Lewis & Clark College

Biljana Risteska Guchereau was born and raised in Ochrid, Macedonia. She moved to Portland,
Oregon, in 2000 to attend Wilson High School for her junior year, on a George Soros
Scholarship. She was accepted at Lewis & Clark without a high school diploma and enrolled in
her first year at Lewis & Clark in 200. She graduated in 2005 with a degree in math and
computer science. Biljana was commuter student, international student and was also active in the
international studies community. During her time at Lewis & Clark she worked as an intern for a
money management company and an actuarial consulting company. She now works as an
actuary for Milliman. She married Jason Gushra, another Lewis & Clark alum, and they live in
the Portland neighborhood of Burlingame just a few miles from Lewis & Clark Campus.

2017-10-16

Marlene Haldors grew up as Marlene Monteji in Sandy, Oregon with her parents and two brothers. While living in a small, rural town, Marlene was fortunate enough to have grown up with the resources to travel and to be able - and encouraged by her parents - to go to college. In 1950, Marlene joined the Lewis & Clark College class of 1954. Marlene graduated with an undergraduate degree in business administration. During her time at Lewis & Clark she was both a class and student body officer as well as a member of Delta Phi Gamma. Marlene met her husband, Steve Haldors ('54), while at Lewis & Clark. The couple married days after they graduated in the spring of 1954. Although her husband passed away in 2010, Marlene continues to find a sense of belonging at Lewis & Clark College and within the Albany Society thanks to her experiences and memories at the college.

Oral history interview of Lewis & Clark alumnus Marlene Monetji Haldors, conducted by Sofia Knutson on April 24, 2014. History Department, Spring Semester, 2014.

20140424

Roz Hamar moved to Portland in 1952, attending primary and secondary school in the city. Ms. hamar attended Lewis & Clark College, graduating with her degree in history in 1969, going on to receive her teaching credentials and Master's degree in education in 1974. While attending L&C, she was involved with dance, her church, and held an off-campus job. Post-graduation, she taught ninth grade in the Portland area.

2016-10-31

John Hammil is a local Portlandian. the son of two teachers, he was driven to go to college. He went to Lewis & Clark from 1963, traveled on two study abroad programs to Washington D.C. and Yugoslavia, amd graduated with a Bachelor's in History in 1969. He retired in 1995 at the age of forty with disablity, trained to become a medical transcriber, and then taught computer skills in Salem, OR. He is on the Board of Directors of Cherriots, the Salem-Keizer Transit Public agency, as well s a divisional leader for the Exchange Club of Salem.

2016-10-30

Hugh Harcourt was born in Portland, Oregon as the son of a physician father. After a period of financial difficulties, his mother was invited to the faculty of Lewis & Clark College as a speech therapist by President Morgan Odell, a family friend. Because of that, Mr. Harcourt was able to attend the College free of charge. While here, he primarily studied sciences, including biology and psychology, convinced he was supposed to enter into the medical field like his father. However, his interests were really piqued by a philosophy class, though he did not know at the time this is what he should have pursued. Although he lived off campus, he was involved in various groups associated with the College including the campus choir, water polo team, and a local fraternity. In this oral history, he notes many of the interesting campus dynamics, from the dearth of women in athletics to the unspoken presence of gay students. He graduated in 1952 with a degree in psychology, and later went on to graduate school at the Universities of Copenhagen and Edinburgh, and for much of his life taught philosophy at the American University of Beirut, Lebanon. Due to the civil war there, he later returned to Portland where he briefly taught at Portland State University. He is now retired and lives with his wife in Portland.

Oral history interview of Lewis & Clark alumnus Hugh Harcourt, conducted by Russ Allton on April 5, 2014. History Department, Spring Semester, 2014.

20140405

Van Hare grew up on the island of Oahu in Hawaii. His father was a computer science professor at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst. His mother owned a men’s clothing store in Honolulu. He went to high school at Kamehameha High School in Honolulu. Hare arrived at Lewis and Clark in 1986, and graduated in 1990, with a major in International Affairs and a minor in Political Science and Central European Studies. He studied abroad in Hungary in the fall of 1987. He met his wife Zoe at Lewis & Clark. She majored in English and went on to the Graduate School at Lewis & Clark; they have now been married for eleven years. Hare went to Humboldt State University for graduate school where he specialized in natural resources management. He currently lives in Multnomah Village, OR, and works for the Pacific States Marine Fisheries Commission.

20151014

David Lee Harris Sr. is a native Oregonian, born just outside of Portland in Beaverton,
Oregon. He attended grade school and high school in Beaverton and completed two years of
community college before transferring to Lewis & Clark College for his junior and senior years,
between nineteen seventy-two and nineteen seventy-four. He was a college student toward the
end of the Vietnam War, but was able to escape the draft using a full-time student exemption.
During his time at Lewis & Clark college he majored in business, earning a degree from the
business school and going on to work at a local Fortune 500 company recommended to him by a
professor. Following his time at said company, he went to work at his father’s petroleum
distribution company, which sparked his interest in environmental activist endeavors, leading
him to craft policies incentivizing both public and private organizations to reassess their own
environmental practices.

