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Jennifer Linares-Espinoza

By Ellie Webb-Bowen, CLA Student Writer - June 19, 2025

Emigrating from Mexico to Oregon, Jennnifer Linares-Espinoza’s parents always emphasized the importance of getting a quality education. Now a first-generation student at OSU’s College of Liberal Arts, Linares-Espinoza is earning a degree that will help her support college students during their own academic journeys. 

After Growing up in SE Portland, Linares-Espinoza enrolled in the University of Oregon (UO), but, like many first generation students, she struggled with the financial commitment of paying tuition, housing, books, etc. With support from UO’s Pathway Scholarship and a job as a residential advisor, Linares-Epinoza was able to completely cover her costs.

“My family never quite knew how they would pay for my education,” explained Linares-Espinoza. “But I was privileged enough to have their moral support and dedication to find the means to pay for my education.” 

Though, being a first generation student still came with culture shock. “Living and learning on a college campus was a completely new experience for not only me, but also for my family.” explained Linares-Espinoza. “This was a space that we all had no familiarity with, and as a child of immigrants who grew up in a strong Latin community, it was especially jarring.” 

Linares-Espinoza chose to double major in Spanish and political science, but also take on four minors, including topics that piqued her own interest: Latinx studies, legal studies, media studies, and nonprofit administration. “It was quite a bit to handle,” said Linares-Espinoza, but she attributed her success at UO to the support she received from student affairs professionals.

Linares-Espinoza found a commonality among student affairs professionals: many of whom were unaware of student services as a career path when they began their collegiate careers. Linares-Espinoza recognized the support she received from her advisors, mentors, and peers while at UO and decided she was interested in going down the same path.

 "When I worked as a resident advisor, peer mentor, peer advisor, and student orientation leader at UO, all of these experiences taught me to appreciate the different resources available at higher education institutions, as well as those who work tirelessly to serve students like me," said Linares-Espinoza. 

When looking at student affairs graduate school programs in Oregon, Linares-Espinoza found the School of Language, Culture, and Society’s College Student Services Administration (CSSA) program. What attracted her to the program was the course’s cohort-based model, where students build strong connections with a small group of peers throughout their studies. 

Also attracting Linares-Espinoza to the program was the curriculum centered around diversity, equity, and inclusion. CSSA supplies students with an intersectional, feminist, anti-racist educational foundation to help them better serve other college students in future higher-education administration capacities.

“This was exactly what I was looking for in a graduate program,” said Linares-Espinoza. “I wanted to learn more about how to support diverse students like the people who had supported me so well in undergrad.”

As an M.Ed. student, not only is Linares-Espinoza receiving her Graduate Certificate in College and University Teaching (GCCUT) and Leading and Creating Change graduate certificate, but she’s also applying what she’s learning in CSSA directly to students as a graduate teaching assistant for the University Exploratory Studies Program, an academic department for undeclared undergraduate students where she focuses on providing academic advising and teaching sections of Academic Learning Services (ALS 114/191)

Additionally, now in her second and final year, Linares-Espinoza is completing her M.Ed. final project, which is focused on threads of community and identity. After she graduates, Linares-Espinoza is looking to enter a student affairs role, applying directly what she learned in class and from her peers in the CSSA program.

“Something I really love about the cohort model is that I’ve grown close with peers and learned so much from them,” said Linares-Espinoza. “Being able to share experiences, build a learning environment, and co-create knowledge together has been an experience I won’t forget.” 

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KC Crandal

By Taylor Pedersen, CLA Student Writer - June 12, 2025

KC Crandal didn’t always know they would end up behind a camera. In fact, when he initially enrolled at Oregon State University from his hometown of Beaverton, Crandal had their sights set on biology. But just weeks before their first term, Crandal made a switch that would redirect their academic path and their whole creative future.

“I was browsing the OSU website, trying to figure out what I actually wanted to do,” he recalled. “Then I found the digital communication arts major and thought—wait, this is exactly what I want to do.”

Since making that switch, Crandal has emerged as a key figure in OSU’s student media world. From nervously holding their first camera on a Twilight Zone–themed episode of “Geeking Out About It” to becoming assistant station manager of KBVR-TV, his journey has been flooded with growth, experimentation, and joy.

