Most fall term classes at SOU will begin remotely

SOU shifts for fall term to combat COVID variant

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SOU President Linda Schott announced in a webinar with employees last week (recording here) and in subsequent messages to students and employees that the university has changed course due to an ongoing surge of the COVID-19 delta variant and most classes will now be conducted remotely for at least the first few weeks of fall term.

“We will begin fall term with primarily remote classes and plan to return to a largely in-person experience on Oct. 11 or soon thereafter,” the president said in her message to employees. “This change in direction was made after consulting with local and state health officials, and an epidemiologist at OHSU. They all asked us to avoid the potential for further strain on our area’s healthcare systems, which may happen if we brought students and employees back to classrooms and buildings without strict controls in place.”

The delta variant has pushed regional hospitals to their limits – their combined ICU load was at 94 percent of capacity as of last week, and the surge of COVID patients was interfering with their ability to provide more routine medical care.

President Schott told campus that the university ”must enact and enforce health protocols that promote public health” as the worldwide pandemic moves toward its two-year mark. The delay in in-person classes and activities is intended to help ensure the safety of students and employees, and to allow more time for all members of the SOU community to become fully vaccinated.

COVID-19 vaccination will be required for employees who must work on campus to fulfill their job responsibilities or who wish to participate in in-person activities. Unvaccinated employees will go through a Human Resources-led process to assess circumstances, duties and responsibilities, operational needs and reasonable accommodation.

Students who are vaccinated will be eligible for in-person classes after SOU shifts back to in-person operations; those who are unvaccinated but have exemptions or accommodations approved through the Dean of Students Office may also attend in-person, but with restrictions that could include testing, social distancing or face coverings. Unvaccinated students without approved exemptions or accommodations will not be eligible for in-person classes or activities, and should work with their student success coordinators or faculty advisors to find appropriate online or remote options.

Face coverings will be required for students, employees and campus visitors at all indoor and outdoor public spaces, as Gov. Kate Brown mandated when delta variant cases surged in the state this summer.

“By reinforcing these health protocols, we hope to quickly get as close as possible to being a ‘fully vaccinated’ campus,” President Schott said.

She reminded employees to fill out their required attestation forms and for students to complete their required forms by Sept. 7 or as soon as possible.

Classes will be remote until early October, but the SOU campus will remain open with safety precautions in place. Some campus activities such as sporting events and artistic performances will continue before the university returns to broad in-person operations, but all who attend must provide proof of vaccination or a negative COVID test within 48 hours of the event. Face coverings are also required.

SOU gets perfect score from Campus Pride

SOU scores a perfect 5 with Campus Pride

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(Ashland, Ore.) — Southern Oregon University has been recognized for the ninth year in a row as one of the nation’s top 30, “Best of the Best” LGBTQ-friendly colleges and universities by Campus Pride, a nonprofit that supports and improves campus life for LGBTQ people on campuses nationwide.

SOU earned five out of five stars overall on the Campus Pride Index, which ranks universities in each of eight categories: policy inclusion, support and institutional commitment, academic life, student life, housing and residence life, campus safety, counseling and health, and recruitment and retention efforts. SOU drew five-star rankings in six of the categories and four-and-a-half stars in the other two.

The Campus Pride recognition is meaningful for prospective and current LGBTQ students, particularly during a period of political polarization and pandemic-related isolation.

“In order to be in the ‘Best of the Best’ listing, an institution had to score the highest percentages in the LGBTQ-friendly benchmarks for policies, programs and practices,” Campus Pride said on the list’s website.

SOU was also ranked 21st among the 50 best colleges for LGBTQ students for the second year in a row by the online publication College Choice, which released its 2021 rankings in July.

The Campus Pride “Best of the Best” list of the top 30 LGBTQ-friendly colleges and universities in the U.S. included six in the West region and just two in Oregon – SOU and the University of Oregon.

SOU addresses sexual orientation and gender identity in the university’s non-discrimination policy and offers LGBTQ-themed housing. Advocacy for gender and sexuality justice is available via the Social Justice and Equity Center, and the Gender, Sexuality and Women’s Studies Program provides LGBTQ-related academic offerings. SOU also participates in LGBTQ-specific college fairs and its counseling and health staff provide queer- and trans-oriented services.