2018-10-26

Frances Hart was born in Long Beach, California in 1954 and raised in Orange County. At 13,
her grandparents took her on a trip through Europe and the Middle East. They reached Cairo
only days before the outbreak of the Six-Day War. Frances was still abroad when war was
officially declared. The summer going into her Senior year of high school, she went on a student
exchange program to Afghanistan, where she studied the Dari language. She came to Lewis and
Clark in 1972 and canvassed for presidential candidate George McGovern.. She did not graduate
from Lewis and Clark because an Anthropology major was never offered, so she transferred to
UC Santa Cruz and graduated in 1977. Frances now lives in Portland, Oregon.

2018-02-27

A Portland native, Rick Hennessy graduated from Lewis & Clark College in 1978 with a history degree. In 1981 he also completed his MAT in social studies from L&C. Hennessy played football and baseball during his time here, and received athletic scholarships which paid for tuition. Athletics played an important role in Hennessy's life, and his friendships built during his Lewis & Clark athletic days continue to this day. He is thankful to have avoided the Vietnam War draft and instead attended university on scholarship. Today, Hennessy is married, has three children, and works in the insurance business at State Farm Insurance.

2016-10-26

Although he started his college career at Portland State University, John Newton Hickox transferred to Lewis and Clark College in the August of 1962 amidst of the Vietnam War. During his initial year as a sophomore on campus, John declared as an economics major and served as the president of the business fraternity, Alpha Kappa Psi. His time on campus connected him with Bob Pamplin Jr,who motivated John into a committed effort to avoid the war time draft. After his graduation in 1965, John Hickox gradually became more politically active,and would go on to serve as a chaplain in the Portland Veteran Affairs office. He then committed himself to humanitarian work abroad via religious seminary studies in 1994.

2018-03-18

Sonia Highet, maiden-name Fredrickson, was born in Mt. Vernon, Washington. Her family encouraged her education and musical abilities throughout her childhood, and she chose to attend Lewis & Clark for its well-rounded academics. As a student Sonia served on the board of KLC radio and played on various sports teams. During her senior year, Sonia traveled to Hungary, Yugoslavia, Poland and Romania on a two-semester study abroad program. Upon returning to Lewis & Clark, she graduated with a communications degree in ’88. Sonia worked in radio broadcasting as a recent college graduate, and eventually transitioned into internet news sourcing and software manufacturing. She currently lives in Washington State with her family.

20151216

Virginia Wion Hilken grew up in Gresham, Oregon, and attended Gresham Union high school. She came to Lewis & Clark College in 1948, graduating with the class of 1952. Despite growing up in a small farming community, she always planned to attend college and wanted to develop skills to be self-sufficient. At Lewis & Clark she was a member of the Alpha Gamma sorority, the service club, the pep club, and she participated in many drama productions. She majored in Secondary Education with an emphasis in Home Economics as well as Speech & Drama. She, like many other students at the time, lived off-campus and had to commute to school. Because she lived off campus, she loved to participate in the sorority and fraternity events that she helped to plan because of the sense of community it gave her on campus. She particularly loved planning and attending school dances. She met her husband, Bob Hilken, her first year at Lewis & Clark and they began dating between her sophomore and junior year. They waited until they both graduated to be married and had their wedding reception in the Frank Manor House. After graduating, because Bob was signed up to be in the Reserve Officer’s Corps, they traveled to California and then New Jersey for his training during the Korean War. While moving to different areas, Virginia worked as a substitute teacher in private schools. They eventually moved back to Portland where she raised their children and has lived ever since.

Oral history interview of Lewis & Clark alumnus Virginia Wion Hilken, conducted by Olivia Davis on March 16, 2014. History Department, Spring Semester, 2014.

20140316

Wendy Hilliker grew up in a rural area of Redmond, WA in a home with acreage and farm animals. She attended Lewis & Clark from 1986 to 1990 and graduated with a major in political science and a minor in Eastern European studies. Wendy was primarily attracted to Lewis & Clark for its overseas programs and ended up participating in the 1987 abroad program in Hungary during the fall of her sophomore year. Hilliker was a Resident Advisor in Stewart Hall during her junior year. After returning to Hungary through the Peace Corps immediately after college, Hilliker ended up contracting with Peace Corps and participating in additional programs in Ukraine and Albania in 1993-94. Hilliker currently lives in Seattle and works for Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center as a grant manager. She is still in contact with friends from Lewis & Clark, including her freshman roommate and her fellow participants on her abroad program.

