2006. In 2007, he joined the faculty at Lewis & Clark, where he draws on his own experience as an author to encourage students in literature and creative writing to explore the arts and produce their own work, whether in fiction, poetry, or screenwriting. “I think the arts at Lewis & Clark are really about trying to bridge different artistic disciplines,” he says. “We’re trying to encourage students to take advantage of the fact that we have all of these artistic resources here. So we want them to take screenwriting, to do creative writing, to take classes in the music department, to
Setting the Stage for Film Careers
S H U T T ERS T OC K BY GN EP P H OT O
take sculpture. I think it helps the studentartist develop.” A firm believer in supporting his students’ career aspirations, he’s currently in the midst of collaborating on several film scripts with Lars Steier BA ’10, a history major who went on to Northwestern University, where he earned an MFA in writing for the screen and stage. Steier, who now lives in Los Angeles, took only a couple of classes from Toutonghi, but he recalls his teaching demeanor as “precise, almost mathematical.” He says what really stuck with him about Toutonghi’s creative writing class was “the idea of storytelling structure and thinking about what the conflict of each scene is.” Steier remembers his professor occasionally taking a theatrical approach. “He actually had one class where he brought in a guest lecturer and they got into an argument because the guest lecturer was getting sidetracked,” Steier recalls. “And as it went on and they became more argumentative I realized—I think later than every one of my classmates—that it was a fake argument constructed to show the importance of conflict.” Steier describes his collaborative process with Toutonghi as fun and casual. “Since we haven’t lived in the same city the whole time that we’ve been collaborating, we tend to send a draft back and forth,” he says. “We don’t really have a division of labor, and I think we both try to adjust our writing style so that each of us is writing in a voice that becomes both of us.” So far they’ve moved three projects into development, only to see them foiled by COVID-19 and other factors. But they persevere. For now, Toutonghi has his hands full with his long-distance collaborations, his own writing, his Lewis & Clark course load, and the care of his young twins, Beatrix and Phineas. Oddly enough, the family doesn’t currently own a dog; Toutonghi says their two cats are far too territorial. It’s a truly literary household. Toutonghi’s third novel, The Refugee Ocean, will be published in spring 2023 by Simon & Schuster. His wife, Peyton Marshall, author of the 2014 novel Goodhouse, recently won a 2022 National Endowment for the Arts grant to help complete her next book. It doesn’t seem like a stretch to speculate that the family’s storytelling urge will continue into the next generation. n
Lewis & Clark students who aspire to careers in the entertainment industry often pursue courses in the Departments of English, Theatre, and Rhetoric and Media Studies. During the 2021–22 academic year, students could also sign up for film-related courses through the Bates Center for Entrepreneurship and Leadership. Each year, the Bates Center offers 300-level practicums in select industries. These courses have strong academic, experiential, and preprofessional components. This past fall, the Bates Center offered a Film Production Practicum; this spring, it’s offering a Screenwriting Practicum. Both courses are taught by industry professionals. Film producer Alissa Phillips introduced the nuts and bolts of production, from treatments to coverage to call sheets. “Besides running the show behind the scenes, producers need a head for story,” says Alissa, whose multiple credits include the comedies Moneyball and I Feel Pretty. “That means reading and watching everything, ideally with a liberal arts foundation.” Screenwriter Fernley Phillips, a UCLA film grad whose screenwriting credits include The Number 23, starring Jim Carrey, teaches students what to do—and what not to do —in a script. “Directors are incredibly talented, and actors are brilliant,” he notes. “But you need to inspire these people through the words—and that’s called the script.” Like Alissa, Fernley encourages former students to stay in touch and not to give up on getting their foot in the industry door. The Bates Center offers coursework, programs and workshops, industry networking, and even seed funding for entrepreneurial ventures. Lewis & Clark granted its first minors in entrepreneurial leadership and innovation in May 2021.
Angie Jabine is a Portland-based freelance writer. Spring 2022 | L&C | 17
On a Pedestal How do the arts help us answer the question, “What is an appropriate monument for this time and place?”
R OBE RT RE YNO LDS
18 | L&C | Spring 2022
The statue York: Terra Incognita stands along the path between Frank Manor House and Watzek Library, under some maple trees. Bronze feet rest on a mossy stone, not a large plinth. The name placard is small and affixed to a rock some distance away. Associate Professor of Art Jess Perlitz asks her students what they notice. At the start of a course she teaches on monuments and memorials, the students cluster around famed sculptor Alison Saar’s depiction of York, a Black man who accompanied the Lewis and Clark Expedition and was enslaved by William Clark. They ask questions. Why is York located on the side of the path? What is different about this sculpture from typical monuments or memorials? What is the significance of the map “scarred” into his back? Why is he smaller than lifesized? “How do you render power?” asks Perlitz. For art students, the statue of York becomes a focal point for larger conversations about monuments and memorials, the Corps of Discovery and legacies of settler colonialism in Oregon. Inevitably, students begin to wonder about the context of this statue: the beautiful winding pathways, the library, the college named after two 19th-century historical figures.
Perlitz starts her classes here to stimulate dialogue. Getting people talking is the same goal she had as co-organizer of Portland’s Monuments and Memorials Project (PMMP), a yearlong project that ended in spring 2022, which curated lectures, panels, and a culminating exhibit, Prototypes. Although focused on Portland, PMMP sought to engage with a larger conversation around public art. PMMP emerged from Converge 45, a nonprofit organization that provides a curatorial platform for the visual arts in Portland and the surrounding region. Perlitz worked with Converge 45’s director, artist Mack McFarland, to spearhead the PMMP project. The goal: to bring a national conversation about monuments to the local level, asking Oregonians to participate in their own revisioning. The nation is reckoning with its history, and thus with its monuments. Confederate monuments have come down in the South. In Portland, some podiums stand empty. Everywhere, cities are asking: Whose faces and names should adorn our squares? Which historical narratives should give way to new interpretations? Whose stories get told in stone?
}
ROBERT REY N OL D S
by Caitlin Dwyer
Associate Professor of Art Jess Perlitz
onuments and memorials can be catalysts around which we gather to talk about history, about community, about identity, about transformation. Because they are cast permanently, they provide physical embodiments of cultural narratives, about ourselves and each other. In a time of vitriolic debate, Perlitz and McFarland imagined the arts as catalysts of conversation. Prototypes would be a thought experiment, intended to generate conversation and stimulate the imagination around what art can be in our public spaces. “We decided we wanted to center the arts as a way of thinking through these problems,” says Perlitz. PMMP came at a moment when Portland was reexamining its public spaces. Months of protest had dominated the 2020 news cycle, and protesters had pulled down statues around the city, from George Washington to Oregonian editor Harvey Scott. Sometimes
the plinths stayed empty. Sometimes new statues went up in their place. The movement to reexamine monuments is about seeing history clearly and consciously, says Reiko Hillyer, associate professor of history and director of ethnic studies. She explains that most of us go about our days ignoring the historical markers in our built environment. “We just sort of walk by them,” Hillyer says. “One of the ways in which historical narratives become codified as common sense is by making a landscape that seems so intractable and seems so natural and kind of mundane in everyday life that you cease to question the power that made it, and the powers that are upheld by its making.” PMMP wanted to ask those questions. It wasn’t designed to replace the old statues immediately with new ones. Instead, the organizers hoped Oregonians would begin to think beyond addition and subtraction
to a more holistic view of what our public spaces could be. An open call went out for submissions to the Prototypes exhibition in 2021. Rather than finished sculptures, artists submitted proposals for new public artworks. For Perlitz, the imaginative nature of the exhibit was key, as it allowed for greater community participation. Not every submission came from an established artist; some came from groups with deep roots in the region. Deciding which sculptures get built isn’t the point, Perlitz says. The exhibit offered a space for ideas. It was about the “messiness” of the process of talking with each other, honestly, about history, and about how we might go about making new monuments and memorials. As a professor at Lewis & Clark, Perlitz is used to an academic environment that encourages conversation around tough topics. That liberal arts ethos, she believed, had to Spring 2022 | L&C | 19
be brought into the public sphere. It was time for Portland to have some difficult conversations.
}
20 | L&C | Spring 2022
The Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde submitted First Fish Herons for the Prototypes exhibition. It imagines a series of herons by different artists that rotate seasonally next to the Willamette River.
Monuments are often paid for by individual wealthy donors with a specific interest. According to Reiko Hillyer, they uphold particular narratives, but even more so, they uphold the worldview and authority of the donors and the makers. “The Confederate monuments that went up in the 1890s said a lot more about the 1890s than they said about the actual mission and ideologies of the people in the Confederacy,” she says. “They are monuments to their makers, maybe their money, more than to their subjects.” In that light, First Fish Herons, the tribes’ Prototypes submission, is particularly subver-
sive. The monument is imagined as a rotating installation; on top of three stone plinths will sit carved herons, watching the river for fish. The herons will appear seasonally when fish run in the river, representing traditional fishing practices among the Clackamas people. Different artists will be commissioned to create the herons, so that no individual dominates. The temporal and collaborative aspects mean that tribal members will come to town regularly to install and uninstall the birds. At times, the monument may look unfinished, even empty, when the birds are absent. That absence, too, can be a focal point for reflection.
R O B E RT R E Y N O L D S
avid Harrelson (Kalapuya) BA ’07 knew that the Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde had to submit to Prototypes. As the cultural resources department manager for the tribes, part of his job has been to imagine ways to bring the art of the Columbia River basin to greater recognition through exhibits and public installations. “Art is one of the most effective tools we have to demonstrate that we are the Indigenous peoples of this place, and we are still here,” Harrelson says. Prototypes was just the kind of opportunity tribal members had been looking for: a chance to spur conversation around the ecosystems and original inhabitants of the region. Harrelson convened a working group and talked through possibilities. A small committee drafted ideas and sketches. The collaborative process was purposeful, reflecting tribal values, but also interrupting the usual narrative of how monuments are built.
P H O T O S M A R I O G A L L U C C I , C O U RT E S Y O F C O N V E R G E 4 5
“There’s some real need to draw attention to the fishery that may not exist in our lifetime,” says Harrelson. Overall, the piece is about “creating definable moments in time when people can connect and look forward,” he says, as well as providing a sense of ritual. Although Prototypes was ostensibly an exhibition of monuments, not every submission envisioned sculpture. Some played with or even poked fun at the idea of public art, trying to prod at our inherited ideas of what constitutes a monument. Misha Davydov BA ’21 submitted a zine called Lenin Alive, which juxtaposed images of Vladimir Lenin with pineapple upsidedown cake, rocket ships, and cucumber spa treatments. Davydov wanted to explore how Lenin’s physical body appeared in public space in Russia. “I was interested in taking different representations of him and his monuments and putting those in contexts in which they normally wouldn’t appear,” says Davydov, who also helped install the exhibit.
Misha Davydov BA '21 created a zine called Lenin Alive for the Prototypes exhibition.
Davydov, a native Russian, experienced the images differently than an American viewer might. The disconnect interested them. They were curious to see “if anyone would see a reflection of their own context and environment and try to culturally ‘translate’ the images or see what parallels there are in American history.” The result is playful, irreverent, and thought-provoking. Davydov’s zine will never become a traditional monument. Instead, it provokes the viewer to consider preconceived notions of who and what gets revered in stone, and how a monument’s meaning changes as time passes and its context changes. That urge toward provocation is one that Davydov developed during their time with the art department at Lewis & Clark. The college experience “shaped not only how I make art, but how I think about things in a lot of ways . . . how I inquire into things or how I challenge things,” says Davydov. “It was incredibly formative.”
}
uch of the work of reimagining public space takes place intellectually. We can stand around a piece of art, examine it, critique it, disagree about it. The transformation takes place internally and in community, as we share and debate our narratives of ourselves. Art becomes a focal point, a way of fostering dialogue around difficult subjects. For the Lewis & Clark community, this raises questions about a topic closer to home: the very name of the institution. What does it mean to be named for two historical figures whose trek forever changed the course of Indigenous history? It’s not a comfortable conversation, says Perlitz, but it’s an important one. That kind of dialogue “holds the ideals of what a liberal arts college is,” she says. “We embrace that discourse because that is what we believe we are doing on this campus: building upon and reckoning with the knowledge we are handed.”
Changes to public space, whether they are monuments or names, need to go beyond inclusivity and become transformative, Reiko Hillyer asserts. Any conversation around Lewis & Clark’s name should include “deliberate institutional effort to be more collaborative with tribal organizations . . . and also incorporate Indigenous knowledge and study of Indigeneity into its curriculum,” says Hillyer. She cites the example of Georgetown University, which has established an archive that researches its institutional history around slavery and seeks to create scholarships for the descendants of enslaved people. That kind of work, she says, is an example of how academic institutions are beginning to grapple with history in difficult, productive way.
