News, Events, and Community for COE Alumni
It wasn’t love at first sight when I met my husband, Bryan. I immediately put him in the friend zone. However, I didn’t know it at the time, but friendship is one of the foundational pillars of a successful long-lasting relationship. It was at the end of my freshman year in college that Bryan asked me to meet him at the Black Student Union (BSU).
It was March 1964. I had received early release from the Army to obtain an Oregon teaching certificate at U of O. Elouise had been accepted into a teacher training grant program from the US Department of Education. We both found ourselves in the required “Audio Visual” class that Spring Term. One assignment was to tour the Eugene School District Audio Visual Center.
Andres Brown, MS ‘17 Couples and Family Therapy, knew they wanted to be a marriage and family therapist at the age of twelve. Growing up in a strict religious household, they learned at an early age how one’s mental health is closely tied to their family relationships. Their own experiences with family trauma have informed their practice as a therapist specializing in supporting LGBTQIA+ communities struggling with challenging family relationships.
“A huge motivation for why I do what I do is my own mother. When I came out, there was a moment of disconnection and hurt. It was a trauma between us, but my mother and I have gone through the process of repairing our relationship. I recognized that the more that I show up authentically, and the more that she shows up authentically, the more we’re able to connect in a meaningful way. That sparked in me the idea that this healing is possible. My mom is still aligned and affiliated with my religion of origin, but also deeply loves and cares about me. At one point she expressed how hard it would be to support and love me and my husband, Phillip. Now she texts him more than she texts me! She’s teaching me how to sew some skirts and has helped me repair some of the gender non-conforming clothing that I have. My personal experience drives so much of the agility that I have, as a therapist. I’m able to say that I also experienced this trauma with my mom. I can speak the language of the community.”
Growing up in Utah, Andres felt that they needed an environment in which they could grow and thrive. They found that supportive community at the College of Education.
“[When I joined the UO], I felt like I was finally with my people, people who viewed the world the way that I viewed the world and who thought about relationships the way that I thought about relationships. I owe a lot of who I am to the UO, to my experience there and my cohort who introduced me to a world that I had only hoped would happen. Coming out was not a positive experience in Utah. But when I came to the UO my cohort met me with such open arms and such celebration.”
Andres also credits the mentorship of professors in the Couples and Family Therapy Program for their personal and professional growth.
“I think the world of Tiffany Brown, Jeff Todahl, who was my supervisor, and Deanna Linville. It was quite a culture shock, going to Oregon and wrestling with my own biases and my own assumptions of relationships and gender. I had a lot of learning to do. I was so grateful that my supervisors and the faculty provided the safe space for me to do that and provided me with the opportunities to learn and grow clinically. It’s hard learning to be a therapist. I wasn’t prepared for how much self-work it takes. I was grateful to have supportive, expansive, thoughtful supervisors to help guide me through that process, but to also hold me accountable to the role of being a therapist, the honor of holding space for other people’s healing.”
When asked about her experience with Andres as a student, Tiffany Brown, PhD, recalled Andres’ positive impact on the program.
“Andres has left a lasting mark on the CFT program with a steadfast commitment to anti-racism and socially just therapy services. Not only is Andres a strong advocate for therapists using their authentic self as a meaningful change agent, but they also model this vulnerability in every facet of clinical and personal life. They are a true example of how one person can induce change for so many.”
During their time in the program, Andres also worked in the HEDCO Clinic Speech-Language-Hearing Center providing support to the Speak Up! program. Speak Up! is an interdisciplinary, gender-affirming communication group for adult transfeminine speakers. Andres described it as “an incredible learning opportunity.”
Andres returned to Utah after graduating, where they currently work for Encircle, a nonprofit providing therapy and community-building services to enable LGBTQIA+ youth to thrive. They are the Assistant Clinical Director and Director of Cultural Engagement there.
“Our work at Encircle specifically focuses on religiously conservative environments. The mantra of the organization is “no sides, only love.” I think that there can often be a strong feeling of having to choose, but you don’t have to sacrifice or choose a side. We’re trying to provide a space where families can focus on the skills and resources they need to enact the love that is so deeply there.”
During the pandemic, Andres has been using teletherapy to continue his clinical practice.