20151119

Ray Hoen was born in Wisconsin, but grew up and attended high school in the small town of Oswego, Illinois, a place he called a “farming community.” Hoen’s father was a car insurance salesman. The Second World War was at its peak during his adolescence, and Hoen felt that it was important to join the navy. At the age of 17, he dropped out of high school and enlisted. Hoen was discharged when he turned 21 in 1950. Early that year, at a “Fireman Ball” in Lake Oswego, Oregon, Hoen met a fellow Navy veteran who recommended Lewis & Clark College. The next day, Hoen embarked on a visit to the college, and “fell in love with the place.” He promptly applied for admission and enrolled, joining the class of 1954, but the Korean War also broke out in 1950. Hoen was recalled back into the navy for two years of service after his freshman year. He remembers taking extra classes during the summers to catch up with his original class, and he almost caught up completely; he graduated just six months after the rest of the class of ’54. Hoen took business courses, and he spent much of his spare time in employment to pay for his schooling. In the interview, Hoen frequently referenced his membership in a fraternity as a meaningful part of his life at Lewis & Clark. He lived with his parents in nearby West Linn during his freshman year. After his second discharge from the navy, Hoen rented a “cabin” very close to campus with one of his fraternity brothers. After graduating from Lewis & Clark, Hoen married and took on a career in sales. He owned a car dealership in Newberg, Oregon, for a period.

Oral history interview of Lewis & Clark alumnus Ray Hoen, conducted by Jarrett Gibson on March 17, 2014. History Department, Spring Semester, 2014.

20140317

Dr Michael Holtzclaw (Lewis & Clark BA ‘88, The Ohio State University MA ‘93 &
PHD ‘97) was born in Grants Pass, Oregon and began at Lewis & Clark in 1984. Dr Holtzclaw
spent much of his time at Lewis and Clark overseas going on four trips for a total of six
trimesters overseas. These trips included Costa Rica, Hungary, The USSR and Indonesia. After
his graduation Dr. Holtzclaw went to The Ohio State University to pursue a Masters and PHd in
Geography. He has worked in higher education for over 27 years including time as the assistant
dean of admissions at Lewis and Clark. He worked as a professor at Central Oregon Community
College then spent time in leadership and administration in California community colleges. He
has also spent time on the Lewis & Clark board of Alumni and now serves as the Chancellor of
University of New Mexico-Los Alamos.

20221104

Steven Hopkins was born in Portland, Oregon and has lived in the area for most of his life. He began college at Multnomah Junior College in the fall of 1965, planning to transfer to Lewis & Clark in the next fall of 1966. Hopkins graduated from Lewis & Clark in the spring of 1969 with a B.A. in business. After college, Steve was drafted into the army to serve in the Vietnam War. He worked at Fort Reilly as a personnel clerk where he developed an important mentor relationship with the Colonel (who later became a General), Richard E. Cavazos. During his service, Steve also served in Germany in a Reforger Exercise. The Reforger Exercises, organized by NATO during the Cold War, required troops to occupy Germany so they could be deployed quickly in the event of a conflict. While still serving, Steve and his brother bought their parents’ auto parts store. When he returned to Portland, Steve expanded the company, creating a chain of auto stores in Portland. He has since sold his auto parts stores but remains involved in Portland business in many ways.

20160222

Judy Huddleston (born Judy Smith) grew up in Portland, Oregon. She graduated from Lewis & Clark College as an elementary education major in 1963. She began dating her soon-to-be husband Hallie “Bud” Smith her junior year of college and they were soon engaged and married. She was a teacher in the Portland public school system for most of her life. Hallie joined the Air Force and was deployed to Vietnam in 1968 after completing flight school in South Carolina and a first assignment in England. Shortly after his deployment, his plane malfunctioned and crash-landed into a cliff. Judy temporarily stopped teaching in Portland and became a vocal advocate for POW-MIA Vietnam soldiers, working with Governor McCall and traveling to France to speak with North Vietnamese representatives. Hallie’s remains were never recovered. She remarried and has one child. She currently spends her time acting as a grief counselor for a local Presbyterian church as well as gardening and spending time at her beach house on the Oregon coast.

20160218

Christian Huettemeyer was born in Mission Viejo, California, and grew up in the Los Angeles area. Both of his parents are German immigrants and Christian is a first-generation American. His father worked as an engineer and his mother was a nurse. Christian joined the military at eighteen and attended the U.S. Military Academy at West Point. After graduating from West Point, Christian became a Black Hawk helicopter pilot. He completed tours in South Korea, at the Korean Demilitarized Zone, Kosovo, and Iraq. Christian’s duties as a helicopter pilot included everything from troop transport to flying soldiers on missions. During his military service, Christian became interested in the law; he recognized that lawyers were involved in nearly every military decision. After serving for 20 years in the United States Army, Christian left military service and moved to Portland with his wife and daughter to attend Lewis & Clark Law School. Christian is currently in his second year of law school, having started in 2014. He is involved in moot court, a mock courtroom extracurricular activity, as well as the Food and Wine Law Society and a conservation group on campus. Christian and his family live in Lake Oswego, Oregon.