}
n Milwaukie Bay, where David Harrelson once rowed crew as an L&C undergraduate, First Fish Herons is coming to roost. The Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde are in talks with the city and parks department to make the monument a reality. Our built environments can seem intractable, as permanent and concrete as our convictions. But as Milwaukie Bay shows us, landscapes can change. New stories can rise to the forefront of public consciousness. Through her classes at Lewis & Clark, and through PMMP, Perlitz and her colleagues hope to catalyze transformation both internally and in communities. “I think people are choosing a liberal arts education, in part, because they are interested in that murky territory and that discourse,” says Perlitz. In a liberal arts model, through art, students and community members can explore contradictions and come up with new ideas for honoring, mourning, and celebrating together. Imagine a seasonal ritual where artists come to bring the herons to their stone bases. Imagine a public space that asks us to pay attention not just to individual historical figures, but to the cycles of a river that runs through our cities. Imagine kids playing under the herons, wondering what the birds are waiting for. n Caitlin Dwyer is a Portland-based writer.
Spring 2022 | L&C | 21
SH U T T E RST O C K BY RO BE RT C RU M
The Road to a Successful Business As part of the law school’s Small Business Legal Clinic, the Rural Program provides businesses in rural Oregon with access to expert legal services. by Daniel F. Le Ray
Since joining Lewis & Clark Law School in 2019, Shanna Knight has brought her commitment to helping people thrive to all manner of small businesses across rural Oregon. “It’s so amazing to watch our clients succeed,” says Knight, a staff attorney with the Rural Program at the law school’s Small Business Legal Clinic. The program provides small business owners living in rural communities throughout Oregon with access to affordable legal services and advice. It’s helped many Oregonians and tribal citizens start and grow their businesses. “We’re one tool in our clients’ toolbox, but it’s still really amazing to see them succeed and become more confident,” Knight says. The Rural Program was created in 2019 in response to a need for more equitable access to legal services across the state. A number of groups provided input, from local chambers of commerce and the Oregon Native American Chamber to Latinx and
22 | L&C | Spring 2022
rural community organizations. Seed funding was provided by the Ford Family Foundation and the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Knight, who had volunteered with the Small Business Legal Clinic before taking on her current role, helps a wide range of clients, from financial services organizations to artists, from general contractors to nonprofits. Most of her clients are experts in their fields, but they often need help with legal foundations for their businesses. The program has assisted clients with forming new businesses, designing contracts that protect their interests, and interpreting employment law and COVID-19 regulations. Knight works with around 65 clients each year. About 30 percent are Native-owned organizations. “Tribal communities have always had amazing networks of trade, and their members have always been entrepreneurs. Our program provides a new way for these communities to access the U.S. legal system for their benefit,” says Knight.
“Tribal communities have always had amazing networks of trade, and their members have always been entrepreneurs. Our program provides a new way for these communities to access the U.S. legal system for their benefit.” — Shanna Knight, L&C Law School Staff Attorney
SMALL BUSINESS LEGAL CLINIC RURAL PROGRAM
One key to the program’s success with Native businesspeople has been its ability to build trust. “I really enjoy serving tribal nations and community members,” explains Knight, who specialized in Indigenous law at law school and has worked for a number of tribal communities across the Pacific Northwest and in Washington, D.C. “For folks who are tribal citizens, there’s this really fraught history of people making promises and breaking them. We recognize and acknowledge this history and want to help our clients turn the system to their advantage wherever we can.” Knight also enjoys working closely with L&C law students, who sit in on client meetings and assist with legal research. The most valuable experience for them is getting to meet with and help the program’s clients. Maggie Powers JD ’21, who served as a research assistant for the Small Business Legal Clinic while in law school, helped a rural client who was facing lease negotiations during the COVID-19 pandemic. She found the experience to be “especially rewarding because it allowed me to assist small businesses to succeed in a tumultuous time.” Working with the program helps students see that the law is not passive, but instead can be something that is dynamic, something that forms in response to an immediate need. The Rural Program continues to grow, bringing important expertise to connect with the diverse communities in rural Oregon. In the near future, Knight says, Juliana Minn, who currently works in another Small Business Legal Clinic program, will join the team. She will focus on engaging with Oregon’s Latinx communities in English and Spanish. In all of the programs of the Small Business Legal Clinic, client-centered lawyering is the focus. “Often a client calls their lawyer when everything has gone wrong,” she says. “But the Small Business Legal Clinic—and the Rural Program—is practicing a preventive kind of law. We’re helping people set up their businesses in ways to prevent problems down the road.” n
H AN N AH ST E I N KO PF - F RAN K
CLIENT PROFILE: ARTIST NATALIE BALL
THE ART OF SUCCESS Artist Natalie Ball refers to her creations as “Power Objects.” Her striking sculptures incorporate multiple materials and textiles to create what she calls “narratives of Native American identity and experiences” that are more complex than those offered by traditional media. Ball, a citizen of the Klamath Tribes, is from the Modoc, Klamath, and Tahlequah Tribes and is Black. Her family was a part of the Black diaspora from rural Arkansas to the Pacific Northwest. Ball has exhibited work across the United States and internationally. Her art studio is in Chiloquin, Oregon, on her tribes’ ancestral homelands. After graduating from the Yale School of Art, Ball soon found success in the art world. But this came with a realization: “Business became something that I had to know—and that was not taught in art school.” First, Ball sought out the Oregon Native American Chamber; then, she was put in touch with the Rural Program, part of the law school's Small Business Legal Clinic. The help she has received from staff attorney Shanna Knight and the Rural Program has enabled Ball to maintain a thriving studio art business in her small rural hometown. “Having Shanna by my side whenever I need something has helped me with my confidence and with being out there in the world making moves and decisions,” Ball says. “I can’t explain how much it’s helped me to be successful and grow bigger than I thought I would in the last year.” The Rural Program also helped Ball create a second business: Klamath Land Back Tours. The business offers matriarch-guided tours of native Klamath land, with the goal of recentering Indigenous knowledge and exploring settler violence to offer an honest reflection of reality. “I’m an Indigenous woman who is Black, and the stats for violence against women and minorities are really high,” says Ball. But Knight helped her set up her business in a way that protected it from legal challenges and helped keep Ball safe during her work with Klamath Land Back. The bedrock for Ball, as for many of the organizations that have worked with the program, is trust. When she met with the Rural Program to discuss setting up her tour company, Ball discovered that Knight had taken the time to learn about the water rights battles that the Klamath Tribes have faced. “Trust-wise, that helped me build that second business,” said Ball. “It’s just been a great experience.”
Daniel F. Le Ray is an award-winning freelance writer and editor based in eastern Washington state.
Spring 2022 | L&C | 23
The graduate school’s TransActive Gender Project provides a holistic range of services and expertise for transgender and gender-diverse children and youth, as well as their families.
24 | L&C | Spring 2022
The TransActive Gender Center, a Portland-based nonprofit, spent more than a decade addressing the needs of trans and gender-diverse youth and their families. But when the organization came under the umbrella of the Lewis & Clark Graduate School of Education and Counseling in 2019—and was renamed the TransActive Gender Project—it was a game changer. “We’ve accomplished more in the last three years than in the previous 10 years prior to being at Lewis & Clark,” says Jenn Burleton, the nonprofit’s founder. She now serves as program director of the TransActive Gender Project at the graduate school. TransActive’s impact extends throughout the region. In 2021 alone, it helped 75 Portland-metro families of trans and genderexpansive youth through support groups. It also offered five workshops through the graduate school’s Center for Community Engagement, training over 230 community members on the
has a reach far “ TransActive beyond Oregon and is looked to as a model of what education, advocacy, and support can look like to empower transgender youth and their families.
”
—Amy Penkin, OHSU Transgender Health Program
needs of gender-diverse and transgender youth, and conducted nearly 40 professional development training sessions with school districts, businesses, and agencies throughout Oregon and Washington. These trainings emphasize that gender-diverse identities are natural variations in human development and that children can express this identity at as early as 18 months of age. They also teach that affirming natural human gender diversity benefits all children, not just those who are transgender, and that disinformation regarding trans youth can cause long-lasting trauma. The project’s work directly complements the graduate school’s commitment to social justice and creates yet another avenue for L&C to engage with the community. According to Matsya Siosal, director of the Center for Community Engagement, the project “directly impacts not just individuals but the systems and institutions that they navigate in all areas of their lives.”
Filling a Gap for Trans Youth TransActive wouldn’t be the organization it is today without Burleton, a nationally acclaimed champion for transgender and gender-expansive children, youth, and families. As a transgender woman herself, Burleton’s journey to this work started in her own childhood. She came of age in the mid-1960s, when resources for trans people were sparse, at best. “The world had nothing to offer at that time,” says Burleton. “There was nobody to talk to about it. And even if my parents had been supportive, there was no one for them to talk to.” What followed for Burleton were years of trauma, anxiety, and depression as she pursued a career as a musician. It wasn’t until the early 2000s that she made her way into the trans advocacy sphere, when she discovered a Yahoo discussion group called Parents of Transgender Kids. There, families shared their experiences, tried to find support networks, and looked for help explaining to schools what was happening with their kids.
“This was about 40 years after I had begun coming out as a trans child, and what I realized is that nothing had really changed as far as support systems for trans kids, for their parents, or for their families. I couldn’t locate any professional development or any type of education that focused on serving this population,” says Burleton. “These realities inspired me to change careers.” In 2007, she launched an organization that would later become TransActive. According to Burleton, TransActive was the first organization of its kind. Even today, while there are many more organizations advocating for trans people, there are few that focus on trans and gender-expansive children. But, Burleton says, there has been a dramatic expansion of public health services for trans youth: When TransActive started, there was only one gender clinic in the U.S. that provided services, such as gender therapy and medical interventions, to kids. Now, there are more than 50 major clinics. TransActive was heavily involved in establishing Portland’s two pediatric gender clinics: the T-Clinic at Legacy Randall Children’s Hospital and the Transgender Health Program at Oregon Health & Science University (OHSU). These gender clinics pair with TransActive to refer families to one another for care, support, and other services. They also have a long history of collaborating on education, policy, and advocacy efforts to support gender-expansive youth. According to Amy Penkin, the clinical program manager of OHSU’s Transgender Health Program, this collaboration has created tangible changes such as promoting access to necessary medications and establishing policies in schools that promote inclusion and create accountability for discrimination. “It’s through TransActive’s services, education, and advocacy that more young people are accessing the medical care they need; learning in more welcoming school environments, as they deserve; and experiencing support from their families and caregivers who, prior to TransActive’s interventions, were unfamiliar with navigating or understanding their children’s gender,” says Penkin. “TransActive has a reach far beyond
Spring 2022 | L&C | 25
work has gotten harder because we now have “ farThemore opposition than we had when we began, but we’ve also gotten a lot better at what we do. ” —Jenn Burleton, L&C's TransActive Gender Project
Oregon and is looked to as a model of what education, advocacy, and support can look like to empower transgender youth and their families.” While TransActive does more hands-on, in-depth work in Oregon, the program provides workplace training all over the country and sometimes even internationally, everywhere from Mexico to New Zealand. And, since the COVID-19 pandemic started, the organization has gone into overdrive to expand virtual learning and support system options, Burleton says. Support group meetings are now accessible to trans kids and their families nationwide. “You could probably attend if you’re on the International Space Station,” says Burleton.
Changing Political Landscape Since founding TransActive in 2007, Burleton has seen conversations about transgender youth become increasingly politicized. When the organization first began educating people about gender diversity in youth, it was starting at ground zero, says Burleton. “There was a pretty open playing field, and so we were just coming in blowing people’s minds,” she says, explaining that most people didn’t know the difference between sexual identities and gender identities.
Now, the job also entails combatting disinformation about trans youth, largely disseminated by religious groups and the conservative right. “Not only are we bringing new information, but we need to overcome preconceived notions people may have in their heads based upon information that is being fed to them,” says Burleton, explaining that training sessions address the social, cultural, health, and legal challenges that gender-expansive people face. In 2021, the nation set a record for the number of anti-trans bills proposed in state legislatures. Republican lawmakers have proposed legislation nationwide to ban access to health care for trans kids and ban trans youth participation in sports, among other actions. Burleton says that this disinformation campaign is an “allout attack,” intended to marginalize trans and gender-diverse people—making TransActive’s work to empower and provide safe spaces for these groups particularly important in this cultural moment. She referred to this work as a “lifesaving effort,” as tens of thousands of gender-diverse kids live in households and communities where they are being traumatized because of their identities. “The work has gotten harder because we now have far more opposition than we had when we began,” says Burleton. “But we’ve also gotten a lot better at what we do.”
New Certificate Program The Need for Support Transgender people are those who know themselves to be one gender, but who were labeled a different gender at birth.
Almost 2% of high school students identify as transgender. 27% feel unsafe at or going to and from school. 35% are bullied at school. 35% attempt suicide. Source: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, January 25, 2019.
