FROM PAGE ONE
A6 — THE OBSERVER
TUESDAY, JUNE 14, 2022
2022
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strive to be inquisitive.
“Always, wonder, ques-
tion and inquire above all
else,” said Layman, who
received bachelor of sci-
ence degrees in biology and
chemistry-biochemistry
and won the 2022 EOU out-
standing student award.
Abel Mendoza, a
member of the EOU board
of trustees and the com-
mencement’s keynote
speaker, encouraged the
members of the class of
2022 to embrace the chal-
lenge of continuously
learning.
“Remember that this is
just the beginning. The path
to success requires contin-
uous learning,” said Men-
doza, a 1972 Eastern grad-
uate who worked for Dow
Chemical for 26 years
before serving as a chem-
istry professor from 2004
to 2014.
Richard Chaves, chair of
the EOU Board of Trustees,
also spoke. He started by
saying that he always feels
passionate about giving
back to EOU because of
all that Eastern has given
him. Then he diverted from
STUBBS
Continued from Page A1
work experience and earned
as an online student the
past fi ve years at Eastern,
allowed him to earn his
degree.
Stubbs, an Air Force vet-
eran, will never forget his
commencement walk.
“It thought it was great.
It was very emotional for
me. I think I even cried a
bit,” said Stubbs, who was
accompanied at graduation
by his wife, Kidd, their two
daughters, Amy and Heidi,
and their son, Andy.
Amy Stubbs said her
father, who lives in Jerome,
Idaho, was most deserving
of the diploma for many
reasons, including his self-
less devotion to helping
others get a college
education.
“He basically put us
all through college,” said
Amy Stubbs, who lives in
Stanley, Idaho.
Heidi Dohse, Bob’s
oldest daughter, agrees.
“He has spent so much
of his life working to make
sure that all of us graduate
from college. Today, it was
his turn,” said Dohse, who
also lives in Stanley.
Bob Stubbs began his
drive to get a degree from
Eastern fi ve years ago when
he enrolled as an online
PIERCE
Continued from Page A1
used to being handled — but
that she had never been ridden
or saddled.
However, as Pierce started
to work, everyone was
reminded of the fi lly’s wild
and powerful spirit. She gal-
loped around the pen, ner-
vous to be approached while
surrounded by so many
people.
“I want her to be free, to
be powerful,” he said. “I don’t
want to take her power from
her, I want her to learn what to
do with that power.”
Throughout the hour,
Pierce worked to build trust
with the fi lly. He let the horse
set the pace, getting used
to his presence in the pen.
She did not want to let him
get close and eventually he
needed to bring in a roper to
lasso her. Pierce said he does
not normally need to rope a
horse, but occasionally relies
on the method to be respectful
of everyone’s time.
At times, each step for-
ward also felt like half a step
back. Pierce would build the
Dick Mason/The Observer
More than 350 students received diplomas at Eastern Oregon University’s graduation ceremony on
Saturday, June 11, 2022, in Quinn Coliseum, La Grande.
his script and recalled that
when he was dealing with a
serious health issue over a
portion of the past year, he
was astounded by the level
of support he received from
so many people at EOU.
“It helped drive my
passion to be successful
in winning that battle,”
Chaves said.
A 1973 Eastern grad-
uate, Chaves concluded his
presentation by urging the
class of 2022 to be generous
in giving back to their com-
munities and to Eastern,
and to stay linked to their
alma mater.
“Stay connected to EOU
for the support you may
need now and also so that
you can support others in
the future,” he said.
More than 350 stu-
dents received diplomas
at the June 11 commence-
ment. They were among
the approximately 675 stu-
dents who graduated from
Eastern in the 2021-22 aca-
demic year.
The June 11 ceremony
student. At the time, he
had already earned nearly
enough credits for a degree
from a four-your university,
Amy Stubbs said. Those
credits were from Miami
University, the U.S. Air
Force, Portland State Uni-
versity, Cal State Fullerton
and Saddleback College, a
community college in Mis-
sion Viejo, California.
Still, he needed more
credits in specifi c areas to
meet degree requirements.
Stubbs was doing well
in his pursuit of an EOU
degree when his uncommon
story took another twist.
of the day’s biggest high-
lights for him.
“Being able to watch
him graduate made all that
work worth it,” he said.
Stubbs was sidelined by
a series of health issues.
Some of his advisers feared
Stubbs would not be able
to recover to the point that
he could continue taking
classes.
As a measure of respect
for his eff orts, Eastern
awarded him an honorary
EOU alumnus. The hon-
orary degree was presented
to Stubbs by Eastern Pres-
ident Tom Insko via a
Zoom teleconference. The
gesture touched Stubbs
deeply but he still longed
to have an actual degree
from a four-year univer-
sity. So after recovering,
Stubbs continued his pur-
suit of a degree, putting in
countless hours.
“He was tenacious.
Every time I visited, he
would be studying,” Amy
Stubbs said of her father,
who has worked with tech-
nology and information
systems his entire career.
Kerry Thompson, East-
ern’s Pendleton-Hermiston
Center director, played
a critical role in making
it possible for Stubbs to
graduate, according to his
family.
“He was super instru-
mental,” Amy Stubbs said,
adding that Thompson
was so impressed with her
father that he took it upon
himself to get him named
an honorary alumnus.
Kevin Clark, an asso-
ciate professor of business
at Eastern, is also cred-
ited by Amy Stubbs with
playing an infl uential role
in getting her father to
graduation.
Clark spent about 30
hours examining Stubbs’
transcripts and deter-
mining what could be
accepted by Eastern and
apply toward his degree.
