Hello, fellow Eagles!

As we prepare to welcome students for the 2024-25 academic year, and our traditional homecoming celebration, change is in the air.

Soon, the University will launch a strategic plan to chart our path over the next five years while also revealing a brand platform highlighting Eastern’s many strengths. The new branding will differentiate Eastern from other public universities in Washington, while supporting the enrollment, recruitment and retention of students from all backgrounds.

Eastern is building a future with the help of supporters like you – a future that creates life-changing opportunities that propel students like single dad Kevin Uyekawa into high-demand careers.

This means donors, alumni and friends of Eastern have stepped up – and will continue to step up. So, I guess, the secret is out.

In the months ahead, look for a bold presence as we honor Eastern’s humble past and lay the groundwork for our future.

In the meantime, thank you for supporting Eastern – and Go Eags!

Barb

Barb Richey ’92 & ’99 | Vice President and Executive Director
EWU University Advancement and EWU Foundation

Building the Future

Newly Minted Alumni Celebrate Success

Congratulations to our 2024 EWU graduating class! More than 2,100 Eagles participated in the June 16 commencement ceremonies. Supporters like you own a piece of their success!

Meet Some of Our Graduates

Eagle Impact

Cutting-Edge Alumnus is Changing Lives 

Tom Fox ’70, a second-generation Eagle, was on the forefront of computer automation, contributing to advances that benefit today’s companies and consumers. Now Tom and his family are helping the next generation of Eagles find their own success.

Read More

Future Occupational Therapists Practice Pediatrics

EWU master-level students gained hands-on experience working with children with disabilities. They graduated with clinical hours – and helped some amazing kids reach milestones along the way!

Read More

August is National Make-a-Will Month

The EWU Foundation proudly offers a free online will-making tool for our EWU community. If your plans happen to include a gift to the EWU Foundation, please let us know.

Learn More

Dear Friends,

You did it! In 1,882 minutes of celebration on Giving Joy Day, April 3, your gifts to support scholarships and university programs totaled $501,770!

Your generosity expanded an emergency fund that keeps students enrolled even as they experience hard times. You also fully endowed scholarship funds honoring professors Steve Blewett and Sally Winkle, as well as Activist in Residence and Eagle Pride funds.

Thank you for helping to provide transformative learning experiences for Eastern students! 

On June 15, the 2024 class of Eagles will don their caps and gowns and celebrate their achievements in career fields ranging from accounting and education to visual arts. Many are the first in their families to earn a life-changing bachelor’s degree – and they stand ready to make a difference. 

You can help EWU students fulfill their dreams of a college education. Your gift today means more opportunity for tomorrow’s Eagles.

Thank you!

Linda Safford | Senior Director of Annual Giving
EWU University Advancement

Eagle Strong

Every Step of the Way

You’ve made the dream of a college degree a reality for our Eagles, opening doors to a transformational education and providing assistance when hard times threaten their ability to stay on course. We thank you profusely – and so do our students!

Read More

Eagle Impact

Future Teachers Help Kids Become Better Readers

EWU is graduating a class of educators who are well-prepared to help elementary students improve their reading skills, thanks to an experiential capstone at Grant Elementary School.

Learn More

Prairie is Set for Restoration!

Prairie restoration is moving ahead full force after several seasons of student-faculty research charted a sustainable – and cost-effective – path forward. Gifts from generous supporters like you got the tractor engine running!

Read More

Eastern’s Hello Walk has a story to tell. Follow the red brick pathway leading to Showalter Hall and you’ll notice stories – plenty of them.

Short and sweet, the personalized red bricks honor the memories and accomplishments of students, alumni, faculty and staff. You can give a brick as a shout-out to a new graduate, pay tribute to a club or friendship, and even share your own story. The sky is the limit when it comes to honoring Eagles.

Bricks in our historic walkway campaign are available for a donation of $100 for graduating seniors and their families; $200 for alumni and individuals, and $500 for corporations.

Learn more by visiting our Brick Campaign webpage.

Eastern Washington women’s basketball power forward Bella Hays is preparing to get on the court for the 2023-24 season.

Since she was a kid, Hays wanted to play basketball and it was a driving factor in her effort, both athletically and academically, to go to college.

“My ultimate goal was to play basketball in college, but also getting my education paid for too. I didn’t want to have to worry about paying for it while playing.”

Majoring in Exercise Science, Hays’ scholarship gives her the opportunity to pursue her goals after college.

“It’s amazing to have my scholarship. It will get me through my undergrad degree. I’ll have grad school to go through after that so not having to worry about debt in my undergrad years is huge.”

Hays arrived in Cheney for the 2022-23 season, after Eastern offered her a scholarship late in the recruiting period. The Eagles were the only program to offer the Wasilla, Alaska native a full ride.

“Eastern was my only option, partially because I started my process really late,” Hays explained. “Being from Alaska, I wasn’t able to travel during COVID. I didn’t commit until January of my senior year [2022]. It was really important to get the offer to come here.”

