An Evening of Eagle Excellence

On Saturday, April 25, Eastern alumni and friends packed the Pend Oreille ballroom at Spokane’s Northern Quest Resort & Casino to honor seven graduates whose achievements in service and spirit make us all proud to be Eagles.

It is perhaps ironic that one of those graduate honorees, Gordon Hester ’89, our Benjamin P. Cheney Lifetime Achievement Award winner, began his tenure as a high-flying Eagle quite literally underground. After transferring from WSU, Hester helped fund his undergraduate studies at EWU by working part-time at the Rozell Physical Plant, maintaining equipment in the mechanical tunnels that run for miles beneath campus.

After graduation, Hester joined Kiemle Hagood, one of Spokane’s leading commercial real estate firms. He began as an assistant property manager and, over the next 35 years, worked his way up pretty much every rung of the ladder — senior property manager, director, vice president — before assuming the role of president and CEO in 2020. Along the way, he became a respected voice in the industry, chairing national committees for the Building Owners and Managers Association and serving as president of BOMA’s Pacific Northwest Region.

But Hester’s story isn’t just about business. In 2008, a brushfire near his property introduced him to the world of volunteer firefighting, and he spent the next decade responding to emergency calls — often before dawn — then heading to the office to run a company. He earned his EMT certification, rose to station captain, and in 2020 was elected fire commissioner for Spokane County Fire District 10, where he’s hired new firefighters and stabilize the district’s budget.

Hester’s long history of giving back is both public and personal. His son Mason, born with a congenital heart defect, survived three surgeries before the age of eighteen. Hester has since been a dedicated supporter of the Providence Foundation. He’s also been a generous benefactor to the university that gave him his foundation for success: he’s created an endowed scholarship for business students; a fund honoring his wife, Brenda, that supports student teachers; served on the university’s first College of Professional Programs Advisory Board and held a position on the EWU Foundation Board.

The contributions of Gent Welsh ’95,’03, our Lt. Col. Daniel M. Carter Military Service Award winner have truly spanned the globe.

Gent Welsh grew up in Vale, Oregon, and enlisted in the Air Force in 1988, starting his career as a security policeman at RAF Lakenheath in England. From there he transferred to the Washington Air National Guard, earned his commission, and began a steady climb through the ranks — from second lieutenant to major general — in deployments that took him to Saudi Arabia, Bosnia and Iraq along the way.

While building that military career, Welsh also became an Eagle for Life, first earning a bachelor’s degree from Eastern, and then a master’s degree eight years later.

Today he serves as the Adjutant General of Washington, the commanding general of all of our state’s Army and Air National Guard forces. Among his many duties is oversight of the state’s Emergency Management Division, the Enhanced 911 program and the Youth ChalleNGe Academy, a program that provides disciplined, safe and professional learning environments to help at-risk youth improve their education and employment prospects.

He also serves in the position of Homeland Security Advisor to the governor and manages federal homeland security grants across the state. First appointed by Gov. Jay Inslee, then reappointed by Gov. Bob Ferguson, he is a member of the Governor’s Executive Cabinet.

Welsh’s leadership shows up when it matters most. When, for example, historic flooding hit Western Washington last year, Welsh mobilized over 400 Guard members for sandbagging, swift-water rescue, aviation hoist missions, and levee stabilization — protecting homes, infrastructure and lives.

Through it all, he has never forgotten his alma mater. For years Welsh has been a steadfast supporter of EWU’s Army ROTC program, approving cadet internships with Air National Guard units, opening Guard facilities for training, and promoting Eastern to prospective students.

Olivia Dilling ’23, ’25, our 2026 Rising Eagle Award winner, is just beginning her own journey of achievement and service. She arrived at Eastern in 2019 and immediately started making the most of every opportunity the university had to offer. She joined Alpha Omicron Pi sorority, where she served as house manager for two years. She was elected president of the Panhellenic Council, bringing together Greek organizations around shared values of leadership, service and connection.