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Boarding School art display at SOU

Boarding School Healing project comes to SOU

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SOU’s Native American Student Union and Native American Studies program are working together to honor and recognize the victims of 150 years of residential and boarding school assimilation and erasure practices by hosting an interactive art display at various campus locations. The display – currently inside the Stevenson Union – is intended to bring awareness and education to the Boarding School Healing project.

The display of keepsakes and artifacts is available for viewing from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on weekdays through the summer. It will be installed at other locations around campus through fall and winter terms.

Chance White Eyes, an assistant professor of Native American Studies at SOU, will also teach a fall term course (NAS 360) on “Boarding School Legacies.” The class will offer Native American perspectives on the practices of Indian Boarding Schools in the U.S. and Canada, along with current practices in Indian education.

“The community is encouraged to add their own prayers, keepsake or item,” said an announcement of the display from the Native American Student Union.

“This is a first step in healing for the indigenous, Native American and Alaskan Native communities.”

A memo in June from U.S. Interior Secretary Deb Haaland described the federal government’s attempts to forcibly assimilate indigenous cultures beginning with the Indian Civilization Act of 1819 and continuing through the 1960s. Indigenous children were taken from their families and relocated to distant residential facilities, where their Native identities, languages and beliefs were suppressed and parents could not visit. Many died of abuse and were buried in unmarked graves.

Resources for those who are struggling with recent disclosures about the practices of former Native American boarding schools are available through the Native American Student Union, which is part of SOU’s Multicultural Coalition, or the Native American Studies program.

SOU will host 2022 residence hall conference

SOU to host international residence hall conference in 2022

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Southern Oregon University will make a bit of history next June, becoming the smallest institution to host the annual conference of the National Association of College and University Residence Halls. The conference, held each year since 1954, typically attracts between 1,000 to 2,500 participants, but here’s the hitch: the organization has announced that the 2022 event will be held remotely.

“With the announcement of the 2022 annual conference being held virtually, student leaders at SOU realized that it was the perfect opportunity for a small school to host the 68th NACURH annual conference,” said SOU student Rachael Baker, recognition chair for the university’s chapter of the National Residence Hall Honorary – a branch of NACURH.

“SOU is making history by not only being the smallest institution to ever host this conference, but also earning the title of being the first institution in Oregon to host the conference,” Baker said.

In fact, the only other NACURH conference to be hosted by a Pacific Northwest school was in 1965, at Washington State University. The nearest to Ashland was in 2006, at the University of California, Berkeley.

A group of 12 student leaders from SOU worked for eight months to put together a presentation and bid for the 2022 international leadership conference, which was accepted earlier this summer. Baker is the conference chair and has worked on the project with Kyrstyn Kelly, the NACURH board liaison; Mimi Pieper, finance chair; William Hutson, website and technology chair; Caleb Hefner, social media and marketing chair; Bree Erb, educational sessions chair; Mason Healy-Patterson, entertainment chair; Beck Weiser, volunteer chair; Izzy Hodgin, accessibility chair; Phoenix Ramirez, safety and security chair; and spirit and mass gatherings co-chairs Jay Santos and Ryana Terao.

Allyson Beck – SOU’s assistant director of housing for leadership, retention and marketing – is serving as staff advisor for the conference team.

NACURH, the largest student-led non-profit organization in the world, is made up of eight regions that cover the entire U.S. and portions of Canada, Mexico and The Bahamas. The organization’s purpose is to bring together students from a wide variety of college residence halls to discuss ideas, best practices and resources that may help them improve residence hall experiences at their campuses.

More than a dozen individual and chapter awards are presented at each annual conference.

Water conservation zones at SOU are in response to an ongoing drought

SOU water conservation brings brown lawns, drought-tolerant plantings

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Several areas of the usually lush 175-acre SOU campus have dried up this summer – intentionally, rather than through neglect. Those areas have been designated as water conservation areas in response to the region’s ongoing drought and the university is monitoring them for potential fire hazards.

Signs that identify many of the water conservation areas have been posted this month.

“Water resources are severely limited and several main properties on campus are now dry and brown,” said Zack Williams, SOU’s landscape supervisor. “We’re aware of this and are working closely with the city of Ashland Fire Department to remain in compliance with fire hazard reduction guidelines.”

