New SOU Ashland program in Ghana funded by Matt and Ella Essieh.

Gift from SOU alumni leads to partnerships in Ghana

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(Ashland, Ore.) — A couple who gained a global perspective and the academic foundation for success from their education at Southern Oregon University are funding a pilot project to provide similar opportunities for others, through a partnership between SOU and a pair of universities in the African country of Ghana.

The program begins this academic year with Collaborative Online International Learning (COIL) partnerships between SOU and PALM University College in Kordiabe, Ghana, and Catholic University of Ghana, in Sunyani. Recently signed memoranda of understanding for those partnerships are preliminary steps toward a shared business course between SOU and one of the Ghanian universities that will include a two-week, reciprocal exchange program during the 2026-27 academic year.

The project is being funded by a grant from the Essieh Family Foundation, a philanthropic entity established by alumni Matt and Emmanuella Essieh, who met as international students at SOU. The Essiehs’ five-year commitment will enable SOU to develop its relationships with the Ghanian universities and complete planning for the pilot project.

“Thanks to my education at SOU, my worldview was greatly expanded,” Matt Essieh said. “With the success I’ve been blessed with, the time has come for me to pay it forward.”

Matt Essieh, who is from Ghana, earned his bachelor’s degree in business in 1982 and his master of business administration degree in 1983, and is the founder and CEO of Beaverton-based EAI Information Systems – a computer software company that helps banks, brokers and insurance companies track and manage their investments. Emmanuella Essieh, who is from Nigeria, earned her bachelor’s degree in business at SOU in 1982, and is the cofounder and president of KMJ Asset Management – a residential property investment and management firm in Portland.

Matt Essieh still has family in Ghana, and his software company has an office in the Ghanian capital of Accra.

The online and in-person exchange program is the first of its kind for students in Ghana; SOU students can participate in a similar hybrid exchange program in business with the Universidad de Guanajuato – the Global Innovation Scholars Program – in Mexico.

“Our partnership with Ghana reflects what’s possible when education transcends borders,” said Dee Fretwell Carreon, the director for SOU’s Center for Continuing and Professional Education, and is also director of the new Ghanian program.

“It’s a powerful reminder that peace and progress begin with collaboration, and that the next generation is ready to lead us there,” she said.

The Essiehs’ project is intended to foster cultural exchange by providing students opportunities to collaborate with peers from around the world, embracing differences while working together to solve hands-on business problems. The interactions between students from SOU and the Ghanian universities could result in changed perspectives and transformative life experiences – particularly for students from rural areas.

“My hope is to give students the experience of collaborating with each other across the world,” Matt Essieh said. “It will give them the opportunity to learn, appreciate and respect each other’s’ cultures.”

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SOU Ashland alumni awards recipients

Four to receive annual SOU alumni awards

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(Ashland, Ore.) — This year’s Southern Oregon University alumni award winners will be a business lawyer who has conducted an investigation of Las Vegas city officials and managed litigation for a $4 billion real estate firm; a lifelong educator who has written three books and made more than 500 educational presentations; a former legislator who made a film documenting the Klamath River restoration; and an award-winning novelist whose short stories have been featured in various publications.

This year’s four award recipients were chosen by the SOU Alumni Association Board of Directors: Catherine Meulemans for the Distinguished Alumni Award; Sue Teele, Ph.D., for the Alumni Excellence in Education Award; Jason Atkinson for the Stan Smith Alumni Service Award; and Abbigail Rosewood for the Outstanding Young Alumni Award. The awards will be presented during a celebration at 11:30 a.m. on Thursday, Oct. 2, in the Schneider Museum of Art. RSVPs at (541) 552-6127 are required.