Next, she worked as an undergraduate employee in the Student Engagement office, helping to create the sorts of campus experiences that turn a university into a community. All the while she was excelling in the classroom — graduating cum laude with a bachelor’s degree in psychology in 2023.

But Dilling wasn’t content to just study psychology from a textbook. Alongside her research partner and faculty advisor, she co-authored a study on interpersonal trauma and social desirability that she presented at the Western Psychology Association conference in Los Angeles. That same year, she was named both Sorority Woman of the Year and Psychology Student of the Year — two honors that capture the full picture of who Olivia is: someone who leads with heart and backs it up with substance.

Then she came back for more. Dilling returned to Eastern to earn a Master of Social Work degree, a program that she completed just last year. During her studies, she logged over a thousand hours of internship experience at Inland Northwest Behavioral Health hospital, where she supported individuals who were navigating serious mental health challenges.

All of this came full circle after graduation, as Dilling began her professional career as a social worker at the very same psychiatric hospital where she trained. She went from learning in those hallways to a valued professional working in them — each day making contributions that involve compassionate, person-centered care for people who find themselves  in some of their most difficult moments of their lives.

Malisea “Lisa” Gardner ’05, this year’s Sandy Williams Trailblazer Award winner, is deeply involved in the types of person-centered service that reflect the achievements of our awards’ namesake: activism, community journalism and an unwavering belief that every voice matters.

Gardner is a proud legacy Eagle. Her father and two aunts attended Eastern before her, making her time on campus part of a multigenerational tradition. As a communications major, Lisa was active in campus life — she pledged Zeta Phi Beta Sorority under the mentorship of Angela Jones, last year’s Sandy Williams Trailblazer recipient, and found her voice working at campus radio station KEWU. It turns out she was just getting warmed up.

After graduating in 2005, Gardner built an impressive career that took her from public relations work with McDonald’s and a copy writing role at Microsoft, to directing sales and marketing at a boutique hotel in Baltimore and coordinating important clinical operations at the National Institutes of Health. Then she came home to Spokane and really got to work.

Today, Gardner serves as the director of communications and community engagement for the Spokane City Council, where she bridges the gap between city leadership and the communities it serves. She has championed language access, recruited bilingual and multilingual staff, and worked to recognize people striving to make a more just and inclusive city. In recognition of her efforts she was named a 2025 Spokane Journal of Business’ Person of Influence and a 2026 YWCA Woman of Achievement.

But it’s her community leadership that truly reflects the spirit of this award. Just over a year ago, Gardner became president of the Spokane NAACP, where she has revitalized the organization’s Youth Council, a program started by her late grandmother, Sarah Gardner, a prominent activist and entrepreneur in Spokane’s Black community. She has also launched the “Challenging the Narrative” conversation series to confront difficult topics head-on, partnering with the Inland Refugee Center on digital equity, collaborating with Providence Health Services to promote healthcare careers to communities of color, and helping to revitalize The Black Lens, the community newspaper that Sandy Williams founded.

Jay Tyus ’91, ’94, our Gov. Clarence D. Martin Educator of Year Award winner, was also an Eagle legacy student. He arrived at Eastern in the fall of 1986, a kid from Reardan who followed his older brother Gordon to Streeter Hall’s 5th Floor South. He majored in chemistry and walked on to the EWU football team as an undersized offensive lineman with, in his own words, “a big heart and a long way to go.”

Tyus launched his teaching career at Ephrata High School in 1991. There his science classroom became famous for controlled chaos — flames, explosions and experiments that turned skeptical teenagers into curious learners.

On the football field, meanwhile, Coach Tyus taught young men that winning mattered, but that becoming a person of character mattered more. His players didn’t just respect him, they loved him.

From his perch in Ephrata, Washington, Tyus built a career specializing in turning around schools — among them Waterville, Mabton, Tonasket, and the Mead School District — earning state and national recognition along the way.

Today he serves as superintendent of the Wilbur and Creston Cooperative School Districts, where every week he reminds his community that, “it’s a great day to be a Wildcat, where each Wildcat belongs, learns and thrives.” At his district, he’s brought innovative programs such as drone-farming applications to rural students, worked local farms to generate scholarship money for graduates, and testified before legislative committees on behalf of students.

