Each year a commencement ceremony in May honors semester students who have earned degrees from the College of Health Science and Public Health. At this year’s celebration, hundreds of friends and family members packed the lower stands at EWU’s Reese Court to see these newly minted Eagle alumni collect their diplomas. It’s been just two years since commencement ceremonies were moved back to Cheney, part of EWU President Shari McMahan’s effort to reaffirm Eastern’s main campus as the center of the university’s academic life.

Resolved: Competitive argument is a most worthy Eastern activity.

Competitive, formal debate remains one of the places where young people learn to do something genuinely difficult: listening to an opposing argument and responding with evidence. The payoff, education researchers say, is a lifelong edge in reasoning, persuasion and the capacity to think clearly while holding two ideas in tension.

Sadly, debate programs have been disappearing from college campuses for decades, casualties of budget pressures and shifting institutional priorities. EWU’s team, for example, had gone dormant. And then Tony Penders arrived.

“People think speech and debate is all about speaking,” Tony Penders says, “I always tell people it’s really more of a listening event.”

 

Penders, an adjunct instructor, joined Eastern’s history faculty four years ago. He had previously directed the debate program at the University of Indianapolis and, because he’s convinced that debate helps students succeed in college and beyond, he was keen on reviving Eastern’s. Soon after his arrival in Cheney he did just that, and today the seven-member Eagle Speech & Debate Club team competes in events across the nation. “People think speech and debate is all about speaking,” Penders says, “I always tell people it’s really more of a listening event.” One can’t, in other words, rebut what one hasn’t absorbed. Or find weakness in a claim you weren’t attentive enough to understand.

Penders’ roots in debate traced back to his own undergraduate years at Gonzaga, a Jesuit university where formal argumentation is ingrained in its DNA. Now with students of his own, Penders remains convinced that verbal jousting doesn’t just provide tools for arguing more effectively, it also serves as a “foot in the door” for leadership and career opportunities.

Another benefit, he says, is the thrill of competing against students from other universities. At the end of January, for example, Penders and the Eagle team participated virtually in a tournament based in New York City, where Seamus Mahoney, the Speech & Debate Club president, placed second overall. A junior majoring in environmental policy and planning, Mahoney transferred to EWU from Lower Columbia College, a two-year community college in Longview, Washington. He says he arrived at Eastern already convinced that debate was for him.

“It’s not because I like going to other colleges to argue — though I do enjoy that,” Mahoney says with a laugh, “but because of the community that it fosters within the institution and the connections that I can make beyond.”

A study trip to Japan yields a wealth of transformative insights.

Earlier this spring a group of more than a dozen EWU students participated in a first-of-its-kind, 10-day study abroad program in Japan. Accompanied by trip organizer Erina Romanowich, a senior lecturer in Japanese studies at EWU, the students used skills acquired in their winter-term coursework to more fully experience the language and culture of Tokyo and Kyoto.

The trip had something for everyone. Design program students examined how aesthetics, functionality and cultural values shaped everyday spaces; Japanese language students strengthened their skills and cultural depth by practicing Japanese in their daily interactions; and urban and regional planning students were challenged by fundamentally different approaches to urban organization.

“Students were able to see the contrast between traditional Japanese culture and its modern culture,” Romanowich says. By experiencing, for example, Kyoto, Japan’s ancient center of governance, then contrasting it with today’s capital city of Tokyo, the traveling Eagles got a heady mix of timeless history and hyper-modernity, she adds.

Yoko Parks, an EWU senior who recently completed her minor in Japanese, said she was awe-struck by her newfound — and hard-earned — ability to interact in a language her audience could understand. “My grandma told me that if you speak a language someone knows, you speak to their head,” Parks says. “If you speak their native language, you speak to their heart.”

Parks, who is now fluent in Japanese, makes a point of giving credit to her instructor. “Erina-sensei is second to none in Japanese linguistics,” she says of Romanowich. “I think her dedication to teaching her home language is admirable and something to emulate.” Parks adds that she hopes to one day move to Japan to work in its booming tech sector.

For many of the students on the trip, it was their first experience traveling outside of the country, making the journey both academically and personally transformative. The program culminated in student presentations that connected observations from the trip with concepts learned in class, an exercise that highlighted the value of experiential learning.

“A lot of students said they wanted to come back to Japan on their own,” Romanowich says, “which as a native Japanese citizen, is a really cool thing to hear.”

A group of Eastern music students finds inspiration in the great outdoors.

During the summer of 1829, the German composer Felix Mendelssohn, age 20, journeyed with a family friend to the Hebrides. Then, as now, these remote Scottish islands contained all the ingredients of Romantic fascination: towering cliffs battered by powerful storms, sun-dappled hillsides spiked with basalt, ghostly moorlands haunted by Celtic mysteries. Little wonder that some of Mendelssohn’s greatest work emerged from the place.

The sublime national parks and wildlands of the American West have long been the setting for similar flights of inspiration, as a group of young EWU composers recently discovered for themselves. Led by Jonathan Middleton, an EWU professor of music theory and composition, eight members of Middleton’s composition course in September spent a week at one of the greatest of these Western treasures, Grand Teton National Park. There they sought, as Mendelssohn did in Scotland, to find inspiration for 3-to-5-minute “pastoral” compositions, several of which will be performed by the Spokane Symphony Orchestra during a joint appearance with the EWU Orchestra in Showalter Auditorium on March 12.

James Lowe wasn’t born in the Hebrides, but this resident of Scotland knows well their allure. As the Spokane Symphony’s conductor and music director, he also knows that using music to convey the magic of such places isn’t easy. During a visit to Middleton’s class this fall, Lowe gently probed and prodded the young composers, helping them articulate their ideas and ambitions. He also apprised them of the challenges involved in preparing music for performance. One recurring theme? Don’t overdo it. “Here’s my thing,” Lowe said. “The greatest music expresses everything you want in the simplest possible way.”

The Tetons trip was funded in part by a $5,000 donation from a music-loving donor, as well as a grant from the recently established Youngs Endowment for National Park Studies (see our Spring/Summer 2025 issue). For the student participants, the experience was priceless. “Thank you for giving us this opportunity to learn and grow as composers,” wrote one of them, Joey Gagne. “I will remember it for the rest of my life.”

Every autumn at EWU, a host of on- and off-campus groups gather together for Neighborfest, a joyful rite of information sharing that kicks off the new academic year. The 2025 festival, held under crystalline blue skies at the Arevalo Mall, was one of the biggest ever, with close to 150 groups participating. Among them was EWU’s Theatre Department, pictured here, which maintained perhaps the most consistently boisterous of all the event’s tables.

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.’”