26 | L&C | Spring 2022
A lot is on the horizon for TransActive. Starting in August 2022, the graduate school will launch a certificate program, called “Gender Diversity in Children and Youth: History, Science, Society, and the Implementation of Inclusive and Affirming Policy and Practice.” Geared toward teaching PK-12 educators about gender diversity, this program will be the first of its kind in the nation, says Burleton. The full-year, eight-credit course will give a cohort of people working with youth intensive training on how to create inclusive spaces, focusing on the history of gender diversity,
An LGBTQ Nation Hometown Hero
Jenn Burleton, founder and director of the TransActive Gender Project
policy development and implementation in schools, and the culture of disinformation, among other topics. “We think that this is going to be a differentiator for Lewis & Clark,” says Burleton. TransActive has also embarked on a research study examining the factors that influence or move people from being transopposing to trans-affirming. Participant interviews are currently under way. This study is one part of a larger gender diversity tool kit for schools, which could be utilized nationwide. The goal is to help organizations move from developing policies to actually implementing them. This could be as simple as knowing what to do when someone complains to the school’s front desk about someone who may look like a boy being in the girls’ bathroom, says Burleton. “We get to the point of putting down inclusive policies on paper,” she says. “But both the implicit and the explicit bias that exists around gender diversity often prevents those policies from being effectively implemented.”
In 2021, Jenn Burleton received the LGBTQ Nation Hometown Hero award for her 15 years of supporting some of the nation’s most vulnerable youth. Her nomination stood out to the editorial team at LGBTQ Nation, an online magazine, because she was nominated not once, but twice. And one of those nominations came from Emma Basques, a 13-year-old trans girl who has been supported by the TransActive Gender Project. Basques, a resident of Tualatin, Oregon, has attended support groups through TransActive, allowing her to meet youth with similar experiences. “It’s interesting because they all seem to kind of be like me,” says Basques. “It’s just nice to talk to them.” Basques looks to Burleton as a role model, inspiring her to be an advocate for trans rights. Burleton has given her the opportunity to speak at conferences and develop her leadership skills, and the two are even working on a book together about trans people. “Jenn has inspired me and done a lot of nice things for me, and so I wanted to do this nice thing for her,” says Basques, explaining why she nominated Burleton for the award. “[She] makes me go ‘Wow, she has confidence.’” Burleton is grateful to have won the Hometown Hero award because it means more visibility for TransActive’s work, empowering trans youth and their families. “For me, the honor is for our team,” she says. “It’s for the work that the TransActive team does at Lewis & Clark.”
Over the long term, Burleton hopes to expand TransActive’s reach at Lewis & Clark. At the graduate school, she wants to help expand the curriculum of the Professional Mental Health Counseling; Marriage, Couple, and Family Therapy; and School Psychology programs to better serve the needs of families with gender-diverse kids. At the law school, she envisions law students doing social justice work with gender-diverse youth. And, of course, TransActive will remain an important resource for gender-diverse students across all three schools. Ultimately, Burleton would like to see Lewis & Clark make the list of Campus Pride’s top 50 schools for LGBTQ students. “I want Lewis & Clark to be a destination school for LGBTQ, gender-diverse, queer, and nonbinary students.” n Hanna Merzbach BA ’20 is a freelance journalist based in Santa Cruz, California. She is a former editor of the Pioneer Log.
Spring 2022 | L&C | 27
Campaign News Susan Bates Gift Establishes Student Investment Portfolio In 2021, Susan Schwind Bates, a cornerstone donor for the Bates Center for Entrepreneurship and Leadership, donated $210,000 to establish the center’s Student-Managed Investment Fund. This educational tool is part of a new wealth management course offered through the Bates Center. The course, which kicked off in spring 2022, is being taught by Noel Johnson, a graduate of Williams College and the Stanford Graduate School of Business. According to Johnson, the goal of the course is for students to “become comparatively more knowledgeable, confident, and skilled across the myriad aspects of money.” The investment portfolio is being guided with the assistance of trustee and Bates Center Advisory Board member David Mabie BS ’85 and Bates Center Advisory Board member Josh Ulmer BA ’01. In addition, all of the assigned books in the class were purchased in advance by Bates Center Advisory Board member Thomas Haller BA ’81, who donated an additional $25,000 to the fund. Students found the books waiting for them on the first day of class with an inserted note of support. “Buying the books was a kind and inspirational way to show our students support and respect for their class journey,” says Chrys Hutchings, associate director of the Bates Center. Susan’s father, Otto Carl Schwind, was a successful businessman. Through this gift, Susan seeks to honor him while teaching future generations about investment and stewardship.
Ruth Sigal Funds Graduate School Scholarships and Education Campaign Lewis & Clark is pleased to announce the creation of the Ruth L. Sigal Scholarship Fund, a five-year, $250,000 gift from Ruth Sigal, a former L&C trustee. Each fall, the fund will provide approximately 40 students enrolled in Lewis & Clark’s Graduate School of Education and Counseling with roughly $1,000 of unrestricted support. Ruth’s gift was inspired by the dedication of L&C’s graduate students to the communities they wish to serve. She notes that graduate work has been challenging during the pandemic, especially in the fields of education and counseling, with few scholarships available and modest salaries upon graduation. In addition, Ruth wishes to spark a commitment from Lewis & Clark to celebrate the graduate school’s hands-on work. She hopes to get the word out about how L&C graduate students are already serving, healing, and teaching throughout our communities. As Ruth says, “Our world is better for these individuals and for the grad school’s dedication under Dean Scott Fletcher to teaching the helpers, healers, and mentors.” Ruth truly believes in the college’s campaign message:
“What the world needs most is what we do best.”
28 | L&C | Spring 2022
Day of Giving Sets New Record On March 2, the seventh annual Day of Giving, 1,580 donors raised more than $379,000 in support of L&C’s undergraduate, law, and graduate schools, setting a new all-time record for most dollars raised for this event. Lewis & Clark extends a special thanks to Philanthropy Council members, who contacted more than 1,000 classmates to encourage giving, as well as to the generous trustee who provided a $150,000 challenge if we reached our goal. In total, that’s more than $529,000 raised for Lewis & Clark in 24 hours. A hearty thank-you to everyone who contributed!
Campaign Update Major Gifts and Pledges Lewis & Clark thanks its generous donors for these recent major gifts and pledges. Jim Spencer BA ’85
Matching Gift Helps Launch Huston Renovation In February, Lewis & Clark’s Board of Trustees approved a $4.5 million capital project for improvements to the Huston Sports Complex. So far, the college has raised $500,000, with a goal of raising $1.5 million before construction starts in spring 2023. To help reach that goal, trustee Jim Spencer BA ’85 will match new gifts and pledges dollar-fordollar up to $500,000. Among the Huston improvements will be replacing the existing grass and dirt infield with allweather artificial turf and installing permanent restroom facilities. In addition to allowing the softball and baseball teams to practice and play games in Oregon’s rainy environment more consistently, the turfed fields are also being designed to allow for additional practice space for Lewis & Clark’s two newest varsity sports: women’s lacrosse and men’s soccer. The resurfaced baseball field will be renamed in honor of longtime Lewis & Clark baseball coach Jerry Gatto. Additional improvements to the complex will be completed at a future time based on both donor support and future capital improvement budgets.
A $2.5 million future bequest from Andrew Johnson-Laird in support of the law school. A commitment of $2.45 million from two anonymous alumni in support of the Bates Center for Entrepreneurship and Leadership, the Posse Scholars program, and the College of Arts and Sciences. A $1.85 million gift from the Shelby Cullom Davis Charitable Fund to support the Davis United World College Scholars program. $671,056 from the Wyss Foundation to support the Wyss Scholars program at the law school. A commitment of $500,000 from Patrick Nielson BA ’71 and Dorris Nielson to support the Center for Social Change and Community Involvement and the Templeton renovation project. A $500,000 commitment from Beth Miller BS ’73 for the Templeton renovation project. A gift of $500,000 from the Sunderland Foundation for the Templeton renovation project.
Left to Raise:
Campaign Goal: $155,000,000
$33,168,038 People: $93,093,243
As of April 1, 2022:
Total Raised: $121,831,962 go.lclark.edu/campaign
% to Goal: 79%
Places: $8,813,799 Programs: $19,924,921
Spring 2022 | L&C | 29
Alumni News
yourname@alumni.lclark.edu Do You Have an L&C Email Address?
Take Note! Due to outdated technology and low usage, our L&C forwarding email system will be discontinued on August 1, 2022, and will no longer be available to our alumni community.
If you use this service, you’ll need to update your contact information anywhere that is connected to or uses your forwarding “lclark.edu” email address.
Welcome, New Board of Alumni Members Last fall, five alumni joined the ranks of the undergraduate Board of Alumni. The board’s charge is to strengthen ties between and among alumni and other members of the college community. It oversees and advises the college on programs to benefit alumni as well as ways that alumni can serve L&C.
Meet our new board members (above, from left): Aaron Forbort BA ’02, Minneapolis • Jenny MacNichol BA ’78, Portland Jackson Shea BA ’89, Portland • Simran Singh BA ’08, Hyattsville, Maryland David Todd BA ’68, Portland
Alumni Weekend is back on campus! This year, the classes of 1950-52, 1955-57, 1960-62, 1965-67, 1970–72, 1975–77, 1980–82, 1985–87, 1990–92, 1995–97, 2000–02, 2005–07, 2010–12, 2015–17, 2020, and 2021 will be celebrating their reunions. Everyone is welcome, no matter when you graduated! In addition, we will be recognizing four members of the L&C community at the Alumni Honors Celebration on Saturday, June 25: Outstanding Young Alumnus Award: Chris Bailey BA ’08 Distinguished Alumna Award: Anna Marjavi BA ’98
Donald G. Balmer Citation (for service to the college): Jane Atkinson, former vice president and provost
Pioneer Alumni Leadership Award (for service to L&C alumni): Cathy Kirkland BA ’75, MAT ’83, JD ’87
30 | L&C | Spring 2022
Of course, we always encourage you to have your most frequently checked email address on file with the college so you can receive the latest L&C news and events.
To update your email address, visit go.lclark.edu/update-us.
Check Out In-Person and Online Events The alumni office offers a rich menu of in-person and online events. For the most current list of virtual, campus, and regional events, visit
go.lclark.edu/alumni/virtual.
See the World With L&C Travel This past January, a group of alumni, parents, and friends of Lewis & Clark traveled to Antarctica with President Wim Wiewel and Professor of Biology Ken Clifton. Highlights of the trip included crossing the Drake Passage; interacting with penguins on Brown Bluff island; and participating in lectures on climate change, biodiversity, and more with Professor Clifton. A few travelers even partook in a polar plunge! If you are interested in visiting Antarctica, Lewis & Clark will be returning in January 2023. The trip will be led by Erica Lyman, clinical professor of law at Lewis & Clark Law School. Professor Lyman is director of the Global Law Alliance for Animals and the Environment—a collaboration launched in the fall of 2020 between the Center for Animal Law Studies and the Environmental Law Program at the law school. The Global Law Alliance is a champion for wild animals and wild spaces across the globe, working to protect animals and the environment through the development, implementation, and enforcement of international law.
Erica Lyman, Global Law Alliance
Details about the 2023 Antarctica trip—as well as additional Lewis & Clark Travel opportunities—can be found at go.lclark.edu/piotravel.
STAY CONNECTED ON SOCIAL MEDIA Keep connected with the alumni office through social media! Instagram: lc.alumni Facebook: lewisandclarkalumni
Inspired by their experience, the Antarctica travelers came together to generously donate a total of $118,000 in order to create an endowed annual student research award focused on conservation and the effects of climate change. The award will be administered through the John S. Rogers Science Program. Thank you to all the travelers for supporting our students in this meaningful way.
Spring 2022 | L&C | 31
32 | L&C | Spring 2022
Class Notes Share YourNews Let us know the latest about your family, career, travels, hobbies, and more. Submit your news via: Your class correspondent: See contact information under your class year heading. If no one is listed, please consider volunteering; simply email alumni@lclark.edu for more information. Email: notes@lclark.edu Web: go.lclark.edu/class-notes U.S. Mail: Office of Communications Lewis & Clark 615 S. Palatine Hill Road Portland, Oregon 97219
This issue of Class Notes includes submissions through January 21, 2022.
1949 Undergrad Class Correspondent: John Reitz BS ’48, BM jvreitz@aol.com “Please send me your news and updates!”
1962 Undergrad Class Correspondent: Nancy Knudsen BA knudsenk@plu.edu “Please send me your news and updates!”
1966 Undergrad Class Correspondent: Carla Shafer BS chuckanutsandstone@gmail.com “Welcome, Class of 1966! I am glad to set down my mandolin and poetry notebooks to look for stories from you. Our 60th reunion will be Alumni Weekend, June 23– 26, 2022. These notes should inspire. I look forward to seeing everyone then. Thanks to the contributors, and keep your updates coming!”