Crandal had barely touched a camera before their initial camera assignment during KBVR’s orientation week, and found themselves thrown into the fray. But the support of peers and a shared sense of beginner's nerves helped create a low-pressure environment. “It was really cool to know that these people would trust you and train you if you had the passion for it,” he said. “That’s all you really need.”

Crandal quickly moved from that first crew role to becoming a student engineer, and then joined KBVR’s Creative Video team—Orange Media Network’s documentary branch. There, they found their rhythm in telling other people’s stories, especially through arts-focused features for PRISM, OSU’s student-run art and literary magazine.

“I loved talking to artists about what makes them passionate,” he said. One highlight was a short documentary Crandal created about Vianne Sarber, a ceramicist whose intricate sculptures captivated him. “Giving people a space to talk about their art is incredibly rewarding for me.”

Crandal’s intuitive understanding of visual storytelling is something he credits in part to their studio art minor, where drawing and composition classes gave him a deeper grasp of framing, visual balance, and what to highlight in a scene. “It’s all about how you arrange elements in a little rectangle to tell the best story.”

Now in their final year, Crandal has taken on leadership responsibilities as assistant station manager at KBVR-TV. “I get to make these fun videos about how awesome it is to work here,” he said. “It’s been exciting to highlight the joy of it.”

Crandal is quick to point out what makes OSU’s student media programs special. “This studio is incredible. Anyone can come in and be a volunteer, use industry-standard equipment, and get real-world experience for free. That’s kind of unheard of.”

After graduation this spring, Crandal will step into a new kind of spotlight—literally. They’ve been tapped to run lighting for a production of “The Barber of Seville” in Bend, directed by a close family friend. “My dad is an opera singer, and I grew up around opera, so this is a fun full-circle moment,” they explained. Though it’s their first time doing theater lighting, they’re excited to learn something new.

Beyond that, Crandal is keeping their horizons and their hands wide open. He is seriously considering WWOOF-ing (World Wide Opportunities on Organic Farms), a global program where volunteers work on farms in exchange for room and board. “Especially since my work is so screen-based, having something physical, being outside, growing life, that’s important to me,” he explained. Their ultimate dream is merging it all: visual storytelling, outdoor experience, and meaningful human connection.“I want to make cool videos with cool people, and get outside when I can.”

Whether he is behind a camera, editing in the studio, or getting their hands dirty in a garden bed, Crandal’s path is rooted in curiosity, creativity, and care. In his world, there’s space for both pixels and plants, and the stories that bloom between them.

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Cassidy Ochoa

By Colin Bowyer, Communications Manager - June 12, 2025

Cassidy Ochoa’s fascination with the sky began on a snowy morning in Beaverton, Oregon, in 2008. A rare blizzard had swept through the area, nearly causing her school bus to crash. As the snowflakes swirled outside the frosted windows, Ochoa, then just a child, found herself fascinated with the intense snow falling down. That moment sparked a lifelong curiosity about the atmosphere and the forces that shape our climate.

But Ochoa’s story isn’t just one of science; it’s also one of writing and communication. Even in elementary school, she was already weaving tales of dragons and folklore, using writing as a creative outlet. Her early passion led her to the Oregon Writing Festival at Portland State University, where she showcased her handmade books and zines and by middle school, she had discovered slam poetry and began performing across the Portland metropolitan area in poetry summits.

In high school, Ochoa became the editor of Dam Mag, Beaverton High School’s literary magazine, a role she held for three years. She collaborated with writers and visual artists to pair fiction and nonfiction stories, as well as poetry, with illustrations, deepening her appreciation for the intersection of art and expression.

When Ochoa arrived at Oregon State University, she brought both her scientific curiosity and her creative spirit. Majoring in climate science at the College of Earth, Ocean, and Atmospheric Sciences (CEOAS), she dove into the study of meteorology, atmospheric trends, and the long-term impacts of climate change on communities. But she also pursued a minor in writing, where she found some of her favorite classes, including workshops that allowed her to receive feedback and refine her voice.

Through PRAx’s Art + Science Fellowship, Ochoa crafted a sci-fi novella, titled Weathermakers, set in a world called Squallstrom, where the main character, known simply as “the pilot,” navigates a water-stricken world managed by human-generated weather. The sun’s appearance and the wind’s arrival are orchestrated spectacles, and during a prolonged drought, the little water available is funneled into weather-making machines. The pilot is torn between loyalty to authority and a desire to help the people suffering from water scarcity. 

