Eastern Washington University: A Legacy of Notable Alumni
Eastern Washington University (EWU) has fostered a diverse array of accomplished individuals who have made significant contributions across various fields. From professional sports and entertainment to politics, academia, and military service, EWU alumni have left an indelible mark on the world. This article explores the achievements and backgrounds of some of the university's most notable graduates and former students.
Athletics: Gridiron Greatness and Hardwood Heroes
EWU's athletic programs have produced a wealth of talent, with many alumni achieving prominence in professional sports.
Cooper Kupp: Perhaps one of the most recognizable names associated with EWU, Cooper Kupp is an American professional football wide receiver for the Los Angeles Rams of the National Football League (NFL). His journey to the NFL began at Eastern Washington, where he played college football and earned the prestigious Walter Payton Award as a junior. Drafted by the Rams in the third round of the 2017 NFL draft, Kupp experienced a meteoric rise to stardom. In 2021, he had a historic season, becoming only the fourth player since the AFL-NFL Merger to lead the league in receptions, receiving yards, and receiving touchdowns. His outstanding performance earned him the Offensive Player of the Year Award, and he was named the MVP of Super Bowl LVI, joining Jerry Rice as the only wide receivers to achieve both distinctions in a career.
Bo Levi Mitchell: Another prominent figure in the world of football, Bo Levi Mitchell is an American professional football quarterback currently playing for the Hamilton Tiger-Cats of the Canadian Football League (CFL). Mitchell's career in the CFL began with the Calgary Stampeders in 2012. He quickly ascended to the starting quarterback position by 2014. As a first-time starting quarterback, he set club and league records, including the best record in league history with 12 wins and 1 loss. Mitchell led the Stampeders to victory in the 102nd Grey Cup in 2014 and earned the CFL's Most Outstanding Player Award in both 2016 and 2018. In 2018, he secured his second Grey Cup win as a starter, becoming the first quarterback to achieve this feat with the Stampeders organization.
Kendrick Bourne: Kendrick L. Bourne is an American professional football wide receiver for the New England Patriots of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Eastern Washington. He also played for the San Francisco 49ers.
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Michael Roos: Born in Estonia, Michael Roos is a former professional American football offensive tackle who spent his entire NFL career with the Tennessee Titans. Roos was drafted by the Titans in the second round of the 2005 NFL draft after playing college football for the Eastern Washington Eagles.
Taiwan Jones: Taiwan Asti Eric Jones is an American professional football running back and return specialist who is a free agent. He played college football for the Eastern Washington Eagles and was selected by the Oakland Raiders in the fourth round of the 2011 NFL draft.
Ryan Phillips: Ryan Phillips is the secondary coach and pass game coordinator for the BC Lions of the Canadian Football League (CFL) and a former professional Canadian football defensive back. He played most of his career with the BC Lions, where he has been part of two Grey Cup championship teams (94th Grey Cup and 99th Grey Cup) and was the last remaining active Lions player from the 2006 roster that won the 2006 Grey Cup. He holds numerous Lions franchise records and had been named a western all-star five times and a league all-star four times. Phillips was known for his durability, having only missed four games in his 12-year career which includes a consecutive games-played streak of 181 games. He was also a member of the Montreal Alouettes in 2017. He is a 2006 graduate of Eastern Washington University which is also where he played college football for the Eastern Washington Eagles.
Erik Meyer: Erik Meyer is a former professional American football quarterback and current coach. He is the co-offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach for California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo, a position he has held since 2024. He was signed by the Cincinnati Bengals as an undrafted free agent in 2006. He played college football at Eastern Washington. He was also a member of the Cologne Centurions, Seattle Seahawks. Oakland Raiders, Utah Blaze, Hamilton Tiger-Cats, Spokane Shock, San Jose SaberCats and Washington Valor.
Dario Romero: Dario Romero is a former Canadian football defensive tackle. He was signed by the Edmonton Eskimos of the Canadian Football League as a free agent in 2001. He played college football at Eastern Washington.
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Rodney Stuckey: Transitioning from the gridiron to the basketball court, Rodney Norvell Stuckey is an American former professional basketball player. He played seven seasons for the Detroit Pistons and three seasons for the Indiana Pacers and played college basketball for Eastern Washington University.
Tyler Harvey: Tyler Jordon Harvey is an American professional basketball player for the Illawarra Hawks of the National Basketball League (NBL). He played college basketball for the Eastern Washington Eagles, where he led Division I in scoring as a junior. He primarily plays the point guard and shooting guard positions. Harvey graduated from Bishop Montgomery High School of Torrance, California, in 2011.
