Hello Alumni and friends, I hope you are doing well and enjoying the summer weather. With summer seeming to finally be here, what types of activities are you doing to stay cool, have fun and get out of your house? Personally I am enjoying the Oregon outdoors by hiking, motorcycling, boating and enjoying patios at local restaurants. Do you have photos wearing WOU gear doing your favorite summer activity? If so, we would love to see them! Send them over to alumni@wou.edu. 

Things are winding down some for Just and August but we will still have virtual events monthly and will be adding more for the near future. Be sure to follow us on our social media @WOUalumni.  June sure was a busy month! Catch up on the happenings from June and we look forward to seeing you in the near future. 

“Howl From Home Virtual Wine Tasting Event” 

On Wednesday, June 3 about 60 people gathered from the comfort of their homes, patios, and back decks to enjoy some Redhawk Winery wine and participate in a virtual wine tasting fundraising event for the WOU Foundation. The Howl From Home initiative raises funds for the Emergency Student Aid fund, a fund that students can use to pay for unexpected expenses like travel, food, lodging, gas, etc. The money borrowed from this fund is current use and does not need to be paid back, ever. At the virtual event we enjoyed hearing from Redhawk owners John and Betty Pataccoli talk about their delicious wines as we sipped with them through the tutorial. We also heard from President Fuller, Erin McDonough, Foundation board President Cori Frauendiener and a wonderful student, Antonia Scholerman. The whole event was just an hour and we enjoyed laughs, cheers, wine and snacks. Overall the event raised $6,000 for the fund. If you’d like to donate to the Emergency Student Aid fund you can do it online here. Thank you for your support!

Commencement 2020 

The 2020 Commencement Ceremony was not what anyone expected at the beginning of the year. Due to COVID-19 the whole event was virtual and graduates had slides showing their accomplishments with their photos. Dr. Fuller and the student speakers were recorded in their regalia and played on WOUTV at 10 a.m. on June 13. This year, WOU graduated more than 1,200 students and we welcomed the class of 2020 into the Alumni family with open arms. We can’t wait to see you at events- both virtual ones and in person ones when the time comes. If you missed the Commencement ceremony and want to see the class of 2020, click here. Congratulations grads, we are proud of you and welcome you as alumni!