Grad Profile: Jenny Rooper

Jenny Rooper is a 2021 graduate from Silverton, Oregon. She is a Pre-Med major.    What has your experience been like as a student in the Honors Program?  Yes, I am an honors student! I’ve really enjoyed the Honors Program here at WOU, especially in comparison to how it’s run at other schools. Though occasionally [more…]

Grad Profile: Parker Marson

Parker Marson is a 2021 graduate from Pleasant Hill, California. He is majoring in Exercise Science with two minors in Human Biology and Chemistry.    Why did you choose WOU?  I chose Western because of the success of the track and field team, and I was sold by how beautiful the campus was. The small [more…]

Grad Profile: Carlos Fonseca Jr.

Carlos Fonseca Jr. is a 2021 graduate from Klamath Falls, Oregon. He is a double major in Exercise Science and Physical Education Teacher Education. Carlos is also an award winner from WOU’s Leadership Recognition Month, where he was given a Distinguished Student Leader award, the Arbor Park and Barnum Resident Assistant of the Year award, [more…]

Grad Profile: Lauren Gerig

Lauren Gerig is a 2021 graduate from Canby, Oregon. She is majoring in Exercise Science with a minor in Human Biology. Lauren is also an award winner from WOU’s Leadership Recognition Month, where she was recognized for earning a Leadership Certificate.   What has been your most memorable class?  The Anatomy and Physiology sequence was [more…]

Student Contact Tracers Gain Professional Skills While Aiding Polk County

Exterior of Peter Courtney Health and Wellness Center
[This story is a follow-up piece to “WOU Students are Training to Be Contact Tracers”]   In the initial months of the pandemic, WOU faculty collaborated with Polk County Public Health to create a student-led COVID-19 contact tracing initiative. The group was gathered, trained, and instructed by Assistant Professors of Community Health Megan Patton-Lopez and [more…]

Golden Lamp Award: Stacie Chance

Stacie Chance
Stacie Chance, the 2017 Golden Lamp Award winner, took a winding path to get to where she is today, but now that she’s fulfilling her life-long dream, there’s no deterring her from her ultimate goal. The Oregon Health & Science University honoree is focused on supporting the health and wellness of her community. To that [more…]

Food pantry seeks next step in service

WOU Food Pantry Director Rebecca Hardgrave being interviewed by KPTV reporters.
The WOU Food Pantry, housed in the Academic Programs and Support Center building, has been getting a lot of press in the past four months. Media attention has come from several newspapers and a television station, all of which is welcome support in the eyes of Director Rebecca Hardgrave ’18. “We appreciate the attention if [more…]

National grant extends CASA’s reach

Take Back the Night
Last fall, The Research Institute (TRI) and the U.S. Department of Justice Office on Violence Against Women extended their six-year relationship until at least 2019. A $300,000 grant sealed the deal. There was not a lot of fanfare at the time, but the continuation agreement is a significant coup for Western Oregon University. Not only [more…]

WOU receives grant to conduct important research on experiences among Oregon’s “Deaf community”: Researchers seek participants for their research

Western Oregon University (WOU) assistant professor Dr. Denise Thew Hacket, in collaboration with WOU’s Regional Resource Center on Deafness, received a $200,000 grant from the State of Oregon’s Department of Human Services. The funding allows for research targeting Oregon’s Deaf, hard of hearing, and hearing loss communities. It will provide information regarding how well the [more…]

Golden Lamp Award: Kayla Corwin

Kayla Corwin
There is no traditional route to Commencement, as Kayla Corwin learned. This Oregon Health & Science University (OHSU) graduating student has been an undergraduate for nine years. “I had a long road getting here,” she said. Science has always been a strength of Corwin’s. In high school she took an anatomy class and while her [more…]

Grad profile: Ashley Baxter

Ashley Baxter
Ashley Baxter Hillsboro, Ore. Community health education major Undergraduate Ashley Baxter is a graduating community health major. Baxter chose WOU because she heard it was affordable and when she toured the campus, she fell in love with the beauty.  “I just knew I’d be happier here at this type of university.” Baxter enjoyed the amount of [more…]

