EWU’s first class of nurses is ready to make their mark.

In the PNW and across the nation, a persistent shortage of nurses remains a big problem for hospitals, clinics and the patients who depend on them. According to recent data from the federal Health Resources and Services Administration, this year more than 295,000 nursing jobs will go unfilled in the United States. Washington is among those states most impacted. 

Eastern’s School of Nursing is just two years old, but it’s already doing its part to fill the gap. In May, the school celebrated its first class of graduates, with all 40 students who entered the program — 37 of whom are from right here in the state of Washington —  earning their BSN degrees.

The new graduates include many students who are the first in their families to attend college. Some come from rural farming communities, others are from large cities. This range gives them a unique perspective on the healthcare needs in communities throughout our region, says Donna Bachand, the EWU professor of nursing who was instrumental in establishing the school.

And that’s not all, Bachand adds. They are also, as a group, exceptionally strong in a quality essential to success in the nursing profession: caring.

“They support each other emotionally, they support one another academically and they seem to genuinely care about one another,” Bachand says. “That’s the culture that we wanted to build here in the School of Nursing — and I’m so pleased to see that.”

Shari McMahan, Eastern’s president, says that when the BSN program was launched university leadership envisioned a future where EWU-trained nurses would make a big difference in our region.

They support each other emotionally, they support one another academically and they seem to genuinely care about one another,” Bachand says. “That’s the culture that we wanted to build here in the School of Nursing — and I’m so pleased to see that.”

“Today, with the graduation of our first cohort, that future is here,” McMahan says. “I am filled with immense pride and gratitude for our students, our faculty, and the communities they will now serve.”

And, in fact, over the past two years, the students have already made meaningful contributions, even while successfully pursuing their studies.

This past semester, for example, students completed their capstone clinical work at facilities from the
Tri-Cities to Coeur d’Alene, including all the major hospitals in Spokane and Spokane Valley.

Bachand liked the results.

“Everywhere we go in the community, we are welcome. And I think it’s because of the reputation that Eastern has,” Bachand says. “It’s not just because they need nurses, I think they really want Eagle nurses.”

The Prom earns accolades from a noted regional publication.

The Prom, a musical-theater production staged last year by EWU’s Theatre, tells a timely story any social media influencer could appreciate: a group of fading New York celebrities seek to revive their careers by glomming on to the plight of a young woman who is told she can’t bring her girlfriend to the high school prom.

The production’s run, with its powerful music, poignant messaging and artful choreography, was a big hit with audiences. It was also, as the student cast and its director, Angela Rose Pierson, learned later, deemed a triumph by BroadwayWorld Seattle. This spring the publication honored The Prom with five awards in their annual regional theater competition: Best Direction of a Musical, Best Choreography, Best Lighting Design, Best Music Direction and Orchestra Performance, and Best Theatre for Young Audiences.

“These are amazing accolades for us,” says Aspen Cullen, the senior theatre major who starred in the play. “I think the award that meant the most to me was the one mentioning us being the best theatre for young adults. That is the truest thing! EWU Theatre allows for open discussion, success and a joy for theatre.”

The Prom was a part of EWU’s 2024 winter season, premiering on March 8. Staging the musical provided students working with sets, costumes, lighting, sound and other production essentials an opportunity to apply their skills and talents.

BroadwayWorld is a New York-based theater publication that recognizes theater productions across the nation. Its regional awards recognize productions, touring shows and other theater-related works based on votes cast by audiences and theater-community members.

This is the first time an Eastern production has been so honored. “The Prom was a very special production that was always timely,” says Sara Goff, EWU’s director of theatre. “We are proud of the artistry of the entire production team and honored to be recognized for telling the stories that need to be told.”

Just after the beginning of the 2023 academic year, Eastern’s Board of Trustees met to discuss, among other pressing issues, how the university could better share its strengths with the wider world: “How might we more authentically communicate who we are,” they asked, “while differentiating ourselves in our region’s competitive higher education landscape?”

Eastern’s leadership responded by working with a Baltimore-based consulting group, idfive, and faculty representatives from EWU’s four colleges to engage the entire campus community in the quest for answers.

After months of research and market analysis, strategic-planning and surveys of stakeholders, a plan that emphasizes Eastern’s long history of hands-on, experiential learning took shape. And earlier this year, with the BOT’s approval, that plan became official: Eastern, in both mission and messaging, would now publicly define itself as “the region’s polytechnic” — “polytechnic” being broadly defined as an emphasis on applied learning — as it works to provide its students with experience-based pathways for success.

