Alumni Ups His Game As Basketball Coach

By Berkley Holzschuh '14

Lindsay Strothers ‘80 has a tremendous passion for coaching basketball, which has contributed to his amazing success story.

As a Pacific alumnus, Strothers acknowledges that Pacific was the basis of his achievements. “Pacific prepared me for life,” said Strothers. “When I left I was prepared for any career. I learned to plan and prepare, trouble shoot and work with people.”

Since then Strothers has been coaching and mentoring student athletes from Oregon to California. He has coached a multitude of winning teams such as St. Mary’s Academy, University of Southern California, Chapman University, and other state and nationally ranked programs.

In 1999 Lindsay founded The Basketball Institute where their goal is “to teach players how to prepare for life through the development of their basketball skills.” Strothers started this after seeing a “need for young people to have qualified instruction in both skill and speed and power training.”

Currently, as the head coach of the girls basketball program at Westview High School, Strothers encourages prospective coaches to “meet as many coaches as you can. Find out whose philosophy fits with you and find a way to work and learn with them.”

Lindsay Strothers believes that intention is the most important characteristic any coach can have. As he amplifies intention in all areas of his life, Strothers’ story as a successful Pacific alumnus continues.

A Fogged Lense: Media arts alumni gives advice to students unsure of their future

By: Nicole Vickers '16 and Mahala Nelson '16

When a student chooses a major, it is generally because they have a specific job in mind. The degree is just means to an end. But for a lot of creative majors such as studio art, creative writing or media arts, sometimes the path isn’t always so clear. 

For Daven Sprattling-Mathies ’07, he wasn’t sure what he was going to do with his media arts degree, but that didn’t stop him from enjoying every moment of his college life. 

“I still get teary-eyed thinking about my time at Pacific,” said Sprattling-Mathies. “I remember the big picture, the undocumented value in the experiences I had and the people I met. Not all of those experiences were good, either, but they were all important to who I am now.” 

For many who walk into college with an idea of what they want to become, that can change during the course of their four years of undergraduate. Students may find that what interests them may not be what they originally thought. 

This applies to all students who feel as if they aren’t sure where their education is going to take them. No matter what major a student chooses, there are always options and different doors being opened. As long as they feel that they are going in a positive direction then who knows what kind of opportunities might present themselves. 

“You get out of your education what you put into it, and that goes beyond the classroom,” said Sprattling-Mathies. “I think that's incredibly important for any student to realize, but especially for Media Arts majors who don't have a clear path to follow. You have to motivate yourself to keep going even when it feels like you're stumbling around in the dark.” 

Sprattling-Mathies started as a media major and realized that it was in the technical side that he belonged.

“I think media arts represent the union of the arts and the sciences,” said Sprattling-Mathies. “I also love to write, but I felt I had lot more to learn from video production because of all the tech involved.” 

Once out of college, Sprattling-Mathies found a job working in a bank, but soon realized that it was stifling and so decided to start up a photography business with a fellow Pacific graduate, Corey Bennett ’09. Currently Sprattling-Mathies works in a marketing department and has been able to make seemingly small decisions that have large impacts in his work. He has a personal investment in his company and enjoys his work there. 

 While it isn’t always advisable to quit a career, it is advisable to make sure that whatever job you are working in, that it allows you to have whatever creative freedom you want. If you are stuck in a stifling career, it never hurts to try and do something about it. Whether that is being open to a pay drop or to a new and completely different career path than originally planned, Sprattling-Mathies advises to never forget your passions, be open and know that everyone walks their own path at their own pace.

Notes From Under the Oaks | January 2014

By Martha Calus-McLain '03 | Director of Alumni Relations

A sketch of the earliest building on the Forest Grove
campus

As I look ahead to 2014, only two weeks gone and the rest full of possibility, I have many resolutions. Among them is a hope to acknowledge people who make a difference. This week I am thinking about the great teachers I had throughout my education.

Over the past six months my husband has been reading the Little Housebooks to our daughter, who is completely enthralled with them. I recently overheard them reading a passage describing conditions in the one-room school house where Laura is teaching in negative forty degree weather.

“At half past three they were all so cold that she thought of dismissing school early. The mile that Martha and Charles must walk, worried her. On the other hand, she should not cut short the pupils' opportunity for learning, and this was not a blizzard.”