20160226

Steven Hunt came to Lewis & Clark in 1973. He was a Director of Forensics for his entire career as an educator. He also picked up a JD (law degree) at Northwestern School of Law 1985. He served in many positions at Lewis & Clark including Chair of the Department of Communication (now RHMS), Chair of Curriculum Committee, Chair of Academic Advising, Admissions, and Financial Aid Committee, Faculty Parliamentarian, and Dean of Social Sciences. In the forensics community, I have edited Pi Kappa Delta’s The Forensic for four years and been President of the National Cross Examination Debate Association.

Oral history interview of Lewis & Clark Professor Steven Hunt, conducted by Spencer Lymburn on October 24, 2014. History Department, Spring Semester, 2014.

20141024

Mary Lou Hunter was born in Portland, Oregon, where she attended elementary school. She became interested in horseback riding and saved money to buy herself a horse. Her family lived in Northeast Portland at the time, and decided to move to a ten-acre farm in Happy Valley, Oregon, where she could keep her horse. At fourteen, her family moved again to Milwaukee, Wisconsin, where she would attend high school. After she graduated from high school, she came back to Oregon to enroll at Lewis & Clark College. She majored in physical education and minored in art, graduating from Lewis & Clark with honors. During her time as a student at the College she participated in most intramural sports, and took a few dance classes. After graduation, she went on to graduate school at Oregon State University. She then came back to Lewis & Clark to teach physical education, becoming a coach of women’s basketball and volleyball. She was able to help establish the Outdoor School Education program, becoming the main teacher of the program’s classes. She now lives in Lake Oswego, where she is enjoying her retirement, painting and being as active as she can.

Oral history interview of Lewis & Clark alumna Mary Lou Hunter, conducted by Aurora Garrison on October 6, 2014. History Department, Fall Semester, 2014.

20141016

Noël Jackson grew up in Geneva, Illinois, and graduated from Lewis and Clark College
with a Bachelor’s degree in International Affairs in 1989. Jackson was on the swim team all four
years at Lewis and Clark, and worked at the Rusty Nail cafe, as an RA, and as the wedding
coordinator at the chapel. In 1987, during her sophomore year, Jackson went on a Spring
semester overseas trip to the USSR, which is the topic of this interview. The trip was a cultural
exchange program and saw Jackson’s group take language courses, interact with Russian
students, and visit museums, monuments, and other heritage sites. The trip greatly affected
Jackson’s worldview and spurred a continuing interest in Russian culture, politics, and history;
this will be elaborated further in the interview. Today, Jackson lives in Portland with her
husband–who is also an alum of Lewis and Clark College–and works as a realtor.

20221104

William “Bill” James enrolled in Lewis & Clark College in 1970, as a biology major. As
his spring semester of his sophomore year approached, he was offered the opportunity to join the
school’s study abroad trip to Afghanistan. The program lasted from that spring to the summer
leading up to his junior year, in 1972. After Bill concluded his time at Lewis & Clark College, he
went on to study at Oregon State University. It was there that he studied genetics, and received
his masters degree, which led him to work for various poultry operations across the Western
United States. In 2010, Bill retired, and now resides in California’s Bay Area.

20221107

Christopher E. Jay was born and raised in Milton-Freewater, OR in the Walla Walla Valley only
7 miles from Walla Walla, WA. His parents were farmers and craftsmen, and he is one of four
boys. He attended Lewis and Clark from 1968-1972 and graduated with a degree in Political
Science. He was very active in student government and ran and won student senator in the spring
of 1971 He was in the fraternity Sigma Alpha Epsilon (SAE) for two years, studied in
Washington D.C., and was a Resident Advisor (RA) during his time at Lewis & Clark. He has
been married for the past 37 years to Mardra M. Jay, and has three kids and three grandkids.

2018-03-09

Clifford Jenne was born in Portland, Oregon, in 1925 where he lived with his mother, father, and
sister. He worked for the railroad company in Portland as an engine operator before joining the
military at 18. After completing basic training at Aberdeen, Maryland and briefly working in a
military chemical plant in San Francisco, he participated in World War Two in the Pacific
theatre. He arrived in Japan after the surrender, and was present for the American occupation
following the war. After returning home and finishing high school, he began studying at Lewis
and Clark in 1946. During his time at Lewis and Clark, he met his wife at a Presbyterian youth
group in Portland. He graduated in three years with a business degree and began working for the
Oregonian as a photo developer. After a short time there, he moved with his family to
Willamina, OR to work for the Union Oil Company, which would be his primary career for the
remainder of his adulthood. During his retirement, Jenne worked for Trimet training future
drivers. He is now fully retired in Portland, OR.

