Michael Finley, a former member of 51¸ŁŔűÉç’s Board of Trustees, was a champion of tribal rights and culture.

After a life spent in service to his Tribe and community, Michael Finley ’03, ’05, a noted historian, tribal-rights advocate and leader of the Colville people, died on Aug. 9.

Finley, who held both bachelor’s and master’s degrees from 51¸ŁŔűÉç, was appointed to the university’s Board of Trustees in 2014 to complete the unfinished term of a former trustee. He was later reappointed by Gov. Jay Inslee, and served until November 2022.

Over the course of his career, FinleyĚý served as a three-time chair of Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation, as well as president of the Colville Business Council. In these roles and others, Finley acted as a powerful advocate for the rights of the Colville people, often distinguishing himself during crucial, high-stakes tribal-rights negotiations — issues ranging from the protection of fish habitat to the return of Colville Ancestors’ remains.

But it was his work as a historian, Finley’s colleagues say, that was his true passion. Finley was a guiding presence in the Colville Tribes’ History and Archaeology Department, according to a tribute in the Tribal Tribune newspaper, and “an outstanding researcher, often finding overlooked or new data.” Finley also, the Tribune said, collaborated with noted scholars, interviewed dozens of tribal elders on cultural property matters, and served as chairman of the Colville Tribes when DNA evidence established that one of the oldest, most complete set of human remains ever discovered in North America was, in fact, an Ancient One of the Colville.

The book he co-authored with Richard Scheuerman, Finding Chief Kamiakin: The Life and Legacy of a Northwest Patriot, was hailed by reviewers as an “engrossing” exploration of a pivotal figure in Native history.

Finley was the recipient of a number of awards for these academic and professional achievements, among them 51¸ŁŔűÉç History’s 2011 Cecil Dryden Alumni Award for scholarship and service.

“He was an outstanding board member, an outstanding person, outstanding father, husband and leader for the Colville Tribes,” said BOT chair Jay Manning. “He was a great advocate for the Tribe and a great person to work with.” Michael Finley was 44 years old.

Eastern’s new “online-only” master’s degree in history is attracting national interest.

History studies at Eastern has a long track record of success, placing graduates in important jobs across the Inland Northwest and throughout the nation. But in recent years lagging enrollment for graduate studies led administrators to make a little history of their own.

This November, 51¸ŁŔűÉç’s Department of History introduced an online-only master’s degree program, one of just a handful available nationwide. Already more than 100 graduate students from across the country have enrolled. “It’s been a tremendous success,” says Larry Cebula, an 51¸ŁŔűÉç professor of history and one of the founders of the online program.

ĚýĚýThe robust online enrollment numbers weren’t a surprise, says Cebula, given the ongoing interest of students looking to the past for their professional futures.

Ěý“A master’s in history has always been a really valuable degree,” he says, adding that Eastern MA recipients, among other desirable jobs, are working as archivists (including at Spokane’s Museum of Arts and Culture), serving in state government and doing historic preservation.

Theresa Mitchell, a Massachusetts resident who works in environmental non-profit management and as a writer specializing in historical nonfiction, is among the program’s first class of students.ĚýĚý

“Throughout my professional life, what was missing was formal training as a historian,” Mitchell says. “I want to approach future work with proper credentials, instead of ‘merely’ writing about the past, as would a journalist.”Ěý

Mitchell says she searched for a year before discovering 51¸ŁŔűÉç’s online master’s degree program. She describes it as a “great fit,” and praises the diverse points-of-view she encounters. “The caliber of my fellow students inspires me to do my best,” she says.Ěý

“Throughout my professional life, what was missing was formal training as a historian,” Mitchell says. “I want to approach future work with proper credentials, instead of ‘merely’ writing about the past, as would a journalist.”Ěý

 

One unique feature of the 51¸ŁŔűÉç’s online offering is its compressed classes. Typically graduate classes in history run over a 10-week period, but those for Eastern’s degree are only six weeks long. The shorter term, however, doesn’t mean less demanding requirements, Cebula says. “This is not less, this is more. These students work really hard.”Ěý

For students like Mitchell, the hard work is part of the attraction. “The curriculum perfectly suits my learning objectives. The coursework is challenging and I’m grateful for intelligent, kind and compassionate professors invested in their students’ success.”