“I was inspired by Andy Weir’s The Martian to look at themes of power, rebellion, and resource management that echoed real-world climate challenges,” said Ochoa. “Writing gives me a different kind of energy. It helps me communicate complex ideas and connect with people in a way that data alone can’t.”

Her scientific work is just as compelling. For her Honors College thesis, Ochoa explored how cyclone frequency and intensity are affected by climate interventions like sun shades, giant reflectors that may redirect sunlight away from Earth. Using three distinct data sets (pre-industrial CO₂ levels, a scenario with quadrupled CO₂, and one with sun shades), she discovered that while sun shades significantly reduced cyclone formation in the Global South, they also caused increases in other regions. 

“Deploying sun shades into Earth’s atmosphere may be somewhat fanciful and not be economically feasible,” she noted, “but, at this point, we need to be exploring every possible solution .”

In the summer of 2024, Ochoa interned at the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory in Richland, Washington, analyzing plant root metabolites and after graduating in 2025, she’ll return to the public sector by interning at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, where she’ll study hydrology and drought detection. After the summer with NASA, Ochoa will pursue a Ph.D. in atmospheric sciences at University at Albany. Her dream? To work with organizations like the UN, NASA, or NOAA, using her unique blend of science and storytelling to communicate climate issues to broader audiences.

“I want to tell the stories that often go unheard in climate science,” Ochoa said. “To help people better understand how our planet works and why it matters.”

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Sharyn Clough and Devlin Montfort

By Colin Bowyer, Communications Manager - June 11, 2025

Historically, U.S. public education priorities have reflected an assumption that most children will naturally develop social/emotional skills without the need for any formal training in school. However, adolescents are reporting less empathy than their age-mates in earlier decades while partisan hostility is on the rise.

The promotion of social/emotional learning (SEL) in public education settings has been gaining traction in the U.S. to induce skills like empathy, but success is hard to measure and the focus is typically on elementary-age students. Recent research from scholars in the College of Liberal Arts and the College of Engineering uses a novel measurement technique to show that learning Peace Literacy—a new kind of SEL curriculum—can help mitigate aggression in adolescents through the development of empathy. 

The research article “Peace Literacy as Conceptual Change: A Pilot Study,” by Dr. Sharyn Clough, professor of philosophy, Dr. Devlin Montfort, associate professor of engineering, and Sophia Betts, ‘23 was recently published in the journal Precollege Philosophy and Public Practice.

Peace Literacy, a concept founded by former Army officer Paul K. Chappell and expanded into a research and curricular program by Dr. Clough, draws from the growing field of social and emotional learning, but pushes further, proposing a revolutionary framework for cultivating empathy and reducing conflict. 

“Peace Literacy is not just about being kind,” Clough explained. “It’s about building a set of skills, like reading or algebra, that students can learn, practice, and refine over time.”

The article details a collaborative study in which Clough, Montfort, and Betts developed a survey to assess students’ understanding of aggression and empathy that was then distributed in high school health classes. The questionnaire asked students to describe a moment in their lives when they became aggressive and, then, when someone became aggressive with them. Importantly, the students were also asked to explain why the aggression occurred. After two months, the students received instruction in Peace Literacy from their health teacher, and they filled out the questionnaire again.

The results were striking: after Peace Literacy instruction, students demonstrated an improved ability to empathetically link emotional states with aggressive behaviors, in themselves but especially in others. The students’ responses were also much more sophisticated and thoughtful.

“For many adolescents aggression is like a handrail—it provides a sense of agency when they’re feeling helpless. It’s not something that we can just tell them to stop using. We have to replace it with skills that provide a healthier form of agency,” said Clough. “When teenagers are being aggressive, it’s less helpful to view them as ‘bad,’ and more helpful to view them as unskilled in managing various kinds of distress, just as they might be unskilled in algebra or writing. With a growth mind-set they can get better.”

Using a conceptual change analysis to examine the students’ responses to the questionnaire, Montfort, whose background is in engineering education, likens Peace Literacy education to physics education—in both cases, students come to class equipped with an informal understanding of how the relevant concepts like aggression and gravity work. By paying attention to the concepts that students come in with, researchers can design more effective curricular tools to help students level up their understanding. 

