Giving Joy, National Parks Edition

A gift opens doors for students aiming to study ‘America’s best idea.’

Giving Joy Day is an annual fundraiser that — along with its other worthy goals — aims to encourage a joyful approach to building financial support for Eagle students. This year’s event, held on Eastern’s 143rd birthday, was its most successful ever, with donor’s committing more than $900,000 by day’s end.

Among the more notable contributions was that of EWU’s own Bill Youngs, a long-serving professor of history with a keen scholarly and personal interest in our nation’s public lands.   

Youngs’ 2025 Giving Joy Day gift provided funding to establish the “Youngs Endowment for National Park Studies,” a program that will provide resources to students seeking to experience both work and study in these treasured natural landscapes.

Though the creation of the endowment was a closely guarded secret, the big Giving Joy Day reveal didn’t surprise Youngs’ friends and former students. Not only is Youngs’ philanthropic bent well established, his parks-related scholarship is respected across the nation. What’s more, in recent years he has become well known for an online history course that is often taught from inside the boundaries of the very parks he’s highlighting.

“I care about the National Parks because they are beautiful in their own right and because their founding is the result of some of the best instincts in American public life,” Youngs says. “It may sound corny, but when I think of the parks, I think of the reverential tone of America the Beautiful —  of ’crown thy good with brotherhood, from sea to shining sea.’ ”

The endowment will take Youngs’ passion for national parks and experiential learning a step further, says Shari McMahan, EWU’s president, opening doors for students of all backgrounds to gain knowledge and build careers — all while helping care for this precious public resource.

“Dr. Youngs has spent his entire career investing in our students, and this endowment is an incredible extension of that commitment,” McMahan adds. “Thanks to his generosity, more students will have the chance to learn by doing, whether in our national parks or other real-world settings. We’re so grateful for all he has done, and continues to do, for EWU.”