Maya Ah You Dias earned national honors for her character on and off the court.

Only a few high school sophomores could be said to have grace and maturity, and even fewer of them grow up to earn one of the nation’s most prestigious awards for personal character. Maya Ah You Dias, a junior on 91��ý’s women’s basketball team, is that student.

Coach Anji Weissenfluh said she recognized Dias’ talent early on, but was truly impressed by the young player’s personality.

“I knew she was an extraordinary person from the time I first met her,” Weissenfluh said.

In September, Dias received the NAIA’s Leroy Walker Character Award for outstanding academic achievement, campus and community leadership, athletic achievement, ambition and embracing the five core values of the NAIA Champions of Character initiative: integrity, respect, responsibility, sportsmanship and servant leadership. The league selects one student-athlete out of 65,000 each year to receive the honor.

“Bringing a character award to our campus means so much,” Dias said. “The core values of the Champions of Character are something we strive to exemplify every day at 91��ý, and knowing that our efforts are being acknowledged is very rewarding.”

High standards of achievement reached the court this season, too. Dias broke the 1,000-point barrier in January alongside teammate Payton Parrish, and Weissenfluh claimed her 400th career win a month later. The team’s momentum carried the Mountaineers to finish the regular season 20-0, a first in Cascade Collegiate Conference history.

After winning the conference championship, improving their record to 23-0 in conference play, the team advanced to the NAIA national tournament. Weissenfluh, named CCC Coach of the Year for the sixth time, led the Mountaineers to the second round of the tournament, where the team’s 25-game winning streak came to an end with the 2017-18 season.

Dias said she treasures the relationships she’s built on campus. A psychology major from Middleton, Idaho, Dias has spent five years in La Grande and has developed deep ties to the community.

“The connections I’ve been able to make with teammates, athletes, students, coaches and professors while being a student at 91��ý is the most special thing I’ll take away from here,” she said. “I never could have imagined the amount of lifelong friends and inspiring individuals I would meet throughout my college years.”

Each athletics program at 91��ý makes intentional effort to practice service leadership through outreach events and demonstrate the core values in words and actions. Weissenfluh said Dias’s teammates look to her for an example of how to live by the NAIA’s core values on and off the court.

“She epitomizes the core values of the Champions of Character program,” Weissenfluh said. “She is a wonderful role model for not only the La Grande community, but in her hometown as well. She comes from a family where service is valued and she has taken it upon herself to continue a tradition of helping others.”

The Mountaineer Athletic Association, an affiliate of the 91��ý Foundation, recognized Dias with a one-time $500 scholarship in December to celebrate her status as a role model and recipient of the character award. As part of the recognition, the NAIA contributes $1,000 to the school’s general scholarship fund to benefit students and student-athletes.

Named CCC Player of the Year, Dias led the All-Conference team and took the top spot in the CCC for points per game (18.9) this season. She encourages every student to be actively engaged in everything 91��ý has to offer.

“The amount of things that you can accomplish by being part of the 91��ý community is amazing,” she said. “There are so many people who are willing and waiting to help you accomplish your goals!”

Weissenfluh said the NAIA’s core values sum up “the most important part of our jobs as coaches,” instilling those lifelong character traits into students’ words and actions. She said they come to Dias naturally.

“It’s part of who she is. It’s not something that she’s trying to be recognized for, it’s what she’s truly about,” Weissenfluh said. “We’ve gotten to see Maya being Maya.”

Learn more about Maya and keep up with all Mountaineer athletics at eousports.com.

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Composer, conductor and mandolinist Jesse Jones, ’05 crafts music that is published and performed worldwide. Graduating from 91��ý with a bachelor’s in music, he continued his education with a master’s in composition from the University of Oregon, and a Doctorate of Musical Arts from Cornell University. Adding to the ranks of accomplishments, the 91��ý Alumni Association recognized him in 2017 with the Distinguished Alumnus Award.

“91��ý is the best place to get the education I need as a composer,” Jones said.

The small music department provided opportunities to participate in choir, orchestra, jazz, African drumming and fiddle ensembles.

“These experiences are things that I probably could not have done at a larger institution without training,” he said. “I’ve been thankful to my teachers for that.”