2018-03-03

Erik Jensen is a graduate of Political Science from Lewis
and Clark. In 1979, he traveled to the Union of Soviet Socialist
Republics (USSR). The following interview contains Mr. Jensen’s
memory of that trip to the USSR, including his visits to Kiev,
Odessa (Ukraine), St. Petersburg, Moscow (Russian Federation),
and Tbilisi (Georgia). After Lewis and Clark Jensen started Jensen
Strategies, a company that charges itself with helping organize
policy and development strategies for private and public
companies. Below is a transcript of the first twenty minutes of the
interview.

20221103

Hongda Jiang was grew up in Beijing, China and immigrated to Reno, Nevada with his parents when he was ten years old in 1992. Although highly educated, his parents worked in the casinos with several other Chinese immigrants while Hongda went to school. After graduating from high school in Reno, Hongda decided to join the military in 2000. He was in the army for four years and served in Iraq and Kuwait. In 2004 he attended Lewis & Clark college on the G.I. bill. He majored in International Affairs and was involved in the Model U.N., the gaming club, Russian club, Chinese club and ISLC. During his time at Lewis & Clark he learned how to speak Russian and studied abroad in Vladivstok during his senior year. After graduating in 2008, he spent some time abroad in Russia and China before deciding to pursue a graduate degree in business and environmental science and sustainability at Ross University and the Erb Institute in Michigan. Hongda currently lives in Hillsboro, Oregon and works for Intel.

2017-10-18

Paul Knoll was born in a small farm town outside of Spokane, Washington, and lived there until the fourth grade, when his family relocated to Oregon City. In 1956, he enrolled at Lewis & Clark College. Mr. Knoll lived on campus all four years of his time at Lewis & Clark, serving as freshman and senior class presidents, and a resident advisor, among other posts. After exploring more majors than most students even consider, Mr. Knoll decided to major in foreign language, German and Greek specifically. He also attended Lewis & Clark with his then-to-be wife, Susan Lathrop Knoll, whom he had known since high school. Following his graduate work in history at the University of Colorado, Mr. Knoll went on to work for the Advanced Placement testing company, University of Southern California, and other academic institutions.

20150306

Sue Knoll was born in White Salmon, Washington and moved with her family to the colony of Hawaii when she was twelve. Two years later, she moved to Oregon City where she completed high school. Mrs. Knoll came into Lewis & Clark a very focused performance major having been playing the violin since she was four years old. During her time here, Mrs. Knoll was a part of the Theta Kappa sorority and lived in Stewart for three of her years on campus. Her senior year she served as a house counselor in the newly built Ruth Odell dorm. Mrs. Knoll met her husband in high school and the two attended Lewis & Clark College becoming engaged in a Quonset hut on campus their junior year. After graduating in 1960, Mrs. Knoll taught elementary aged students and eventually worked part time with special needs children. Mrs. Knoll and her husband currently reside in Portland with both of their children living in the area.

20150226

Jack Landau is an alumnus of Lewis & Clark's undergraduate and Law School programs. He graduated Magna Cum Laude from the undergraduate campus in 1975, receiving degrees in both history and psychology. Mr. Landau eventually returned to L&C for his law degree and graduated with his juris doctorate in 1980. Mr. Landau is now an Associate Justice of the Oregon Supreme Court, but still lives in Portland, remaining an active alumnus who intermittently teaches classes at the Lewis & Clark Law School, as well as Benjamin Franklin High School.

2016-10-21

Marilyn Lane was born in Colorado Springs, Colorado where she grew up with three older brothers. Her mother and father both attended college where her father received an Associates of Business, so attending college was an expectation in her family. Marilyn attended Lewis & Clark College and graduated in 1968 with a degree in English. During her time at Lewis & Clark, Marilyn decided to study abroad in Iran during her senior year. After the Iran trip, Marilyn decided to become a teacher, achieving her masters and Ph.D. She later became a principal, and today runs a small non-profit professional organization to help people succeed in school. Marilyn now resides by the beach in Gearhart, Oregon with her puppy Sadie.

20151007

Donna Macklin Lawrence was born in Salem, Oregon, and enrolled at Lewis & Clark College at the age of 17 in 1948. She is married to Frank Lawrence (’52) whom she met in an English class with Professor William Stafford. She graduated with a double degree in Education and Music in 1952 and was offered a place in an all-women’s orchestra headed by her instructor and founder of the Portland Chamber Orchestra, Boris Sirpo.

Oral history interview of Lewis & Clark alumnus Donna Macklin Lawrence, conducted by Trushaa Castelino on March 22, 2014. History Department, Spring Semester, 2014.