Bill Coggins BA writes: “COVID provided me with the opportunity to write 60 vignettes for my two adult daughters about noteworthy and traumatic occurrences in my life of which they were previously unaware. These memories included some
events of my childhood, high school years, and college years; my Vietnam service; and my careers with the Secret Service and the Federal Bureau of Investigation. They were fascinated and amazed.” Herbert “Chip” Delap BA has practiced law in Denver for almost 50 years. He plans on sliding into retirement in the very near future. He was elected to the Colorado Senior Golfers’ Association Hall of Fame in October 2021. Alan Dwan BA writes: “I was a theatre major and started at L&C in Peru in 1962 in the college’s first overseas study program, where I met Laura Moore BA ’65. We got married in December 1966. We are still married (55 years). We have two kids and three grandkids. I am a retired audiovisual coordinator. In 2014, we sailed our boat to Fiji. Still here and loving it!” Bill Feltz BA, a music major at L&C, went on to become an ethnomusicologist and arts administrator at the East-West Center in Honolulu, focusing on Asia and the Pacific. He is now retired. Judy Orem BS writes: “January to May was the highlight of 2021 for our granddaughter and us, and it was only because of COVID. Our church services moved to YouTube, so we had time to ride with our granddaughter on Sundays as she
learned to drive. She drove us all around Portland and beyond: to Sandy for doughnuts, to Multnomah Falls, over the St. John’s bridge, and to Newberg, Salem, McMinnville, and the Space Museum. It concluded with her driving me to the Oregon coast. Yes, she got her license.” Pam Parfitt BA writes: “All is well here in Santa Fe, New Mexico, but the last two years have been anything but ‘exciting,’ so I imagine there are many of us who canceled trips and family gatherings, and didn’t attend conferences or move forward with projects previously planned. I am just happy to be healthy with nearby kids, grandkids, and friends who are vaccinated and who can go skiing and snowshoeing together, play golf, and cycle.” Dorothy Thomson Dixon BA writes: “My husband and I have lived in Melbourne, Australia, since 1972. Gale taught cultural geography at Monash University. I taught special education. One of our daughters lives in Newcastle, and the other one is home from working and studying at PSU due to COVID. Now retired, pre-COVID, we took off-road camping vacations to sight birds and visit remote places in the Australian outback. We look forward to these trips again and to summers in Tigard, Oregon. Visitors are always welcome.”
1967 Patty Francy BA, a Lewis & Clark trustee, was honored for 30 years of service with JA Worldwide, an NGO that focuses on helping youths with employment and entrepreneurship. Francy is a supporter, director, generous donor, and contributor to a number of organizations, including the Children’s Tumor Foundation, the Guttman Breast Diagnostic Institute, and Outward Bound USA. She is the inaugural recipient of JA Worldwide’s JA Legacy of Leadership Award, which was created in her honor.
David Shilling BA and Marvina Shilling BA enjoyed a visit with Terry Shinn BA in Paris in September 2021. David, previously director of nuclear safety, security, and NATO nuclear policy at the Office of the Secretary of Defense, has been retired since 2005. Marvina is retired from running Intercultural Management Training & Consulting. The couple visits France every summer. Terry Shinn BA is director of research at the Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique in Paris. Every summer, he visits with friends David Shilling BA and Marvina Shilling BA while they are in France on vacation.
1968 Undergrad Class Correspondent: Marilyn Lane BA beach439@charter.net “Please send me your news and updates!”
1969 Undergrad Class Correspondent: David Grube BA lynnanddavidgrube@gmail.com “Please send me your news and updates!”
David Grube BA retired in December 2021 as the national medical director for Compassion & Choices. At this nonprofit, he educated physicians and citizens about end-of-life options and care. Grube previously devoted more than 35 years to practicing family medicine in Philomath, Oregon. He and his wife, Lynn, live in Corvallis, Oregon, and sing in a threshold choir and in the Chancel Choir of the First Presbyterian Church.
1970 Undergrad Class Correspondent: Rand Dawson BS rdawson@oregonfast.net “Greetings, ‘Summer of Love’ classmates. During 2022, I will make ‘fully masked’ attempts to reach out for your Class Notes submissions. You can also email me at the address above or call me at 541-997-3950.”
Steve Erickson BA served two years in the Peace Corps in Costa Rica. After returning to his hometown of Roseburg, Oregon, he cofounded a cooperative vegetarian restaurant and decided to stay in the Umpqua Valley. Over the years, he has worked in reforestation, fire suppression, carpentry, wilderness guiding, and the local wine industry. Erickson recently retired from a 25-year career with Legal Aid Services of Oregon, where he managed intake services for more than 1,000 prospective clients each year. He enjoys organic gardening when he’s not pursuing his musical interests of accordion and improvised piano. David Poulshock BS, former student body president and Portland advertising and media film producer, submitted a major film documentary to the Sundance Film Festival in September 2021. He started the project in 2014, and a week before the submission deadline, he came down with COVID-19 during final editing. “After two years in this pandemic timewarp hell, I needed a deadline. It worked. I finally know how the film ends!” The focus of the film is a commercial landlord’s journey of life, death, and rebirth while fighting to make a space for artists.
1971 Dave Paull BA writes: “My article about Mrs. Hermine Decker, a beloved stage director and drama coach, was published in the Clark County Washington History 2021 yearbook. The article tells of her devotion to founding the Slocum House Theatre Company in Vancouver, which had a 46-year run.”
1972 Ken Cuno BA retired in June 2021 after 31 years of teaching Middle East history at the University of Illinois at UrbanaChampaign. His book Modernizing Marriage: Family, Ideology, and Law in Nineteenth- and Early Twentieth-Century Egypt (Syracuse,
Spring 2022 | L&C | 33
WHO
Ananda Ellis BA ’09 Eva Ramey BA ’15
Restoring Florida’s Coral Reefs
ACADEMICS
J AM E S E M M
Marine biologists Ananda Ellis BA ’09 and Eva Ramey BA ’15 monitor coral growth and biodiversity in the Florida Keys.
Ananda Ellis: BA in biology, Lewis & Clark | MS in marine biology with a focus on coral ecophysiology, California State University at Northridge Eva Ramey: BA in biology, Lewis & Clark | MAS-MBC in marine biodiversity and conservation, Scripps Institution of Oceanography FUN FACTS
Ellis and Ramey had never met before they joined Mission: Iconic Reefs in the Florida Keys even though they both grew up in Nederland, a small Colorado mountain town west of Boulder; both attended L&C and majored in biology; and both sought out Ken Clifton as their advisor and traveled to East Africa with him on separate overseas study programs. WEBSITE
floridakeys.noaa.gov Left: Ananda and Eva at Carysfort Reef
Home to lobster, sea turtles, fish, and thousands of other plants and animals, the coral reefs within the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary span nearly 300 continuous miles. But like other reefs around the globe, those in the Florida Keys are facing enormous stress. In recent decades, hurricanes, bleaching, disease, and heavy human use have wreaked havoc on Florida’s coral reefs. “Coral reefs are like underwater rainforests,” says Ananda Ellis, marine stewardship and monitoring specialist for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). “They account for only 1 percent of the ocean’s volume but provide 25 percent of its biodiversity.” In recent years, NOAA has partnered with federal, state, and local marine experts to launch Mission: Iconic Reefs, one of the largest investments ever undertaken in coral restoration. The 20-year project aims to proactively restore 7 specific reef sites within an underwater tract about the size of 52 football fields. Both Ananda Ellis and Eva Ramey are part of the Mission Iconic Reefs team with the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary. Ellis leads the Mission: Iconic Reefs field operations team responsible for site preparation, maintenance, and monitoring of reintroduced healthy coral at the seven reef sites. Eva Ramey joined the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary to support coral reef monitoring research, data management, and analysis for Mission: Iconic Reefs. Originally from the mountains of Colorado, Ellis was introduced to the oceans and snorkeling at an early age while on family vacations. Never having lost a fascination for the underwater world, she became dive-certified while completing her biology degree at Lewis & Clark. 34 | L&C | Spring 2022
Prior to joining the sanctuary, Ramey designed and led international science expedition courses for high school students. She has a diverse professional background as a terrestrial and marine conservation biologist, science educator, and scuba instructor. Although she grew up far from the coast, having lived in the mountains of Colorado and the deserts of Namibia, Ramey has found that she’s most at home in the ocean. Weather permitting, the mission’s monitoring teams motor out in small boats to one or more sites each weekday. Suited up in scuba gear, they dive 15 to 30 feet into vibrant turquoise water. Ramey is part of the team monitoring the Upper Keys sites. Team leader Ellis oversees the sites in the Lower Keys. “We’re the eyes of the reef, providing real-time information about what’s happening at each site,” says Ramey. “We’re taking close-up images that will be stitched together using computer software to create a photomosaic of the reef. This will allow us to track changes in coral communities over time.” Ellis and Ramey both began to map their futures while at L&C on separate overseas study programs in East Africa. Led by Professor of Biology Ken Clifton, the programs introduced them to pristine reefs off the coast of Tanzania. Both women say they feel fortunate being part of Florida’s multiyear coral restoration project. “When a coral reef is thriving, it sounds like a bustling underwater city,” says Ramey. “You can hear all of the crackling, crinkling, and crunching sounds of the fish living on the reef. I can’t wait to hear that one day in the Keys.” —by Pattie Pace
Class Notes 2015) was awarded the Albert Hourani Book Award by the Middle East Studies Association. Sherry Smith JD, currently president of the League of Women Voters of the Bay Area, was selected as one of 13 Berkeley citizens who comprise the Independent Redistricting Commission charged with drawing new city district borders after the 2020 census.
Ronald Marks BS was selected as a nonresident senior fellow by the internationally recognized Washington, D.C., think tank Atlantic Council. Working with its Scowcroft Center for Strategy and Security, Marks will be providing expert commentary and expertise on issues such as cybersecurity, intelligence, and defense policy.
1979 1973 Undergrad Class Correspondent: Jerry Miller BS jretriever@outlook.com “Please send me your news and updates!”
1975 Undergrad Class Correspondent: Susan Bennett Olson BA olsonsu@ohsu.edu “Please send me your news and updates!”
Undergrad Class Correspondent: Kate Byrnes BA katieblcpc@gmail.com “Please send me your news and updates!”
1980 Undergrad Class Correspondent: Kathleen Holder BA holder.km@gmail.com “Thanks to everyone who sent me updates. I hope to hear from other classmates soon about what they’ve been up to.”
1976 Undergrad Class Correspondent: Ken Goe BA kengoe1020@gmail.com “Please send me your news and updates!”
Anne McEnerny-Ogle MAT was reelected mayor of Vancouver, Washington, in November 2021. Her plans for the city’s future include expansion of public transit and support of impending population growth in the region.
1977 Undergrad Class Correspondent: Ginger Baehr-Harville BA gbharville@gmail.com “Please send me your news and updates!”
1978 Julia Duin BA is a contributing editor at Newsweek. Her latest book, Finding Joy: A Mongolian Woman’s Journey to Christ, is about activist Yanjmaa Jutmaan (See also "Bookshelf," page 33.) Duin spent three weeks in Mongolia in summer 2019 researching the book.
Ken Brown BS, in pursuit of a long-held dream, successfully completed his first semester as an evening student at Lewis & Clark Law School in December 2021. He says: “It’s definitely a late career change, but I hope to be able to do more good than software engineering has permitted.” Marcus Hadeed BS retired from the U.S. Air Force in 2015 after 30 years of active duty. He has taught Air Force ROTC at a high school in Austin, Texas; worked as a purchasing agent for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers at the Bonneville Dam in the Columbia River Gorge; and, since November 2019, has served as an office manager for the U.S. Missile Defense Agency in Tel Aviv, Israel. Hadeed hopes to return to Oregon next year to resume his position with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. Hans Holznagel BA, after an eight-year journey with two Cleveland nonprofits, has returned to what he used to do: news writing. He’s working in Cleveland for the national ministries of the United Church of
Christ, where he previously held various roles over 27 years. He and his wife, Kathyrn Harlow, have two adult children: Clifton, a Portland actor, and Alyssa, a Cleveland social worker. Dave Ludwig BS retired in 2021 from a career that included software development as well as project, program, and portfolio management across several large technology companies. Ludwig, who lives in Round Rock, Texas, has been married for 36 years, has two grown children, and is looking forward to visiting with folks at his class reunion this summer. With regard to the pandemic-related postponements of Alumni Weekend, he asks: “Third try’s a charm?” Phil Moran BA was one of 11 L&C alumni who joined a rafting group that ran the wild Salmon River in six days in August 2021. The group traveled 82 miles through the Frank Church River of No Return Wilderness. Moran reports: “There were no flips through the many Idaho class IVs!” David Olsen BS is in the second year of a doctoral program in medieval history, with a focus on Spain and the Islamic Mediterranean, at Saint Louis University. He retired after serving 35 years in a variety of corporate positions (international business, sales and marketing, chief revenue officer) with start-ups and Fortune 500 companies. Those gigs took him to several countries in Latin America, South Africa, Asia, and Europe. Olsen says his interest in medieval history goes back to the six months he spent in Spain after graduating from L&C. Chris Roberts BA recalls one of his fondest L&C memories from spring 1978: “I was playing piano (poorly) in the jazz band ensemble, and my roommate suggested a small version of the group could get paying gigs. The LC Sextet was born—Dan Balmer BA, Jason Heald BS, Michael Brockman BM ’79, Grant Herreid BM ’79, Mark Goodenberger BM ’81, and me.