“There has been a lot of chatter, and even a few news stories already, about this next evolution for Eastern — our regional polytechnic brand,” Shari McMahan, Eastern’s president, said with a laugh during her annual convocation address in September. “As I continue to say, this is an exciting opportunity for us to differentiate ourselves and to capitalize on the work we are already doing… Our goal is to make applied learning a hallmark of every EWU degree.”

“To be clear,” she continued, “we are still a regional comprehensive public university grounded in a liberal arts education.”

Currently, some 75 percent of EWU students graduate with experience in their intended career fields. Eastern will now be working even harder to provide professional experiences to all of its students. “There has been a lot of listening that’s gone into this — a lot of back-and-forth and creativity,” McMahan said. “To me, it really defines the authentic Eastern Washington University.”

EWU’s annual Senior Send-off procession — in which graduating seniors reverse course through the Herculean Pillars they traversed as incoming freshman — took on particular poignancy this spring. These seniors were members of the so-called “covid class” of 2024. Each began their Eastern journey during lock-down, a time when remote learning and event restrictions replaced typical classroom and campus interactions — including the tradition of incoming students “passing through the pillars.” Nicole Aguilar, 22, a communications major from Alaska, was among the seniors at the send-off event. “I didn’t enter through the pillars, so this was surreal,” Aguilar said. “I’m so glad we were able to experience it going out.” Photo by Luke Kenneally.

An EWU program helps school kids advance their literacy skills.

Reading may be fundamental, but it doesn’t come naturally. Learning to make sense of the written word takes patience, practice and, if you’re lucky, guidance from educators who care.

Since its earliest days, Eastern has trained teachers who love sharing the gift of reading. It still does. These days, the work they do has never been more important — especially for kids at risk of falling behind.

Education professionals have long known that a critical part of teacher training involves real-world experience, both in the classroom and one-on-one with students.

“Capstone” programs are one way for about-to-graduate education students to gain this experience. Now in its sixth year, Eastern’s “literacy capstone” specializes in pairing student teachers with elementary school children looking to advance their reading and comprehension abilities.

The program is coordinated by Ashley Lepisi, a senior lecturer at EWU who specializes in literacy and technology. Over the past several years it has helped boost the literacy skills of more than 400 students attending Spokane’s Grant and Adams elementary schools.

Most recently, 22 EWU students, all seniors readying for their full-time student teaching placements, spent Wednesday afternoons at Grant, where more than 90 percent of the school’s 320 students qualify for free and reduced-price meals. During this winter quarter, Eagle students worked with 68 schoolchildren in grades two through five.

The program is a win-win, says EWU alumnus George Gessler, Grant Elementary’s principal assistant.

EWU’s soon-to-be teachers learn to understand some of the challenges present  in the lives of a diverse population of students, says Gessler ’88, ’89, ’20. Grant’s school children, meanwhile, some of whom have experienced poverty and trauma, benefit from the individual instruction — in literacy as well as in the social and emotional skills they may need to focus on learning.

“They get to have people work with them; young people that are really enthralled with them,” Gessler says. “They get a positive experience, and we get better readers in return. So that’s been huge for us.”

About 90 percent of participating schoolchildren demonstrate a measurable improvement in literacy skills by the end of the quarter, Lepisi adds. EWU’s future educators, in turn, discover what it’s like to teach in schools classified by the U.S. Department of Education as “Title 1, Part A,” where a majority of students come from disadvantaged households.

The experience sometimes changes the trajectory of their careers. “We’ve had a lot of students say, ‘I didn’t think that I had the capacity to serve in a Title 1 building,’” says Lepisi. “Many of them leave saying: ‘This seems a little bit more fulfilling to me — and, actually, I’d rather be in a Title 1 building now.’”

A prize-winning urban planning student works to expand Latino housing opportunities.

During her time as an economic development specialist for the nonprofit Latinos en Spokane, Mayra Velazquez, an EWU senior studying urban planning and economics, was tasked with the sort of job one might expect would go to a much-more experienced staffer: documenting how disparities in home ownership were affecting Spokane’s fast-growing Latino community.

Velazquez, undaunted, responded by doing a deep dive into federal data sets, using the results to create a series of maps that highlighted areas of growth and need. “We used all the data of the census to tell the stories of communities,” she says. “From a 15-page demographic report, we learned that the Latino community has more than doubled in Spokane. We then looked at housing and healthcare disparities for that population.”

The mapping project — one of many contributions she provided to the group — was among the notable achievements that earned Velazquez a Governor’s Student Civic Leadership Award earlier this spring.