This passage brought to mind the spirit of the pioneers who founded Pacific in 1849 in the face of immense adversity.

It makes me think of the students who were so deeply committed to their education they found time for it among the competing responsibilities of frontier life.

It reminds me of the courage of teachers, both in 1882 when they commanded one room school houses throughout the west and today when they risk, and sometimes sacrifice, their lives to save the children in their care.

I shared this passage when I welcomed a dozen new students into our special ed program earlier this week. In a few years, these students will be alumni who spend their days dedicated to the success of young people. Based on the reactions of the students it was clear the passion and dedication Laura conveyed in her memoirs is still true of aspiring teachers.

Last night we hosted the Student Teacher Alumni Reception on the Forest Grove campus. During the evening we got to hear teachers speak earnestly and candidly about their experiences. Again, the passion and dedication was evident.

I hope none of our alumni are teaching kids who have to walk a mile in negative forty degrees, but I’m sure these alumni have a few stories of their own to share.

I’d love to hear from alumni who are teachers. What inspires you? Do you have a great story to share about students who walked a metaphorical cold mile for their education?

I’d also love to hear from alumni about the teachers who helped them. Who was your favorite teacher at Pacific, before or after? How did they inspire you? Did you ever walk a cold mile for your education?

Send us your stories and as always don’t hesitate to contact us if we can be of assistance.

Best wishes,

Martha Calus-McLain '03
Director of Alumni Relations

Story behind Boxer becoming Mascot

Jolley '68, OD '70 

By Jerry Jolley '68, OD '70 

Bruce, you are all wrong about Boxer……

Yes, Bruce Bishop '68,  I mean you….

Now keep in mind that no one is working harder than Bruce to make the Class of ’68 Reunion a fun event for us all. But he has the Boxer Mascot issue ALL WRONG.

Bruce recently sent me an email suggesting this article should mention the leadership role of the ’67-’68 ASPU Student Council in changing Pacific’s mascot from “a moth-eaten Badger to a brassy Boxer.” 

That part is very accurate, but Bruce went on to say that the switch to Boxer in 1968 is “important history for our class (and the entire University community) to celebrate. Who would have thought 45 years ago that the change would still be symbolizing Pacific's quirkiness?”

There it is, that word “quirkiness.” How can Bruce use it to describe our University and our beloved Boxer mascot? Okay, I will agree today’s student may think it a little quirky that in 1968, Friday’s dinners in the dining hall required dresses for women and ties/long pants for men. And maybe it was a little quirky by today’s standards that men’s and women’s dorms were strictly segregated, not even allowing coed visits. And looking back in the ’67 yearbook, the fact that Mike Staples was “Standards Chairman” and Craig Stout was “Cultural Chairman” may also have signaled a bit of early quirkiness.

But how could Boxer becoming Mascot be considered “quirky?” Boxer represented, and I trust still represents, the best of each Pacific student’s fighting spirit and stamina. Boxer represents strength, having been cast in the Ming Dynasty in about 1580, surviving the Boxer Rebellion in China and being gifted to Pacific in 1896. 

Wow, in my mind boxer still represents extreme strength. In one boxer fight I wormed my way into the center crunch to finally get a hand on him/her, only to be squashed like a bug by some bulky football player. Remember how the yelling of “Boxer Flash” on campus would get everyone’s blood boiling. And a “Boxer Throw Out” would often result in an on-campus rough-and-tumble fight which could last many hours. I believe the Thetas once even beat up the optometry students (by breaking their glasses) to gain control of Boxer in front of Marsh Hall, but you will need to check that fact with Don James at the reunion.

Boxer definitely represented strength. During a boxer throw out, you could even come in late and muddy to Dr. Reif’s ethics class and not get much more trouble than a disapproving look over the top of his glasses.

So in ’67 when funding for a new Benny Badger mascot uniform came before Student Council, we decided not to replace the moldy old weasel who had been bloodied and bruised by several recent team losses. I think it was Student Body Vice President, Scott Pike, who came up with the idea of making our new mascot the beloved Boxer.

My first stop was with Dean Charles Trombley, a wonderful man and sage adviser  who shrugged and said something like “sounds good if you can get it done.”