Our director of alumni relations writes that, this winter especially, there is so much to be grateful for.

One of my friends posted this quote on her social media as I was preparing to write this letter: “Gratitude helps you see what is there, instead of what isn’t.” Wow. For me, and I suspect for many of you, it’s easy to get sidetracked by things, particularly the little things, that are not going our way — a slow, snowy commute; an exasperating day at the office; a tough loss by your favorite team. But, in reality, there is so much to be grateful for. Especially when it comes to 51¸ŁŔűÉç.Ěý

ĚýI cannot even begin to describe how grateful I am to this university. Not only did Eastern help me pursue my passion for service, it also introduced me to my husband, life-long friends and, most recently, my dream job with the 51¸ŁŔűÉç Alumni Association.

Ěý

Eagle students never fail to embody our core values of grit, grace, greatness, and of course, gratitude: gratitude for the opportunity Eastern represents for them, and gratefulness for the generous support so many of you have provided.

Here at Eastern, “seeing what’s there, instead of what isn’t” is part of our DNA. As you’ll learn in this edition of Eastern magazine, that applies most specifically to our students. Eagle students, 32 percent of whom are the first in their families to attend college, never fail to embody our core values of grit, grace, greatness, and of course, gratitude: gratitude for the opportunity Eastern represents for them, and gratefulness for the generous support so many of you have provided.Ěý

Speaking of which, I hope you’ll take a moment to review our most recent 51¸ŁŔűÉç Foundation annual report that we’ve bound into the center of this magazine. That report, included in the magazine for the first time, is designed to help all of us learn more about how our contributions have — and will continue — to provide crucial, long-term support to 51¸ŁŔűÉç and its students.

Rest assured that not one day goes by at Eastern where we aren’t striving to make this university and its students more successful. For those of us who also attended 51¸ŁŔűÉç, that means working to ensure our beloved alma mater becomes even better than how we left it.

I hope, in that spirit, you will consider either a first-time gift or renewing (or increasing) the generous support you have provided in previous years. There are so many ways you can make a difference: Give to whatever you are grateful for or passionate about! For me, as you might have guessed, it’s providing a leg up to students who, like me, pursue their degrees well after reaching — ahem — a certain age.

ĚýOf course I can’t sign off without a quick reminder that we’re now just one year away from celebrating 100 years of homecoming. 100 YEARS! We’ll be sharing more about our plans for this big event in the months ahead.

As always, thank you for your continued love and kindness.Ěý

— Kelsey Hatch-Brecek ’21

Even in retirement, Walt Powers, an internationally respected authority on school counseling, never stopped giving.

For nearly 40 years, Walt Powers served as a professor and department chair in psychology and applied psychology at 51¸ŁŔűÉç. Over the course of that long career he became widely recognized as a pioneer in the development of elementary school counseling in the U.S. and abroad, while personally shaping the professional development of hundreds of his students.Ěý

Powers and his late wife, Myrtle, a longtime teacher for the Cheney School District, also left a lasting legacy of giving at 51¸ŁŔűÉç. The light-filled reading room in Hargreaves Hall — now named for them — is today home to a collection of original lithographs by Norman Rockwell that were donated by the couple. (Beginning in the late 1960s, they amassed one of the nation’s foremost collections of Rockwell’s signed lithography.) That donation was just one of the many ways the Powers’ have supported Eastern over the years, including, most notably, creating several scholarships and endowments aimed at advancing student success.

“Most important is to know that my contributions had a multiplier effect, as they have gone on to help hundreds of others.”

Powers’ dedication to teaching and service was captured by this magazine during our coverage in 2011 of the reading room naming ceremony: “It has been most gratifying over the years to spend time with the students who I have had the opportunity to help grow into mature professional school and mental health counselors,” Powers told us at the time. “Most important is to know that my contributions had a multiplier effect, as they have gone on to help hundreds of others.”Ěý

Powers retired in 1993, but his influence has never waned. Following a celebration of his life and career held in November, 51¸ŁŔűÉç Psychology tweeted a sentiment undoubtedly shared by the whole of the university community. “Today,” the announcement read, “we celebrated the life and memory of Dr. Walt Powers, who showed us how to live with unconditional positive regard. We love, love, love you Dr. Powers, and will always carry your memory.”Ěý

Walter Lee Powers died on Sept. 19, 2022. He was 97 years old.