Meulemans
The Distinguished Alumni Award is presented each year by the university and the SOU Alumni Association to recognize someone whose personal and professional achievements have significantly benefited humankind and brought distinction to the university. This year’s honoree, Catherine Meulemans, graduated magna cum laude from SOU in 1985 after serving as an exchange student at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst. She earned her law degree from Georgetown University, then co-founded a multi-state boutique law firm that specialized in complex business litigation, real estate and civil appeals. She conducted a high-profile investigation of several Las Vegas city officials on behalf of the Office of the Nevada Attorney General, and managed the litigation portfolio for a $4 billion privately held international real estate brokerage. Meulemans is now the utilities team co-leader in the San Francisco office of Frost Brown Todd, a firm with law offices across the U.S.

Teele
The Alumni Excellence in Education Award recognizes career achievement in education, service to community and commitment to SOU. Sue Teele, who will receive this year’s award, earned her bachelor’s degree from the University of Redlands in Southern California, then received her teaching credentials from the University of Alaska before accepting a teaching position in Medford and enrolling in a graduate program at what was then Southern Oregon College. She received her master’s degree in 1969, taught at the junior high level for 11 years, then spent 36 years as a higher education administrator – first at California State University, San Bernardino, and then at the University of California, Riverside. She was responsible for 50 different educational certificate and state approved credential programs that served 12,000 educators annually while at Riverside. Teele has written three books on teaching and learning, and developed an assessment tool, the “Teele Inventory for Multiple Intelligence (TIMI),” which has been used in throughout the U.S. and in dozens of other countries to quickly identify how students learn.

Atkinson
The Stan Smith Alumni Service Award recognizes alumni who have demonstrated an outstanding commitment to the community and service to people. Jason Atkinson earned his bachelor’s degree in history and political science at what was then Southern Oregon State College in 1992, then a master’s degree in business administration and public administration at Willamette University. He started a consulting business, then was elected to the Oregon Legislature – first the House of Representatives and then the Senate. He took a sabbatical to make the film “A River Between Us,” documenting the Klamath River restoration, and ultimately worked on the project for three decades before dam removals began in 2022. Atkinson has been recognized as one of the top 20 most influential fisherman of the West, served as a commissioner for the Oregon Department of Fish & Wildlife, and was named a hero of conservation by Field and Stream.

Rosewood
The Distinguished Young Alumni Award is presented to a recent university graduate who has demonstrated distinction in career, civic involvement or both. Abbigail Rosewood received her bachelor’s degree at SOU in 2013, focusing on creative writing, then earned her master of fine arts degree in fiction from Columbia University in 2017. She won the Michael Baughman Fiction Award while at SOU. She has written numerous essays, reviews, articles and creative works for online and print publications. Her debut novel, “If I Had Two Lives,” was published in 2019 by Europa Editions and her second novel, “Constellations of Eve,” was published in 2022 by Texas Tech University Press. Her works have appeared in publications including TIME Magazine, Harper’s Bazaar, Salon, Elle U.K, Pen America, BOMB and Cosmopolitan. Rosewood has been nominated for the Pushcart Prize, Best of the Net and Best American Short Story 2020, and she won first place in the Writers Workshop of Asheville Literary Fiction contest.

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Solar energy project approved by students at SOU Ashland

SOU students step up for solar energy project

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(Ashland, Ore.) — A solar energy project approved recently by Southern Oregon University’s student government will generate both electricity and a steady flow of income for the university’s Student Food Pantry.

The Associated Students of SOU gave the go-ahead to spend $91,768 from the ASSOU Green Fund on a sustainability student’s proposal to replace an aged-out solar array on SOU’s Hannon Library with a new, higher-capacity array. An additional $7,560 provided by SOU’s Office of Facilities Management and Planning will be used to remove the pioneer panels.

Power produced by the 29.68 kW photovoltaic solar panels will be sold back to the university, and that income will be directed to the Student Food Pantry to help address food insecurity on campus.

“I’m excited to see my passion for sustainable food systems and food security come to life in a very real way as I leave SOU,” said student Sierra Garrett, who conceived the project before graduating last month. “I fully believe in leaving your environment better than how you found it, and this is no exception.

“Our SOU community deserves sustainable access to energy and nutrition, and my project brings those two together in a unique way,” said Garrett, who was worked for the past two years in the SOU Office of Sustainability and the Institute for Applied Sustainability.