“Teletherapy has provided me with the opportunity to reach more people who are distant. That’s been very meaningful and unexpected. One of the challenges is that I focus on trauma healing, which has been difficult to recreate in a physically disconnected space. A lot of my work has shifted from deep trauma work to stabilization and support. We are all navigating a trauma together. It has been a meaningful experience for me to be able to say that I am also responding to a global pandemic. It’s overwhelming, anxiety producing, and we feel disconnected and lost, but our shared humanity, our shared overwhelm has been a community building experience.”
Andres offered the following advice to those trying to find ways to build and sustain relationships during the unprecedented challenges of the pandemic.
“It may sound counterintuitive, but the more in tune we are with ourselves, the better we are able to connect with others. Sometimes we miss that when we talk about relationship dynamics. Can we understand who we are and become familiar with the parts of ourselves that are celebratory and that we want to be seen, but also the pieces of ourselves that are hurt, that have been rejected? If we can become familiar with ourselves, then we are better able to recognize where we are coming from and be able to communicate that with the people in our lives.”
Andres reflected on the experience of returning to Utah after their time at the UO.
“It has been transformative for me to come back to my community in Utah. My healing, growth, and my queer identity development happened in Oregon. I was able to grow among the trees of Oregon. I feel deeply rooted in my clinical practice from the UO and I’m able to share that training here. I’m a little pine tree here in the mountains of Utah. I’m carrying with me some of the seeds of Oregon.”
Sometimes life can take you in unexpected directions.
That was the case for Betty Campbell-Ross, MS ‘15 Communication Disorders & Sciences. A veteran with twenty years of service in the National Guard, she happened upon a news story on National Public Radio featuring speech-language-pathologists helping veteran patients with traumatic brain injuries. That radio program inspired her to explore becoming a speech-language-pathologist and eventually led her to the College of Education.
Betty was working in the mortgage industry when she decided to return to school. Taking postbaccalaureate courses at Portland State University to prepare for applying to communication disorders programs, she wasn’t sure if she’d be able to take on the rigorous coursework the master’s program required.
Her first course was statistics. Betty thought, “if I can do statistics, if I can pass this, then I’m going to keep going.” When she passed this first hurdle, she continued to excel in the remaining courses and decided to apply to graduate programs all over the country. One of her professors at PSU had spoken glowingly of McKay Sohlberg, PhD, a professor known internationally for her pioneering work in the field of cognitive rehabilitation.
“When I was applying for grad schools, I threw my net wide, because I worried that nobody would want to accept me. I was accepted into four schools, but McKay was the deciding factor for why I chose the UO.”
McKay said of Betty, “I was fortunate enough to supervise Betty in our clinic seeing clients with brain injury. The commitment and passion that she brought to learning all that she could in order to help clients integrate into their communities as fully as possible inspired and motivated faculty and peers.”
Betty relied on the support of numerous mentors throughout her educational and professional careers, including Rik Lemoncello, PhD, Kerry Mandulak, PhD, Elise Peltier, Holly Shepard, and Pam Tennant, her supervisors in her externships at the Veterans Affairs Health System in Roseburg and in the 4J School District, respectively, and Leandra Gambee, NP at area skilled nursing facilities.
Her advice to COE students? Get a mentor.
“Find somebody who has your back. There are times when graduate school can be discouraging. Find that person who will support you and help you realize that you can get through it.”
She also credited her time in the National Guard as pivotal to making it through graduate school.
“There were difficult days, but I knew that I would end up stronger. I realized that I could accomplish things that I never thought I could do.”
Betty came full circle when she worked with veterans with traumatic brain injury at the VA in Roseburg during her externship there. Her military service became a bridge to veterans who were reluctant to receive treatment.
“The veterans would be more receptive when they found out about my service. They didn’t expect to see that their therapist had military experience. Older veterans at the VA weren’t accustomed to seeing women in the service.”
Betty grew up in a military family; her father was in the Navy, and she fondly remembers visits to the American Legion. She said that her travels while in the National Guard also helped her to be respectful of other cultures.
As Betty embarked upon her career, she found that the CDS Program’s emphasis on evidence-based practice served her well.