The mapping project — one of many contributions she provided to the group — was among the notable achievements that earned Velazquez a Governor’s Student Civic Leadership Award earlier this spring.

Recipients of the award are chosen from students enrolled in institutions that are part of the Washington Campus Coalition for the Public Good, a consortium that works in partnership with state colleges and universities to “cultivate vital and sustainable communities based on civic engagement and social entrepreneurship.” Velazquez received the prize at a ceremony held at Seattle’s Museum of Flight.

The governor’s award wasn’t her only spring-time accolade. Velazquez was also named one of Eastern’s President’s/Chancellor’s Student Civic Leadership Award winners (an honor she received with Sanai Maraire, president of Eastern’s Black Student Union.)

Velazquez is quick to share credit for her successes with both EWU and a recent Eastern alumna, Jennyfer Mesa ’17. “I’m grateful for what I’ve learned from my professors at EWU and from Jennyfer at Latinos en Spokane,” says Velazquez, who, at press time, was set to graduate in June.

Mesa is the founder of Latinos en Spokane, a group that works to advance Latino participation, integration, community development and empowerment in our region.

Housing is critical to moving these goals forward, she says. A solution her organization has proposed involves construction of a Latino-friendly housing cooperative, one that would create affordable dwellings for up to 76 families. While in its early stages, Latinos en Spokane has already partnered with ROC Northwest and Spokane Regional Land Holding Properties LLC to locate a site and develop plans for construction. 

“The idea for the housing cooperative started from [our census research],” Velazquez says. “We wanted folks to own their homes, and the land their homes were on.”

A new, old-school printer helps student artists, and visiting professionals, revel in the retro.

Eastern’s Risograph copier, a “digital duplicator” named Ferdinand, isn’t old. But the art it produces — funky screen-prints created in layers of stenciled spot color — reproduce the retrograde vibe craved by today’s creatives.

Built by Japan’s Riso Kagaku Corporation, EWU purchased its Risograph just over a year ago with the help of funding from Gemini, a company that specializes in made-to-order dimensional signage. Students have been testing Ferdinand’s creative potential ever since.

More recently, these Eagle artists have been joined by a rotating cohort of professionals who have been named to participate in month-long, Risograph-centered residencies each quarter through 2024.

“We had applicants from all across the country,” says Jamin Kuhn, the EWU Design Department lecturer who manages the 4D Lab in the Catalyst building. “It kind of speaks toward the allure of the printer, and how popular it is among the print communities.”

The four residents, selected by a jury for their skill sets and creative ideas, include two regional designers alongside one from Hawaii and another from Wisconsin. The first of these artists, Brianna Miller, completed her residency earlier this year. Miller, 31, grew up in Salem, Oregon, and studied at the Pacific Northwest College of Art in Portland. She moved to Spokane about five years ago, and it didn’t take long before she had established herself as one of the city’s most accomplished young artists. “I love how similar the print production is to screen printing, with the color layers and separations,” says Miller, a detail of whose work is shown alongside the previous column. “I also admire how the Risograph’s soy inks produce such vivid colors —  specifically neon — that you can’t achieve in most printing.”

A $10,000 Spokane Arts Grant Award covered the cost of purchasing Riso-related materials to be used by the residents and students. In addition, each resident receives a $250 stipend and $250 for supplies. Miller made the most of these modest resources. “Throughout the month,” she says, “I met EWU faculty and students through class visits, workshops and the [closing] show. I also presented a mini talk on my career, portfolio and education. It made me really appreciate the vibrancy of the local art community.”

For Hilary Baird, graduate school will be just the latest in a long line of triumphs.

From a rejection on her first application to Eastern, to admission as a graduate student at one of the nation’s top music programs, EWU’s Hilary Baird has lived a true Cinderella story.

In January, Baird was shocked and delighted to receive an acceptance letter and a partial scholarship from the prestigious Berklee College of Music in Boston. She was admitted to the college’s music education program, where she will pursue a master’s degree with a concentration on music education for those on the autism spectrum.

The program, administered by Berklee’s Institute for Accessible Arts Education, is the only one of its kind in the country.

“It is highly competitive due to the school’s national reputation and how exclusive the area of study is,” says Jonathan Middleton, a professor of music theory and composition at EWU who has worked closely with Baird. “Admission to the program is a life-changing experience for her, and for the future students she will serve.”

