I have put away anything that resembles snow attire. Winter is over! Please don’t email me when it snows next; I know I am too optimistic that we have turned the corner but prefer to pretend for a bit.
In the meantime, did you hear that Pullman was ranked the No. 2 “Best College Town” in the U.S. for the second year in a row by RentCafe? Our students are also the seventh happiest in the nation, according to The Princeton Review. The weather wasn’t a factor. Moscow, Idaho, ranked as the seventh best college town. I have to admit that as a grad student I liked No. 3 (Gainesville, Florida) and as a faculty member I enjoyed No. 6 (East Lansing, Michigan).
We finished out last week with the Celebrating Excellence Banquet, which recognized the faculty, staff, and students who help make WSU great. Congratulations to Ken Casavant, Tarah Sullivan, and Lisa DeVetter on their awards and to Carolyn Ross and our other promoted faculty on their achievements! Congratulations, also, to Dr. Meijun Zhu, who has been honored with the prestigious 2025 Institute of Food Technologists Award in Achievements in Microbial Research for Food Safety in honor of Gerhard J. Haas.
Nancy Deringer shared the WSU CAHNRS Crave! TV episode with us last week. This is a Pullman-focused episode, and CAHNRS is featured throughout the first seven minutes and 44 seconds. The episode includes Ferdinand’s, the School of Food Science, and our Sensory Science Center. John Haugen, Soo-Yeun Lee, and Carolyn Ross are outstanding!
This week is all about the students! I hope many can attend the CAHNRS Student Awards Ceremony on April 3 from 5-7 p.m. in Ensminger Pavilion. Pullman will soon be busy with Family Weekend. On Friday, April 4, we celebrate AMDT students at the 42nd AMDT Fashion Show. My favorite new event for Family Weekend is definitely the Chancellor’s Challenge to Feed Cougs Well!
When I interviewed in Pullman three years ago, it was “fashion show day.” I was able to observe, during a quick facilities tour, the “behind-the-scenes” activity that makes everything happen, including a bit of panic for some of the students. I am unable to attend this year’s AMDT Fashion Show, but I had a chance to judge the exhibits last weekend for the second year in a row.
After over eight hours of hearing students’ presentations and seeing their collections, we identified eight awardees who will be recognized Friday night. I am particularly excited about the Best of Show and Dean’s Choice Award winners! The 21 student designers showed incredible creativity coupled with demonstrated business sense, marketing expertise that incorporates their inspirations and stories, deployment of technology that ranges from digital patternmaking to textile etching, and a commitment to sustainable choices in processes and design. It may be only a matter of time before we all have custom 3D-printed shoes in our closets. The marketing students did a great job coordinating the judging day; I can only imagine the work they have done for show night. Congratulations to Yini Chen for her hard work on this event, too!
Given all the student activities underway, it is easy to see that we are heading toward the end of the spring semester!