“When first entering my career, I would get pushback when I didn’t do things the way my predecessors did. The CDS Program helped me use evidence to back up my methods.”
Betty is now an independent contractor at Eugene Speech Therapy, where she works primarily with patients with dysphagia, aphasia, and cognitive deficits. She is proudest of her track record transitioning 98% of her patients from tube feeding to eating by mouth.
When asked whether she made the right decision to change her career path, she didn’t hesitate.
“It was the best decision I’ve ever made. I’m making a difference in somebody’s life.”
Carol Yetter, BS ‘65 Speech, comes from a legacy of Ducks; her great-grandfather graduated in the first four-year class, and both her late husband and her children attended the University of Oregon. Since she graduated, she has paid that legacy forward in philanthropic support and volunteer service at the College of Education and the UO, from serving on the UO Alumni Association Board, and the COE Alumni Association, Dean’s Council, and Advisory Council between 1989 and 2017, to hemming forty-two pairs of pants for the marching band in preparation for the 2021 football season.
Carol graduated from what was then the Speech and Hearing Program in the College of Liberal Arts, before the Communication Disorders and Sciences (CDS) Program existed at the College of Education. Two professors Kenneth Scott Wood, PhD and Ned Christiansen, PhD, became her mentors and later joined the new CDS program when it opened at the COE. Carol said of her mentors, “Both Dr. Wood and Dr. Christiansen were exceptionally supportive and were rigorous in their expectations.”
After graduating, she became a speech-language clinician for the Salem-Keizer school district while pursuing her master’s degree but was unable to complete the audiology practicum requirements until several years later. Her pursuit of the degree was paused when she and her husband moved to central Oregon and she chose to stay home and raise their children. During this time, Carol completed coursework for her Clinical Certification in Audiology, and then worked as a clinical and educational audiologist. She moved back to Western Oregon and joined the faculty at Western Oregon State College (now Western Oregon University). After successfully guiding students through their final year of the Communication Disorders program, Carol continued as an adjunct assistant professor for the next 30 years while also employed as a speech-language pathologist and pediatric/educational audiologist.
Carol earned Certificates of Clinical Competency in both Audiology and Speech Language Pathology, which was an exceptional accomplishment, as most clinicians typically obtained only one certificate. Carol retired in 2019 after over 50 years in the speech and hearing field, including work in private and public medical centers, clinics, school districts, Indian health services, and as a Communication Disorders professor.
Carol looks back at her career in speech and hearing with pride in her accomplishments and gratitude for the opportunities she was given to help others.
“I’m proud of achieving dual certification, but I’m also proud, circumstances being what they were, of having a varied career in audiology and in speech-language pathology.”
“My proudest moments in audiology had to do with the evaluation of hearing in children. It is exceptionally fulfilling to fit an infant or young child with proper amplification, to see their eyes light up when hearing for the first time. It was also satisfying to have played a role in ruling out hearing loss for children diagnosed on the autism spectrum.”
“Early in my career in audiology, before acceptance of the diagnosis of autism spectrum disorder, it was difficult to convince physicians that certain behaviors were unrelated to hearing but directly related to processing disorders.”
“Often, a child with hearing loss in only one ear is difficult to evaluate. Confirming that child’s hearing loss within only one ear, and then properly fitting that child with amplification was very fulfilling, and the parents were thrilled.”
Watching the field of audiology continue to evolve is important to Carol who is excited for the opening of the Marjorie Mitchell Audiology Lab at HEDCO Clinic this month.
Now a few years into her retirement, Carol enjoys volunteering, reading, and sewing. A life member of the UO Alumni Association for over 30 years, Carol’s time is filled with many activities centered around campus. From football and basketball season tickets to work as a senior ambassador for both the UO Marching Band and the Hatfield-Dowlin Complex, Carol embodies what it means to truly be a life-long Duck.
More about Carol Yetter:
Completing the circle: from receiving as a student to leaving a legacy for others
For Ducks Ross and Kayla Krempley, a mutual love of track and a love story that begun in a chilly cooldown tub at Hayward Field, was the beginning of a 14-year marriage, a thriving business, and three children.