The business professor
said that a number of
Stubbs’ credits earned
long ago were for com-
puter systems that are now
outdated.
Clark attended EOU’s
June 11 graduation cere-
mony and said that seeing
Stubbs graduate was one
fi lly’s trust then push the new
boundaries. He worked in
steps: calming her down and
getting her used to his phys-
ical presence before he even
attempted to get on her back.
Pierce never used punishment,
reminding the crowd that this
was a new and strange experi-
ence for the horse.
After getting up on the fi l-
ly’s back for the fi rst time,
Pierce dismounted to let her
calm down. He got down on
his knees, wanting to show he
could put his trust in her just
as she was putting her trust in
him.
“I don’t want her to think
she’s my servant,” he said.
Pierce’s persistence and
patience with the fi lly paid off .
Now, it was time to get her in
a saddle.
The fi lly’s wild spirit reared
back to life as the saddle slid
onto her back. Pierce once
again calmed her down,
needing to build back that ten-
tative trust. He reminded the
crowd with a laugh that he
was known for riding bare-
back before attempting to get
up into the saddle.
An hour prior the fi lly
was running nervous cir-
cles around Pierce. Now he
was riding her in slow circles
around the pen with saddle,
bit, bridle and reins.
Pierce was born and raised
in rural Idaho. In 1995, he and
his wife set out on the rodeo
trail where they pursued a
world championship in bare-
back riding for seven years.
After a knee injury in 2002,
Pierce became the chaplain for
the Professional Bull Riders
tour.
Now, he shares his passion
for evangelism through the
visual imagery of connecting
with a wild horse. Pierce does
his work through a missionary
organization called Riding
High Ministries. He trains
an unbroken horse in front of
a live audience “to demon-
strate how Jesus pursues, heals
and becomes one with us as
a Father,” according to www.
ridinghighministries.org.
Pierce is known for his
work with men’s groups.
During the event, he reached
out to the men in the crowd,
speaking about the impor-
tance of not closing oneself off
to emotion.
“You were created with a
heart to feel,” he said.
Honorary alum
Back in fashion
Stubbs hopes to put his
degree to good use by pos-
sibly working for a com-
pany as a COBOL manager.
COBOL is an English-like
computer programming
language designed for busi-
ness use.
The language is now
being used with increasing
frequency by the U.S.
government for projects
involving signifi cant infor-
mation storage.
Amy Stubbs said that
her father learned COBOL
many years ago before
it lost the popularity it is
now regaining. Today, he
is among a relatively lim-
ited number of people who
know COBOL well.
“He has lived long
enough to see it come back
into fashion,” she said.
Regardless of whether
Bob Stubbs decides to join
the workforce again, he
will remain a role model for
those striving to overcome
obstacles on the path to
higher education.
“Bob is an inspiration to
me and I use his story with
all of my students that are
struggling. Don’t give up,”
Thompson said.
Dick Mason/The Observer
Brady Layman, Eastern Oregon University’s 2022 President’s Scholar,
on Saturday, June 11, 2022, addresses his fellow graduates at the
school’s commencement ceremony in Quinn Coliseum, La Grande.
was originally scheduled
to be conducted at Com-
munity Stadium but was
moved to Quinn Coliseum
because of a forecast of
heavy rain. Quinn Coli-
seum did not have enough
room for everyone coming
to the event. To allow
WOLF
Continued from Page A1
Chesnimnus Pack and
found dead Jan. 8 south-
east of Wallowa origi-
nally was determined to
have been killed by a gun-
shot wound, Oregon State
Police said at the time. But
the U.S. Fish and Wildlife
Service Forensics Labora-
tory in Ashland conducted
an analysis that showed
the wolf actually died of
blunt-force trauma to the
chest and pelvis, state
police said, and those inju-
ries were consistent with
being hit by a car.
Nonlethal eff orts
Birkmaier has been
known for his eff orts to
use nonlethal deterrents to
keep wolves at bay.
“He’s doing every non-
lethal (action) everybody
can dream up,” Williams
said. “What was more
eff ective was he had a lot
of people out there helping
with nonlethal presence of
humans.”
“I’m still continuing
the relentless nonlethal
measures, including two
AM-FM radios, two fox
lights that come on at
night and motion-trig-
gered noise-making
devices that have a siren
and fl ashing lights,” Birk-
everyone to be accommo-
dated there were periodic
breaks so that people whose
loved ones had already
received their diplomas
could leave to make room
for others waiting to watch
their loved ones make their
commencement walks.
maier said. “I’ve been
putting those in sad-
dles on ridges or any
natural crossing area
where wolves may enter
pasture.”
Dennehy confi rmed
that “the producer” has
been attempting to use
nonlethal methods of
deterring wolf attacks
with limited success.
More livestock deaths
At least one more con-
fi rmed and one probable
wolf kills of livestock
were reported in Wallowa
County by the Oregon
Department of Fish and
Wildlife in its ongoing
Wolf Depredation Report
on June 8.
The two were attributed
to the Chesnimnus
Pack, one a 225-pound,
4-month-old calf in the
Chesnimnus Creek area
June 4 and the other a 245-
pound, 2-1/2-month-old
calf in the Crow Creek
area the same day.
Another three kills
were confi rmed June 6
in the Daly Creek area of
Baker County. They were
attributed to the Lookout
Mountain Pack, ODFW
reported.
The Chesnimnus Pack
has been reported to have
killed numerous livestock
in Wallowa County this
year.
Charles & Eileen
Stewart
10304 A 1st St.
Island City, OR
cstewartpc@gmail.com
541.910.5435
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