Campus and community partners filled the lobby of EWU’s Computing and Engineering Building on Dec. 13 to celebrate the grand opening of the MESA Student Center, a new hub designed to support student success.
“It has been like a mission for me – for the whole time I’ve been in the state of Washington – to be able extend the MESA model to the universities,” said David Bowman, dean of EWU’s College of Science, Technology, Mathematics and Engineering.
Bowman, who served on the state MESA advisory board and led the planning of the center over the past eight years, credited the success of the project to the strong support from university leaders, state MESA officials, lawmakers, and campus and community partners, including his own team.
MESA (Mathematics, Engineering, and Science Achievement) is a state-funded initiative to diversify the STEM workforce so that it reflects the talents and diversity of Washington’s population. The program provides resources, support and access to applied-learning opportunities to ensure that underrepresented and underserved students can thrive academically and succeed as working professionals in STEM fields.
Twenty MESA programs operate in K-12 schools and community colleges throughout the state – with two new programs housed at EWU and at WSU Everett. EWU is the only university to offer a full four years of support, spanning freshman through senior years.
Melissa Graham, director of the MESA Student Center, said that 178 students have applied to participate since the program became available earlier this fall.
“We are just so happy for what this means for Eastern and for our communities that we are so thrilled to be a part of,” Graham said.
The ribbon-cutting event attracted more than100 attendees including EWU’s own MESA students, along with elementary and middle school students who’d participated in summer STEM camps. (A few of those young scientists helped adults learn the chemistry of creating lip balm and liquid-nitrogen ice cream.)
Three future scientists from MESA programs at Lewis and Clark High School and Westwood Middle School were awarded tokens for future scholarship awards at EWU.
The Lewis and Clark High team had won regionals and taken second in state for a project combining an affordable washing machine with website support to help the region’s unhoused population keep their clothing clean. The Westwood team won regional, state and national competitions for their protype early-warning system to assist with wildfire evacuations.
Sezi Fleming, executive director of Washington state MESA, was among a delegation of state officials attending the reception. She credits Bowman, her predecessor, Gregory King, and support from the state legislature for making the EWU MESA possible, saying “I think this became a good conversation at the right time with the right energy and the right folks around the table.”
EWU Trustee Uriel Iñiguez, who graduated from EWU in 1988 as a first-generation student and created an endowed scholarship with his family to help other Eagles, praised President Shari McMahan along with Bowman, faculty, staff, students and community partners for this major accomplishment.
“The opening of this new center exemplifies what this institution does best, breaking down barriers and creating pathways to success for students,” Iñiguez said.
McMahan took the podium to express gratitude and recognize Bowman’s efforts, sharing that EWU ranks number one for social mobility for universities in the state – and that MESA aligns perfectly with this work.
“This new resource center isn’t really just a space – it’s a launchpad of opportunity,” McMahan said.
Within a few short months of opening, the center, located inside the CEB, has become a one-stop for tutoring, advising, resume workshops, guest speakers, and other helpful services for students who often arrive as the first in their families to attend college and can sometimes feel alienated by the college experience. The center and its resources are accessible to all EWU students taking STEM courses.
As part of MESA, the university is also offering co-horted math classes for a first time. Math classes that are part of a MESA cohort have the same instructor all year long, a teaching assistant who tutors in the MESA Student Center, and smaller class caps.
Graham said that students are not only embracing opportunities to learn more at the center, they are also connecting with one another for board games and other activities that contribute to a sense of belonging and community.
Bowman foresees the center will support increased student retention and empower student success, saying “I look forward to having to stand even longer on the podium at graduation shaking hands with all these MESA students who come through – that’s what it’s all about.”