Ross graduated in 2001 with a degree in psychology and 2002 with a master’s in educational leadership. Kayla earned a degree in human physiology degree in 2005. During their time in Eugene the couple learned how special it is to be a Duck.
Above: Bryan Rojas-Arauz (left) at Autzen stadium with friends.
For Bryan Rojas-Arauz, MS ‘19 Counseling, Family & Human Services, PhD ‘21 Counseling Psychology, what was supposed to be a six-month stay in the US instead became a new home. Immigrating from Costa Rica at the age of 13, he landed in the San Francisco Bay Area. Reflecting on his journey, Bryan said, “I think down deep, I knew that I wasn’t going back home. My family told ourselves the story that it was a six-month trip in order to make it more digestible.”
As a teenager, Bryan struggled in school as he faced an environment rife with gang violence and the ever-present fear of deportation. During his sophomore year in high school, he lost a friend to gun violence.
“I remember a therapist coming in to talk to students afterwards, and she said, ‘I know what you’re going through.’ To which I responded, ‘You have no idea what I’m going through. You’ve never been where I’ve been.’ Years later, that experience made me want to go into psychology. If it had been me sitting across that table, I might have not said, I know what you’re going through. I might have said, ‘I understand what it’s like to lose someone to gun violence.’ I knew there weren’t a lot of therapists that could say that honestly. If I was the therapist sitting across that table, what difference would that have made for someone like me?”
After high school, Bryan went on to earn an associate degree before completing his bachelor’s degree at San Jose State. He hesitated to return to school for his master’s degree because he was still an undocumented student, but when he was granted permanent residency in the US, it made his continued education possible. He chose the UO because of the their commitment to social justice and the Spanish Language Psychological Service and Research Specialization Program.
Bryan’s drive to help other Latinx students facing similar struggles led him to reestablish and co-lead an after-school program working with immigrant Latinx youth and getting involved with the Dreamers working group at the UO, so that the university could better support students.
Bryan received the Claire Wilkens Chamberlin Memorial Scholarship and the César Chávez Research Award while at the College of Education. He said that receiving the awards validated his presence in the institution.
“For a lot of us, academia constantly excludes you, it tells you all the ways in which you shouldn’t be here, whether it’s because you’re a first-generation student, a student of color, or because you’re an undocumented immigrant. When I received the awards, it made such a big difference. The university was telling me that it cares about what I have to say.”
Bryan credits the influence of mentors in his program such as Ellen McWhirter, PhD, Benedict McWhirter, PhD, and Krista Chronister, PhD, professors in the Counseling Psychology Program, as well as COE staff that helped him navigate funding for his education, such as Andrea Olson, Associate Director of Stewardship.
“It was never things it was always people. It was people that helped me be successful. Seeing women of color such as Krista in a position of leadership was important to me, and represented diversity and social justice through action.”
Bryan’s doctoral dissertation, Undocumented Healing: Strengths and Resilience from the Shadows, was a qualitative investigation into the seven psychological strengths of undocumented students, which culminated in a collaborative set of poems highlighting their experiences.
“Some of the students were crying during the presentation, and I felt bad, but one of the students said, ‘I’m not crying because things are hard. I am crying because I have never seen myself reflected positively in research.’ To me, the validation from the community itself was just as important as the validation from my dissertation committee.”
Bryan is now a bilingual postdoctoral trauma therapist at Reaching Hope in Colorado, where he is working to develop a Spanish-language services program. He is also working on co-writing a book, Taking Action: Creating Social Change through Strength, Solidarity, Strategy, and Sustainability and helping to create a documentary focused on the experiences of immigrants who have recently been released from detainment and an accompanying cookbook exploring their connection to their country of origin through food.
Bryan said that earning his PhD still feels unreal, as he contemplates how far he’s come.
“I have been reflecting on what it means for me to be a doctor in psychology. It was not part of my script at any point, until it happened. Now it feels more real, but even now it’s hard to introduce myself as Dr. Rojas-Arauz. I’m still just Bryan for most people.”
