An Ambassador for Change

How an EOU education instilled a sense of belonging and inspired social consciousness Doctor Abio Ayeliya, ’08, was selected by the EOU Alumni Association as the 2022 Distinguished Alumni for his work helping others and he continues to affect change years after his graduation from Eastern Oregon University. The young man, who once went to […]

The Ripple Effect of a Musical Legacy

Only recently has Duane Boyer started thinking about his legacy after five decades in the classroom. After graduating from Eastern Oregon College cum laude in 1969 the Eastern Oregon University guitar and banjo instructor was hired in 1973 to teach music. Eastern Oregon State College would not change its name until 1997 when it became […]

Far From Home

Two EOU alumni, each with their own stories, found themselves teaching at the same school system in the remote Alaskan Bush Conrad Woodhead, a 2002 EOU alum, was looking for a one-of-a-kind experience and found it in remote Alaska. “I was in this village, a remote whaling community with a totally subsisting lifestyle. You can […]

Mounties, Alumni, and Friends show their support for EOU

“Maya and I support the EOU foundation because we know how important the success of the university and its students are to our local communities. As alumni, EOU has had a huge impact on both of our lives and we feel an obligation to pay it forward to help current and future students develop and […]

Welcome Home Mounties

Two new members of University Advancement returned to their alma mater to further engage alumni and enhance student experiences through the EOU Foundation. Michelle Mudder, ’14, Assistant Director of Annual Giving & Alumni Engagement Q: What’s something you are working on that you’re excited about?     A: Growing our Alumni social media presence and continuing […]

A legacy of care

Caring professors and coaches made a lasting impact on Wilda Stratton, ’72, and now she’s determined to pay it forward.  Stratton and her husband Marcus Watt have set up a $2 million estate gift to the EOU Foundation that will benefit women in STEM fields and student-athletes. Adding this legacy to their will ensures a […]

Every room a classroom

Room 214 in Inlow Hall is not a classroom, but it’s where two recent graduates learned critical skills, discovered mentors and applied theoretical knowledge.  Briana Rosenkranz, ’20, and Samantha Wegermann, ’20 and ’21, earned degrees in business from EOU, while gaining real-world experience through on-campus jobs and internships with the university’s marketing team.  After graduation, […]

A student’s teacher, and a teacher’s student

Jose de Jesus Melendez went to college at the age of 27 in order to expand his career opportunities. By the time he graduated, education was both the journey and the destination. Born and raised in a remote village in Mexico with no electricity or services of any kind, Melendez said he  was barely literate […]

Kindergarten Queen

Katy Nesbitt Somewhere between a miscommunication and the eagerness to start a new career, Lynette Longchamps found herself teaching kindergarten, a job she vowed to never have. After graduating from EOU with a bachelor;s degree in education Longchamps interviewed for a third grade position in Shoshone, Idaho. “After the interview I was told the job […]

Writing Under a Western Sky

Garrett Christensen  Home means something different to everyone. Amelia Ettinger, a 2021 MFA graduate, expresses home, or rather how to find home, through poetry in her 2020 collection “Learning to Love a Western Sky.”   “It really is looking for home in many ways,” she said. “I think that a lot of the collection is a […]

55 by 55

EOU Alum Joan Gilbert, a graphic artist who lives in Enterprise, is seeking to expand her artistic ability while completing a major project that will be three years in the making.

Stepping up

When Wandering Dragon Productions set out to make a horror movie in 2019, founder Amanda Rae Jones, ’01, knew the horror genre and community was ready for something different.

Never give up

Never losing sight of the meaning of college education, Robert ‘Bob’ Stubbs was recognized for his lifelong pursuit of a degree with the title of 2021 Honorary Alumnus.

Just Like Dad

After five years working as a mentor and supervisor, his bachelor’s degree gave Damien Tracy the boost he needed to obtain a management position.

Making women veterans visible

It was 1977 in La Grande, and Elizabeth Estabrooks, ’01, hadn’t really planned on joining the U.S. Army. She had just accepted a higher paying job and bought a new Nova SS, but the job fell through and a friend talked her into going down to the recruiters’ office together.

Got Beef?

New technology ‘beefs up’ cattle care

Finding their park

After 12 years of working in traditional Hopi homelands at the Petrified Forest National Park, Sarah Herve, ’03, got to introduce a group of young people from the Indigenous tribe to her own origins in the San Francisco Bay Area.

From generation, to generation

When you have a great-grandma and a great-great grandma who were both among the first students at your alma mater, you know the blue and gold roots run deep.

Baseballer to bestseller

Paul Phillips, ’82, didn’t plan to go to college. Nobody else in his family had done it, but a clandestine visit to campus led him to baseball coach Howard Fetz’s office and the rest was history.

Wrestling: More Than A Sport

A student-athlete utilizes the sense of community that team sports allows as he continues his passion for wrestling, all while completing his MAT.

Willard Carey: Founder, Mentor, Leader

The first EOU Foundation president went business to business building the foundation we know today. His legacy now lives on through the military scholarship dedicated to him that creates college opportunity for military men and women.

Mentorship on a molecular level

EOU graduate conducts doctorate research in Chemistry at the University of Oregon.

A living legacy

Alumna Kelly Chadwick talks plants when her horticultural story at UM is shared.

Fire District One

EOU alumni creates new fire services in Umatilla County.

Feeding the world

Republic of Palau native named “Food Hero” by Oregon Food Bank as she continues to make a difference in her communities.

Psychedelic potential

EOU alumni at the forefront of psychedelic research at Johns Hopkins University.

Betting on success

Coquille Indian tribal member earned multiple degrees simultaneously through EOU while working full time, now helping to lead the way for employment and leadership opportunities among fellow tribe members.

The first, not the last

Ed Smith, ’83, was the first student body president of color, and many have followed in the path he paved.

The trust in care

Building relationships with people in need is the first step toward holistic healthcare, alumnus Mitchel Ornelas found.

Speaking her language

Alumna teaching in dual-language classroom taps into the power of communication.