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Celebrating the 60th Anniversary of The Honors College First Graduating Class – Dolores “Dee” Tadlock

Celebrating the 60th Anniversary of The Honors College First Graduating Class – Dolores “Dee” Tadlock

By Gary Hyatt, WSU Honors College, gary.hyatt1@wsu.edu

Name: Dolores “Dee” Tadlock
Hometown: Sunnyside, WA
Main Occupation: Educational Consultant and Founder of Read Right Systems, Inc.
Where you live now: Shelton, WA

History
Dolores “Dee” Tadlock grew up in Sunnyside, WA. Her father was surprised when Dee approached him during her senior year to express her desire to attend college. “Because I was a girl, he really did not have any idea or expectations that I would be going to college. But after pressing me on whether this was a good idea, he agreed, and away I went.” After graduating from WSU, Dee served two years in the Peace Corps in India, helping with poultry production in rural villages before returning to the States earning her master’s in history from New Mexico State University. After taking some time off to raise her two boys, she decided to get her teaching credentials and eventually earned a PhD in Education with an emphasis on Reading from WSU.

Dee’s journey to improve reading education was enhanced when her youngest son, Kyle, struggled with reading proficiency. Despite having a PHD in Reading, Dee’s initial attempts to help Kyle were unsuccessful and stressful for both. Determined to find a solution, Dee researched extensively on how the brain processes reading. After three years of study, she developed a new approach that helped Kyle become an excellent reader in a short time. This success prompted her to use and refine her methods while working in special education systems with all ages.

A turning point came when a former business professor and friend attended a workshop on the Toyota Production System at Simpson Timber Company. This model emphasizes employees’ suggesting improvements to enhance company operations. However, many employees were not making suggestions due to being deficient in literacy, so Dee’s friend recommended her to help solve this problem, leading to the creation of Read Right Systems, Inc. and her lifelong pursuit of making reading accessible to all.

Today, Dee remains the owner of Read Right System and enjoys helping people achieve what they once thought impossible. Here are her reflections on being part of the first Honors graduating class at WSU 60 years ago…

Interview

Why did you choose to enroll in The Honors program at WSU?
I scored well on the entry exam and my grades were good enough that I was offered a place in the Honors program. Since I wasn’t on a college preparatory track in high school, I doubted my ability to compete with other students and considered not joining. However, my advisor asked, “What is worse, failing out of the program or never trying it in the first place? Either way, you end up in the same place.” That question motivated me to pursue it, and listening to that advisor turned out to be a great decision.

Who were some of the most influential professors or mentors during your time at WSU?
Dr. Wood in History and Dr. Bhatia from the Honors Program.

How do you think your experience in The Honors program shaped your personal and professional development?
The Honors Program gave me a sense of confidence. I wasn’t well-prepared for college, especially Honors Math and Chemistry. My last math class was 9th-grade Algebra, so I was nervous and doubtful of my success. Doing well in my classes and overcoming my fears gave me a great sense of accomplishment and empowered me to believe “I can do this,” a belief that has carried me through life.

Can you describe the sense of community within The Honors College during your time there?
With the program being so new, we didn’t have the same kind of community The Honors College has today. It was nice to see the same students in many of my classes, and the smaller number of students created a sense of being part of something special.

Looking back, how do you feel The Honors College prepared you for the real world?
The senior oral exams and the confidence I gained from my Honors experience helped me succeed in my master’s and PhD programs.

Was there a defining moment during your time at WSU that you often look back on?
If my advisor hadn’t posed the question about whether it was worse to be asked to leave or not to try at all, I probably wouldn’t have joined the Honors program. That would have been a shame.

Is there anything else you would like to share about your experience in The Honors program or your life since then?
Looking back, I often think about how many things happened by chance. It makes me reflect on how the universe works and how being confident allowed me to seize opportunities that seemed to simply fall from the sky.