The new solar panels will be purchased with money from the Green Fund, which is dedicated to sustainability projects and generated from a $14-per-term fee that SOU students have imposed on themselves. The new array will produce an estimated $2,664 per year for the Food Pantry, based on the current electricity rate of 6 cents per kilowatt hour.

The ASSOU-approved proposal came with a recommendation that the power proceeds allocated to the Food Pantry should be used on local foods, those associated with high quality or high nutritional value, and/or foods with cultural or social relevance to SOU students. Terms of the agreement are to be reviewed and voted upon again every five years by ASSOU’s Environmental Affairs Committee.

“Working with SOU students and ASSOU on sustainability is always inspiring, and collaborating with Sierra Garrett over the past few years has been especially meaningful,” said Becs Walker, SOU’s Director of Sustainability. “Her passion, creativity and drive have been central to so many projects – particularly this one.

“Seeing how students like Sierra approach challenges with innovative thinking, compassion and a commitment to building better systems gives me great hope for the future,” Walker said. “They truly are the next generation of leaders and change-makers.”

The panels that will be replaced were SOU’s first solar installation, placed on the university’s Hannon Library in 2000. That installation produced just 6kW when new – just over a fifth of what will be produced by the panels that will replace it – and was targeted for recycling because its efficiency has declined over the years.

SOU now has solar arrays on nine Ashland rooftops and one on its Medford campus, for total generating capacity of 842kW, which accounts for 11.6% of the electricity used on campus. The university already is saving almost $50,000 per year by using its own electricity, and is on pace to generate enough for all of its daytime power needs within about a decade.

SOU has been awarded $5.8 million in state and federal funding over the past three years to support energy generation and energy resilience on campus; that money has paid for new arrays on Lithia Motors Pavilion (the largest in Ashland) and The Hawk Dining Commons, and a battery storage system. It will also pay for another two rooftop arrays, one parking lot canopy array and another battery storage system.

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Klamath River documentary by SOU alum Jason Atkinson

SOU alum returns to screen Klamath River film

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The SOU Alumni Association and multiple campus partners will present a screening of the award-winning documentary “A River Between Us,” about the Klamath River, that was written and produced by 1992 SOU graduate Jason Atkinson. He will return to campus for the free event at 1 p.m., Friday, April 11, in the Art Building’s Meese Auditorium and will entertain questions after the 90-minute film.

Atkinson’s documentary debuted in 2014 and was shown at 20 film festivals, winning awards at multiple events including the Wild & Scenic Film Festival, the Real West Film Festival and the Cinema Pacific Film Festival.

“We set out to show the human side of the problems in the basin by not taking sides,” Atkinson said. “I believe we accomplished that. The film was used in key states on the East Coast to help provide political cover for President Barack Obama to sign off on during the last six months of his presidency.”

His concept for the film – which began on a cocktail napkin in 2004 – came to fruition and helped influence and educate a presidential administration about the forgotten human side of the water wars. “I followed my heart and did what I believed to be right on this issue. I believe it was all worth it. And now the (Klamath River) dams are out, in 2024, and we will be able to begin the healing and recovery process.”

Atkinson grew up in Sacramento until his family moved to Ashland when he was 13. He graduated from Ashland High School, and chose what was then Southern Oregon State College to earn bachelor’s degrees in both history and political science. He spent time pursuing competitive bicycle racing in Europe and as a ski school instructor at Mt. Bachelor before entering graduate school at Willamette University in Salem, where he earned master’s degrees in business administration and public administration.

He began a consulting business and ran successfully for positions in the Oregon House of Representatives and then the State Senate, serving a total of 14 years. Atkinson began working on Klamath River restoration during the Bill Clinton presidential administration and continued into the George W. Bush administration. He took a break from public service to make a documentary about the complex water war over the river, which involved two states and five tribal nations.