“Physics is one of the more deterministic sciences, where there are clear explanations about force, acceleration and mass,” explained Montfort. “It's helpful to compare Peace Literacy concepts to physics concepts because they are useful in a similar way. Students already have ideas about aggression and empathy, and we are trying to help them organize those ideas into useful models that help them better predict and explain the world." 

The article also highlights the broader implications of Peace Literacy in today’s polarized world. With rising partisan hostility and declining empathy among adolescents, Clough, Montfort, and Betts argue that high schools should take a more active role in teaching emotional and interpersonal skills through SEL curriculum like Peace Literacy. As the need for understanding aggression becomes increasingly obvious on the global political landscape, Peace Literacy interventions are positioned to be of broad curricular value.

“It’s not surprising that teenagers are showing decreased empathy overall,” said Clough. “They absorb what’s going on around them and we can’t assume caregivers have the time, skills, or resources to reverse this trend on their own. Incorporating the Peace Literacy curriculum in classrooms offers a structured, evidence-based way to help students grow into more empathetic citizens who can better predict and prevent aggression in themselves and others.”

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Donovan Morales

By Taylor Pedersen, CLA Student Writer - June 4, 2025

By the time Donovan Morales reached middle school, he already understood that identity wasn’t something to be taken for granted. His father, who immigrated from Mexico, and his mother, a Californian from the Bay Area, raised him in a predominantly white community along the urban growth boundary in rural Gresham, Oregon. Though he was close with his classmates, Morales always felt an undercurrent of difference.

“I had a lot of white friends, but I always knew I moved through the world differently," he said. "Coming to college made that even more obvious.”

The 2016 election snapped his quiet awareness of difference into something larger. Morales was only 13 when he first felt fragility within his family’s security. “There was this moment, ‘even though I’m a citizen, do we need to leave?’” he recalled his Grandma saying. “That fear—it never left.” At the same time, watching figures like Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez break barriers helped him imagine a different future: one where people who looked like him didn’t just survive in politics but led.

Law school had always been the expected plan for Morales, but after OSU’s fast-tracked law program, “three plus three,” ended before he was a freshman, Morales enrolled in a political science class almost on a whim. “I took that first poli sci class, and I was like—wait, I love this,” Morales said. One major turned into two, with ethnic studies joining political science, quickly followed by minors in Indigenous studies and social justice.

Despite the heavy course load, Morales wasn’t content to stay in the classroom. He noticed that the political science student body, like many parts of the university, was overwhelmingly white and male. He became the president of the People of Color in Politics & Law Club to help carve out a space for students like him: those navigating law, politics, and identity all at once.

“We needed somewhere to be in community," he said. "Most of the political issues we’re studying are ones that directly impact people of color. It didn’t make sense not to have a place for us.”

Morales also became involved in OSU’s chapter of Movimiento Estudiantil Chicanx de Aztlán (M.E.Ch.A.), a nationwide organization promoting Chicano identity, unity, and political empowerment. Starting as an intern event coordinator during his junior year, Morales became a community organizer and liaison for the group, creating inclusive spaces for Latino students to come together and discuss political action.

Morales’s academic work, especially the Indigenous studies courses he took with Dr. Luhui Whitebear, further sharpened his perspective on Oregon’s deeply rooted inequities. Learning about redlining, exclusionary laws, and Indigenous displacement gave him language for the injustices he’d felt growing up but hadn’t fully understood. “It’s like Oregon was designed to be a white-only state, and no one taught us that,” he said. “Now that I’m working in the legislature, I see how much of that history still shapes the policies we’re fighting over today.”

That firsthand look at policymaking began with an internship on Congresswoman Janelle Bynum’s campaign. Watching Bynum move from state representative to U.S. Congress, Morales saw the messy reality of politics and gave him a look into what no political science textbook can quite capture. Campaign organizing, constituent outreach, and fundraising gave him the tools he now uses daily as a legislative aide in Salem, tracking bills as they wind through Oregon’s House and Senate.