Adris Deleon: Adris Geraldo De León Jiménez is a Dominican professional basketball player for Metros de Santiago of the Liga Nacional de Baloncesto. He has previously played in Canada, Spain, Puerto Rico and Poland, and is well known in Australia, having played for the Gold Coast Blaze, Wollongong Hawks and Adelaide 36ers while claiming the NBL Best Sixth Man Award in 2013.
Paul Butorac: Paul Butorac is an American former professional basketball player. He currently coaches Lilac City Legends of the American Basketball Association (ABA).
Tom Sneva: Thomas Edsol Sneva is a retired American race car driver who won the Indianapolis 500 in 1983. He primarily raced in Indy cars, and was named to the Motorsports Hall of Fame of America in 2005.
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Jill Bakken: Jill Bakken is an American Olympic bobsledder who has competed since 1994. Bakken's best Bobsleigh World Cup season finish was second in the two-woman event in 1999-2000. Bakken was a Specialist in the Utah Army National Guard and sponsored by the Army World Class Athlete Program at the time she won gold.
Arts, Literature, and Entertainment: Creativity Unleashed
EWU has also nurtured creative minds who have excelled in the arts, literature, and entertainment industries.
Todd McFarlane: Todd McFarlane is a Canadian comic-book creator, best known for his work as the artist on The Amazing Spider-Man and as the creator, writer, and artist on the superhero horror-fantasy series Spawn, as well as being the current President and a co-founder of Image Comics.
Jess Walter: Jess Walter is an American author of seven novels, two collections of short stories, and a non-fiction book. He is the recipient of the Edgar Allan Poe Award, and was a finalist for the National Book Award in 2006.
Chris Crutcher: Chris Crutcher is an American novelist and a family therapist. He received the Margaret A. Edwards Award from the American Library Association in 2000 for his lifetime contribution in writing for teens.
Thomas Hampson: Thomas Walter Hampson is an American lyric baritone, a classical singer who has appeared world-wide in major opera houses and concert halls and made over 170 musical recordings.
Edward Kienholz: Edward Ralph Kienholz was an American installation artist and assemblage sculptor whose work was highly critical of aspects of modern life. From 1972 onwards, he assembled much of his artwork in close collaboration with his artistic partner and fifth wife, Nancy Reddin Kienholz. Throughout much of their career, the work of the Kienholzes was more appreciated in Europe than in their native United States, though American museums have featured their art more prominently since the 1990s.
Wendy J. Fox: Wendy J. Fox is an American author born in Washington. She is most known as a writer of fiction and has thrice been a finalist for the Colorado Book Awards. In 2015, she was nominated for her collection "The Seven Stages of Anger and Other Stories" and in 2020, she was a finalist in literary fiction for "If the Ice Had Held." In 2022, she won for "What If We Were Somewhere Else", a collection of short stories.
Politics, Activism, and Public Service: Shaping Society
EWU alumni have also made significant contributions to the realms of politics, activism, and public service, working to shape society and advocate for change.
Clarence D. Martin: Clarence Daniel Martin was an American politician who served as the 11th governor of Washington from 1933 to 1941. A member of the Democratic Party, he was appointed to fill a vacancy in the Washington House of Representatives in 1944 and was the first governor born in the territory of the state.
Alfred Nganga Mutua: Alfred Nganga Mutua is a Kenyan journalist and politician who is serving as the Kenyan Minister (Cabinet Secretary) for Labour and Social Protection. He previously served as the Minister for Tourism and Wildlife. Before that he served as the Cabinet Secretary (Minister) for Foreign and Diaspora Affairs under President William Ruto. Mutua was, together with the entire Cabinet members, dismissed from the cabinet in July, 2024 as President William Ruto planned to reorganize his Government. He was one of only 10 of the dismissed members of Cabinet who were reappointed back into Cabinet. Twelve of the dismissed Cabinet members were not reappointed.
Fouad al-Farhan: Fouad Ahmad Alfarhan is a popular Saudi Arabian blogger and political commentator noted for his advocacy of political reforms on his blog. Farhan is unusual among Saudi Arabian bloggers because he uses his real name rather than blogging under a pseudonym. Farhan had stopped blogging for a period after being told by government officials to "tone down" his commentary. He resumed posting in July 2007. On Tuesday, December 10, 2007 Farhan was arrested in Jeddah. The arrest was reported by other Arab bloggers, and Saudi authorities confirmed he was being held for "interrogation." No official charges were relayed. He was held in solitary confinement without charges. He was released from prison on April 26, 2008.