Alumni Awards SOU Ashland

SOU alumni receive awards for their work and service

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(Ashland, Ore.) — A Colorado State University professor who is helping develop the Periodic Table of Food; the founder and executive director of a nonprofit that protects Siskiyou backcountry trails; a former La Clinica CFO and current equity policy strategist with the Oregon Health Authority; and the CEO of a Beaverton-based computer software company and his wife, the president of a property investment and management firm, have been recognized as this year’s Southern Oregon University alumni award winners.

The award recipients who were chosen by the SOU Alumni Association Board of Directors are Matt and Ella Essieh for the Distinguished Alumni Award; Jessica Prenni, Ph.D., for the Alumni Excellence in Education Award; Angelica Ruppe for the Stan Smith Alumni Service Award; and Gabe Howe for the Outstanding Young Alumni Award.

The five SOU alumni will be presented their awards at an 11:30 a.m. luncheon on Thursday, Oct. 10, in the Stevenson Union’s Rogue River Room. The event is part of this year’s homecoming celebration.

Essieh
The Distinguished Alumni Award is presented annually by the university and the SOU Alumni Association to recognize someone whose personal and professional achievements have significantly benefited humankind and brought distinction to the university. This year’s honorees are Emmanuella Essieh, who earned her bachelor’s degree at SOU in 1982, and her husband Matt Essieh, who earned his bachelor’s degree in 1982 and his Master’s in Business Administration in 1983. Emmanuella is cofounder and president of KMJ Asset Management in Portland, a residential property investment and management firm. Matt is the CEO of Beaverton’s EAI Information Systems, a financial services company that helps banks, brokers and insurance companies track and manage their investments. The couple’s professional success is balanced by their personal commitment to support youth from Sampa, Ghana, through their nonprofit foundation. They also work to assist students in Ghana and Nigeria to obtain a university education in Africa or the U.S.

Prenni
The Alumni Excellence in Education Award recognizes career achievement in education, service to community and commitment to SOU. This year’s winner of the award, Jessica Prenni, received her bachelor’s degree in chemistry from SOU in 1998 and her Ph.D. in analytical chemistry in 2002 from the University of Colorado-Boulder. She is a professor in the Department of Horticulture and Landscape Architecture at Colorado State University, where her research focuses on using mass spectrometry to address issues in food and crop safety, and to answer questions about the environmental factors that impact food composition. She is part of a global initiative to develop the Periodic Table of Food, a reference database on the composition and function of the most important foods worldwide.

Ruppe
The Stan Smith Alumni Service Award recognizes alumni who have demonstrated an outstanding commitment to the community and service to people. The award this year goes to Angelica Ruppe, who received her master’s degree at SOU in 1986. Angelica attended SOU in the 1980s as part of the Amistad student exchange program after earned her bachelor’s degree at the Universidad de Guanajuato in Mexico. She landed a position after graduating from SOU as the chief financial officer of La Clinica, a nonprofit health care provider in southern Oregon. She left the organization in 2017 and spent two years in Tanzania, working with women and children who were at-risk or living with disabilities. She is currently an equity policy strategist with the Oregon Health Authority, assuring healthcare access to those in need.

Howe
The Distinguished Young Alumni Award is presented to a recent university graduate who has demonstrated distinction in career, civic involvement or both. This year’s recipient of the award is Gabriel Howe, who received his bachelor’s degree in English at SOU in 2012. Gabe is founder and executive director of Siskiyou Mountain Club, a nonprofit organization that grew out of his capstone project at SOU. The organization seeks to restore, maintain and promote primitive trails in the Siskiyou backcountry. Gabe and the organization’s volunteers have restored 250 miles of trails and managed another 400 miles since 2010. He is committed to keeping trails from disappearing from the remote corners of southwest Oregon and northwest California.

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SOU alumnus Ted Adams receives Distinguished Alumni Award

Four receive SOU alumni awards for work and service

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(Ashland, Ore.) — A graphic novelist, television producer and retired corporate CEO; a geriatric nurse practitioner, designer of retirement housing and nursing school founder; a retired credit union CEO and financial literacy proponent; and a partner in a Portland distillery and youngest master distiller in the U.S. have been recognized as this year’s Southern Oregon University alumni award winners.