SOU’s grounds have traditionally been irrigated with water from the Talent Irrigation District canal that runs across the hills south of campus. But several years of drought and low snowpack have dried up the reservoirs that supply the canal – Howard Prairie, Hyatt and Emigrant – and users of the irrigation water faced unprecedented restrictions this year.

The university’s sustainability, landscaping and facilities staff have inventoried various areas of campus and are balancing a reduction in water use with wildfire risks. A complicating factor is that a drought-related beetle infestation – which is affecting much of southern Oregon – is destroying dozens of trees  on SOU property.

“Exacerbated by the drought, SOU has been battling a severe beetle infestation on several major stands of conifer trees on campus property,” Williams said. “Every effort is being made to save as many trees as possible.”

Several of SOU’s water conservation areas and vast expanses of lawn will be transitioned over the coming months and years to more drought-tolerant landscaping. New plantings are expected this fall and next spring.

SOU's Chelsea Rose on National Geographic series

SOU archaeologist returns to TV for National Geographic series

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(Ashland, Ore.) — Southern Oregon University research archaeologist Chelsea Rose – who was on the cast of a 2013-14 archaeology series on Oregon Public Broadcasting and featured in a 2017 book intended to pique girls’ interest in archaeology – returned to TV screens this summer as host of a show about Wild West history for the National Geographic Channel.

Rose appears on an episode in season four of the series “Drain The Oceans,” an Australian and British documentary series whose previous seasons have focused on underwater archaeology. The current season shifts to terrestrial archaeology, with an emphasis on the West.

Rose’s episode – whose U.S. premiere was Aug. 2 on the National Geographic Channel – features segments on the ghost town of Bodie, California, 19th century steamboat wrecks and the Little Bighorn battleground.

“This show has a good reputation for portraying archaeology in an accurate manner, so when colleagues who had been on previous seasons suggested me as an expert contributor for the Wild West episodes, I was happy to comply,” Rose said. “Plus, Bodie has been on my bucket list since I was a kid!”

Bodie, a 19th century gold-mining town, is now a California State Historic Park and well-known tourist attraction near the Nevada border. The “Drain The Oceans” producers worked with park staff and archaeologists to reveal the site’s hidden stories, including the role of women and the town’s Chinese residents.

“Since so much of the town is preserved, it is an amazing dataset that relates to many of the archaeological projects we work on at the SOU Laboratory of Anthropology (SOULA),” Rose said.

“Being able to see the artifacts and buildings associated with 19th century gold mining, as part of a relatively complete landscape, helped me to better understand how these resources would have been experienced by Oregonians.”

Much of Rose’s archaeological work involves using artifacts to reconstruct the lives of Chinese immigrants in the Western gold-mining and railroad-building communities of the 1800s.

Rose’s first stint on an archaeology-based television series was for both seasons of the OPB national series “Time Team America,” which was produced in Oregon but shot on locations throughout the U.S. She was one of six scientists who teamed with the show’s host to uncover historical secrets that had been buried underground.

She was one of three U.S. archaeologists who were featured in the 2017 book, “Archaeology: Cool Women Who Dig,” by California author Anita Yasuda. The book, which is available to order on Amazon.com, was intended to give 9- to 12-year-old girls a peek at work and life in the field of archaeology.

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Three generations of the Lattin-Crocker family chose SOU

Lattin-Crocker: Three generations of Raiders

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The Lattin-Crocker clan has a strong connection with Southern Oregon University and a long legacy of school engagement. The tradition began in the 1960s with Frances (1964 graduate) and Bruce Lattin (1967), and Dawn (1969) and Paul Lattin (1970). Their time at the university was marked with great joy, camaraderie and personal growth.

Paul Lattin followed his brother Bruce to SOU.

“I knew my older brother Bruce liked it, and most of my friends went there. I hadn’t really considered any other place,” he said. “I really enjoyed the small classes, the instructors paid attention to you and, best of all, I met my wife Dawn there.”

Lattin credits Southern Oregon College with sparking his drive to succeed.

