Alumni Association Board Amends Bylaws, Welcomes New Members
The Alumni Association Board of Representatives held their summer meeting on Aug. 12, 2023.
The Board has amended their bylaws to correct errors in the previous version, updated language and returned the Board to the structure held between 2005 and 2012 by removing the requirement that Alumni Board representatives first serve on another chapter or committee working in support of Pacific University.
The Board established two new committees – Archives & History and Enrollment & Student Support. Members of the Board will serve on one of these committees or on the Awards & Scholarship Committee, which guides the Alumni Association awards program and the Alumni Board scholarship.
The Board also welcomed 13 new members who represent an array of Pacific University experiences.
Becky (Matta) Ball '75
Becky attended the Forest Grove campus and studied English and secondary education. She was a member of the Phi Lambda Omicron and Oak Leaf Society. Her parents were also alumni from the class of 1951 and her grandfather graduated class of 1917. Her great-aunt graduated in 1921 and was the Dean of Women 1934-1940. Becky retired from Intel Corp. as Senior Administrative Support. She lives in Oregon.
Sierra Barnes '18
Sierra attended the Forest Grove Campus, where she earned a bachelor's degree in philosophy and was a member of Delta Chi Delta. She was also actively involved with the McCall Center for Civic Engagement. She works as Development & Communications Manager for Bridge Meadows, a multigenerational housing community. Sierra lives in Oregon.
Rhony Bhopla MFA ‘22
Rhony earned her master of fine arts in writing, which is a low-residency program with most of the curriculum delivery taking place online. Students gather in Oregon twice annually for residencies at the Oregon Coast and in Forest Grove. Rhony completed all of her residencies during the height of the pandemic for a total of three virtual and two in-person. She was able to participate in the final Forest Grove residency and returned this year as a volunteer. She has also volunteered remotely in a number of ways. Her poetry has been included in several publications. She recently completed a 16-week DEI training with Mosaic Education Network along with community leaders in Sacramento and received a certificate of completion. Rhony lives in California.
Jan (Danielson-Sargeant) Burdett '64
Jan attended the Forest Grove Campus and studied Physical Education & Health. She was an active member of Alpha Kappa Delta and has long been a regular guest at AKD events including the annual all-Greek social. She was a member of her 50th reunion committee and previously served on the Alumni Board multiple times (most recently 1997-2000). She also worked at Pacific in Human Resources and University Advancement (desktop publishing). She is a retired teacher. Jan lives in Oregon.
Erica (Sanders) DeBois, MAT '97
Erica earned her master of arts in teaching on the Forest Grove Campus. She has been a longtime active member of the School of Learning & Teaching alumni chapter. Her children both attended the Early Learning Community. She is a teacher at Century High School in Hillsboro and she has hosted Pacific student teachers for the past five years. Erica lives in Oregon.
Edna (Doar) Gehring '70, MSEd '72
Edna attended the Forest Grove campus where she was actively involved with Nā Haumāna O Hawai‘i and was a member of Delta Chi Delta. Edna returned to Pacific in 1983 and worked in several areas of the university over her 36 years. She retired in 2019 as Director of Hawai'i Outreach and Programming. In celebration of her retirement she and her husband Hans founded the Aunty Edna and Uncle Hans Endowed Scholarship. She was a member of the reunion committee for the very successful triple-50th reunion for the classes of 1970, 1971 and 1972. Edna lives in Oregon.
Karli Kondo '01, MA '04
Karli was a non-traditional transfer student, originally from Hawai’i, and majored in business administration on the Forest Grove Campus. Karli returned to Pacific to pursue a master’s in counseling psychology from the School of Graduate Psychology, which was located in Portland at the time. She also holds a PhD in Psychology from the University of Rhode Island. She currently works for the American Cancer Society as Director of Guidelines Development as well as OHSU as Vice-Chair of their IRB. She is also a former Pacific School of Graduate Psychology faculty member. Karli lives in Oregon.
Cal McCarthy '21
Cal attended the Forest Grove campus where they lived in the residence halls and earned a bachelor's degree in literature. They were involved with the Center for Gender Equity, Silk Road: A Literary Crossroads, Delta Chi Delta, and English Club. Cal works for Mackenzie, an architecture and planning firm, as a word processor. Cal lives in Oregon.
Phillip Miner '72
Phillip attended the Forest Grove Campus where he majored in communication and speech. He was involved with residence life, Black Student Union, forensics, Spanish club and The Pacific Index. Phillip is a retired university administrator and worked at Pacific Lutheran University, Hamline University and for Minnesota’s Private Colleges. Phillip lives in Florida.
Brandi (Palmer) Price '12
Brandi earned a bachelor's degree in education & learning on the Forest Grove Campus. While at Pacific she was a tour guide for undergraduate admissions and worked in both Athletics and the Pacific Information Center. She also volunteered as a student liaison for prospective student-athletes, orientation leader and orientation program assistant for two years. She supported admissions K-8 tour dates and Pacesetters. She also played women's basketball and ran track. Brandi currently works at Salem Academy as assistant athletic director. She lives in Oregon.
Donald Shaw ‘77
Donald studied communication on the Forest Grove Campus where he was involved with baseball, basketball and Black Student Union. He is a long time supporter of volunteer efforts connecting Black students with Black alumni. He established the Carmon Cunningham Scholarship in memory of Carmon Cunningham ’76, who died in 2016. Donald is a manger with TRC Energy and he lives in Oregon.
Sherry (Hicks) Smith ‘64
Sherry attended the Forest Grove Campus from 1960 to 1962. In her time at Pacific, Sherry was a member of Phi Lambda Omicron sorority and a reporter for the Index. She was also a Pacific "stringer" for the Oregonian. Later she served as a member of the Board of Trustees from 1990 to 2010 and participated in the 50th reunion of the Class of 1964. Sherry is a retired program attorney for the University of California's Continuing Education of the Bar. She also retired from State of California's Center for Judicial Education and Research. Sherry lives in California.
Kathy Walters '89
Kathy attended the Forest Grove Campus where she lived in the residence halls and earned a bachelor's degree in creative writing. She is a member of Phi Lambda Omicron and played softball and soccer. She recently retired after a 32-year career with the Portland Water Bureau. Kathy has previously served on the reunion committee for her class at least twice. Kathy lives in Oregon.
The Alumni Board continues to seek nominations of new members, especially alumni who graduated between 1980 and 2010; alumni who attended the Hillsboro, Eugene and Woodburn Campuses and alumni who hold graduate/professional degrees from Pacific.
The next meeting of the Alumni Association Board of Representatives will take place Dec. 4.