In retrospect, I think Dean Trombley was just very happy that I was not telling him we were planning to burn down Forest Grove city center or Old College Hall to protest the Viet Nam war. The late 60’s were a tumultuous time for our country, and many students were taking activist roles. I would get calls weekly from other student body presidents across the nation asking me to fly somewhere for a peace rally.

My reasons for staying home from student peace demonstrations were:

1) As a guy fresh-off-the-Idaho-ranch, I naively and incorrectly figured our country’s leaders always knew what was best,

2) Our student body was divided on the war, all of us having both anti-war friends and friends who had military school funding,

3) I knew the Index editors would rip me to shreds if I used ASPU funds to fly to D.C. to a protest rally,

4) I couldn’t miss work or give up study time for that next mid-term, and

5) There was a cute California girl on campus I wanted to ask on a date. (Her parents were so conservative they made Richard Nixon look like a liberal, and I knew if I trotted off to a protest somewhere, my chances of a farmer-from-Idaho like me getting a date with her would be completely dead.)

So we turned our energy to adopting Boxer as mascot. We took the idea to fraternities, sororities, administrators and other key groups for discussion. Finally the ASPU Student Council, after some heated discussion, gave us a unanimous vote to make the change to Boxer on December 13, 1967.

Members of the ASPU Student Council

Bruce, 45 years of Boxer cannot be considered “quirky” but rather “brilliant.” Even the Heart of Oak editors wrote in the 1968 yearbook, “all of us can be proud our Temple Dog Boxer tradition, and with this change in mascots our pride in that tradition can become even greater: now the Boxer can truly serve his calling as the SPIRIT OF PACIFIC.”

So all of us should let the BOXER SPIRIT move us. Let’s get together for Homecoming, October 10-13. All of you, including fellow optometry-types, please come for some fun and bring your golf clubs.

By the way, I was able to date that pretty California girl.  We married 43 years ago. Peggy Spencer Jolley and I will both be at Homecoming. Please introduce yourself and say hello.

If you like the idea that we changed to the Boxer mascot 45 years ago, when I see you at Homecoming please give me credit. If you think the change was a bad move, please discuss your complaints at length with Scott Pike.

Even though I have been giving Bruce Bishop a bad time with this article, please know that we all owe a debt of gratitude to Bruce and the other Homecoming Reunion Committee members for the Class of 1968: Judy (Engdall) Bishop, Monica (Wolf) Marvin and Scott E. Pike.

Jolley '68, OD '70 was the ASPU President for the '67-'68 school year and will celebrate 45 years since graduation during Homecoming 2013. This piece was originally used for the Class of 1968 Reunion Newsletter. He is currently living in California and practicing optometry. 

For the Spirit of Boxer

By Kenneth Colman '84 

My memories of Boxer flashes with Boxer II include mobs of students struggling to get the Boxer for themselves or their groups’ keeping. There was an energy on campus following a flash that helped make me realize I was part of a special place.

It brought students together sometimes in ways they would never have before. It took planning and organizing to get Boxer and have him in a safe place before another was able to.Once in possession, there were many nights in McCormick Hall where we would plan flashes to create a buzz of Boxer pride across campus. It was a way to bring crowds to sporting events and have a pride in black and red.

I just read a history of Boxer, and how he came to campus the first time and how the tradition of Boxer grew over the years. You can read that history here: www.pacificu.edu/boxercentral/about/documents/boxerhistory.pdf.

Boxer was made and created in China brought and made as a gift in the late 1890’s. Boxer, I believe, triggers the very spirit of Pacific University and connects us to those who brought this tradition to Pacific 112 years ago. Every flash and every scrub to be the possessor of Boxer has built a pride and memories of our years at Pacific University. So as Boxer, or a piece of Boxer returns to campus, we need to remember that we are all connected to this long tradition of Boxer pride. Our education and our years at Pacific have taken us all over the world to continue to learn and give to the world working at making it a better place.

For those who have had a chance to have Boxer, you know what I am talking about, for those who long to hold and flash Boxer your time will come. We all need to remember that we are connected to a long tradition where Boxer has watched over many alumni all over the world in many different situations.

I would like to think that as each one of us has gotten our diplomas, moved out into the world using the gifts of learning to think for ourselves and creating better places wherever we are, we have Boxer watching over us.


May the pride and the spirit live on in all of us.

Colman '84 is a member of the Alumni Association Board of Directors and currently lives in Washington state.