Working at the capitol, Morales is shocked by just how many good ideas never make it to the floor. "This session alone had almost 4,000 bills introduced," he said. "Some of them were awful, trying to take away rights. But some, like a study for reparations for Black Oregonians, were incredible. And still, they died in committee before they could even be voted on.” Morales explained that seeing everyday people, particularly Latino farmworkers, advocate for their communities has been the most moving part of the work, "That’s the kind of advocacy I want to support.” He said.

While Morales once pictured himself heading to law school, his time in the legislature has shifted his goals. Rather than practicing law, he hopes to continue in political organizing and campaign work, building power behind the scenes for leaders who share his commitment to equity and justice.

For students of color considering a future in law or politics, Morales’ advice is simple but passionate: start wherever you can, and don’t wait to claim your space. "At the end of the day, sometimes the only person you have in your corner is yourself. So, build your resume and be proud of what you’re doing. It matters."

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By Colin Bowyer, Communications Manager - June 5, 2025

Unbeknownst to many, tucked away in the garage of Snell Hall, consists of a fully functional, student staffed, book press, able to print and bind both soft- and hard-cover books. 

Under the supervision of Evan Baden, senior instructor of photography in the School of Visual, Performing, and Design Arts, students in The Photographic Book (ART 355) focus on the art of book binding in all of its forms, using appropriated and original imagery to create a variety of publications. Now, Baden and his  students are venturing into new territory with Photobook Design and Production (ART 399, for now), designing and producing photo books for professional photographers nationwide. 

Starting in fall 2024, students will pitch their individual photobook designs to a professional photographer and then produce the book using the industrial equipment located in the studio. After the photo books are completed, all proceeds will go to the artist and Composit Press, feeding back into the studio to better improve the student experience.

“The cyclical nature of the class allows students to experience the entire process: designing the structure, sourcing the materials, crafting the layout, then pitching their mockup to the photographer in person,” explained Baden. “All while manufacturing the chosen design from the previous term.”

The studio will also be taking commissions, with students working under Baden’s guidance to create publications, notebooks, journals, bookmarks, and other materials for external clients.

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Lillian Goodyear | Photo credit: Julia Wood

By Ellie Webb-Bowen, CLA Student Writer - May 28, 2025

Growing up in Southern California, Northern California, and Utah, Lillian Goodyear moved around a lot due to her dad’s job in the aeronautics industry. Following in her father’s engineering footsteps, Goodyear loved computer programming and UX design, but her interests laid more than just what was on a computer screen. Goodyear loved photography, physics, history, and was also on her high school’s water polo and swimming teams.

When Goodyear enrolled at Oregon State, she chose to major in the College of Engineering’s nuclear science program. While on campus, she also became immediately involved in KBVR-FM as a student disc jockey. Not long after, Goodyear discovered KBVR-TV through a mutual connection and began working as a camera operator for Locals Live, KBVR-TV’s long-running live music program. 

"I showed up one day and never left. I think I kind of fell in love,” said Goodyear. “I started working at KBVR as a student volunteer, then I got a job as a producer during my sophomore year." 

Goodyear’s interest in nuclear science began to wane during sophomore year. She was drawn to the digital communication arts (DCA) major through her time at KBVR, but also missed the computer coding she had grown up with and continued to utilize. She decided to double major in both computer science and DCA (and minor in history and physics).

“I saw changing to my double major as the best of both worlds,” Goodyear described. “I had been programming and designing websites for people on the side all along and wanted to continue exploring my creative side through DCA.”

The DCA curriculum provided Goodyear with the creative skills in video and audio production, as well as media theory, ethics, and law. It was Dan Faltesek’s class during her junior year, New Media Futures (NMC 260), that sparked Goodyear’s interest in law school. 

Goodyear continued to work for KBVR-TV throughout her time at OSU, including producing Locals Live and The Way Too Late Show. During her senior year, she became a freelance technical assistant for both FOX Sports and the Pac-12 Networks, helping to produce OSU sporting events on campus. She also was elected to Orange Media Network’s advisory board, the student-run umbrella organization that manages both KBVR-TV and FM, as well as publications including The Daily Barometer, Beaver’s Digest, DamChic, and PRISM. 

During her senior year, Goodyear continued to branch out. She became a Reser Creative Scholar at PRAx, and was appointed vice chair of the ASOSU Student Fee Committee.