This year’s four award recipients were chosen by the SOU Alumni Association Board of Directors: Ted Adams for the Distinguished Alumni Award; Heather Young, Ph.D., for the Alumni Excellence in Education Award; Gene Pelham for the Stan Smith Alumni Service Award; and Molly Troupe for the Outstanding Young Alumni Award. The awards were presented as part of last week’s homecoming celebration.

Adams
The Distinguished Alumni Award is presented annually by the university and the SOU Alumni Association to recognize someone whose personal and professional achievements have significantly benefited humankind and brought distinction to the university. This year’s honoree, Ted Adams, earned his business degree at SOU in 1990, founded Clover Press and then went on to co-found IDW Publishing in 1999 – a company that would become one of the largest comic book publishers in the country, with a market cap of more than $300 million. Adams served for 20 years as publisher and CEO of IDW Publishing and IDW Media Holdings. The companies adapt existing works as comics or graphic novels, and also have produced television series for Syfy and Netflix. Adams and IDW opened the San Diego Comic Art Gallery to showcase the comic book and graphic arts industry, and he has also served on the boards of the non-profit Comic Book Legal Defense Fund, Traveling Stories and SOU Foundation Board of Trustees.

Young
The Alumni Excellence in Education Award recognizes career achievement in education, service to community and commitment to SOU. Heather Young earned a degree in nursing in Sacramento and was working in Coos Bay when she learned of an innovative pilot program offered by SOU’s nursing program that offered all courses in Coos Bay and Roseburg. She was awarded her degree in 1986, then went on to the University of Washington to earn her Ph.D., and become a geriatric nurse practitioner. Young worked in the corporate world to help design retirement housing that met he needs of older residents, and also served as a faculty member for the UW nursing program. She then founded the now-prestigious Betty Irene Moore School of Nursing at the University of California, Davis, in 2008, and served as dean until 2018. She continues to serve on a variety of advisory panels and commissions that help to shape state and national policies on healthy aging.

Pelham
The Stan Smith Alumni Service Award recognizes alumni who have demonstrated an outstanding commitment to the community and service to people. Gene Pelham, who earned his bachelor’s and master’s degrees in business at SOU in 1983 and 2006, credits an attentive high school counselor with helping him secure a scholarship to attend college and he has in turn tried to help others throughout his career. He began work with a Eugene credit union in 1985, took his first CEO position in 1999, then returned to southern Oregon in 2007 as CEO of Rogue Credit Union – where he served until his retirement in 2022. RCU grew to serve 183,000 members and held $3 billion in assets under Pelham. He encouraged volunteerism among his employees, who last year donated 8,000 hours of service to more than 30 organizations. The credit union also raised more than $600,000 over the past five years to benefit the Children’s Miracle Network, and Pelham has spearheaded efforts to teach the essential skills of financial literacy in local schools.

Troupe
The Distinguished Young Alumni Award is presented to a recent university graduate who has demonstrated distinction in career, civic involvement or both. Molly Troupe wanted to become a forensic anthropologist when she chose SOU for its highly regarded chemistry department. She graduated in 2012 with a bachelor’s degree in chemistry, then was admitted to Hariot-Watt University in Edinburgh, Scotland, for a master’s degree program in brewing and distilling. She became a quality control assistant with Hood River Distillers after returning to Oregon, then moved on to Oregon Spirit Distillers in Bend for three years, eventually becoming production manager and lead distiller. Troupe became the original employee and master distiller – the youngest in the U.S. to hold that title – in 2017 for Freeland Spirits in Portland. Troupe is now a partner in the venture and in 2018 was named to the Forbes Magazine “30 Under 30” list. She helped Freeland pivot quickly when COVID-19 hit in spring 2020, shifting for a time from spirits to hand sanitizer, and winning contracts with the city of Portland and Providence Hospital.

