Category: Social Impact

Jenifer Walke, assistant professor of biology, has been researching the microbes (the bacteria and fungi) associated with honey bees and the impact they have on their health. Walke, a new faculty member to Eastern Washington University, has been working with the local beekeeping community, who provided samples for her research. Together, they have been working…

Eastern Washington University faculty, staff and students – many of them new to campus – started the 2017 academic year by giving back to the community on Tuesday, Sept. 19, during the annual Eagle UP volunteer effort. In all, more than 120 volunteers from Eastern provided a total of 366 hours cleaning, planting and organizing, equaling nearly…

Eastern Washington University education students teamed up with 150 seventh graders from Cheney Middle School to plant more than 560 trees at Marshall Creek Friday, Oct. 21, as part of a service project to increase outdoor and environmental education. Seven Eastern students each worked with a group of seventh graders to plant trees and learn…

Romel Mackelprang has a rule for all of the students on his faculty-led study abroad program to Ghana: you can bring two bags. One piece of luggage is yours and the other is for the Ghanaian community. Mackelprang, the director of disability studies at EWU and a professor for 30 years, has been doing humanitarian…

This week, the Dare to Dream Academy returns to EWU’s campus to provide migrant high school students a glimpse of college life and expose them to resources for pursuing higher education. The six-day program includes 14-hour workdays including team building activities, workshops and a variety of keynote speakers. The 146 attending students are divided into…

Satori Summer Camp hosted 142 campers in its 34th year at Eastern Washington University last week, bringing gifted junior high and high school-aged students from around the region to experience college life in a camp setting. “We have kids telling us over and over again how important this experience has been for them because they…

Giving Joy Day is EWU’s version of the international Giving Tuesday, a day dedicated to encouraging generosity and goodwill at the beginning of the holiday season. The event, which will happen again next year on the Tuesday after Thanksgiving, has two purposes – to help raise funds for EWU scholarships and to spread joy and perform…

Eastern Washington University tied for first place with Ohio University in the 2016 GameDay Recycling Challenge, a nationwide competition among 79 colleges and universities to reduce and recycle the waste generated at home football games. EWU won with a diversion rate of 95.6 percent. During each competition cycle, participating schools report recycling, compost and attendance data for…

Small acts of kindness were performed throughout the Spokane-Cheney community on Nov. 29, Giving Joy Day, thanks to the efforts of an EWU public relations class. “When I heard that EWU was launching Giving Joy Day, I thought it would be a good opportunity to not only help support the university in an important cause…

Eastern Washington University is part of a statewide $3 million collaboration grant from the National Science Foundation (NSF) to help improve the next generation of Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) teacher-preparation programs in Washington. Multiple state partners will work together to anticipate and identify the needs and challenges future teachers will face and provide…