“The work I did on the committee was almost entirely behind the scenes, but it was so influential,” said Goodyear. “Our committee was tasked with managing the distribution of student fees to organizations around campus. As vice chair, I met with leaders around campus to hear how an increase or decrease in funding from student fees would impact their work. Being on this committee was a huge step out of my comfort zone, but it was a challenge that I took to heart. I believe I was one of the first students to ever work at KBVR to also work in student government.”

Goodyear is hoping to attend UCLA School of Law after graduating this spring, with the particular interest in applying her DCA knowledge to law. "In the age of A.I.,” Goodyear explained, “I wanted to protect artists from their work being stolen. It's really important to have lawyers who have both a technical knowledge of A.I. and media background."

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Karissa Kyker

By Colin Bowyer, Communications Manager - May 21, 2025

A Corvallis-native, Karissa Kyker grew up in a family that had attended Oregon State for generations. Writing for the Spring 2025 issue of PRISM Magazine, OSU’s premier art and literary journal, Kyker weaves together the memories of her parents both living in Weatherford Hall and studying at OSU with her own writing journey, and finding love on campus. The throughline running through the Kyker family story is OSU’s Trysting Tree, a large gray poplar tree that once stood near Community Hall and Lover’s Lane.

“Even after our family moved away,” Kyker writes, “my connection to Corvallis lived on through the love my parents planted there. Soon, an offshoot of their roots, a love of my own, grew from a boy who drew me back home with a perfect smile and gentle spirit. That’s how I found myself at home under the shadow of Weatherford Hall.”

Kyker’s road to OSU wasn’t easy or a straight line, per se, but still, she found her place at the School of Writing, Literature, and Film (SWLF).

After spending most of her childhood in Corvallis, Kyker’s family moved to San Mateo, California. Finishing her high school years in the Bay Area exposed Kyker to a diversity of perspectives and experiences that she wouldn’t have otherwise known in Corvallis. Despite living in the heart of competitive Silicon Valley, Kyker developed a love for writing and literature, all while working at a local bakery and potentially even considering entering the culinary field after graduating high school.

During her junior year, Kyker began experiencing a range of health symptoms that would sideline her idea of entering culinary school. A year later, Kyker was diagnosed with Lupus, an autoimmune disease. Kyker spent most of her junior year and entire senior year continuing to take classes from home while struggling to receive an accurate diagnosis. 

“It was a very difficult time,” explained Kyker. “Doctors didn’t know what was going on and my teachers were sending me home because I looked ‘sickly.’ Initially, I was told my symptoms might be due to depression or that I was just overworked. Some specialists did take me seriously and genuinely wished they knew how to help, but a few brushed me off.”  

Kyker’s time at home in school transitioned into the start of the COVID-19 stay-at-home orders in early 2020. As she began considering colleges for fall 2021, it was beginning to look like at least the initial months were going to be entirely virtual as well, due to a combination of the ongoing pandemic, but also Kyker’s uneasiness of leaving home.

“What was a time of change and stress for others was actually a time of stability for me,” explained Kyker. “I was already used to doing classes online, and I got to have the support and company of my family at home more than ever before. While I was anxious about COVID because of how it could be detrimental to my health, I also felt anxious at the same time about the working-from-home period ending, because I wouldn't be with my parents, sister, and brothers all the time anymore. It was a time of rest and community for me, the opposite of what it was for most people.”

Kyker was hoping to enter into an English program, but hadn’t gotten to a point in her Lupus recovery where she could attend in person. George Fox University in Newberg, Oregon, had a strong online English program that would allow Kyker to continue to stay home during her freshman year, then transition to on campus for her sophomore year. 

Kyker initially enjoyed George Fox, but during her sophomore year, wanting to explore more writing than literature, she felt constrained by the English and literature-review curriculum. She saw the School of Writing, Literature, and Film had just begun offering a creative writing program, and with many friends and family still in Corvallis, transferring to OSU was an easy choice. 

“It was a smooth jump into OSU,” said Kyker. “I felt right away that my writing was developing more than it ever had. I also was able to take writing classes in a variety of fields, including writing for public relations, marketing, and film.”

Kyker also received the Goldstein Journalism Scholarship, which provides tuition support for SWLF students who contribute to journalism excellence while at OSU.

During her senior year, Kyker became a Griffis Publishing Intern at OSU Press, the university’s book publishing unit. While an intern, Kyker received a hands-on introduction to scholarly book publishing by reviewing proposals, proofreading drafts, and preparing manuscripts for production.