University Police sweat the details of keeping students safe.

On a scorchingly hot day this summer, University PoliceĚý —Ěý drenched in sweat beneath full tactical gearĚý —Ěý cautiously but deliberately advanced through the narrow stairwells and tight corridors of 51¸ŁŔűÉç’s Morrison Hall. Thankfully, this hyper-realistic hunt for an active shooter was purely instructional.Ěý

Led by Sgt. Nick Bickley, firearms and armor instructor, and Officer Greg Karlis, defense tactics instructor, the “incident response” exercise was one of many forms of training that Eastern’s finest use to keep students safe.Ěý

During this summer’s training event, the men and women in blue did their work while outfitted in bullet proof vests weighing 30-plus pounds. As they moved through the decommissioned dormitory, the air, stifling and still, weighed heavy. The lack of air conditioning was intentional — battling back against heat, exhaustion and adrenaline overload is often part of the challenge when responding to life-threatening situations.

“We train to address the threat,” says Jewell Day, the university’s chief of police, adding that the officers not only learn to persevere in tough conditions, they gain the skills and confidence it takes to advance on their own without having to wait for the team.

Because of the pandemic, this is the first time that those officers have gone through active shooter training. “We wanted to make sure we are all operating from the same baseline,” Day says.Ěý

That team, says Day, includes 13 officers who train throughout the year, typically going through every building on campus to become familiar with its layout. This summer’s training was designed to build foundational skills. Revisiting these skills was particularly important in the wake of Covid-19, which put a halt to these annual training exercises.

Additionally, the department has added five new employees over the past two years. Because of the pandemic, this is the first time that those officers have gone through active shooter training. “We wanted to make sure we are all operating from the same baseline,” Day says.

Unfortunately, “active shooter” emergencies are not uncommon. University campuses, while typically among the nation’s very safest of places, have in the past been targeted.Ěý

Day says that the department has trained for such threats for the entire 15 years he has been with the force. When, for example, the state of Washington implemented new use-of-force requirements for officers last year, the department was already following those procedures. “It’s not something that’s new to us. It’s just who we are,” Day says.

As Title IX turned 50 this year, 51¸ŁŔűÉç took time to reflect on the landmark federal statute.

This year marked a half-century since the adoption of Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972, a landmark federal civil rights law that prohibited sex-based discrimination in education programs and other activities that received federal funding. At Eastern and around the nation, colleges and universities have used the anniversary to reflect on Title IX’s seismic impact in higher education and beyond.Ěý

“It wasn’t that long ago that your gender would have had a really big impact on what you were able to do and how much you could achieve,” says Annika Scharosch, JD, Eastern’s Title IX coordinator andĚýassociate vice president for civil rights, compliance and enterprise risk management. These days, she adds, students don’t have to worry about being denied admission to professional programs or held back due to their gender. That includes women who want to become doctors and men want to become nurses, as well as members of the LGBTQ+ community.

At Eastern, past enrollment numbers bring Title IX’s true impact into focus. Back in 1972, there wereĚý3,806 men and 2,920 women enrolled at the university, then called Eastern Washington State College. At today’s 51¸ŁŔűÉç, the student body last year included 6,562 women and 4,312 men.

Nationwide, U.S. Census Bureau data shows that in 1970, pre-Title IX, just 8 percent of women earned a college degree. By 2020, the number of female college graduates increased to nearly 33 percent, a number exceeding that of male graduates.

51¸ŁŔűÉç Athletic Director Lynn Hickey says she experienced this changing landscape firsthand, bothĚýas a pre-Title IX high school basketball player and a post-Title IX college athlete, coach and athletic director.Ěý

“I grew up playing half-court basketball in the state of Oklahoma,” recalls Hickey. Back then, she says, women’s basketball was a three-on-three, half-court game because male administrators thought females didn’t have the stamina to compete full-court.

