Alumni News
June 13, 2022
For Tanner Bosma, Life is a Wonderful Blank Canvas
Tanner Bosma (B.F.A. ’19, Art Education – Painting) won Best in Show for his acrylic on canvas titled “Into the Night” at the College of Fine Arts Student Art Exhibition in 2019. The painting’s reflective qualities are mesmerizing. You’d swear it’s a photograph from a distance, but on closer examination...
May 25, 2022
Diane Seuss: Social Work Postgraduate + Pulitzer Prize-winning Poet
“The sonnet, like poverty, teaches you what you can do / without,” poet Diane Seuss (M.S.W. ’83) wrote in her critically acclaimed frank: sonnets. While her latest book has garnered several prestigious awards, including the 2022 Pulitzer Prize for Poetry, Diane is as unpretentious and real as it gets. “So...
May 19, 2022
Defeat? Alumnus Dr. Richard Navarro Wouldn’t Hear of It
You’d think someone with 40 years of management and administrative experience, 14 inventions, four issued patents with two patents pending, and scores of professional publications and presentations would’ve been voted “Most Likely to Succeed” in high school. Dr. Richard Navarro’s start (B.S., M.A. ’70-71, Speech Pathology and Audiology), however, was...
May 19, 2022
Mark Ybarra Goes Above and Beyond Making the Grade
Raising two children as a single parent would be more than enough of a challenge for most people. Mark Ybarra (M.A. ’05, Family and Consumer Sciences) isn’t most people though. Mark not only single-handedly raised two disabled sons who had previously languished in the foster care system, he did so...
May 11, 2022
Two-Time Alumna Harnesses the Healing Power of Horses
Dakota has a sweet-as-sugar personality and carrots are his favorite treat. Iris, on the other hand, prefers apples and will demand attention from you, even if you’re not in the mood. Dakota and Iris are just two members of Courtney Sumpter’s (B.S., M.S. ’06-07, Occupational Therapy) team of 10 horses...
March 22, 2022
Alumna Lands Dream Job at WMU Libraries
“I can't say this enough; the library is for so much more than just reading books. Libraries are institutions of research, of exploration. We exist to serve our patrons, so use us!” Lexi Smith was double majoring in creative writing and literature at WMU when she decided to apply for...