We started playing in various venues, both on and off campus. The money was good, and the camaraderie was wonderful. All of us have gone on to very different, but very successful, careers in music, helped along by innocent experiences like these.” Eben Shapiro BS became a contributing editor to Time magazine in fall 2021, allowing him more time to spend on his own writing. He previously was Time’s deputy editor and, before that, global arts editor for the Wall Street Journal. He and his wife divide their time between the Hudson Valley and New York City and are looking forward to their daughter’s wedding in July 2022 in Marin County, California.
1982
1981
1984
Undergrad Class Correspondent: Lisa Dodson BA lisagrilldodson@gmail.com “Please send me your news and updates!”
Paula Roberts BA is president of the Riverside Gallery art cooperative in South Bend, Washington. She and her husband, Dai, hope to grow a larger community around art in the area. Elizabeth Winzeler BA, a microbiologist, professor, and researcher at the University of California at San Diego, was inducted into the National Academy of Medicine in October 2021. Winzeler is the author of more than 200 scientific papers and has made significant contributions to the field of antimalarial drugs. She holds a doctorate in developmental biology from Stanford University.
Kristin Lee BA joined the board of directors of the Cheyenne (Wyoming) Housing Authority, a low-income housing advocacy group. Philip Schiliro JD was named a senior presidential fellow for the Peter S. Kalikow Center for the Study of the American Presidency at Hofstra University. Schiliro, a member of President Barack Obama’s administration, will teach classes, meet with students, and participate in university events, as well as expand the Kalikow Center’s scholarly record on the American presidency. His appointment comes as planning gets under way for Hofstra’s 13th presidential conference, slated for April 2023, which aims to analyze Obama’s campaigns, political leadership, policy agenda, and legacy. Schiliro has more than 30 years of experience in Congress and the executive branch. Since leaving government, he has cofounded two nonprofits, Co-Equal and Grow New Mexico.
Amy Holm BA is the director of the Climate Registry, a nonprofit working to reduce greenhouse gas emissions to combat climate change.
1983 Undergrad Class Correspondent: Norma Kop BA ndckop@hawaii.rr.com “Please send me your news and updates!”
Scott Erik Asphaug JD was appointed to serve as U.S. attorney for the District of Oregon in an interim capacity, effective December 25, 2021. A 16-year veteran of the Department of Justice, he has held several leadership positions in the district.
1985 Undergrad Class Correspondent: Sarah Marin BA sarah.marin@comcast.net “Please send me your news and updates!”
Marcia Buckley BS, JD ’91 took the bench as a Lincoln County, Oregon circuit court judge in February 2020. Prior to becoming a judge, Buckley practiced law in Lincoln County for 27 years. She lives in Newport, Oregon, with her husband, Mike Wheeler, and her daughter, Sharon.
Spring 2022 | L&C | 35
Class Notes 1986 Undergrad Class Correspondent: Kimberly Crofcheck BA kcrofcheck@gmail.com “Please send me your news and updates!”
1987 Marco Abbruzzese BA joined Bank of Hawai‘i as vice chair and senior executive director of wealth management in January 2022. Vernellia Randall JD, professor emerita of law at the University of Dayton, was recognized by the Society of American Law Teachers with the 2022 Great Teacher Award.
1988 Undergrad Class Correspondents: Sydney Dickerson BA, MEd ’89 ssfd@hawaii.edu Teresa Pacelli BS tlpacelli@yahoo.com “Please send us your news and updates!”
Nel LaRock MEd spoke at a September 2021 event hosted by the American Association of University Women about her work as a children’s book author and her attention to mental health issues in her writing.
1989 Undergrad Class Correspondent: Andrea Ball BA aball1017@gmail.com “Greetings, Class of ’89! As your class correspondent, I’m always looking for stories about what you’ve been up to since we left campus all those years ago. Feel free to drop me a line at any time. Hope to hear from you soon!”
Vanessa Ivey BS writes: “I’ve lived in Bend, Oregon, for 23 years, and I am the museum manager for the Deschutes County Historical Society and Museum. I continue to love the outdoors. From November to April, I participate in FeederWatch [a bird-counting project] for Cornell University in New York.”
36 | L&C | Spring 2022
Cheryll Miller BS, who previously worked as executive assistant to the vice president for admissions and financial aid at Lewis & Clark, began a new position as executive assistant to the CEO at EL Education in Amherst, Massachusetts, in February 2022. Heidi Supple BA writes: “I am currently the corporate counsel/CFO for a restaurant and brewery group in Wisconsin that I own with my husband and his brother and wife. Life has definitely thrown us a few curveballs these past few years, but we continue to thrive and support our incredible staff. When not working, we are following our daughter, who plays Division I softball for Northwestern University.”
1990 Joseph Durham JD has been recognized in the 2022 edition of Best Lawyers in America (Environmental Law). Ana Cutter Patel BS was appointed by the international human rights advocacy group Front Line Defenders as its U.S. representative. Previously, Patel served as executive director of the Outward Bound Center for Peacebuilding and as Rotary International’s representative to U.N. Women. She holds a master’s degree in international affairs from Columbia University. Justine Makoff BA is president of Free Rein Foundation, a horse rescue and equine therapy organization that offers free access to classes and programs to underprivileged children in the Los Angeles area. Recently, Makoff has been working on WISHLY, a social media platform designed to connect members of Gen Z with nonprofit organizations based in their own communities.
1991 Undergrad Class Correspondent: Laura Mundt BA lmundt@lclark.edu “Dear Class of ’91, please reserve June 23–26, 2022, for our delayed 30-year graduation reunion! Hope to see you all there! In the meantime, feel free to send me any updates.”
Cheryll Longfellow Morgen BS was unexpectedly pressed into teaching middle school science, and she’s found it to be an interesting and eye-opening experience, especially the last two years. She and her husband, Mike, have lived in Bend, Oregon, for 18 years, raising three daughters (ages 19, 17, and 12). She’s still hoping that one daughter will attend L&C. In 2019, Morgen and her family were lucky enough to meet up with Debbie Heim BS and her family in Zion National Park. Rosie McLaughlin BA lives in New York’s Hudson Valley with her partner and his child. She works in private practice as a psychotherapist. Eric Taussig BA and his wife, Vithamon, live in Lake Oswego, Oregon, with their three kids: twins Ben and Sophie (age 13) and Maddie (age 7). Their company, Prialto (prialto.com), just moved into a new office space in the Studio Building next to Director Park in downtown Portland. Taussig says he would love to host any former classmates there for lunch. Prialto recently won an Oregon Top Workplaces award from the Oregonian for the second year running. It also made the list of fastest-growing private companies in the United States by Inc. magazine. Taussig recently wrote an article on COVID-19’s effects on call center workers, which was featured in Wharton Magazine. Charles Sanderson BA is one of 15 inaugural Vocal Justice Teacher Fellows from across the country. Vocal Justice strives to empower undervalued Black and
Brown youth to become socially conscious leaders by teaching them how to communicate authentically and persuasively about social justice issues. To learn more, visit vocaljustice.org.
1992 Undergrad Class Correspondent: Edgard Garcia BA eagspanish@gmail.com “Please send me your news and updates!”
Craig Coss BS ’92 lives in Petaluma, California, with his wife, Michelle, and their cat, Mystery. He teaches drawing and painting courses at the College of Marin in Kentfield and cofacilitates an antiracism action group at the college. For the past several years, he has also performed with an international storytelling ensemble called Artship. Ruthe Farmer BA ’92 was named a Schmidt Futures Innovation Fellow in October 2021. She is the founder and CEO of the Last Mile Education Fund, which supports degree completion for low-income students in tech and engineering. Farmer has been a leader in promoting inclusion in tech for more than 20 years, working with CSforAll, the National Center for Women & Information Technology, and the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy. Edgard Garcia BA continues to serve as a member of L&C’s Board of Alumni as well as a member of the Portland and Southwest Washington Alumni Chapter. Garcia owns EAG Language Services, where he promotes clear communication in Spanish for workers all over Oregon. As the corporate translator at SAIF, he translates agricultural safety training for the Spanish-preferring workforce of Oregon. He lives in Lake Oswego with his son, Evan, a potential future Pioneer soccer player.
Lori Hoff BA is still living in Brussels, where she owns a German and Dutch translation company. She’s been doing a lot of pharmaceutical translation recently. She is getting married this year and enjoys traveling throughout Europe. Franz Junga BA lives in Sammamish, Washington, with wife Robbie and daughter Madelyn. He works as executive chef of Cafe Flora, one of the original vegetarian restaurants in Seattle. He enjoys mountain biking, disc golf, and hiking in the Northwest with his family. Robbie is a head teacher at an early childhood education center, and Madelyn enjoys art and writing. Kiersten Lawson BA celebrated her 26th year at WE Communications in August 2021. As editorial director, she coleads the agency’s creative team, guiding content creation for clients across the technology, health care, and consumer industries. She lives in Southwest Portland and “ratchets up her enthusiasm higher than her fear,” as film director Jane Campion phrases it, through nature, travel, arts, and community volunteering. Tricia Melnik BA writes: “After getting my certificate to teach English as a foreign language in 2019, I made it my goal to leave the nonprofit world and move to Prague. I am now living my dream! I teach adults at a language school here as well as many private students online from all over the world (especially Russian speakers). Moving to Prague was the best decision I ever made!” Ted Sawyer BA is director of research and education at Bullseye Glass Company in Portland. He can be seen in Holy Frit (holyfrit.com), an award-winning documentary film about the making of the largest stained glass window of its type in the world, located at the United Methodist Church of the Resurrection in Leawood, Kansas.
Finding Art in Nature S T U D IO P H OT O BY BRA D L EY OGBO N N A, U SE D C O U RT E SY O F T H E SH ARPE - WAL E N TAS ST U D I O PRO G RAM
An avid outdoorsman and former river guide, Kimo Nelson BA ’02 infuses his artwork with a sense of wonder for wild spaces. WHO
Kimo Nelson BA ’02 ACADEMICS
BA in environmental studies with an art minor, Lewis & Clark | MFA in painting with honors, Rhode Island School of Design L&C MENTORS
Art faculty: Barbara Bartholomew, Bruce West, Phyllis Yes CANVAS IN THE WILD
Nelson once hauled a large canvas up a mountain in a cargo box to draw and paint en plein air. Unique as the experience was, he now creates exclusively at home or in his studio. WEBSITE
kimonelson.com
Left: The artist in his studio. Right: Untitled GC-23 (Grand Canyon series); acrylic, flashe on canvas; 2019, 96 x 72 in.
When the pandemic hit in 2020, Kimo Nelson sequestered himself inside his home in Brooklyn, New York. Locked down from even making local trips to his studio, he drew inspiration from a recent trip to Hawaii‘i. Visions of erupting volcanoes rumbled around in his brain as he began to draw. “My latest Kilauea chalk pastel drawing series represents the immediacy of a rupturing volcano,” he says. “It’s a departure from my layered canyon paintings that suggest erosion over time.” Born in Honolulu, Nelson is an American landscape artist who has exhibited nationally at galleries and nonprofit spaces. His style stems from questioning how landscapes affect the human psyche, how external spaces influence people’s internal space. In a time when climate change and opposing land use viewpoints often dominate the news, Nelson continues to infuse his artwork with the sensory experience of being outdoors in nature. “Indirectly, my work draws attention to conversations surrounding human interactions with protected wilderness areas,” he says. “Many of these wild spaces have become politically contested, but the beauty of art can remind people of nature’s worth.” Nelson began his work as an explorer, collecting found objects, photographs, drawings, and audio recordings from his travels. His father’s job with the U.S. State Department necessitated his family's moving between the United States, Southeast Asia, and the Middle East. Along the way, he was exposed to great art and architectural wonders, including places like the Sistine Chapel in Vatican City and the great pyramids of Egypt. “Images of those pyramids were burned into my 5-year-old brain.”