20140322

A Portland native, Frank Lawrence enlisted in the Navy after high school in order to pursue his dream of higher education. After serving several years, he returned to Portland and enrolled in Lewis and Clark’s business administration program on the GI bill. As a commuter student, Lawrence’s on-campus activities included serving as head of chapel services and a fraternity membership. It was on campus where he met his future wife Donna Macklin, who invited him to one of several dances that shaped his social experience at Lewis and Clark. The financial skills he learned in the business administration program proved useful when he later secured a lifelong accounting career at Crown Zellerbach.

Oral history interview of Lewis & Clark alumnus Frank Lawrence, conducted by Josh Freeman on March 22, 2014. History Department, Spring Semester, 2014.

20140322

Bryan Harold Laycoe was born in Vancouver, British Columbia in 1942 and is the son of famous
hockey player Hal Laycoe. After frequently moving between cities in Canada and the United
States, Mr. Laycoe eventually settled in Portland and attended Cleveland High School. Upon
graduation, Mr. Laycoe enrolled at Lewis & Clark College for track and graduated in 1968
following a pre-med pathway. After Lewis & Clark, Mr. Laycoe studied medicine at Oregon
Medical School and had a doctoral internship at the University of Oregon. In 1973, Mr. Laycoe
volunteered to serve in the United States Navy and was stationed at Pearl Harbor for two years.
Upon completion of the Vietnam War, Mr. Laycoe worked as a practicing orthopedic surgeon for
40 years. For the past ten years, Mr. Laycoe has been involved with the American Legion, an
organization that serves veterans and contributes to the community. Today he and his wife raise
show horses in Washington.

2018-03-19

Ruxy Lazarescu was born and raised in Râmnicu Vâlcea, Romania. Her father was a pediatric
psychiatrist and worked in orphanages. Ruxy volunteered as a translator at these orphanages and
during this time she became friends with a visiting psychiatric nurse from San Diego. At this
friend’s invitation, Ruxy visited San Diego when she was sixteen and decided then that she
wanted to come to America for college. After first spending a semester at a university in
Romania, she transferred to Lewis and Clark. She was a French/ International Affairs double
major which led her to study abroad in France. After graduating from Lewis and Clark she
moved to Washington D.C where she met her husband. She currently lives in Portland with her
husband and children.

2017-10-23

Brian Lindstrom was born in Portland, Oregon in 1961 and graduated from Lewis & Clark as a
communications major in 1984. Lindstrom attended the University of Oregon for his freshman year of college and transferred to Rutgers University for his sophomore year. Deciding he wanted a more personalized education, Lindstrom transferred to Lewis & Clark in 1981 and began his education in media studies and filmmaking under professor Stuart Kaplan. He received his BA in communications in 1984 and his MFA in screenwriting and film directing from Columbia University in 1989. Since then, Lindstrom has made many films surrounding themes of social justice centered in Portland, such as Finding Normal (2007), Alien Boy: The Life and Death of James Chasse (2013), and Mothering Inside (2015). Lindstrom works and lives in Portland with his wife, Cheryl Strayed, and their two children.

2018-10-04

After finishing his Portland-area service in the armed forces, Sam Macon toured colleges around Oregon before eventually settling on Lewis & Clark. He based his decision on the beauty of the campus, enthusiasm expressed by the school’s football coach, and a negative experience while taking the SAT at University of South Carolina. Macon lived on campus for a total of three and a half years on the third floor of Platt Hall. He is a four year letterman and an avid fan of the Pioneer athletic program. Macon studied Health and Physical education with a minor in Speech. During his time at Lewis & Clark he met his wife, to whom he has remained married. As one of the few African-American students at the time, Macon fondly remembers Lewis & Clark as a prejudice-free haven.

Oral history interview of Lewis & Clark alumnus Sam Macon, conducted by Lucas Trimble on April 14, 2014. History Department, Spring Semester, 2014.

Donna Manning received her Bachelor of Arts in Elementary Education from the college in 1961. She was raised in Albany, Oregon, and went to high school next to Lewis & Clark’s original Albany College facility. Donna’s visits to the classrooms of her great aunts inspired her to become an elementary educator. She grew up Presbyterian, which was a leading factor in her decision to attend Lewis & Clark. Donna grew up in a working-class family who couldn’t financially support her education. Thanks to her wealthy family in Portland, who could house her and pay her tuition, she was able to attend Lewis & Clark. She was a commuter student. After receiving a car her 3rd year, she became more involved in campus activities like her sorority and choir. In this interview Donna speaks largely about her experiences in classes, social life and her career. After her time at Lewis & Clark she became an educator at Portland Public Schools and eventually a principal.

Oral history interview of Lewis & Clark alumnus Donna Manning, conducted by Taylor Wayne Patterson on April 16, 2014. History Department, Spring Semester, 2014.