“Working at OSU Press has been very fulfilling,” said Kyker. “I have especially loved the variety of books and topics I get to work with. The small staff team there has also allowed me to build great relationships with them and get up close and personal with some of their work. It really is a unique and amazing experience that students here are offered and I'm still mind blown that I've gotten this opportunity over the past year! ”

Kyker is open to all opportunities, but is leaning towards working in marketing and social media. For the past year, Kyker has been helping Lyle Hatch, a.k.a. Boring Old Guy, with increasing his social media presence. Despite having over one million subscribers on YouTube, the Pacific Northwest outdoor enthusiast relies on Kyker to help promote his videos hiking, cooking, maintaining his van, and more.

“I reached out to Lyle, because I liked his videos touring around Oregon,” said Kyker “It’s been such a valuable experience working with him as he brings the outdoors to viewers.” 

For now, Kyker is wrapping up her final term at OSU and plans to cherish this summer as a SWLF graduate, in addition to being a newlywed, marrying her OSU sweetheart in March.

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Tihani Mitchell

By Katie Livermore, CLA Student Writer - May 28, 2025

Tihani Mitchell remembers sitting in her political science class freshman year, analyzing countless statistics of different groups. None of them included Pacific Islander and Hawaiian demographics–instead, they were included in the “other” category. Even more so, she discovered many students and faculty at OSU were unfamiliar with Hawaiian history and culture.

She returned to her dorm that day in tears. Instead of giving up, Mitchell leaned into her deep connection to her Hawaiian homeland and decided to make her own change. 

That’s exactly what she did. 

Now, Mitchell is the founder of Ka ʻIkena Hawaiʻi, an Oregon State University club that focuses on preserving and practicing the Hawaiian language. She is a third-year, first-generation student double majoring in political science and ethnic studies with a minor in Indigenous studies. 

Mitchell is from Puʻuanahulu, Hawaiʻi, raised in a multigenerational household with six other siblings, her parents, her grandparents, and great grandmother. In addition to her family were her hānai siblings, a kind of adopted family she grew up with. 

“My parents raised all of me and my siblings up to be very outspoken individuals,” Mitchell said. “They always taught us to challenge authority.”

With her outspokenness, Mitchell was exposed to activism at an early age. Her uncle was dedicated to the Land Back Movement, which focuses on advocating for returning ancestral lands in Hawaiʻi. Growing up, she would tag along with her uncle as he led workshops across the island. She recalls one workshop where they performed Kui Kalo, the action of using a rock to mash up taro to make poi. 

“We would go around the island, having classes and teaching other people of our community how to reconnect with their culture and their roots,” Mitchell said. “I was always super involved.”

These memories led her to grow her Hawaiian roots for future advocacy.

She began her education at Kealakehe, a public school in her area for elementary and middle school. When she hit seventh grade, Mitchell left the Big Island to attend the Kamehameha boarding school in Oahu–with a full-ride scholarship. 

At Kamehameha, Mitchell lived in a dorm with young women from different islands and states. 

“The school I attended was founded with the goal of providing Hawaiian students with access to higher education and the support needed to succeed,” Mitchell said. “There was a lot more access to learning things about Hawaiian language, culture, history, than like a traditional school managed by the U.S. Department of Education.”

Mitchell cheered, danced Hula and Tahitian, played rugby, basketball, and ran track throughout her school career. She continued her activism journey with friends, even camping out on Mauna Kea for 10 days during the Thirty Meter Telescope Protests of July 2019. 

“I remember that was the first and probably the most intense protest that I've been to,” said Mitchell. “I was 14, and they had the National Guard and, like, the army come because there’s an army base at the base of the mountain. They lined up in front of us with guns and stuff, and they were threatening us with sound bombs, pepper spray, and Child Protective Services.”

When it came to attending college, Mitchell initially refused to go to the mainland. She felt lucky enough to be educated about Hawaiian history and its oppression, and didn’t want to be part of communities that contributed.

“I wanted to major in Hawaiian language and Hawaiian history,” Mitchell said. “My thoughts were always, ‘Okay, I'm going to the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa. America wasn't even in my head.” 