Eventually, Nelson’s family settled in Salt Lake City, and he started working as a professional river guide in Arizona, Utah, and Alaska. His passions for art and the environment soon melded, and he began painting and drawing wilderness landscapes. Inspired by memories and sensory data he’d collected, he tackled several thematic series. His artistic process shifts depending on the subject. For example, his canyon series evolved directly from his time as a professional river guide. These vivid acrylic paintings have a topographical feel, created using a layering process similar to screen printing. Nelson’s passion for art was stoked while he was a student at Lewis & Clark. An environmental studies major, he completed all of his required courses early and began taking art classes. He studied sculpting with Bruce West, drawing and painting with Barbara Bartholomew, and painting with Phyllis Yes. “Without them, I wouldn’t have pursued an art career,” says Nelson, who also found support within his college peer group. Aside from his creative passions, Nelson has discovered a love for long-distance running. He ran his first marathon in Hawaii‘i in 2019 and his second in New York City two years later. “Running gives me the same sense of space and freedom that I get out in nature,” says Nelson, calling New York City and wilderness areas two sides of the same coin. “Looking up at towering manmade structures in lower Manhattan feels familiar—similar to being surrounded by massive natural canyons on rafting trips.” —by Pattie Pace
Spring 2022 | L&C | 37
Reducing Consumption of Single-Use Plastics Wonderfil CEO Amelia Eichel BA ’20 tackles plastic pollution with refill dispenser systems for liquid personal care products.
WHO
Amelia Eichel BA ’20 ACADEMICS
Religious studies major; Middle East and North African studies minor L&C MENTORS
Jessica Starling, associate professor of religious studies | Amelia Wilcox, assistant professor with term of psychology | Bruce Podobnik, associate professor of sociology OVERSEAS STUDY PROGRAM
Morocco, 2019 WEBSITE
wonderfil.world
Amelia Eichel is founder and CEO of Wonderfil, a green business that saves consumers money while removing plastic from the supply chain. We recently caught up with her at Wonderfil headquarters in Santa Cruz, California.
World Economic Forum’s Global Shapers and with circular economy experts. My research found two gaps: a lack of data collection and few “upstream” solutions, meaning most people were addressing recycling rather than reducing plastic consumption.
Wonderfil in a nutshell: We’re a refill technology start-up with a mission to reduce demand for single-use plastics, starting with packaging for liquid and cream products. Our refill stations create value for consumer packaged-goods companies, stores, and consumers that plastic does not.
Building a business: Wonderfil was still an idea in the making until after graduation when I started brainstorming ideas with my childhood friend, Shiloh Sacks. An electrical engineering student at the University of California at Santa Cruz, she soon joined me as company cofounder. We collaborated with her fellow engineering students to design prototypes and build our first five refill stations. Recently, we rolled out stations in Eshleman Hall at the University of California at Berkeley and at Ethos, a low-waste-living shop and refillery in Capitola.
The need: While working on an independent research project at L&C, I found that fossil fuel companies are increasing plastic production to prolong the fossil fuel era. Plastic, a byproduct of petroleum, has proved to be complicated and ineffective to recycle. In fact, less than 9 percent of plastic is recycled globally each year. Plastic bottles can last for 450 years in landfills and waterways. Inspiration in Morocco: As an L&C student, I was thrilled to visit Morocco on an overseas study program led by Oren Kosansky, associate professor of anthropology. We worked with the women-led NGO Dar Si Hmad. Their award-winning green technology project harvests fog water from nets installed in the mountains and distributes it to villages suffering from severe drought. This solution ended exhausting daily treks to distant wells by village women. Their success in coordinating stakeholders to combine education with building key infrastructure fueled my passion to create something similar in my community. Impact of the Bates Center: The Bates Center for Entrepreneurship and Leadership was amazingly collaborative and interdisciplinary. Associate Director Chrys Hutchings introduced me to a competition and discovery process called Map the System sponsored by the University of Oxford. It encourages entrepreneurs to delve deeply into understanding complex social or environmental problems before working on solutions. I also consulted with the
How it works: Universities and retailers tell us the purpose, scope, and size of refill stations they want to purchase. We currently offer two-tap and four-tap stations. The stations calculate the amount of product being dispensed per purchase and automatically charge the buyer’s credit card, eliminating the need to weigh reusable containers they bring with them. Target customers: We’re focusing on universities that already have policies in place to achieve zero-waste goals. Ideal suppliers: We source organic products from local suppliers to reduce our carbon footprint. Testing is essential to find products that work well for the greatest number of people—for example, shampoos and conditioners that work for all hair types. Future plans: Customers have been quick to understand and embrace our product. In addition to our other clients, we hope to work with Lewis & Clark to integrate stations into Templeton Campus Center once it’s renovated. We also want to expand into more colleges and universities on the West Coast, eventually moving into more retail markets. —Interviewed by Pattie Pace
38 | L&C | Spring 2022
Class Notes 1993 Undergrad Class Correspondent: Marcye Mokler BA dolbybug@hotmail.com “Please send me your news and updates!”
Cliff Villa JD is now a full professor at the University of New Mexico School of Law, where he teaches courses in constitutional law and environmental law and also supervises student attorneys in the UNM Natural Resources and Environmental Law Clinic. In addition to writing several recent articles in the area of environmental justice, Villa is the lead author of a recent book, Environmental Justice: Law, Policy & Regulation (3rd ed. 2020). He also serves on the board of directors for the Western Environmental Law Center.
1994 Greg Carlson BA moved to Chehalis, Washington, with his wife and two dogs in summer 2021. In January 2022, he started a new position at Callan Advertising, an agency that specializes in independent motion pictures and streaming content. “All those years watching movies in Templeton Campus Center paid off!” says Carlson.
1996 Adam Bradley BA was published in T: The New York Times Style Magazine in October 2021. His piece, titled “The Creative Collectives Finding Strength in Numbers,” discusses the growing influence of a new generation of Black artists’ collectives, and the particular importance of community and cooperative work to Black artists. Debra Chase MAT, a teacher and artist in the Pacific Northwest, was a featured artist at the Broadway Gallery in Longview, Washington, in November 2021.
Robin Craig JD is now teaching environmental law subjects at the University of Southern California Gould School of Law. Diane Wiscarson JD is litigating a case for the Frank family, who has sued the Hood River County (Oregon) School District for denying their 9-year-old autistic son the education to which he was entitled.
1997 Undergrad Class Correspondent: Anne Bunn BA anne@anneandsam.com “Please send me your news and updates!”
Brenna Bell BA, JD ’01 writes: “After a decade of advocating for critters and trees in national forests, I realized that the future of forests—and the future of everything—depends on us engaging climate change as an urgent humanitarian and ecological crisis. So, in 2020, I cofounded the Pacific Northwest Forest Climate Alliance, and in October 2021, I migrated from public lands law to climate justice organizing, as 350PDX’s new forest climate manager. I also still live at Tryon Life Community Farm, tucked into Tryon Creek State Park, so if you’re walking through the forest, come over and say hi to me and my goats!” Robin Bipes-Timm BA works in the winter wonderland that is Minneapolis as chief strategy officer for Habitat for Humanity. She leads a Habitat team that builds 150 homes every year. She also strives to help close the racial homeownership gap in Minnesota, where threequarters of white families but only one-quarter of Black families are homeowners. She and her partner, Jeff, had a baby girl two years ago, little Luci. She reports they are enjoying family life. K. Christopher Jayaram JD was appointed a district court judge for the 10th Judicial District in Johnson County, Kansas, in
February 2021. Jayaram is married to Denice Biros Jayaram JD. They live in Overland Park, Kansas, with their three children. Sam Jordan BA is an employee of the Alaska Council of School Administrators. In 2019, he created the blog Our Alaskan Schools, which he continues to write and edit. The blog features posts from teachers, administrative staff, and students and attracts readers from all over the country. Noah Lesser BA has been living in the Brickell area of Miami. He is director of operations at Hialeah Products/New Urban Farms. He spends his weekends wakeboarding and scuba diving with his wife, Laura Capell. He spends his nights listening to dub reggae, drinking sake, and laser pointing with his 2-year-old pandemic cat, Mochi Meow.
1998 Undergrad Class Correspondent: Jan Martin BA jzmartin@shaw.ca “Please send me your news and updates!”
Andrew Franklin BA has spent the last several years preparing to be a certified public accountant. In 2020, he started working as a tax auditor for the California Department of Tax and Fee Administration. In early 2021, he earned his certification and was promoted at work. Thomas Guy Hallam Jr. JD, a Boise-based attorney, was installed by the Idaho Trial Lawyers Association as the 2021–22 president at their 49th annual meeting luncheon in Sun Valley. Hallam is a partner at Strindberg Scholnick Birch Hallam Harstad Thorne, a regional firm focusing on employment and labor law. Jaime Puccioni BA was elected supervisor of the town of Niskayuna, New York, in fall 2021.
Emily Seru BA is associate director for academic civic engagement at Carleton College’s Center for Community and Civic Engagement in Minnesota.
1999 Jake Longstreth BA, a painter in the Los Angeles area, was interviewed by Metropolis magazine about his monograph exhibition at Nino Mier Gallery in West Hollywood in fall 2021. Longstreth’s recent work aims to investigate and portray the ubiquity of retail chains in suburban landscapes. Jennifer Yruegas JD received the 2021 Sandra K. McDonough Leadership Award from the Portland Business Alliance. Yruegas is dean of the College of Business and general counsel at Pacific University. A tenured faculty member, she teaches courses in law for both undergraduate and MBA students. Yruegas has also served her community by organizing more than 15 COVID-19 vaccination clinics, providing 10,000 shots to vulnerable populations.
2000 Undergrad Class Correspondent: Annie Elasky BA annsara_lovejoy@hotmail.com “Please send me your news and updates!”
Román Hernández JD recently received the Oregon Daily Journal of Commerce’s Building Diversity Award, which recognizes organizations and individuals in the building industry for their leadership in diversity and inclusion efforts.
2001 Tonya Alexander JD was selected for Super Lawyers in alternative dispute resolution for 2021. Klas Holmlund BA was appointed chief financial officer of the biopharmaceutical company Lyndra Therapeutics.
2002 Chanpone Sinlapasai JD was appointed by Oregon Governor Kate Brown JD ’85 to the Multnomah County Circuit Court. Prior to her appointment, Sinlapasai’s practice focused on federal immigration law. Shelbi Wescott BA, MAT ’05 is a managing editor at Merchant Maverick, a small business news and reviews site.
2003 Undergrad Class Correspondent: Traci Sanders BA htraci@hotmail.com “Please send me your news and updates!”
John Hairston JD was named administrator and CEO of the Bonneville Power Administration (BPA) in August 2021. He had served as acting administrator and CEO since September 2020, and has dedicated the last 29 years to service at BPA in various positions. Courtney Winkfield BA was promoted to the role of deputy chief strategy officer for the New York City Department of Education. She lives in South Orange, New Jersey, with her husband of 18 years and two children. She also serves as an elected member of the South OrangeMaplewood Board of Education.
2004 Michelle Nisle JD received the University of Oregon’s Becky L. Sisley Award in honor of her community involvement, career development, and support of the university’s ideals as a former student-athlete. She and husband Ryan live in Vancouver, Washington.
2005 J. Ashlee Albies JD has been named a Super Lawyer by the 2021 Oregon Super Lawyers magazine for her civil rights work. Albies was also honored with the National Lawyers Guild’s Ernie Goodman Award and,
Spring 2022 | L&C | 39
Bookshelf Faculty Books Beyond Science Standards: Play, Art, Coherence, Community Kip Ault, professor emeritus of education, captures a vision of playful exploration and aesthetic expression as anchors to science education at all levels. The book’s classroom stories illustrate the value of teaching how diverse fields contribute to solving society’s timely, local, and particular problems. Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, 2021. 342 pages.
Alumni Books How to Draft Easements Dean Alterman JD ’89 pens a practical guide on how to draft many different types of easement agreements, such as access easements, utility easements, view easements, and conservation easements. American Bar Association, 2021. 188 pages. Rejoice Mary Bell BA ’61 publishes her third collection of poetry and short stories. Bell’s writings encourage a positive, hopeful outlook on life while still acknowledging adversity and hardship. This collection includes the author’s personal ponderings as well as accompanying images. Omnibook Company, 2019. 90 pages. Monumental Mobility: The Memory Work of Massasoit Lisa Blee BA ’02 cowrites a thoughtprovoking book about Cyrus Dallin’s statue Massasoit, which was installed in 1921 in Plymouth, Massachusetts, to memorialize the Pokanoket leader. The statue’s surprising story reveals much about the process of creating, commodifying, and reinforcing the historical memory of Indigenous people. University of North Carolina Press, 2019. 288 pages. For Money and Elders: Ritual, Sovereignty, and the Sacred in Kenya Robert Blunt BA ’95, associate professor of religious studies and Africana studies at Lafayette College, offers a fascinating glimpse into Kenya’s past and present and a penetrating reflection on meanings of violence in African politics. University of Chicago Press, 2019. 216 pages.
