Alumni Features

The Pacific Northwest might seem cold in the dark winter months, but “cold’ took on an entirely new meaning for Colton Rasanen-Fryar when they landed a job in North Dakota.

Andy Campbell graduated from Western Washington University in 2008 right as the economy crashed. But due to his time at Western, he had the skills he needed to pursue a career in reporting, and now, as a published author. His book, We Are Proud Boys, How a Right-Wing Street Gang Ushered in a New Era of American Extremism, was published in September by Hachette. 

Growing up with the radio on, tuning into authentic conversations and rich stories full of sound, weaving seamless tales on long car rides or while cooking up her next meal, she pictured the coolest people in the world, journalists. Julia Furukawa knew she wanted to be one of them.

Picking up a camera in an elective class as a junior in high school, Connor Jalbert had no idea he was learning the skills that would set him on his future career path. When a local Seattle producer and friend gave Jalbert a call, inviting him to shoot the Sam LaChow show at the Vera Project, Jalbert found his direction in life. 

Learning to embrace the chaos of the job field with ‘hope, energy and enthusiasm,’ Western grad Linnea Hoover found success as a visual journalist working in the Peruvian Amazon and at WQAD-TV News 8 in Illinois.

Veteran journalist Ron Judd (Class of 85) is the executive editor of the newly launched Cascadia Daily News. Many of his team of journalists and interns have direct ties to Western’s journalism program.

“Read all about it.”

Mitch Evich, class of 1984, died on Christmas morning 2021 due to complications from Alzheimer’s, six and a half years after being diagnosed with young-onset Alzheimer’s in 2015.

Last year, we all learned how important it is to support small businesses, especially those owned and operated by marginalized communities.

During the shutdown, many businesses were required to close, limit their capacities and/or change regular operation. It was crucial for consumers to consider where their money was going. Who owns that restaurant? Are those items made locally? Do I want to spend less at a corporation or would I rather keep a local business in business?

Fresh out of college, Brady Henderson arrives at The Seattle Times, scans his badge and heads to the sports department. On his way, he glances over at the wall he sees every day: the wall lined with photographs of Pulitzer Prize winners. The wall his father’s photo hangs on.

He is familiar with the building, because he spent so much time there as a child. Henderson’s parents, Paul and Janet, met at The Seattle Times as reporters. He loved the newsroom’s atmosphere, so much so that he dreamed of being a journalist one day.

Two years ago, Klipsun magazine printed “Indigenous Blondes,” a personal story that caught my eye because of its featured photograph: a WWU student holding her tribal identification card, with a picture on it of her with bright blonde hair.

The student—Kamiah Koch—wrote about her experience growing up in Vancouver, Washington, one and a half hours away from her tribe’s reservation. “We were a close-knit family with three generations living on the property together,” she wrote. “We valued our heritage as a Native American family, and that kept us close.”