Over the years, as Title IX’s impact on athletics created a battleground for women’s rights, thousands of women — and men — stepped up to champion equity. Hickey credits her father, who coached middle and high school sports for 47 years, with inspiring her love of athletics.Ěý

Hickey’s groundbreaking résumé includes becoming the first female athletic director at the University of Texas, San Antonio. At the time she was the only female Division 1 athletic director in Texas. When Hickey left the job 18 years later, her list of accomplishments included starting football, women’s soccer and women’s golf programs. She points to the experience of her daughter, Lauren, as evidence of Title IX’s generational sway.

Lauren not only grew up in a world where her mother was high-achieving in the male-dominated field of collegiate athletics, Hickey says, her aunts included a doctor, two attorneys and a social worker.

“Just think that in one generation how everything has changed,” Hickey says. “You have to give Title IX credit for that turnaround.”

With a new scholarship, an Eastern trustee and his family step up for students.

Uriel IĂąiguez and his family left MichoacĂĄn, Mexico for Washington state when Uriel was just a boy. With hard work, tenacity and the support of his family, IĂąiguez succeeded in school, earning a degree from tiny Connell High. He then enrolled at Eastern, where, in 1988, he became the first person among his 11-child family to earn a university degree.Ěý

Four of his ten siblings followed suit by earning their own degrees at Eastern. The other five did the same at other universities here in Washington.

IĂąiguez, now the director of community relations for the Washington State Department of Labor and Industries, since 2014 has been a member of 51¸ŁŔűÉç’s Board of Trustees. His service to 51¸ŁŔűÉç’s governing body is just one of the ways that he and the Eagle side of the family are giving back to the university that, as they see it, gave so much to them.Ěý

“To me, this university changed our lives,” IĂąiguez says of Eastern. “This is not even a dream, because we couldn’t dream it. Could you tell me when I was in high school or even, you know, in Mexico growing up that ‘Oh, yeah you are going to be a trustee of a university that you graduated from?’”Ěý

IĂąiguez’s service to 51¸ŁŔűÉç’s governing body is just one of the ways that he and the Eagle side of the family are giving back to the university that, as they see it, gave so much to them.

More recently, IĂąiguez and his sister, Alexia, have led the family’s drive to endow a scholarship that will help other hard-working Latinx youth begin their own Eastern success stories. The first recipient of 51¸ŁŔűÉç’s IĂąiguez Family Endowed Scholarship, Lizbeth Mendoza, is herself a first-generation college student who, like the IĂąiguez siblings, possesses a single-minded determination to succeed.Ěý

Mendoza grew up in Pasco. She transferred to 51¸ŁŔűÉç from Walla Walla Community College last fall. As a student at WWCC, she maintained a 3.7 GPA while juggling full-time classes and a work schedule that, at times, exceeded 72 hours a week. That pluck and determination, plus Mendoza’s long history of volunteering in her community, made her a natural for their scholarship, the IĂąiguez family says.

For her part, Mendoza, a 22-year-old business and accounting major, says the experience of the Iñiguez family makes the scholarship that much more special: “I feel like they are doing great work, just encouraging more first-generation students to keep pursuing their dreams. They give me motivation. I look up to them.”

The scholarship, she adds, will for the first time allow her to focus solely “on my education and being involved in school.”Ěý

You don’t need a fortune to make a similar difference in the life of a deserving student, IĂąiguez says. “You can get a scholarship started with $5,000, that’s what we did,” noting that family members have also endowed a similar scholarship at Central Washington University and Columbia Basin College.Ěý

—Ěý Want to learn how you, too, can help? Visit us at:

A cherished link to Eastern’s past returns, this time without restrictions.

On a beautiful fall day, led by the Eagle Drum Corps and flanked by cheering faculty, staff and Greek Life members, hundreds of incoming students in September “passed through” 51¸ŁŔűÉç’s iconic Herculean Pillars to begin their university careers.

The annual event, now one of Eastern’s most cherished traditions, recreates the path generations of students once took from Cheney’s downtown train depot to their new collegiate homes. These days, their belongings safely stowed in residence halls, the newly arrived Eagles are encumbered only by red and white pom-poms and complimentary bar-b-que.Ěý

“I’m so excited for what’s to come!” said one happy undergraduate, Alana Zamora, a soon-to-be biology major from the Tri-Cities, right before the walk.