40 | L&C | Spring 2022
The Spymaster of Baghdad: A True Story of Bravery, Family, and Patriotism in the Battle Against ISIS Margaret Coker BA ’93, former New York Times bureau chief in Baghdad, tells the dramatic yet intimate account of how a covert Iraqi intelligence unit called “the Falcons” came together against all odds to defeat ISIS. Dey Street Books, 2021. 336 pages. Finding Joy: A Mongolian Woman’s Journey to Christ Julia Duin BA ’78 spent three weeks in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia, researching this book about Yanjmaa Jutmaan, Mongolia’s first female chancellor of a state university and a first-generation evangelical Christian. Jutmaan runs a counseling ministry to help hurting people, especially sexually abused women. Mongolia has some of Asia’s highest rates of domestic abuse. Self-published, 2021. 127 pages. A Family of Carpenters: The Williamsons of Long Island, New York During the Industrial Revolution Edward Fix BA ’76 and Marsha Rooney explore the dynamics of an Old World trade through the lens of family during a time of economic transition in America. The book is dedicated to former L&C history professor Irene Hecht. Self-published, 2021. 273 pages. The Avenue of Roses Kevin Fletcher BA ’90 presents this collection of images taken during a one-year span on 82nd Avenue in Portland. A selection of 10 images from this series was the winner of the prestigious international 2020 LensCulture Street Photography Awards. In addition, images from this project have been published worldwide via the BBC, the Guardian, and other outlets. Self-published, 2021. 70 pages. My Friend Joe: Reflections on St. Joseph Susan Francois BA ’94, a sister of St. Joseph of Peace, explores her growing spiritual friendship with St. Joseph, whom she affectionately calls her friend Joe. Inspired by her own photos of Joseph, she reflects on her personal encounters with the saint in conversation with church tradition. Through art, prose, history, and prayer, she encourages the reader to discover, or deepen, their own spiritual friendship with St. Joseph. Kenmare Press, 2021. 93 pages.
Junk Drawer at the Edge of the Universe Steven Johnson BA ’67 authors a mystery about one writer’s strategy for overcoming writer’s block: delving into the contents of a stranger’s junk drawer. After a strange, potentially supernatural experience, the protagonist is pulled into the bizarre task of organizing the life records of a man who may or may not be already dead. Self-published, 2020. 410 pages. The Road to Multiculturalism in South Korea: Ideas, Discourse, and Institutional Change in a Homogenous Nation-State Timothy Lim BS ’82 describes South Korea’s progression from a monoethnic to a multicultural society, thereby challenging the image of the country’s “ethnonational continuity.” Lim’s book will be of particular interest to those studying Asian culture and immigration, as well as comparative politics in general. Routledge, 2020. 224 pages. Telltale Women: Chronicling Gender in Early Modern Historiography Allison Meyer BA ’01 pens this examination of the disparate coverage of royal women in early modern historical writings. Within this scholarly work, Meyer challenges prevailing notions of the relationships between historical writings and their source material, explaining and studying the ways in which women’s portrayal in many of these historical works suggests the writers’ interest in and value of the women’s political impact, particularly in the field of historical plays. University of Nebraska Press, 2021. 354 pages. Soarin’ in the Saddle: Cowboy Poetry & More Allen Reel JD ’74 writes his first book of “traditional” cowboy poetry. His poems conveys his love of wideopen spaces, complete with sagebrush and juniper, coyotes and pronghorn, hawks and eagles, horses and cattle, and, yes, even rattlesnakes. Gorham Printing, 2021. 101 pages. Images of America: Swedes in Oregon Ann Stuller BA ’61, MEd ’64 coauthors a book that incorporates text and vintage photos to portray the impact of Swedish immigrants on the development of the state of Oregon. Arcadia, 2020. 128 pages.
Class Notes along with Jesse Merrithew JD ’06, the Oregon Trial Lawyers Association’s Arthur H. Bryant Public Justice Award. Jenna Plank JD was appointed by Governor Kate Brown JD ’85 to the Multnomah County Circuit Court. Prior to her appointment, Plank worked for the Multnomah County District Attorney’s Office for 16 years, most recently supervising the office’s misdemeanor unit. She volunteers to instruct mock trial classes at Lewis & Clark Law School.
2006 Brandon Berg CAS is training and fundraising to ride the AIDS/LifeCycle, a weeklong bike ride from San Francisco to Los Angeles in June 2022. He says that skiing is a new hobby, but he also continues to enjoy volleyball. Berg recently coached a sixth-grade volleyball team at the Bush School in Seattle, where he lives with his partner, John, and their three cats, Arry, Jojen, and Rodham. Laura Content BA is pastry chef at Coquine, a New American restaurant and neighborhood market on Portland’s Mount Tabor. She works with Perri Pond BA ’17. For the last decade, Content has taught cooking classes at Luscher Farm in Lake Oswego, Oregon. She lives in an 1889 Victorian home in Southeast Portland with husband Craig Beebe BA, their two wonderful kids, and two rambunctious cats. Nicki Kennedy BA earned a master’s degree in education leadership from the University of South Florida in December 2021. She teaches English at North Port High School in Florida.
David Roghair JD was appointed superior court judge for the Alaska Court System in Utqia�vik (Barrow), which is Roghair’s hometown. He has served there as magistrate judge since 2015.
2007 Undergrad Class Correspondent: Craig Gilden BA craig.gilden@gmail.com “Please send me your news and updates!”
partnerships with other companies and creators; grow their grant program; and work to improve the overall user experience. Tyler Volm JD has joined Sussman Shank as special counsel in the firm’s business department. Volm focuses on entity formation, asset transfers, real estate, financing, tax, succession planning, labor and employment, and civil litigation.
2009 Michelle McIver JD was appointed to the newly created Position 8 on the Deschutes County (Oregon) Circuit Court by Governor Kate Brown JD ’85. After earning her JD, she performed pro bono work for Legal Aid Services of Oregon for several years before becoming a public criminal defense attorney at Crabtree & Rahmsdorff Defense Services in 2011. McIver now maintains her own law practice in which she provides public criminal defense legal services to individuals in Deschutes County. She also serves on the board of Together for Children and works with partners to bring yoga to Family Drug Court and the Deschutes County Jail. Sasha Stortz BA is the Arizona program manager for the National Forest Foundation. In November 2021, she participated in an alumni panel discussion at Northern Arizona University, where she earned her MS degree in environmental sciences and policy.
Undergrad Class Correspondent: Megan Maier BA, JD ’19 meganmaierb@gmail.com “Please send me your news and updates!”
2008
Delfina Homen JD has joined Miller Nash’s intellectual property team in the firm’s Portland office. Laser Malena-Webber BA writes: “The original cast recording of Teaching a Robot to Love, a new musical by Laser Malena-Webber, E. Aaron Wilson, and Aubrey Turner, recently hit No. 5 on the Cast Albums Billboard chart. This
Rosie Ayala BA ’08 was sworn in as the new park board commissioner for Metro Parks Tacoma in January 2022. She is the first Latina person to serve in the role. Amber Case BA, a former trustee of Lewis & Clark and a Mozilla research fellow, has joined software developer Unlock as an advisor. She will be working with them to build
Rebecca Like JD is running for County of Kaua‘i (Hawai‘i) prosecuting attorney. Meg Mills-Novoa BA joined the University of California at Berkeley’s Rausser College of Natural Resources as an assistant professor of energy and resources and environmental sciences. Mills-Novoa’s scholarship focuses on climate change adaptation. She earned her MA and PhD at the University of Arizona’s School of Geography and Development. Stephen Raher JD has joined the Prison Policy Initiative as its general counsel.
2010 Undergrad Class Correspondent: Zach Wilson BA zwil22b@gmail.com “Please send me your news and updates!”
musical is fun and full of sci-fi and robots, but it also tells a story from the inside of my heart as a trans nonbinary person.” Malena-Webber wrote the book and lyrics for the musical. Betto van Waarden BA has joined Lund University in Sweden as a Marie Curie Fellow. He will be continuing his research project titled “Presenting Parliament: Parliamentarians’ Visions of the Communication and Role of Parliament Within the Mediated Democracies of Britain, Belgium, and the Netherlands, 1844–1995.”
2011 Undergrad Class Correspondent: Christina Greever BA pepper.greever@gmail.com “Please send me your news and updates!”
Adam Adkin JD was elected to partnership at Tonkon Torp, effective January 1, 2022. His practice focuses on business transitions, with an emphasis on mergers and acquisitions and corporate finance. Kali Aguilera BA became a member of the Vashon Island (Washington) School District board in October 2021. Ann McQuesten JD has been promoted to partner at law firm Perkins Coie. McQuesten is a member of the emerging companies and venture capital law practice. Caitlin Overland JD assumed the role of Whitefish (Montana) municipal court judge in January 2022. Lorraine Ater Rosado JD has been named a partner at Liles Parker. An experienced health lawyer, Rosado also is a certified professional coder and certified medical reimbursement specialist.
2012 Undergrad Class Correspondents: Renda Nazzal BA rnazzal6@gmail.com Brandis Piper BA ’12, MAT ’13 bpiper1489@gmail.com “Please send us your news and updates!”
Rohit Kapuria JD was selected by the Chicago Daily Law Bulletin and Chicago Lawyer as one of their 2021 “40 Illinois Attorneys Under Forty to Watch.” Kapuria is vice chair of Saul Ewing Arnstein & Lehr’s global immigration and foreign investment practice, as well as vice chair of the firm’s opportunity zones and qualified opportunity funds practice. Krissy Lyon BA received her PhD in neurobiology from Harvard University, where she studied the role of dopamine receptor expression in modulation of behavior by serotonergic neurons. She is now a postdoctoral research fellow at the Salk Institute in San Diego.
2013 Zein Hassanein BA is a music therapist at Temple University Hospital. Recently, his hospital was awarded a large grant from the Hospital and Healthsystem Association of Pennsylvania to provide music therapy services to frontline hospital workers confronting the chaos of the COVID-19 pandemic. Specifically, Hassanein and the other music therapists on his team will be designing and implementing group sessions with health care workers, educating them on ways to cope with their emotions through music. Christopher Morehead JD is now a partner with Tonkon Torp, where he works in the firm’s labor and employment practice group. Morehead was listed in Best Lawyers in America in 2022. Matthew Preusch JD is now a partner with Keller Rohrback. He practices out of the firm’s Santa Barbara, California, office in the complex litigation group.
Spring 2022 | L&C | 41
Class Notes 2014 Laura Kerr JD has been named a partner at Stoel Rives. An experienced environmental attorney, she counsels clients on environmental compliance, enforcement, permitting, and cleanup matters arising under federal and state environmental laws. Mia McLaughlin BA has advanced her career over the past four years with Accor Hotels. While serving as talent and culture (HR) manager at the Fairmont Heritage Place, Franz Klammer Lodge, she was selected as Manager of the Year for 2021. She was recognized for her focus on mental health, employee well-being, and leadership, especially during a time of great uncertainty due to the global pandemic. Her email address is mia.mclaughlin @fairmont.com.
2015 Undergrad Class Correspondent: Clay Alexander BA clay.g.alexander@gmail.com “Please send me your news and updates!”
Sam Diaz JD was named executive director of 1000 Friends of Oregon in October 2021, after an extensive national search. Previously, he served as a senior policy advisor in the mayor’s office for the City of Portland. Diaz specializes in land use and its intersections with climate change, working lands, environmental justice, and housing availability. Isabella Fabens BA shares that while on a trip to Uganda for a fellowship with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, she ran into Cole Harris BA ’20, a fellow international affairs major studying abroad in East Africa.
42 | L&C | Spring 2022
Aaron Johnson JD has joined Lane Powell as counsel to the firm on its tax team. He is currently an adjunct professor at Seattle Pacific University, where he was named Adjunct Faculty of the Year in 2020 and 2021. He is also an affiliate instructor for the University of Washington. Johnson holds an LLM in taxation. Katherine Keith BA earned a PhD in computer science from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst. She joined Williams College as an assistant professor of computer science in fall 2022. Brigitte Russo BA, a science teacher at Wai‘anae Intermediate School in Hawai‘i , was a recipient of a We the Peoples Before Education Fellowship. Russo says she hopes she can contribute to the improvement of education for young Native Hawai‘ians, encouraging and providing opportunities for connection with their heritage.
2016 Undergrad Class Correspondent: Evelyn Guerrero BA notes@lclark.edu “Please send me your news and updates!”
2017 Mikaela Dibble-Kahn BA was admitted to Miami University’s Global Field Program. As part of her first course, she traveled to Baja California, Mexico, where where she used ecological and social field methods to study the desert and marine landscapes of the area. Nicole Elgin JD is now a partner at Barran Liebman. She enjoys working with and providing labor and employment defense for employers throughout the Pacific Northwest. Elgin also welcomed a daughter in August 2021. Janina Maratita JD is a policy analyst at the Northern Mariana Islands Office of the Governor.
2018 Evan Christopher JD is joining the Judiciary Committee of the U.S. House of Representatives as committee counsel. In his new role, Christopher will develop policy and legislation concerning the federal courts, internet regulations, and intellectual property.
2019 Stacie Damazo JD has joined the firm of Barran Liebman in their employment and litigation practices. She is an incoming director for the Oregon Women Lawyers Multnomah Chapter Queen’s Bench Board of Directors. Carly Garay MAT is a mixedmedia artist in Homer, Alaska. In fall 2021, her collection titled The Art of Ancestor Veneration was exhibited in the headquarters of the Homer Council on the Arts.