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Nicole Waehner receives tourism award

Recent SOU business grad earns tourism award

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Nicole Waehner, who earned her bachelor’s degree in business with a concentration in tourism management last June from Southern Oregon University, was awarded the Rising Star Award at this month’s Oregon Governor’s Conference on Tourism in Portland.

The Rising Star Award recognizes an individual who is new to the tourism industry within the past five years and has shown leadership, commitment and a passion for Oregon tourism.

Waehner is currently the Sustainability and Accessibility Project Manager at Columbia Gorge Tourism Alliance. Her boss, network director Emily Reed, nominated her for the Rising Star Award.

“Don’t let her calm demeanor and professionalism keep you from missing her drive and passion, which you can also see early most mornings on the river in a rowing crew,” Reed said in the nomination.

“In addition, I would say that she has single-handedly battled the red tape and complexity of our visa system to fight her way to work another year here in Oregon (with all of our digits crossed in hopes of winning the visa lottery for next year).”

Waehner, in her first three months at the gorge alliance, promoted a new, coordinated transit pass – the Gorge Pass – at numerous live events, supported the “Ready Set Gorge” campaign on social media and helped to coordinate the Waterfall Corridor Accessibility Audit, turning the findings into a visitor-facing brochure and a formal report. She spearhead the creation of the Accessible Gorge website this winter, gathering information from visitor-facing businesses so travelers with disabilities know what to expect before arriving.

SOU business professor Pavlina McGrady, Ph.D., who worked with Nicole in a few courses last academic year, recognized Waehner’s passion for tourism management.

“Nicole proved to be an outstanding student in all of (the courses),” McGrady said. “She was intelligent, ambitious, hard-working and a leader in group projects. After graduation (or even before that), Nicole was eager to find an internship and apply her knowledge and passion.

“I know that she has put her heart into the work for the Columbia Gorge Tourism Alliance. She joined one of my classes as a guest speaker, sharing her professional journey and the amazing work she has done for a short period with the alliance, being an inspiration for the students in the class. She truly is a rising star, and I can’t wait to see what else she will accomplish!”

The Rising Star Award was presented to three recipients as part of the Oregon Travel and Tourism Industry Achievement Awards at the Oregon Governor’s Conference on Tourism, at Portland’s Oregon Convention Center.

The Oregon Tourism Commission (Travel Oregon) is a semi-independent state agency with a mission to inspire travel that uplifts Oregon communities. The organization collaborates with stakeholders to align as stewards of Oregon, working to optimize economic opportunity, advance equity, and respect the ecosystems, cultures and places that make Oregon unique. The organization supports the state’s $13.8 billion tourism industry and more than 117,360 tourism-related jobs.

Daniel Henderson inducted into inventors academy

SOU alumnus and Foundation Board member inducted into inventors’ academy

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Daniel A. Henderson, a 1984 graduate of Southern Oregon University and emeritus member of the SOU Foundation Board of Trustees, is among 169 innovators worldwide who have been inducted in this year’s class of fellows in the National Academy of Inventors.

Henderson is best known for his patented invention of wireless picture and video messaging used in every cell phone in the world. He has received a total of 31 U.S. patents and his prototypes for wireless picture and video messaging are part of the collection at the Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of American History. He received an honorary Doctor of Science degree from New Jersey Institute of Technology in 2011 and was featured as a mobile technology innovator in a 2012 Super Bowl commercial for Best Buy.

Inventors inductee honored in Times Square“It is a true honor to be selected as a fellow of the National Academy of Inventors,” Henderson said. “I am proud to be included in an elite group of distinguished colleagues, scientists and inventors that are so impactful on the great challenges of our time.”

Election as a fellow in the National Academy of Inventors is the highest professional distinction for academic inventors. Members of this year’s class of NAI fellows come from a total of 110 research universities, governmental and non-profit research institutes worldwide. They hold more than 5,000 U.S. patents combined, and include Nobel laureates, members of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine, and other prestigious organizations.