Mavis Gallo, MEd ‘20 earned their GED at the age of seventeen and spent the next twenty years working as a pastry chef, tattoo apprentice, and body piercer. Despite a challenging K-12 school experience, Mavis eventually decided to return to community college to study radiology. Instead, they found an interest in psychology. Interactions with their professors at Lane Community College and research professors from the University of Oregon inspired them to pursue a degree at the UO, where they earned their bachelor’s degree in psychology.
Discovering a love of scholarship and research, Mavis went on to complete their master’s degree in prevention science at the College of Education and is currently working towards a PhD in the same program. Mavis said that they chose to continue to study at the UO partly because of the interdisciplinary nature of its programs.
“The COE provides opportunities for collaboration with other departments and disciplines throughout the college. I have always been encouraged to explore different disciplines and ways of problem-solving. This is unique to our college and allows for a holistic perspective to issues we are researching, which leads to personal and professional growth.”
Currently, their research focuses on suicidality and institutional betrayal in the LGBTQIA community. Working with Assistant Professor James Muruthi on a pilot project funded by donors to the Hope Baney Fund, Mavis is combining their primary interests with Muruthi as he studies health disparities in marginalized groups. They are collecting data from LGBTQIA individuals in Oregon to better understand the unique function of their communities in sustaining emotional and physical health while they confront homophobia and transphobia. Mavis and Muruthi collaborated to design the study and have plans to expand it after the pilot project is complete.
“The field often uses gender or sexual minority identity as a risk factor. We’re trying to pull away from that mode of thought, and to consider what’s actually happening in these communities and systems.”
Mavis credits both Muruthi’s and Professor John Seely’s mentorship as crucial to her success at the COE.
“John has been incredibly supportive of me as an individual, academically and personally. Not only is he an accomplished scholar, but he is also a compassionate and thoughtful human being. His support means a lot to me. James has also been an important mentor. Not only is he smart, but he’s also an amazing ally.”
Seeley said of Mavis, “The passion that they bring to their program of research to address mental health issues and prevent suicide among high-risk and marginalized populations has been inspiring to me, faculty members, and other students with whom they collaborate.”
Mavis also praised the supportive atmosphere at the COE and in their cohort in the Prevention Science Program.
“Obviously with COVID-19 it’s been a little bit tricky. None of us were expecting to complete a PhD online, but I am lucky because everyone in my program is awesome. We have been making sure to stay in touch with one another and support one another. Academia can often breed a competitive mindset, but people in my cohort help each other out.”
Mavis stressed the importance of representing their identity as a non-binary lesbian. They hope that their success can be a model and a source of hope to other LGBTQIA individuals. Mavis also hopes that they can inspire students who come from non-traditional backgrounds.
“My entire family is working class and school felt like a frivolous activity not meant for someone like me. Now that I’m part of it, I believe academia is meant for people like me and those who do not fit the mold of the stereotypical scholar. Different ways of being and conceptualizing issues are crucial to advancing science.”
When Chieh-Yu “Tom” Chen (PhD ‘17 Special Education) came to the United States from Taiwan to pursue his PhD, he was faced with adjusting to a new language and culture. With the help of a mentor and a unique source – a community discovered through new hobbies – Tom was able to find success both at the College of Education and in Taiwan, where he eventually returned after graduation.
Tom earned his master’s degree in Special Education in Taiwan, inspired by his father’s work as a wheelchair engineer. He decided to earn his PhD at the UO after COE alumni in Taiwan recommended the program.
While at the COE, he formed a strong relationship with his mentor, Jane Squires, Associate Professor Emerita. Jane encouraged Tom to pursue his interest in statistical analysis of the data gained through her research on screening and assessment tools, including the ASQ and ASQ:SE, which she developed with colleagues at the UO. Tom found that Jane “listened to everybody’s opinions and let others challenge her opinions. She also gave me space to choose what I wanted to study. That inspired me to have an open mind for all kinds of students.”
Jane described Tom as “an enthusiastic, dedicated researcher in special education.”
“As a student at UO, Tom took advantage of many opportunities, including taking several new, advanced statistical courses at UO. He then took that knowledge with him on a six-month research program in Brazil, where he performed analyses on several large Brazilian childcare data sets that resulted in numerous joint research papers with the Brazilian team.”