Instead, her parents encouraged her to pursue experiences outside of Hawaiʻi for higher education. With reluctance, she agreed, and was accepted into all the schools she applied to scattered across the United States. 

OSU was the closest to home, as well as most affordable with the most to offer. Though Mitchell planned different majors for her undergraduate degree, eventually becoming a lawyer was always the goal. She landed on political science, and though many studies are Western European centric, Mitchell tailors her work on Pacific Island and Hawaiian studies. 

“When I was focusing on those things that I was most passionate about, that's when I thrived the most, and got the most support from my professors,” Mitchell said. “Having that idea that I was always able to bring it back to having to do with my identity and my experiences as a person, especially like moving from Hawaiʻi to Oregon and experiencing a completely, totally different lens of how life can be, just made it so much easier.”

Mitchell has been on the board of the People of Color (POC) in Law and Politics Club, which her friend Summer Wong founded for marginalized groups pursuing careers in law. 

On top of this, Mitchell founded her own club called Ka ʻIkena Hawaiʻi, or the “Hawaiian Experience,” focused on educating and participating in cultural practices in the States. 

“The club was meant to encapsulate the different lived experiences of Hawaiian people, both from Hawaiʻi, living in Hawaiʻi, or those that grew up in the diaspora,” Mitchell said.

The turning point of the statistics class and being “othered” led her to create spaces of discussion. Mitchell felt this hopelessness and nearly transferred to a university in Hawaiʻi. Instead, she met Dr. Patricia Fifita, assistant professor of ethnic studies in the School of Language, Culture, and Society. Dr. Fifita helped Mitchell start the club by being her adviser.  

“I know I'm not the first person to have realized this. I'm not the only person to feel like this, either,” Mitchell said. “We did find our community, and we were able to make that community for other folks that were lacking that support. So that was super awesome.”

The club is supported by other nonprofit organizations from Hawaiʻi and the Ka ʻAha Lāhui O ʻOlekona Hawaiian Civic Club of Oregon & SW Washington (KALO). KALO helped fund their first year of club events, such as a lei making workshop, or t-shirt printing, where materials were shipped to Oregon from Hawaiʻi. All club events are free to attend, whether or not attendees are Hawaiian. 

“Our responsibility is to offer space for Hawaiian and non-Hawaiian folks to learn about Hawaiian culture,” Mitchell said. “We've been doing a lot of ‘No one is illegal on stolen land’ for the recent political movements.”

With the club in full force, Mitchell found another opportunity to work with Dr. Fifita in an ethnography research project on the island of Kauaʻi. 

The project focuses on recording oral histories through interviewing members of the community in Anahola, Kauaʻi. Originally managed by the Department of Hawaiian Homelands (DHHL), the agency turned over 432 acres of pristine coastline to a local nonprofit that’s developing a restoration plan centered on Kānaka ʻŌiwi self-determination, histories, ecological health, and healing. The goal is to re-envision what the island used to be prior to colonial impact, natural disasters, and overall devastation. 

Mitchell spent last summer on Kauaʻi interviewing community members, which she now considers her favorite summer yet. 

“The whole re-envisioning process is talking to elders to see how the community used to look back in the day,” Mitchell said. “We found there was a lot of reconstructing of waterways. So folks would come in, buy, and privatize the land, which is illegal because it's DHHL–it's supposed to be for Hawaiian people.”

Those who privatized DHHL lands disturbed the natural flow of water for personal quarries and ponds on their properties. Since they lived in the mountains, this blocked water flow from reaching communities residing below them. The lack of water access led to many worries, a main one being how to extinguish brush fires if they occurred. 

Mitchell found it interesting to discover Kauaʻi through a different lens. Though she has visited plenty, she was able to put herself in a more analytical position to view into the island’s past. 

“We've done all the research, we've done all of the interviews and ethnographies and oral histories that we can do,” Mitchell said. “Now, we’re looking at how we can take all of these notes and stories from these community members and re-envision what this place can look like in the future.”

After she graduates, Mitchell plans to apply to Richardson Law School at the University of Hawaiʻi, Mānoa, to study law with a focus on land conservation and real estate. 

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Tihani would like to dedicate this piece to her parents, Regina and Coogan, for their hard work and commitment to their family. Thank you for your sacrifices, I hope to do you justice. Hoʻi hou I ka ʻiwikuamoʻo