20140416

John Marandas was born in Portland to Greek immigrant parents. He was raised in Northeast Portland and went to Grant High School. His father was a restauranteur, which was one of the only options available to many Greek immigrants, and his mother was a homemaker. His older brother attended Lewis & Clark, and since Marandas wanted to stay close to home, he did too. He majored in Political Science and was involved in school politics both at Lewis & Clark and in high school. After college, Marandas went to law school at Willamette University and became a lawyer.

Oral history interview of Lewis & Clark alumnus John Marandas, conducted by Amy Sutton on April 22, 2014. History Department, Spring Semester, 2014.

John Marandas was born to Greek immigrant parents in Portland, Oregon. He was raised in Northeast Portland and went to Grant High School. His father was a restaurateur, which was one of the only options available to many Greek immigrants, and his mother was a homemaker. His older brother attended Lewis & Clark, and since Marandas wanted to stay close to home, he did too. He majored in Political Science and was involved in school politics both at Lewis & Clark and in high school. After college, Marandas went to law school at Willamette University and became a lawyer.

20140422

Alan Masden was born in Valdosta, GA, and moved often due to his father’s job
as a fighter pilot and flight trainer for the United States Air Force, mostly living in
California. Masden attended Lewis & Clark College from the fall of 1964 until the spring
of 1969, when he graduated with a BA in History. At a time rife with student protest
movements against the Vietnam War, Alan describes himself as an “anarchist” who had a
lot of respect for those in service in Vietnam, and who frequently found error in the ways
of the anti-war movement that defined his college years. After his graduation, Alan got
his Masters Degree in Counseling from Western Kentucky in 1974, the same college that
his father had attended. Inspired by his own lifelong struggles with Attention Deficit
Disorder and other chronic psychoses, Alan pursued a career in social work at the urging
of those around him. After working as a supervisor for various hospitals in the Pacific
Northwest for many years, he retired, and today lives with his wife, Becky, in Vancouver,
WA. He still meets with three friends from Lewis & Clark weekly to have coffee and
argue together.

2018-10-12

Lynwood May grew up in Willamette, Oregon. He attended Westmont College in California for one year before transferring to Lewis & Clark College to graduate with a degree in Physics in 1955. During his time at the school he was involved in service organizations as well as University Christian Fellowship, in which he met his wife Carol whom he became engaged to during his senior year. Following graduation he enlisted in the Navy, where he received training in piloting a variety of aircraft, eventually settling upon blimps as his focus. For two years he maintained blimp patrol along the coast of Florida, before switching to a teaching position within the Navy. After teaching physics in California he was a research assistant until his retirement. He now lives in Salinas, California.

20160317

Marilyn McLean choose Lewis & Clark for its reputable international programs, outstanding music department, and quaint campus. Marilyn is originally from the Seattle area and lives there currently. Formerly a music major before switching to history, Marilyn remarked that one of her favorite classes was the Hitler seminar that she took her senior year. Working three jobs to support herself throughout college, Marilyn still found time to participate in extracurriculars. As a residential advisor, a member of the school choir, and the chief justice of the judiciary board, Marilyn kept herself very busy over the course of her time spent at Lewis & Clark. Marilyn studied abroad in what was formerly known as Yugoslavia in 1973. Marily firmly believes that Lewis & Clark's desire to expose its students to international cultures distinguishes it from other colleges. She went on to work as a lawyer after going to school later in life. Although it did not directly affect her career path, history helped Marilyn with the rest of her life by connecting her to other cultures and giving her the tools necessary to travel abroad as well as excellent research skills. Marilyn is still active in the alumni community to this day.

2017-03-01

Megan McMorran was born in Boulder, Colorado in 1953. Her mother was a political activist in the 1960s and 1970s. Her father served in the US Navy during the Korean War. She eventually left Colorado to study at Lewis & Clark College at the age of eighteen. There, she majored in history and went abroad to France for the spring and fall of '78 where she researched various Basque uprisings in Spain that were going on at the time. She also interned at several correctional facilities in Oregon until she graduated from L&C in 1979. Post-graduation, she worked at Willamette Week as an editor, then did public relations for the Oregon College of Arts and Crafts. She then proceeded to work for a nonprofit called Portland Arts and Lectures for fifteen year until finally landing in her current position as the director of the Action Center at Mercy Corps outreach in downtown Portland, which she's held since 2009.

2016-11-01

Maya McOmie grew up in Tokyo, Japan with a Japanese mother and an American father.
Maya was raised bilingually speaking Japanese and English. She lived in California for
one year when she was in sixth grade and frequently visited family on the West Coast as
a child. Maya attended international schools while living in Tokyo including Yokohama
International School for high school. Maya started her first semester at Lewis and Clark
College in the fall of 2008 and graduated in the spring of 2012 with a major in English
and a minor in art. She went abroad to Siena, Italy in the spring of 2011 where she
studied art and art history. Maya currently works and resides in Portland, Oregon.