The ensemble Jones created at 91��ý, String Helix, performed world-style music with eccentric beats defying classification. The group appeared on OPB’s Oregon Art Beat and NPR’s nationally broadcast radio program, “A Prairie Home Companion with Garrison Keillor.”

In 2012, Jones was named a Rome Prize fellow and spent a year at the American Academy in Rome.

“When I decided to become a composer I had lofty dreams for my career, one of which was to teach at a prestigious university,” Jones said.

He recently reached that goal, becoming assistant professor of composition at the Oberlin Conservatory.

91��ý Music Professor Peter Wordelman, an Oberlin graduate himself, said Jones’ music often incorporates a “rhythmic complexity” that matches the caliber of talent available at the conservatory.

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Maxine Hermens, ’69, passed away Oct. 6, 2017 at age 78 after cardiac arrest at her home in La Grande. Following acute kidney failure while attending her favorite college basketball tournament (WCC), Maxine was on dialysis for two years prior to her death.

Maxine earned a degree in elementary education from the University of Idaho, and in 1960 she met Richard and began a marriage that lasted 56 years. The family moved to La Grande, where she taught as a substitute teacher at various elementary schools. Maxine received her master’s in elementary education from 91��ý, and went on to work in the registrar’s office for 12 years. She loved working with diverse students and kind coworkers, while also participating in the 91��ý Faculty Gourmet Club.

She is survived by her husband Richard, sons Leonard and Michael, and daughters Louise and Joyce. Maxine received joy in her life from nine grandchildren.

In lieu of flowers, the family would appreciate generosity to the 91��ý Foundation in her name (One University Blvd., La Grande, OR 97850).

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As we approach graduation, I am thrilled to reflect on another incredible year at 91��ý. The achievements and distinctions that we have chronicled in this issue of The Mountaineer are a few of the ways our students, faculty, partners and alumni embody our Values and Principles as we make progress toward strategic goals.

Meaningful civic engagement is at the core of student success at Eastern. On University Lobby Day, I was proud that we had the largest contingent of student volunteers who met with lawmakers in Salem to promote higher education. Our students’ engagement demonstrated 91��ý’s importance to the region and rural Oregon.

During the February legislative session, 91��ý was officially designated as Oregon’s Rural University. Importantly, this illustrates our deep connection to rural places. It represents our commitment to strengthening our role as engaged partners with community organizations, school districts, businesses, and government agencies.This designation gives us a competitive advantage in seeking additional federal and private resources to provide transformational education while serving as an economic engine for rural places.

91��ý’s identity emanates through actions consistent with our values and principles, mission, and strategic plan. I hope you enjoy examples of this in these Mountaineer stories.

Sincerely,
Tom Insko, ’94
President

P.S., To read more about our strategy, mission, and see the full list of our values and principles, visit eou.edu/about.

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The late Ted and Mary Brown bequeathed a bevy of interests to their three children. Ted, who taught at 91��ý, studied for a master’s in entomology and followed his passion from teaching Spanish, to anthropology, to education courses, and leading outdoor recreation groups.

Mary worked on campus as an advisor to foreign exchange students, and their children, Cathy, Alexander and Ann, inherited their parents’ passions.

“We got to participate so much in our parents’ lives,” Ann said. “Most folks stick the kids in the basement with a pizza, but we were involved in all of the things our parents were doing.”

All three siblings attended 91��ý and when Ted died in 2017, a former faculty member reached out to Ann, youngest of the three, about setting up a scholarship in honor of her parents.

Ann, ’80, earned a degree in chemistry before embarking on a 30-year veterinary career. At age 11, she tagged along as “unofficial mascot” of the student exchange program her father started in Michuacan, Mexico.

Ted also initiated a program that placed student-teachers in migrant camps, where they practiced bilingual education. Alexander carries on this passion as an advocate for DACA students.

Cathy, meanwhile, picked up her parents’ penchant for teaching and the arts. Ann said her father enjoyed helping young teachers brave their first day in the classroom.

“He probably nudged them in the door with a, ‘You can do it!’” Ann said. “He would come home and say, “They’ve got a spark in them.’”