“I was a pretty average student my first two years, but in my junior year, I worked in food service as a student manager,” he said. “The work, and the confidence they had in me, gave me the drive I needed. From that moment on, I had the incentive to do better in school. My grades went up, and I have held onto that confidence and courage my entire life.”

SOU was the perfect fit for Dawn.

“It was a really good experience,” she said. “To this day, when we visit Ashland all those wonderful memories come back. I got a great education, and Paul and I have been married 50 years.”

Frances Lattin had originally gone to the University of Oregon, but it didn’t quite click with her so she decided to transfer after a lot of positive feedback from friends.

“SOC was just a whole different world. I had such wonderful professors,” she said.

As an English major with a theater minor, she said one of her favorite instructors was Angus Bowmer, founder of the Oregon Shakespeare Festival.

“He became a dear friend; I still have letters from him,” she said. “The instructors at SOU really got to know their students and connect with them.”

Lattin went on to teach high school after graduating.

“I had a wonderful career as a teacher,” she said. “Southern shaped so much of my life, my career, my relationships,” she said. “I tear up a little bit thinking of all the opportunities that SOC and my education have given me.”

Lattin happily shared her experiences with her daughters, Cathy and Suzy, and was delighted when the two decided to attend the university as well.

“It’s fabulous that my daughters also chose to go there,” she said. “They even met some of the same people I knew. I loved hearing about their time there.”

Cathy Crocker (1990) and Suzy Tannenbaum (1992) credit their mother, in part, with their eagerness to go to SOU and their engagement in college life.

“All of us had really rich experiences, and I’m so glad we were involved in student life,” Crocker said.

Tannenbaum said her education wasn’t the only thing she has carried with her throughout her career.

“Southern had such a community feel,” she said. “That’s what I carried into my law-enforcement career, working with the public, bringing people together, and building community and relationships.” she said.

Tannenbaum, the chief of public safety at Oregon State University, leads a team of officers who ensure the safety and security of the campus community. The family connection with SOU gives Tannenbaum great joy.

“Our kids and our grandkids will know that SOU is a special place,” she said. “We have such a history with it, our parents were even married at the little church near campus. I’m so proud of being a Southern grad, and I celebrate being a Raider and all the wonderful friendships and connections I’ve made through it.”

Crocker feels the same fondness for SOU as her sister. The relationships she made and the sense of engagement that her time at SOU helped foster has shaped her life in numerous ways.

“I grew a lot in college, and working as a resident assistant helped me learn to really dig deep with people and connect,” she said. “Those experiences helped make me into the person I am today.”

Crocker, who was a communication major with a minor in psychology, has devoted much of her time to community service, working with children and volunteering.

Both Crocker and her husband, Dan (1990), say they have fond memories of their time as residential staff at the dorms.

“Dan and I were high school sweethearts,” she said. “I was in Diamond Hall, and he was in Emerald. We could actually see each other from the windows of our apartments.

“We learned so much about the power of engagement and building community with our fellow students. It was amazing, and now our child Aubrey is an RA at SOU, so the tradition continues.”

Dan Crocker, who is the CEO of the Ashland YMCA, said his campus involvement was key to learning the skills that he uses every day.

“I was originally going to a different university and didn’t get involved in anything, and I was basically flunking out,” he said. “At SOU, I got involved. First, I was elected as hall president, and that led to being elected as the on-campus student government president, then I decided to be a hall director to help incoming freshmen not make the same mistakes I initially made.

“I had no idea that decision would lead to so many opportunities in the future.”

Over the summers he further honed his skills working as a Y camp director.

“By the time I graduated SOU, even counting my horrible credits from my first college, I graduated with strong leadership skills and a 3.7 GPA,” he said. “My time at SOU was amazing. It didn’t even seem like work.”

Aubrey, majoring in Emerging Media and Digital Arts, said that SOU checked all the boxes.

“For me, SOU was the most comfortable place I visited,” she said. “After a visit, I just felt like it was where I belong.”

Parents Dan and Cathy’s involvement in student life is what inspired Aubrey to become an RA as well.

“I like that I’m part of a long family tradition, both of going to SOU and involvement in campus life,” she said. “I hadn’t really thought of it as a legacy, but it’s a great one to have.”

Shared and updated from the spring 2020 issue of The Raider, SOU’s alumni magazine