Tom also became interested in several hobbies while in Eugene that introduced him to new people and experiences. Tom looks back fondly on his time in Eugene, where he found the culture to be open-minded and refreshingly direct. He became a frequent thrift store shopper and collected vintage postcards. Perhaps the most influential new interest, however, was his love of board games. After a visit to Funagain Games in Eugene, he met owner Cary Madden, who became one of his dearest friends.
“Tom and his wife, Sesame, are close friends who happen to have started out as customers. We would regularly get together in the store after hours and prepare and eat food and play games together in the store. I was very sad when Tom graduated and he and Sesame had to go back to Taiwan, because they were my greatest source of joy during that time.”
Cary reflected on the role that gaming can play in helping people adjust to new environments. “Board games are social by nature. For a certain people who are more introverted or less socially adept, games provide a structured environment. That alone lets people feel a little less uncertain and a little more at ease.”
When Tom returned to Taiwan, he brought his love of gaming into his research, using board games as an intervention in special education, and teaching a course on gaming to master’s students at the National Taipei University of Education. He continues to research assessment tools, translating the ASQ:SE into Chinese in the hopes of bringing the UO’s expertise into the Taiwanese special education field, and he is still unearthing “treasures” in data and statistics. He recently earned a promotion to Associate Professor there and hopes to become a professor in the next few years.
For Leticia Meza, class of 2021, the College of Education is a launchpad to a career in social work. Earning her BA in Family and Human Services (FHS) this year and the first in her family to graduate college, she’ll be attending Portland State University in the fall for the master’s program in social work. With the support of her family, college-readiness programs, and scholarships, she has taken the first step toward her dream of helping children and families.
When Leticia was 13, her father passed away suddenly. As the oldest child, she became a source of support for her mother. “I took on this role of wanting to be her right hand, to become the person that she had lost. I saw the things that my mom went through, the struggles of being a single parent and an immigrant in this country. Seeing how she’s struggled to navigate the systems that are intended to help people, but sometimes can cause more trauma and more stress, and the lack of representation that there is in our systems, I knew that I wanted to work with families and children and to uplift them.”
With the help of Academia Latina, a college-readiness program, and the guidance of an advisor at her high school, Leticia discovered the College of Education’s Family and Human Services program.
“Once I got accepted at the UO, I knew that this was the place for me because of my passion. Prior to coming to college, I could describe all the things I wanted to do, but I didn’t have a name for it. It wasn’t until I got to the COE and the FHS program and did internships, that I put a name on what I want to do, which is social work.”
A privately funded, full-ride undergraduate scholarship from the Pumfrey family estate helped Leticia complete her degree at a crucial transition into her junior year. “The Pumfrey Scholarship at the COE meant everything to me because one of my biggest UO scholarships was only for the first two years. I was going to be left trying to figure out what I would do for the following two years of my education, and that’s where the COE scholarship came in. It changed everything for me financially.”
Leticia completed an internship as a part of the FHS program at the Oregon Department of Human Services (ODHS). Her work with ODHS has led her to explore a senior project creating a report on the outreach efforts of ODHS in Latinx communities as the department completes their first client survey.
“There were only four Spanish surveys submitted out of over 500 surveys. I think that says a lot about the outreach done to Latinx communities and non-English-speaking communities and clients. Not a lot of their voices were heard. My project was to create a pamphlet with research that I’ve done on ways that we can better culturally adapt a survey so they can increase the number of responses from these communities the next time.”
Leticia’s community service extended beyond her internships as well. She has volunteered as a senior instructor for Academia Latina, helping high school students understand their college options just as she was helped by the organization before coming to the UO.
“It was a really rewarding experience because a lot of the young women found themselves in positions that I’ve once found myself in, fearing they aren’t good enough for higher education and wondering if it can be a possibility for them. It was amazing to be able to share my experiences with them and focus on inspiring these students.”
Leticia’s family is proud of how far she’s come. Her two younger brothers are currently students at Southern Oregon University. Leticia says, “I just hope I can continue setting a great example for them, because that’s always been my goal.” While she’s looking forward to a family celebration after commencement, Leticia is focused on the road ahead, planning her move to Portland in the fall. Upon earning her master’s, she plans to become a licensed clinical social worker and return to Eugene, where she hopes to work with Latinx communities.