Derrick Jensen: Derrick Jensen is an American ecophilosopher, writer, author and environmentalist in the anarcho-primitivist tradition, though he rejects the label "anarchist". Utne Reader named Jensen among "50 Visionaries Who Are Changing the World" in 2008, and Democracy Now! says that he "has been called the poet-philosopher of the ecology movement".
Media and Communication: Voices of Influence
EWU alumni have also found success in the media and communication industries, shaping public discourse and informing the world.
- Colin Cowherd: Colin Murray Cowherd is an American sports media personality. He began his broadcasting career as sports director of Las Vegas television station KVBC and as a sports anchor on several other stations before joining ESPN in 2003, where he hosted a radio show on the ESPN Radio network and also became one of the original hosts of ESPN's television program SportsNation, as well as Colin's New Football Show. Cowherd is currently the host of The Herd with Colin Cowherd on Fox Sports Radio and Fox Sports 1.
Academia and Education: Shaping Future Generations
EWU alumni have also dedicated their lives to academia and education, shaping the minds of future generations and contributing to the advancement of knowledge.
Leslie Wong: Leslie Eric Wong is an American academic, university administrator, and psychology professor. He was President of Northern Michigan University and San Francisco State University. Effective July 1st, 2023, he became the interim President of Connecticut College.
Christine E. Sleeter: Christine E. Sleeter, 1972, is Professor Emerita in the College of Professional Studies at California State University Monterey Bay, where she was a founding faculty member. Currently serving as President of the National Association for Multicultural Education, she is nationally and internationally known for her work in anti-racist multicultural teacher education. She has published over 100 articles and 14 books; her work has been translated into Korean, Portuguese, Spanish, and French.
Robert Panerio: Robert Panerio, 1953, nominated by the College of Arts and Humanities Panerio is a legend in music education in Washington state. A professional trumpeter, he administrated and taught public school music programs, Big Bend College, Eastern Washington University and Central Washington University.
Michele Weir: Michele Weir is currently a faculty member at UCLA and previously taught at USC and the Phil Mattson School. She is recognized internationally as a jazz clinician and performer and as an arranger, teacher, and writer. As a performer, she has toured internationally as a pianist with various well-known artists like Bobby Vinton and has served as vocalist and arranger for the Grammy-nominated "Phil Mattson and the PM Singers."As a songwriter, Michele's arrangements and compositions have been performed by the Boston Pops, the Buffalo, Long Beach, Cincinnati and Pacific Symphonies, the Holland American Cruise Line, and many, many other groups. Michele is also an extraordinary teacher both in the classroom and through her widely-praised books, Vocal Improvisation and The Jazz Singers' Handbook. Michele also runs an online publishing business.
Coaching: Leading on and off the Field
Jim McElwain: James Frank McElwain is a former American football coach. He was the head football coach at Central Michigan University, a position he held from 2019 to 2024. He announced his retirement at the end of the 2024 season and remained at CMU within the athletics department. McElwain served as the head football coach at the University of Florida from 2015 to 2017, and Colorado State University from 2012 to 2014, where he was named the Mountain West Conference Coach of the Year in 2014. He was the offensive coordinator at the University of Alabama from 2008 to 2011.
Dave Christensen: David Joe Christensen is an American football coach and former player. He was assistant coach at Arizona State. He previously worked as the offensive line coach and run-game coordinator for the Texas A&M Aggies. He previously served as the offensive coordinator for the University of Utah. He was previously the head coach at the University of Wyoming from 2009 to 2013, where he compiled a record of 27 wins and 35 losses (.435). Prior to Wyoming, Christensen was the offensive coordinator for the University of Missouri and the University of Toledo.
Bruce Barnum: Bruce Eugene Barnum is an American football coach. He is the head football coach at Portland State University, a position he had held since the 2015 season.
Military Service: Duty and Leadership
- Gary J. Volesky: Gary J. Volesky is a retired United States Army lieutenant general who commanded I Corps from 2017 to 2020. He previously served as commander of the 101st Airborne Division and commander of the American ground forces in Iraq as part of Combined Joint Task Force - Operation Inherent Resolve. Volesky retired in February 2020, being succeeded by Lieutenant General Randy George as commander of I Corps.
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