The siblings created a scholarship in honor of their parents through the 91��ý Foundation. In determining what type of students would be eligible, they focused on their folks’ many passions and split along somewhat predictable lines.

“My sister wanted to award a music student and my brother wanted them to be bilingual,” Ann said. “Tom Bradbear, who worked with my dad, helped us decide to award a master’s student in any subject.”

The Ted and Mary Brown Scholarship Fund will be awarded for the first time in fall [2019] to local students in the Master’s of Art in Teaching program with financial need.

“I got a scholarship when I was entering college from Maybel Doty,” Ann said. “I never met her, but it was so encouraging. Our hope is that this scholarship helps and inspires somebody.”

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Jace Billingsley is 5’9” and 189 pounds — among the shortest and lightest players on the Detroit Lions’ active roster — but he’s used to exceeding expectations.

Billingsley grew up in Winnemucca, Nev., a town of less than 8,000 that lies about six hours south of La Grande.

He was an all-state quarterback for the Lowry Buckaroos when he me Tim Camp, 91��ý’s head football coach. Camp recognized Billingsley’s potential instantly at a summer football clinic.

“He was one of the hardest workers,” Camp said. “That stuck out most. He was going into his senior year, and he had this ability to work really hard and passionately.”

Billingsley joined the Mountaineers as a wide receiver in 2012. He broke a school record with 69 receptions the following year and continued to improve.

Billingsley found that many 91��ý professors and coaches invest in students the way Camp had first demonstrated.

“You could tell he cared a lot about the program and players — about everybody there,” Billingsley said.

At 91��ý, the community, small classes and genuine relationships kept Billingsley engaged on and off the field. He majored in history and found a role model in professor Ryan Dearinger.

“He is a great teacher and advisor… someone I could always talk to,” Billingsley said of Dearinger. “At 91��ý, coaches are looking after you on the field and helping you develop as a person, too.”

In his final season at 91��ý in 2015, Billingsley racked up 13 touchdowns for a team-high 78 points and made up his mind to take a shot at his childhood dream of playing professionally.

“As far back as I can remember, I always believed that [playing professionally] could happen,” he said. “Coming from a small high school and then a small college, I never knew it would happen — but I always knew I wanted to give it a shot.”

He started training for a Pro Day in Seattle, where NFL scouts could see him perform. In March 2016, he made an impressive showing with a 4.39-second 40-meter dash and 25 reps of a 225-pound bench press. A month later, on NFL Draft Day, Billingsley received a call from the Detroit Lions.

“It’s definitely a dream come true,” Billingsley said. “I was starting to get a little worried because [the call] was later in the day, but it’s such a big accomplishment to even have the opportunity to play for an NFL team.”

Reflecting on his time as a Mountaineer, Camp called Billingsley “a real Mountie,” and said he remains an inspiration to current and future student-athletes.

“You have to at least try and not be afraid of failure,” Billingsley said. “I hope my success motivates other 91��ý students to see that anything is within their reach.”

Since 2016, Billingsley has adapted to the more business-like atmosphere of the NFL. After 20 years of playing on small stages with big heart, he said it’s been an adjustment.

“It’s a competitive business,” he said. “And that’s what makes it tough, but that’s also what makes it great.”

After a show-stopping entry to the league in the 2016 preseason, Billingsley spent the better part of the regular season on the practice team. He topped the team’s preseason stats chart with 12 receptions for 146 yards in 2016, and returned to the active roster for six games in 2017.

He’s on the off-season active roster and maintaining the positive attitude he developed as a Mountie.

Billingsley still visits campus on a regular basis, and said 91��ý keeps getting better while maintaining the friendly environment that made it feel like home when we he was attending.

“What I love most about 91��ý is that everyone has respect for one another — in the classroom, on a team — everyone enjoys being with each other,” he said. “That’s something I always try to keep doing.”

One of the leading reasons Billingsley chose 91��ý was for the short distance from his hometown. However, his time in the blue and gold launched him to achieve his dream in stadiums across the country.

“A small school doesn’t mean small opportunities,” he said. “91��ý is a great place to see yourself grow as student, a person and an athlete… and it goes really fast.”

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