2017-10-21

Dwight Mears is 38 years old, and grew up in Corvallis, Oregon. He studied at West Point from 1997 to 2001, where he earned his B.A., and went on to become an attack helicopter pilot with the 25th Infantry Division. He deployed to Iraq in 2004, where he was seriously injured in a helicopter crash near Baghdad. After being transferred to military hospitals in Germany and Illinois, he returned to Corvallis to recover with his parents’ assistance while still on active duty. It was there that he began to have difficulties with the military healthcare system, which due to a filing error, initially refused to pay for his care and rehabilitation in Oregon. He later earned his M.A. in history from the University of North Carolina, taught at West Point, and returned to complete his doctorate. He is currently a student at Lewis & Clark’s Law School.

20160229

Jerry A Miller was born in Portland, Oregon in 1946 and was raised in The Dalles, Oregon. He
enrolled at Lewis & Clark in 1964 and graduated summa cum laude in May of 1968 with a
double major in math and physics. He was involved in demonstrations against the Vietnam War
in front of the Manor House during his time at Lewis & Clark. After he graduated, Mr. Miller
served in NOAA Corps for three years as an officer on the ship Oceanographer (OSS 01). After
his service, he earned a master’s degree in nuclear engineering from the University of Wisconsin.
He worked for General Electric for thirty-four years performing startup tests in nuclear power
plants and later working with company mergers and acquisitions. Jerry is now retired and lives in
Snohomish, Washington. He enjoys traveling overseas.

2018-03-14

Thomas Miller was born in Chicago, IL, and moved out to Hillsboro, Oregon when he was five years old. He went to middle school and high school in Portland, and after applying to college his draft number came up. Before being drafted, Thomas signed up for the Army, and after much training was sent to the Dominican Republic for a year. He was then sent to Vietnam for a secret mission, and upon returning was sent to Walter Reed Army Hospital for one year. After leaving Walter Reed, Thomas enrolled at Reed College in Portland, OR, but was harassed and abused there for being a GI and having his education paid for by the Army. The Army decided to not pay for Reed, and as a result, Thomas transferred to Lewis & Clark, where he pursued the sciences. Although studying science, Thomas found his artistic side at Lewis & Clark through art, music, and writing classes. After college, Thomas went to graduate school, and continues to value both science and art. He practices Buddhism and tries to work with other veterans in California that are struggling with PTSD.

20160219

Byron Monohon grew up in Washington, attending high school in Tacoma before coming
to Lewis and Clark. Encouraged by his family to attend a school in the Pacific Northwest, both
he and his sister attended Lewis and Clark at the same time. Originally a music major, Byron
went through several changes in major before settling on history. During his time at Lewis and
Clark he played in the jazz and wind ensembles and took classes in Music, Communications, and
English as well as History. After graduating in 1984, Byron did a variety of community service
work, including several years as a director for the Pacific County museum. He later returned to
school and received a degree in pulp and paper engineering from the University of Washington
and went to work in the paper industry. He has since moved to Forks, Washington, where he
became an active member of the community and was elected mayor.

2017-03-09

Mr. Morrell grew up in Portland, living close to Jefferson High School, which he would later attend. His father worked as a machinist and cab driver while his mother stayed home, parenting her three children full time. Morrell began trumpet at an early age, setting himself into a lineage firmly embossed in brass – his brother, father, grandfather and great grandfather were all trumpet players. This musical thread wove deep, leading Morrell to pursue a music degree at Lewis & Clark, paying his tuition with money earned in music jobs played in town. His education was interrupted by a two-year term in the U.S. Marine Reserve in which he played in the Marine Corps Band before being deployed to Korea. He returned, completed his degree and launched into a lifetime of music education, serving as a director for numerous high school bands. Morrell still loves and teaches music today.

Oral history interview of Lewis & Clark alumnus Larry Morrell, conducted by Ted Jamison on March 21, 2014. History Department, Spring Semester, 2014.

20140321

John Moshofsky was born and raised in Eugene, Oregon, within walking distance from the University of Oregon. John eventualy left Eugene to to attend Lewis & Clark, where he studied history and education, skills he would go on to utilize in his current career as a seventh grade Social Studies teacher. he also studied abroad in the Soviet Union while studying at Lewis & Clark.

2016-11-01

Sally Mudiamu was born and raised in Northeast Portland, Oregon to a working-class family. Though originally attending Reed College, Ms. Mudiamu transferred to L&C and graduated in 1989 with honors. Ms. Mudiamu was drawn to Lewis & Clark for its International Affairs Symposium and its abroad programs. She studied for two terms in the Unite Kingdom,and attended graduate school at the London School of Economics. Post-graduation, Sally worked as a research intern at the Library of Congress and even lived in Germany for a time after the Berlin Wall came down. Ms Mudiamu currently works at Portland State University as the director of Transnational Programs and as the associate director for the Office of International Partnerships.

2016-11-04