Welcome to the Eastern Oregon University Alumni Association, the cornerstone of our alumni community! We reach out with the goal of building lifelong relationships and supporting the university’s mission. Through social activities and volunteer opportunities, alumni and friends forge connections with their alma mater, faculty and our students. Alumni are important to EOU’s success!
THE MOUNTAINEER
2019 Spring issue
Cutting edge technology meets fine art in alumna’s video game company
Rebels on homemade motorbikes clash with gleaming cyborgs in the cyberpunk landscape of Neon District. The soon-to-be-released video game is the brainchild of Blockade Games CEO Marguerite deCourcelle, ’09. (page 11)
Alum becomes the amateur Strongman National Champion
Ashlee Munsey, ’10, ’11, held onto her 375-pound metal frame for about a minute before she claimed victory as lightweight women’s champion of the national Strongman competition last fall. (page 18)
The fight to save the Grand Staircase goes statewide
The iconic Grand Staircase at EOU has touched generations of students and community members as a link between campus and downtown La Grande. (page 4)
Oscar-nominated alumnus to speak at spring commencement
Academy Award-nominated filmmaker and Eastern Oregon University distinguished alumnus Skye Fitzgerald will speak at EOU’s commencement in La Grande on June 15.Fitzgerald’s latest film, “Lifeboat” was among the top five documentary shorts selected by members of the academy this year. He spent the week prior to the award ceremony brushing shoulders with the likes of Willem Dafoe and Sam Elliot at nominee-only events in Los Angeles.
After graduating with a degree in theatre and a minor creative writing in 1993, Fitzgerald earned an MFA and started Spin Film in Portland. His company has since produced a handful of hard-hitting documentaries that have taken him from Rwanda, to Cambodia, to Germany and Syria.
As a director and producer, Fitzgerald has explored complex global issues for nearly 20 years. But he said his passion for storytelling began during his education at EOU. After growing up in Monument, Ore., Fitzgerald quickly found mentors in theatre and English professors on campus.
“There are two institutions in my life that receiving an award like this from them means more than any other — one of them is the academy because I’ve dedicated my professional life to this medium,” he said. “And the other institution is EOU because I received such a great education there and got such a personalized education that was tailored to me as a person.”
Coach Don Turner Reunion
The EOU Alumni Association would like to invite all former student athletes of Coach Don Turner back to campus for Homecoming 2019. Coach Don Turner will be inducted into the EOU Athletic Hall of Fame (posthumous) on the evening of October 11.
Alumni News
Online student Cori Heymann, ’19, discovered a passion for end-of-life care through her anthropology studies.
Matt Cooper bids farewell to 28 years at EOU with a concert at 3:30 p.m. on June 6.
The 1-Up Game Club host its “Futures in Gaming” Symposium at 6 p.m. on May 17.
Concert Piano Campaign Success!
The EOU Foundation, in partnership with University Advancement, the EOU Music Department, and the College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences, is excited to share that with a generous culminating gift from Distinguished Alumnus Don Dunbar, the Concert Piano Campaign has just met its fundraising goal of $150,000!
Revature partnership offers EOU grads fast track to tech industry
Eastern Oregon University and Revature, a leading technology talent development company, have established a strategic partnership to provide EOU alumni with no-cost, hands-on technology training that will prepare them to fill critical gaps in the technology workforce.
Connect with us
Follow us on Twitter to find out more, contact University Advancement at 541-962-3740 or e-mail alumni@eou.edu.