2020 Zafar Ali BA, a Davis United World College Scholar and the Class of 2020 commencement student speaker, is currently pursuing a doctorate in public policy at Syracuse University. He plans to work in elected public service. Dylan Hankins BA is an artist and performer in Portland. He debuted at Milagro Theatre in Dañel Malán’s Duende de Lorca, in which he portrayed a number of artistic and historical figures, including Salvador Dali. Hankins was also a member of Portland Experimental Theatre Ensemble’s Institute for Contemporary Performance. Ellie Miller BA has been awarded a 2022 Thomas R. Pickering Foreign Affairs Fellowship. Funded by the U.S. Department of State, the fellowship attracts and prepares outstanding young people for careers in the Foreign Service. Kellan Navarre BA has founded a plant-based chocolate mousse company called Goddess Mousse. The idea was born out of a Lewis & Clark class on entrepreneurship and has grown into a favorite of Portland-area farmers
markets and grocers. To help launch the company, Navarre received a $2,000 seed grant from the Bates Center for Entrepreneurship and Leadership at Lewis & Clark.
2021 Ochuko Akpovbovbo BA has used her time in pandemic isolation to create Parachute Media, a growing digital publication and community organization created by and for Gen Z and millennial women and nonbinary people of color. Tara Cooley LLM was recently named a teaching fellow for the new Animal Law Clinic at the University of Connecticut School of Law. Andrea Lewis BA spent a year living in Mexico. While there, she and her business partner connected with visual artists and launched Plural, an online art gallery (artisplural.com). With Plural, Lewis hopes to empower emerging artists of color. “Plural refers to the nature in which artists are not monoliths but wear multiple hats in society (teachers, activists, parents, etc.) and master various mediums (painting, performance, etc.). Plural truly represents who we are, as Black women who inhabit multiple spaces. . . . It represents all of us and invites us all to embrace the multiplicities of our character and to identify where we may align with others.” Destini Martinez JD is the recipient of a $5,000 Vernellia R. Randall Bar Exam Grant. After taking the Oregon bar exam, she hopes to pursue public interest work serving women and minorities as she moves forward with her legal career. Gracey Nagle JD is an associate with Tonkon Torp’s litigation department, where she focuses on business disputes.
Marriages and Unions Jake Bartman BA ’15 and Maura Taylor BA ’16, September 17, 2021, in Santa Fe, New Mexico.
Births and Adoptions To Jon Charnas BA ’08 and wife Patricia, son Leo, December 30, 2021. “Everyone is healthy and doing great. We wish everyone a happier 2022 from Gland, Switzerland.” To Dith Pamp BA ’11 and Eli Fabens BA ’11, daughter Ramona Louise Fabens, September 13, 2021, in Portland. To Ben Robinson BA ’15 and Audrey Robinson BA ’15, daughter Ramona Maxwell Robinson, July 26, 2021, in Portland.
In Memoriam
1960s
Obituaries, if available, can be viewed at go.lclark.edu/notes.
Walter David Alley JD ’60, July 29, 2016. age 86.
1940s
Milton B. Ryan BS ’60, October 28, 2021, age 85.
Harry C. Geil BS ’49, May 14, 2020, age 93.
1950s
Richard “Dick” L. Lang JD ’62, October 3, 2021, age 88.
Raymond G. Jensen BS ’50, August 12, 2021, age 96.
Carlton Daniel “Dan” Paulmier Warren JD ’62, May 23, 2017, age 83.
Bettina Chew BS ’51, June 23, 2021, age 93.
Bastiaan Schouten BS ’65, January 24, 2020, age 77.
Helen Ford BA ’51, MM ’77, June 15, 2019, age 89.
Carol A. Titsworth BS ’65, 2021, age 79.
Sally Hart BS ’51, January 13, 2022, age 92.
Harry M. Hanna JD ’66, November 25, 2021, age 85.
Dora Haslett BA ’51, June 24, 2018, age 89.
Charles R. Batishko BS ’67, September 22, 2021, age 78.
Arlie King BA ’51, June 21, 2021, age 91.
Edward Cheff BS ’67, January 15, 2022, age 78.
Elaine Stamm CAS ’51, October 14, 2021, age 91.
Phillips Lacy BS ’67, November 2, 2021, age 76.
Vasiliki Vlahakis BA ’51, December 23, 2021, age 90.
Alfred “Al” Mitchell Varnes Jr. JD ’67, June 6, 2021, age 82.
John A. Byerly BS ’54, November 4, 2021, age 91.
Barbara J. Price BA ’68, October 8, 2020, age 74.
Richard Junior Courson JD ’54, February 20, 2018, age 95.
Colleen McKee BA ’69, December 15, 2019, age 72.
Bruce Longballa BS ’54, September 30, 2021, age 89.
1970s
Bettie P. Mitchell BS ’54, September 28, 2021, age 87. Charles R. Chaffin BA ’55, January 13, 2021, age 89. Donald W. Brudvig BS ’56, December 26, 2021, age 91. John Venables BS ’56, October 11, 2021, age 87. Mary J. Peterson CAS ’57, January 24, 2021, age 87. Chuck Charnquist BS ’58, October 28, 2021, age 89. Leroy C. Livermore BS ’58, September 29, 2021, age 91.
Donald Leap BA ’70, September 16, 2021, age 72. David L. Wurtzebach BS ’71, December 2018, age 69. Randall O. Manley BS ’73, MAT ’74, June 8, 2021, age 74. Charles R. Hoxsey BA ’74, November 9, 2021, age 69. Stephen Edward Kantor JD ’74, November 14, 2021, age 72. James Hudak CAS ’75, October 21, 2021. Kerry M. Larsen JD ’75, June 1, 2016, age 66. Patrick A. Reagan JD ’76, December 15, 2021.
Robert W. Aggrey BS ’77, July 16, 2019, age 66.
Former Professor Remembered
Terry O. Bernhardt JD ’77, November 23, 2020, age 74. John M. Bradley CAS ’77, December 22, 2019, age 66. Jon Chester Cieslak JD ’79, October 11, 2021, age 72.
1980s Lauri Hutchinson MAT ’80, October 9, 2021, age 68. Siobhan Loughran Taylor BA ’81, August 11, 2021, age 62. Janet DeRidder MEd ’82, September 19, 2021, age 86. Sandra Ellen McMullen JD ’84, August 12, 2021, age 65. Susan L. Hillesland BS ’87, MEd ’07, May 27, 2021, age 67.
1990s Donald L. Stephens Jr. JD ’90, January 10, 2022. Margaret J. Franklin-Martin MAT ’92, September 12, 2021, age 73. Tim White BA ’93, July 21, 2021, age 52. Willem Westpalm van Hoorn Jewett JD ’94, January 12, 2022, age 58.
2000s David W. Copeland MEd ’01, August 3, 2021, age 53. Survivors include his wife, Karen Toennies Copeland MEd ’00. Jeremy Wilson BA ’01, November 5, 2021, age 42.
2010s John Travis Krallman JD ’11, October 29, 2021, age 39.
Pietro Ferrua, professor emeritus of foreign languages, died July 28, 2021, at age 90. From 1970 to 1987, he taught French, Italian, Spanish, and film appreciation at Lewis & Clark. In addition, he led two overseas study programs to France, in 1974 and 1984. He was a mentor and advisor to many students with whom he later maintained lifelong friendships. Ferrua, who was born in Italy, studied at the University of Geneva in Switzerland, the Pontificia Universidade Catolica in Rio de Janeiro, and the University of Oregon. Concurrently with his career as a college professor, Ferrua worked as a freelance conference interpreter on all continents of the world. He interpreted for heads of state, corporate executives, international organizations, and prominent historical figures, including Pope Francis; King Juan Carlos of Spain; King Baudouin of Belgium; Presidents Jimmy Carter, Ronald Reagan, and Bill Clinton; and many more. In 1957, he established CIRA (Centre International de Recherches sur l’Anarchisme) in Geneva. In 1965, he founded the Centro Brasileiro de Estudos Internacionais in Rio de Janeiro. He was also the founder and president of Avant-Garde Publishers. Ferrua was the author of 20 books and dozens of articles in various languages. He was also a cinema enthusiast and the creator of several multimedia art pieces.
Spring 2022 | L&C | 43
Back Talk Rishona Zimring
Ray Warren
Cyrus Partovi
L. Stanley Glarum
William Stafford
Karen Gross
Jerry Harp
Lyell Asher
Jerusha Detweiler-Bedell
Brian Detweiler-Bedell Jean Ward
Kim Brodkin
Nicole Aas-Rouxparis
Greta Binford
Don Balmer
Vern Rutsala
Susan Davis
Gus Mattersdorff Jack Crampton
Steve Beckham
Tamily Weissman-Unni
On social media, we asked:
Alumni, who was your most memorable professor? Mme Nicole Aas-Rouxparis. First class of my first semester freshman year, she walked into the room and only spoke French. Turned out she was fantastic at pantomime.
Kim Brodkin, who taught gender studies and helped lead the symposium. Her class was eye-opening, and I learned a lot about leadership watching her navigate the symposium.
—Maya Milhous BA ’92
—Brian Federico BA ’05
Don Balmer, who sent me to Scotland for post-grad work, Jack Crampton, who challenged me as a freshman, and Gus Mattersdorff, who guided me on my senior thesis in economics.
Brian Detweiler-Bedell and Jerusha Detweiler-Bedell—passionate, student focused, and provided direct research experience. I’m a tenured professor because of them!
—KG Wolfard BS ’78
—Anisa Goforth BA ’04
Dr. Steve Beckham was so passionate about American history! I loved to take his courses. I do my best to pass on his knowledge and enthusiasm to my elementary students.
Dr. L. Stanley Glarum. What a wonderful, inspirational choir director. I was privileged to spend four years in the chorale, learned my directing techniques from him, and carried his technique and sensitivity to 34 years of music teaching. Second was William Stafford —composition, English lit from the true master!!!
—Janet Hohman Motter BA ’90, MAT ’95
Greta Binford, Tamily Weissman-Unni, Susan Davis. Without these three incredible women, I wouldn’t be half the person I am today. They taught me so much about how to learn and how to discover, ask great questions, and foster humility that leads to great conversations and continual learning. —Trisha Kumar BA ’16
—Betty Folmsbee BM ’56
Cyrus Partovi opened the world of international affairs to me, and I always appreciated the healthy discussions we had in his classes. Critical thinking was definitely something I learned with him. —Bonnie Crawford BA ’98
44 | L&C | Spring 2022
Vern Rutsala. Master of our language, great poet. —Zorch Quam BS ’71
Jean Ward, who introduced me to the study of gender and language. Not only was she my professor and advisor, but we also developed a wonderful friendship. Thirty years after I graduated and we still meet for lunch or coffee every few weeks. —Laura Mundt BA ’91
Not a professor, but an advisor, Ray Warren, changed my life and inspired me to look beyond myself to find myself. —Matt Glazer CAS
Rishona Zimring, Lyell Asher, Karen Gross, and Jerry Harp, who of course taught me the technicalities of reading and writing, but more importantly, about the questions that literature asks about life and what it means to be human and fallible. —Prachi Jha BA ’09
Editor’s note: This page highlights only a small fraction of the more than 100 responses we received to this question. Clearly, alumni across the generations value our extraordinary, life-changing faculty. To view additional responses, visit go.lclark.edu/magazine.
Endow a Scholarship, Create a Legacy “After helping me, a wise man once told me, ‘I invested in you. I don’t want you to thank me; I want a return on my investment. Go change the world.’ I plan on doing that for him, and I plan on doing that for you.” —Peter Lahti BA ’19, one of 60 recipients (and counting) of the Evelyn M. Hill Scholarship
Peter Lahti BA ’19 Hometown Lincoln City, Oregon Major Biology Minor Political Economy L&C sport Football Future plans Dental school
The Evelyn M. Hill Memorial Scholarship In the 1980s, Life Trustee Phil Hill and his wife, Evelyn, established a charitable remainder annuity trust, which provided them a steady stream of income for their lifetimes. After they passed away in the 1990s, proceeds of their trust established the Evelyn M. Hill Scholarship in support of students with financial need. Since then, more than $200,000 in aid has been awarded to 60 students as they explore for the global good.
Make a Planned Gift Establish an endowed scholarship through a gift from your will, trust, or retirement account. Your investment today will change the lives of Lewis & Clark students now and in the future. To learn more, contact the gift planning office at 503-768-7938 or giftplanning@lclark.edu. go.lclark.edu/giftplanning
www.lclark.edu Lewis & Clark College 615 S. Palatine Hill Road Portland, Oregon 97219
NONPROFIT ORG. U.S. POSTAGE
PAID PORTLAND, OR PERMIT NO. 438
CHANGE SERVICE REQUESTED