Hays grew up in Wasilla, Alaska, playing at Wasilla High School. She is the oldest of four siblings, including a twin brother who is also starting his college journey.

With one sibling in college and two others in the wing, Hays says her scholarship is a valuable benefit. 

“The scholarship is a great opportunity for me because I have three other siblings, two of which are in college right now and one is going to be in college soon. My parents, not having to worry about my college tuition, allows them to focus on my siblings’ situations. It also helps me focus on basketball and my academics.”

Hays uses her scholarship as motivation, both academically and athletically, to ease the financial burden on her family. As the oldest, she sees the value in maintaining this as she goes through college.

“My twin brother’s process was a little different. He started later and also plays sports, but his situation, of earning a scholarship, was more half-and half-with sports and academics. My younger sister doesn’t play sports so she will have to pay for school on her own. It’s been eye opening for me to see how lucky I am, playing basketball and not having to worry about paying for school.”

At Wasilla High, Hays averaged 13.4 points per game and 8.4 rebounds per game. She was a three-time first-team All-State selection, while earning All-Conference honors all four years at Wasilla. Hays also earned letters in basketball, volleyball and track and field.

The redshirt-freshman will look to make her debut for Eastern this season after being sidelined with an injury last season.

On the coaching staffs influence

“Our staff pushes academics at home and when we’re on the road. We always have scheduled study times. They make sure tutors are available to us. They push us to stay up-to-date on academics so we can stay up-to-date on the court.”

Your gift on Giving Tuesday to the College of Art, Humanities and Social Sciences (CAHSS) can support one of 53 different scholarship and student activities funds. Your generosity will provide assistance with tuition, books, and educational expenses, or you can support conferences, internships and travel to provide students with professional experiences that are essential to their success in the workforce upon graduation.

Nicole Smith and Megan Beine, senior Gender, Women’s & Sexuality Studies (GWSS) students at EWU, were among a select group who participated in a trip to Washington D.C. to meet with the FUTURES Without Violence cohort and program organizers. FUTURES works to end violence against women and children around the world.

Both students are passionate about their career paths.

“I believe that education and accessibility to resources is vital when thinking about these issues, particularly when addressing how best to prevent sexual assault and dating violence,” Beine says.

You can read their story here.

Your gifts to CAHSS on Giving Tuesday will help prepare today’s Eagles to become problem solvers, advocates, artists, global thinkers and communicators of tomorrow.

02/14/2022

With fiery colors encroaching upon two darkness-enshrouded pillars, EWU alumnus Roger Riggs’ painting “9/11” powerfully conveys the essence of a defining American tragedy.

The thought-provoking 4-foot-by-5-foot work in acrylic was one of two pieces donated to Eastern along with a major financial contribution to establish the Roger Riggs Art Scholarship. The scholarship honors Riggs’ tremendous contributions as a teacher and artist, while providing much-needed financial support for future generations of talented art students.

“He was so influenced by Eastern and the teachers there that he wanted to give back,” says Glenn Reid, an EWU 1967 graduate and Riggs’ surviving partner of 56 years.

After Riggs passed away in November 2020 at age 85, Reid started exploring ways to honor his partner’s longtime wish to support Eastern. After a meeting with an EWU philanthropy officer, the Roger Riggs Art Scholarship was born.

Riggs studied art at Eastern after serving three years in the U.S. Army, earning a Bachelors’ Degree in 1962. He returned to complete an education degree in 1967. Over the years, Riggs steadfastly credited Eastern professors, in particular Opal Fleckenstein, with inspiring his lifetime love of creating art. A second painting that Reid donated to the university was, in fact, painted by Riggs to honor Fleckenstein, who died in 1996.

Over the course of his 25-year teaching career at Riverside High School in Chattaroy, Washington, Riggs impacted hundreds of students who took his Art and Current World Affairs classes. Reid, himself a retired teacher who taught business at Reardan High School in Reardon, Washington, says Riggs always encouraged his students to exercise their civic duty by registering to vote as soon as they turned 18.

Reid says Riggs often woke up at 4 a.m. to get the latest news. The same world events that Riggs’ discussed in his classroom influenced many of his most powerful works, Reid adds.

Although Riggs sold numerous paintings during his lifetime, making money from his art was never a consideration. Neither was haste in creation. Reid recalls a time when Riggs spent three years on a single painting titled “Africa Remembered.”

“There are some paintings that he worked on forever,” Reid says.

High schoolers taking Rigg’s art classes were encouraged to experience the world and learn about different creative forms to advance their skills. That positive influence was never forgotten by some of his students, including Sami Perry who became an accomplished artist and longtime friend. When she arrived for Riggs’ memorial service, Reid gifted her with all of his paints, brushes and supplies – another way to continue his legacy.

“He had some favorite students, including some students who are great artists,” Reid says.

Over the course of his career Riggs also found the time to teach two Interior Design classes at Eastern – coming, in a sense, full circle.

For his part, Reid says he is looking forward to meeting the first recipient of the Roger Riggs Art Scholarship this spring – and making a difference for Eagle artists for years to come.