“This year’s class of NAI Fellows represents a truly outstanding caliber of inventors,” said NAI President Paul R. Sanberg, Ph.D. “The breadth and scope of their inventions is truly staggering. I am excited to see their creativity continue to define a new era of science and technology in the global innovation ecosystem.”

The 2022 class of fellows will be honored and presented their medals at the 12th Annual Meeting of the National Academy of Inventors next June in Washington, D.C.

Henderson has founded numerous technology companies and was formerly with IBM Corporation. He is also an artist, and has had many public exhibitions of his large scale stone sculpture in the United Kingdom, China, the New Jersey Institute of Technology and at SOU’s Schneider Museum of Art.

U.S. Sen. Ron Wyden of Oregon publicly congratulated Henderson in 2003, when his contributions to wireless communications and computing technologies were acknowledged by the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History. “I couldn’t think of a better way to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the first commercial use of cellular phones than to recognize you, a developer, an inventor and an Oregonian,” Wyden said.

Then-Sen. Gordon Smith of Oregon added praise of his own in 2007.

“Ever since the days of the early pioneers, Oregon has been a magnet for innovators and trail blazers, and there can be no doubt that you have truly blazed new trails in the fields of wireless technology and digital convergence,” Smith said.

Henderson served as a member of the SOU Foundation Board of Trustees from 2002 to 2014, and has been a permanent, emeritus member of the board since 2018. He also serves on the Board of Overseers, the Dorman Honors College Board and several other boards at New Jersey Institute of Technology, and is engaged in fostering innovation, creativity and diversity in STEM education to benefit society.

Guanajuato students on SOU visit

Guanajuato students visit SOU for collaborative business development project

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(Ashland, Ore.) — Southern Oregon University is hosting nine business students this week from Universidad de Guanajuato, and will send nine SOU students to the Mexican university next month as the two longtime sister campuses launch a new collaboration on multicultural business development as part of a far-reaching program under the U.S. Department of State’s umbrella.

The 18 total students from SOU and UG are working together this week on development plans for three local businesses – Irvine Roberts Family Vineyards, Indigo Creek Outfitters and Northwest Pizza and Pasta – and will do the same for three Guanajuato businesses during the May exchange. The Global Innovation Scholars program also includes international, online coursework for participating students during this year’s winter and spring terms, and the opportunity for immersive social and cultural experiences.

SOU's Dee Fretwell with Giuanajuato visitors“This program is so valuable and unique,” said Dee Fretwell, the SOU business instructor who proposed the project along with UG business professor and SOU alumnus Martin Pantoja. “We push the boundaries of an exchange program, blending cultural experiences with hands-on business development for live, operating businesses. I’m not sure we as a society are even grasping how valuable this is to our students and businesses alike.”

The collaboration between SOU and UG – which have maintained a steady stream of exchange and cooperative projects since 1969 – is part of the “100,000 Strong in the Americas” program, sponsored by the State Department, the U.S. Embassies and the nonprofit organization Partners for the Americas. The SOU-UG partnership applied for and received a $25,000, one-year grant from the 100,000 Strong program, which now serves 534 higher education institutions in 25 Western Hemisphere countries and 49 U.S. states. There is hope that a funding source will be found to continue the new program beyond its inaugural year.

A unique link between SOU and UG has led more than 1,000 students, faculty members and others to participate in exchanges, and has resulted in more than 80 marriages tying people from Ashland and Guanajuato over three generations. In fact, the current SOU-UG project grew out of a previous partnership between the two schools – the Collaborative Online International Learning (COIL) program, which brought together classes of upper-division business students to work on the development of international business relationships.

The collaborative relationship that Fretwell and Pantoja formed through that program provided a natural segue to the “100,000 Strong in the Americas” grant application.

SOU student RJ Henry, who is participating in this week’s events and will be among the nine from the Ashland campus who visit Guanajuato next month, called the program an “extraordinary opportunity” that will build cooperative skills and provide valuable real-life lessons.

