SOU Alumni Spotlight

Danny Santos' career of service

Danny Santos: In the name of service

Danny Santos, who earned his bachelor’s degree in criminology at SOU in 1975, always had a passion for service. But he credits SOU – Southern Oregon College at that time – with providing him the tools and opportunities to chart and navigate a career path that focused on helping others. “Southern Oregon College was a […]

NPR reporter and SOU alum Jeff Brady

SOU alum Jeff Brady: ready for NPR

Jeff Brady, a 1995 SOU graduate in communication, was an insecure kid from the southern Oregon coastal community of Gold Beach before he became a national desk reporter for NPR – National Public Radio. He didn’t make the cut to work as a reporter for his high school newspaper and didn’t think he was college […]

Former SOU student-athlete has been teaching basketball in China

SOU alum Terriel Thomas builds his own team in China

Terriel Thomas, a 2013 SOU graduate, never imagined he would earn a living playing basketball in China. “Sometimes, I still can’t believe this is my life,” he said a year and a half ago, after three years in China. “I always dreamed of being a basketball coach and working with kids. And now, I’m doing […]

Searle family with SOU Athletic Director Matt Sayre

Going long: Searle family’s connection with SOU began with football

SOU has provided lasting memories of football and friendships for four members of the tight-knit Searle family. Sport phenoms and Raider Hall of Fame brothers Sammy (class of 1989), David (1992) and Ted “Baba” Searle (1989) each agree that their time at SOU helped shape them as the men they are today and led to […]

SOU alum and former Hawai'i mayor Harry Kim

Family: SOU’s connection with former Hawai’i mayor

Southern Oregon University played a big part in the family of former Hawai’i County Mayor Harry Kim, who received his bachelor’s degree in 1966 and master’s degree in 1967. He met his wife, Roberta, while he was an undergraduate, and one of his sons also graduated from the university and met his future partner there. […]

Ryan Wines, from volunteer radio gig to music industry

Sound Design: SOU alum’s journey from college radio to global music agency

Ryan Wines remembers the first time he stepped into the student-run KSOC radio station in 1999. He was a junior studying marketing and political science, and KSOC was just a year old. “It was a two-room closet, tucked out of sight in the basement of the student union,” he recalls. Wines never would have imagined […]

Shannon Luders-Manuel has found her voice as a mixed-race writer

Finding her voice: Addressing race with creativity and compassion

Shannon Luders-Manuel (2007 alumna) wasn’t sure what a thesis statement was when she came to SOU as an English major. She now makes her living as a writer, essayist and critical mixed-race scholar who has been published in a number of academic, news and creative publications. Luders-Manuel garnered national attention in 2017, when the New […]

Alum and coach work together on face mask project

SOU alum and football coach team up on face masks for virus protection

SOU alum Crystal Clarity and her mother Betty Camner have pulled together to produce homemade face masks to help battle the COVID-19 pandemic. “Homemade masks are great for people in the system, not around patients, so that we can control the spread of the virus,” said SOU football coach Charlie Hall. Hall has organized a […]

Master distiller Molly Troupe

SOU alumna and distiller helps to make hand sanitizer

SOU chemistry graduate Molly Troupe (2012), the master distiller at Portland’s Freeland Spirits, is setting aside drinks and helping to make hand sanitizer in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. The SOU alumna is using her academic training and a World Health Organization-recommended formula to help her community in a time of crisis. “Spirits are about […]

From trailer of "Illegal, the Project"

SOU alumnus premieres first documentary, “Illegal,” at film festivals

Southern Oregon University alumnus Nick Alexander premiered his documentary film, “Illegal the Project,” on Sunday at New York City’s 9th Annual Winter Film Awards International Film Festival. It will be shown locally in April during the Ashland Independent Film Festival. The feature-length documentary – which focuses on Salvadoran immigrant and successful Rogue Valley entrepreneur Laz […]