A line in his nomination materials perhaps put it best: “Jay Tyus could make friends with a honey badger.” That gift for connection has left a lasting mark. Fifteen years after Tyus led a two-day training module at a colleague’s high school, teachers there still reference his strategies by his name. And Jay’s Eagle spirit? It runs deep. His wife Julie is a graduate. And Jay himself returned to EWU a few years ago to earn a master’s degree.

It’s pretty common to list “service” on your résumé. Richard “Curly” Rousseau ’71, ’74, our Tawanka Service Award winner, has put it on his to-do list every single day for about 50 years. And somehow, he’s still not done.

Rousseau graduated from Eastern in 1974. A star pitcher on Eastern’s varsity baseball team — team captain, first team all-conference, the only EWU pitcher ever to earn honorable mention All-American honors — he also found the time to become president of Scarlet Arrow, a men’s service organization. Right from the start, Rousseau was mixing competition with community.

After Eastern, Rousseau built careers in education and the insurance industry, but what he really built were opportunities for other people. Early on, as a teacher at Central Valley High School, his work helped the Key Club student service organization dramatically grow. He also created a “Christmas Shopping Spree” that allowed  high schoolers to help disadvantaged elementary kids buy gifts for their siblings. And he launched a program in which students “adopted” residents with development disabilities at Lakeland Village, visiting them weekly throughout the school year. The Spokane Jaycees took notice, naming him their Outstanding Young Citizen.

Rousseau was just getting warmed up. When he reconnected with Eastern, he threw himself back in with everything he had. He served five terms as president of the Eagle Athletic Association, sat on the EWU Foundation Board for six years, and emceed fundraising events entirely from memory — no notes, just genuine knowledge of, and affection for, the people in the room. He and his wife Lori pioneered the “overnight tailgate” experience, arriving on Fridays and feeding TV crews, student workers and anyone who showed up cold and hungry on pre-game nights and game-day mornings. They opened their home to entire EWU teams — soccer, volleyball, basketball, cheer — creating a place where student-athletes were known by name and fed a home-cooked meal.

The Tawanka Service Award takes its name from the Eastern women’s organization whose motto was simply “to help.” Whether he’s hosting a team dinner, mentoring a struggling student or navigating a soggy infield before sunrise, Rousseau shows up to help — not for recognition, but because people matter to him.

If you’ve ever been to an EWU football tailgate, there’s a good chance you’ve been greeted by a man standing next to a big RV, offering you smoked beef and asking if you’re ready for kickoff. That man is Derek Brownson ’96, our Eagle4Life Spirit Award winner. And he’s been earning his spirit award every Saturday — and pretty much every day in between — for the past three decades.

During his undergraduate days, Brownson was a proud resident of Streeter Hall’s 3rd South, where he built friendships that have lasted a lifetime. He was also a fixture at Fast Fitness and, as some would have it, an intramural basketball legend. 

After graduation, Brownson launched a career in banking that took him to Beverly Hills, Phoenix and Las Vegas. But no matter his ZIP code, his heart never left Cheney. He has served on the Alumni Association Board of Directors, become the driving force behind the popular Tri-Cities Friends of EWU Athletics Facebook page, and has raised substantial funds to keep Eagles connected across the region.

He’s also a leader in the Eagle Football Network and a regular contributor to other EWU programs. Eastern’s athletic director, Tim Collins, says he doesn’t know anyone who spends more time and energy supporting all things Eagles. On social media, for example, Brownson is a one-man hype machine, amplifying every EWU achievement the moment it happens.

And then there are the tailgates.

At home games, Brownson and his wife, Kylee, regularly smoke 30 pounds of tri-tip — that’s right, 30 pounds — to share with alumni, parents and players’ families. He also hosts away-game gatherings so Eagles always have a place to connect. At every event, he feeds student-athletes’ families, and then makes a point of sending the leftovers home with their kids.

Win or lose, that’s the kind of Eagle4Life spirit we can all take pride in celebrating.