“The 100K Strong program offers a remarkably exciting opportunity to embark on a life experience that combines business education with cultural immersion, while making new friends along the way,” Henry said. “The benefits are the various academic, travel, cultural and social activities, which include the development of business-related critical thinking skills within group work settings, and the experience of unique cultural perspectives.”

The Guanajuato exchange students arrived in the Rogue Valley last Saturday night. They have toured the community and SOU campus in the days since, and have had meetings or events with SOU President Rick Bailey, state Rep. Pam Marsh, Ashland Mayor Julie Akins, SOU’s Faculty Advisory Board, the university’s Small Business Development Center in Medford and Ashland’s Amigo Club – an organization of community members and alumni who support the Amistad exchange program and have created an endowed scholarship fund for participants.

The SOU and UG students have visited the three local businesses that are receiving development advice, and will present their business plans at a Friday event in SOU’s Stevenson Union. They will tour Lithia Park and go on a rafting excursion on Saturday before returning to Mexico on Sunday.

The students and participating faculty members from Guanajuato were welcomed to southern Oregon by Vincent Smith, director of SOU’s Division of Business, Communication and the Environment, and a faculty leader for the project. He told the visitors that we face many problems in common as a global society, from the COVID-19 pandemic and natural disasters, to environmental destruction and political conflict.

“You are here this week to assist three businesses in planning,” Smith told the SOU and UG students as this week’s field work began. “That is important work. It is practice for the many problems you will need to solve in your lives.

“Unfortunately, the problems you will need to solve are complex. They cannot easily be solved without collaboration and cooperation. In fact, unless we work together to solve these problems we will fail.”

Smith told students from the two universities that working together, developing friendships and building trust will provide their greatest strengths.

“We are more alike than we are different, but it is our differences that will help us solve the most complex problems,” he said.

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Kelly Taylor, a volunteer with Court Appointed Special Advocates

SOU alumni working as Court Appointed Special Advocates

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Several SOU alumni are volunteering this year as Court Appointed Special Advocates – a national organization that provides volunteer support and aid for children that have experienced abuse or neglect, and are struggling within the court system. The Jackson County division of CASA has welcomed many past and present SOU students as volunteers in recent years.

Kelly Taylor got his master of arts in teaching degree at SOU in 2006, and began teaching kindergarten shortly after. He had contact with CASA volunteers as part of that job, and eventually began volunteering himself, alongside his wife.

He currently works with two children, whom he visits at least once a month – developing personal relationships with them and their families, and offering a friendly figure to connect with. After spending time with the children, he writes court reports on their cases to help a judge make decisions for the children in a court of law.

“I got involved with CASA because I fervently believe that it takes every one of us to somehow do our part to make the Rogue Valley the best place it can be,” Kelly said, recounting why he decided to join CASA.

He enjoyed being able to get involved in the community, and the volunteer work has been very fulfilling. In general, he encourages help in the community in many different ways. CASA has been a great way for him to give back, along with activities such as nature maintenance crews, feeding the less fortunate and donating to charities.

Another SOU alum making strides with CASA is Alicia Linton Ambrocio, who majored in criminal justice with a minor in psychology at SOU. She started as an intern for CASA during her senior year of college, became a full-fledged volunteer shortly after and has now moved up to the position of case supervisor for the organization.

Alicia became inspired to work for CASA through her studies of the justice system, and realizing the potential for prejudice against people of color and other minority groups.

“Working for CASA is honestly some of the most rewarding work I have ever done,” she said. “Working with the families, putting a face to these court cases, and amplifying the children’s voices is so important, real differences can be made (in) the process.”

Alicia has found that the work done for CASA-supported children and families can have a long-lasting result on the community as a whole.

There are at least 10 current or former SOU students involved with CASA in Jackson County. The program provides its volunteers the opportunity to support children in need and foster a better overall environment for them and the communities in which they live. More information for those interested in getting involved with CASA and making a difference in children’s lives is available at this link.

Story by Nash Bennett, SOU Marketing and Communications student writer