Baird, a talented pianist who has long struggled with reading and mathematics, was diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder at age 24. Today she is passionate about teaching music to others whose musical ambitions are challenged by physical or cognitive obstacles — something she has been doing for the past eight years.

“There are so many with disabilities, and other marginalized groups of people, who are not getting their talents shared or having their needs met,” Baird says. “They are very intelligent, but they need to learn their way, not the [traditional] system’s way.”

Baird herself has had to surmount many such obstacles to reach success.

As a young person on the spectrum, progressing through school was an uphill climb. She graduated from high school, but her application for admission to Eastern was rejected due to a low GPA. “The idea of college was not in the cards for me,” Baird says she told herself at the time.

But after four years of service in the U.S. Navy — and accruing the educational benefits that her service provided — Baird chose to give college, and Eastern, another try. She has since flourished.

  Baird is currently on the university’s Dean’s List with a 3.7 GPA, and will graduate in June with a bachelor’s degree in music composition.

“I know there are people at Berklee who will put me in the position to get me where I want to go, and to do what I want to do,” says Baird.  “For me, it’s really monumental. I’m fighting for the right of my students to be heard.”

Eastern’s multi-year Prairie Restoration Project reaches a milestone.

As previously noted in this magazine, Eastern’s Prairie Restoration Project aims to return a 120-acre parcel of university-owned farmland to its native habitat, thus creating a “living laboratory” of restored Northern Palouse prairie proximate to the Cheney campus. Together with the Spokane and other local tribes — Native peoples who for millennia called these bounteous hills home — the project’s ultimate goal is to help the entire university community better understand and appreciate this unique ecosystem.

This spring the project is closing in on a major milestone: clearing the ground for native grasses by purging the soil of noxious weeds. “It has been really exciting to see the restoration develop to this point,” says Erik Budsberg, project leader and director of sustainability at EWU. Both graduate students and undergraduates have studied with the project, he says, “all to help us gain a better understanding of how to proceed to this next phase.”

“It has been really exciting to see the restoration develop to this point,” says Erik Budsberg, project leader and director of sustainability at EWU.

This “next phase” will bring more visible progress. When the ground is clear, the entire acreage will be “drill seeded” with a mix of wild grasses that student researchers have determined are resilient enough to form root systems. These systems will become the living foundation of the restored prairie.

While the weeding and seeding won’t be completed until fall, project findings are already having a broader impact. “What we’ve learned has informed our decision to develop a climate-resiliency landscaping master plan,” Budsberg says. “We will be converting all of campus landscaping over to the native drought-tolerate plants that are more representative of the regional biodiversity.”

Back on the prairie, meanwhile, the “living-laboratory” part of the mission is also making progress. Both on the site and in Eastern’s research greenhouses, project participants say restoration-related activities have become an important source of interdisciplinary collaborations and investigations. “The research we’ve been doing has been helping us understand the Prairie Restoration Project as a complete ecosystem resource,” says Budsberg.

Eastern’s 75-year-old radio station confronts a “changing media landscape.”

Eastern announced earlier this fall that its long-running non-commercial jazz radio station, 89.5 KEWU-FM, has transitioned to DJ-free, “pre-loaded” jazz as part of a phase-out plan that could eventually result in the university ceding ownership.

The decision to potentially offload the station did not come lightly, EWU officials said. The move, they added, had the support of program faculty and university administrators who recommended that Eastern would be best served by looking at new broadcasting opportunities in the future.

“KEWU has provided quality entertainment as well as classic and contemporary jazz to the Inland Northwest for nearly 75 years, and we are proud of that accomplishment,” says Jonathan Anderson, provost and vice president for academic affairs at EWU: “With how dynamically the media landscape is changing, there will be new opportunities for the university to explore.”

KEWU’s long history began on April 7, 1950, when KEWC (as it was originally named) first hit the airwaves. It operated as a free-form student station until 1986, when it increased its transmitter output from 100 watts to 10,000 watts. At that time the format changed to straight-ahead jazz  —  such as big band, swing and bop — as well as modern and smooth contemporary jazz. Over the years KEWU has also hosted local artists in the studio to showcase their music.

Elizabeth Farriss, who joined the station as program director in 2004, was twice named Best Small Market Jazz Programmer by Jazz Week Magazine. The same publication named KEWU “best small market station” two different times.

“Elizabeth Farriss’ expertise and dedication over the years established KEWU as a leader in jazz programming and a well-respected ambassador of the university,” says Pete Porter, an EWU professor of film, the academic program which currently administers the station: “Eastern was fortunate to have someone of her caliber at the helm of its flagship radio station for so many years.”