Alumni

Straight from the Dalai Lama

When Shannon Hughes ’92 and Karen Moore Sales ’92 were students at Puget Sound in the late 1980s, they knew of each other, but they weren’t much more than acquaintances. They were both interested in business careers, but Hughes majored in business administration and Sales was in the Business Leadership Program. They both lived in Anderson/Langdon Hall, but Hughes was on the basement floor and Sales was on the second. They were both in sororities, but Hughes chose Pi Beta Phi while Sales opted for Alpha Phi. Today, each has only a vague memory of the other.

The idea seems quaint now, but in the early 20th century, going to a campus dance often meant picking up a “dance card” at the door. The small booklets gave the students—usually the women—a way of keeping track of the night’s dances and dance partners. The idea was to not dance with the same person all night long; instead, proper etiquette called for mingling.

Don Scott ’91 came to Puget Sound as a student without having seen the campus before. “The fall of my senior year, an admission counselor from the university visited my high school in Great Falls, Mont.,” he recalls. “I absolutely fell in love with everything that she had to say. Puget Sound was a stretch school for me, but it all came together—and those four years were a truly transformational experience for me.”

Alika Antone ’00, DPT’05 loves any chance to visit the University of Puget Sound’s campus in Tacoma’s North End, where he spent his undergraduate years and obtained his doctor of physical therapy degree as a grad student. Whether serving on the Alumni Council Executive Committee (ACEC), attending athletics events, or playing noon basketball with old friends in the Athletics & Aquatics Center, Antone is always on the lookout for ways to stay connected to his alma mater and support the next generation of students.

Don Scott ’91 became Puget Sound’s director of Alumni & Parent Relations in September, bringing him back to the campus where he spent his college years. After 27 years away, Scott is excited to return to Puget Sound and help Loggers stay connected with each other and their alma mater. We caught up with the Class of 1991 grad to ask about his memories of campus, why he decided to come back, and how his team works to keep alumni excited and engaged.

Q: What brought you to Puget Sound as a student?

Just south of campus, Erik Waterland DPT’05 runs Waterland Performance, a physical therapy practice he founded in 2019. Waterland has been practicing physical therapy for nearly 20 years; he also works with Puget Sound students as an adjunct professor in the School of Physical Therapy. We asked him what older adults can do to stay in shape.

“Boarding a boat in Greece is like nothing you’ve ever experienced,” Professor Brett Rogers tells the bus passengers. “As soon as they lower the gangplank, it’s a mad dash. Hang onto your suitcase and just get on the boat!”

At age 22, just months after graduating from Puget Sound, Jennifer Cramer-Miller ’87 experienced a sudden, life-threatening disease—one that would lead to four kidney transplants over the next 20 years. In a book published this August, Cramer-Miller chronicles the uncertainty, her will to survive, and her determination to find joy. What follows is an excerpt from that book.

In the late 1970s, half a century after his own playing days were over, a former Puget Sound football player named Charlie Brady ’24 would drop by Baker Stadium on occasion to watch Logger football practices. He was retired, nearing the age of 80, and living within walking distance of campus. Brian Threlkeld ’83, an offensive lineman at the time, remembers Brady. “We’d all shake hands with him as we trotted out to practice, and he loved it.” In 1980 the team even invited Brady to fly with them to the season opener at Chico State, a 37-0 Logger win.