Grad profile: Matt Turner

Matt Turner
Matt Turner Prince George, British Columbia Applied exercise science major Undergraduate Matt Turner is a graduating applied exercise science major. He chose WOU because his academic advisor from Chemeketa Community College suggested it for what he was doing, which at the time was pre-physical therapy. His advisor said that WOU was a great school with smaller [more…]

Grad Profile: Dominik Heidemeyer

Dominik Heidemeyer smiling and and leaning on a fence with ancient Ruins in the background
Many move great distances to attend school, but not many in this year’s graduating class traveled as far as Dominik Heidemeyer. Heidemeyer is originally from a small town called Hülm that is on the outskirts of Goch, Germany. He came to Western because it was close to where he ended up living with his wife [more…]

Grad profile: Amanda Stevens

University is often where people find their passion and that is no exception for Amanda Stevens. Stevens has a great passion for health and in particular women’s health. She originally came to Western for its nursing program, but soon found that community health education was her true passion after finding it frustrating the amount of [more…]

Grad profile: Hannah Towle

Picture of Hannah Towle
Hannah Towle works as one of our advocate staff leaders as the sexual violence resource coordinator. She has assisted on multiple projects related to the Campus Against Sexual Assault grant associated with Abby’s House. Additionally, Towle has initiated her own projects in the realm of sexual violence prevention playing a key role in the CounterACT Violence campaign [more…]

Grad profile: Becca Hazel

Becca Hazel standing near a body of water wearing a denim vest.
Becca Hazel Hillsboro, Ore. Community health major Undergraduate Becca Hazel is a graduating community health major. She has been very involved and interested in the community health projects here at Western. She chose to come to WOU because it has the OHSU nursing campus and the really small class sizes. Another reason for choosing Western [more…]

Succeeding in College with Aspergers

Today, the Health and Counseling Center held a seminar in the Willamette room about succeeding in college with Asperger’s Syndrome (AS). If you or someone you know is affected by this syndrome, you know the struggles that can be faced, and how important it is to know how to deal with those struggles. Jaime Silva [more…]

WOU in the news: Relay gets ready to paint the town purple

Cancer Commandos
Uniting communities across the globe, Relay for Life celebrates those who have battled cancer, remembers loved ones lost to the disease and fights back by raising money to support research and help those afflicted by the illness. The signature fundraiser for the American Cancer Society, the event is often an overnight activity — signifying that [more…]

Preview: Western Oregon University Food Day

Food
Food Day is a nationwide celebration held annually on October 24th. Food Day promotes a movement towards healthy, affordable, and sustainable food. Western Oregon University Food Day will be held Thursday, October 22 through Friday, October 23, and will feature movies, workshops, meals, and a vendor and information fair. Western Oregon University Food Day involves [more…]

WOU in the news: Forum stimulates dialog on tackling youth suicide

Published by: Sandy Post  by: Kylie Wray Following a nearly two-hour long discussion about youth suicide prevention, 52 volunteers wearing dark sweatshirts with the hoods up filed down silently to the front of the auditorium. This moment was Clackamas County Youth Suicide Prevention Coordinator Galli Murray’s favorite part of the Youth Suicide Prevention Forum held on [more…]

WOU goes tobacco free Sept. 18

Tobacco free
Western Oregon University will become an even safer and healthier place to study and work. As of September 18, campus will become fully tobacco free. This means no one (student, employee or visitor) can use tobacco anywhere on campus, including parking lots and residence hall areas. The City of Monmouth supported this decision and agreed [more…]

WOU in the news: College expands welding, computer science programs

Story published in the Chinook Observer Clatsop Community College is adding associate degrees in welding and computer science. Clatsop Community College will add new programs beginning fall 2015. Program details will be available with release of the 2015-16 academic catalog. The college’s existing one-year certificate program in welding is expanding to include a stepladder of [more…]