This year’s event was especially exciting given that it was “restriction free” — meaning that, unlike last year’s gathering, students could enjoy the day without pandemic-related health and safety requirements.

Constructed from granite salvaged from the ruins of 51¸ŁŔűÉç’s original Cheney Normal School building, the posts powerfully represent the perseverance and resilience of the university and its students.Ěý

Passing through the pillars is one of a slew of Welcome Week activities designed to help new students seamlessly adapt to university life. Unlike some of the other entertaining activities, however, the pillars event signifies more than just a symbolic start, said Kelsey Hatch-Brecek, Eastern’s director of alumni relations. Constructed from granite salvaged from the ruins of 51¸ŁŔűÉç’s original Cheney Normal School building, the posts powerfully represent the perseverance and resilience of the university and its students.

“For 107 years, these gates of knowledge, these Herculean Pillars, have symbolized that the spirit of Eastern cannot be defeated,” Hatch-Brecek told attendees. Ěý Ěý

For the newly arrived members of the Class of 2026, however, the day’s focus was, understandably, mostly on the excitement of the here and now. “It feels good to be here,” said Grace Grubaugh, an outdoor recreation major from Medical Lake. “I’ve been on campus the last couple days and doing all the Welcome Week activities. It’s been awesome!”

Eastern’s new degree program is poised to ease a critical nursing shortage.

In the Pacific Northwest and across the nation, a long-standing shortage of nurses is becoming even more dire. 51¸ŁŔűÉç will soon be in a position to help, thanks to recent state approval for Eastern’s first-ever Bachelor of Science in Nursing program.

51¸ŁŔűÉç Provost Jonathan Anderson says establishing a four-year nursing degree program represents a pivotal moment for the university. “This program expands our offerings in the health sciences and continues Eastern’s mission as a driving force for workforce development of our region and our state.”

Donna Bachand, the 51¸ŁŔűÉç professor of nursing and program administrator who was instrumental in establishing the program, agrees, adding that the timing could not be better.

“There is a critical shortage of nurses in the region, and Eastern aims to help increase capacity by graduating up to 80 new nurses each year,” says Bachand.Ěý

Beginning this January, students can apply for admission, with an inaugural cohort of 40 students starting their studies the following fall semester. Another 40 students will be admitted in 2024. Most classes will be held inside the SIERR building in Spokane’s University District. It’s a location — squarely within the Health Peninsula hub for research, development and the advancement of health sciences — that will help to further strengthen 51¸ŁŔűÉç’s partnerships with other health education centers in the area, officials say.Ěý

The program got a big boost earlier this year after Washington lawmakers approved a two-year, $6.1 million appropriation to help the university cover some of the costs of expanding its current pre-nursing offerings. Bachand says the bachelor’s degree offering will open doors for Eastern’s 200-plus freshmen pre-nursing majors to potentially stay and complete their four-year degrees.

“Most of our pre-nursing students choose to come to Eastern for a reason. Now they will be able to complete their degrees in their university of first choice,” she says.

Yet another award for Eastern’s most celebrated building.

When the renovatedĚýPence Union Building celebrated its grand reopening in 2019, pretty much everyone in attendance agreed Eastern’s stunning new space was a winner. It didn’t take long for the architectural world to agree.

Over the past three years, the PUB has claimed no less than five state and national awards for design and usage. The latest came earlier this year, when the Society for College and University Planning, or SCUP, awarded the building its top award in the category of Excellence in Architecture for Building Additions, Renovation or Adaptive Reuse. Eastern and other 2022 award winners are featured on the SCUP website and this past summer’s issue of Learning By Design magazine.

“The redesign creates an easy-to-navigate, open-concept layout that is infused with natural light,” theĚýLearning By DesignĚýcitation says. “The renovated building maintains the traditional campus aesthetic of red brick but introduces modern elements of metal, glass and wood that connect the structure from the inside and out.”

Perkins+Will, a Chicago-based firm with offices in Seattle, created the design that rethought and repurposed the original 1960s “brutalist” building into a modern-day hub for university activities.

Built by Spokane construction firm Leone & Keeble, the 126,000-square-foot renovated building (featured on the cover of Eastern magazine’s Spring/Summer 2019 issue) includes a welcoming, light-infused atrium and trendy spaces for dining, shopping and learning.

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