Courage, Shenanigans, & Sports Reporting: Honors Eckman Fund Supports AP Writer’s Remarks at 2024 Murrow Symposium

Courage, Shenanigans, & Sports Reporting: Honors Eckman Fund Supports AP Writer’s Remarks at 2024 Murrow Symposium

By Phyllis Shier, WSU Honors College, peshier@wsu.edu

San Francisco Associated Press (AP) sportswriter and honors alumna Janie McCauley (’98) delivered keynote remarks at the April 2024 Murrow Symposium’s closing luncheon. The event was sponsored by the Honors College Art Eckman Fund, which supports honors sports broadcasting majors with enrichment opportunities and was open to the university community.

In her remarks, McCauley addressed reporting on controversial and dangerous topics and the courage it demands of both the journalists and the subjects of these stories. She cited examples that speak to heroic courage, like that of her colleague Anja Niedringhaus, a German photojournalist who was killed in Afghanistan in 2014 covering an election. Janie worked with Niedringhaus at the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin, Italy. Her Murrow symposium remarks were delivered on the tenth anniversary of Niedringhaus’s death.

McCauley also covered the Rio 2016 Summer Olympic games, which included the first men’s volleyball team from Iran. Conducting background prior to the games, she became aware of women in Teran who were fighting for the right to attend, since Iranian women were not allowed in stadiums. In telling their stories McCauley couldn’t use their names or else they would be in danger, she said.

“I’m still in touch with some of these courageous women in Iran to this day who risked their lives, in some situations, to fight for what they believe in,” she said. Janie made it her quest to find an Iranian woman in the Rio stands at the volleyball match. With assistance from the crowd, she finally found an Iranian expatriate living in Brazil who told her “I’m here for everybody back home who can’t be.”

“That was one of the more powerful stories I’ve done in my career, telling (the story) through the eyes of that woman…,” McCauley said.

That story encouraged Janie to seek out other tough assignments including an abuse scandal surrounding an Olympic rowing coach she knew and a story about the “forgotten population” of San Quentin inmates who benefited from playing tennis with a group she’s a part of, among others.  Tennis helps San Quentin Prison inmates find community | TenniStory (youtube.com)

For McCauley the “call” to sports journalism came early. As a child growing up in Washington state, she anticipated her family’s annual trek across the mountains from Leavenworth to attend a Sonics game in Seattle. Those early interactions energized her passion for sports and fueled her tenacity. Allowed one hour after the game to explore the Sonics stadium, Janie engaged in what she called “shenanigans.” Like sneaking into the visiting Detroit Piston’s family room by pretending to be the niece of rival player Bill Laimbeer. Or standing on a toilet seat in the arena bathroom to hide until everyone left so she could meet players, coaches, and their family members. Once she snuck under a dumpster to meet players as they prepared to get on the bus. “I think it probably gave me some skills for how to be resourceful,” she joked.

At thirteen, Janie wrote to NBA teams across the country with hopes they’d respond. Many did—replying with letters that included bumper stickers and signed photos of team players like David Robinson of the San Antonio Spurs. Those interactions impressed on her the importance of writing, so in high school she got a job with her local newspaper, The Leavenworth Echo. As a WSU student she reported for the AP, writing quotes and short articles for newspapers across Washington and Idaho.

McCauley joined honors in her sophomore year, describing it as “a safe space to try new things out.” Minoring in Spanish, she spent her senior fall semester in Guadalajara, Mexico, conducting honors thesis research on the dangers journalists face in unsafe countries, foreshadowing a career to come.

But it was those early interactions with NBA teams and the treks across the mountains for Sonics shenanigans that instilled the confidence to pursue sports writing. Over her career she’s run into some of her early heroes and when she does, she thanks them.

“It was special—it influenced what I’m doing now,” she said.

This summer McCauley will cover swimming at her sixth Olympics in Paris.

“Thirty years in and I’m still having fun,” she told Murrow Symposium participants. “It’s been the joy of my life.”

The Honors College Art Eckman Fund, established by Cougar football team member and honors business administration alumnus Colin White (’03), was created in memory of renowned sports broadcaster and former Cougar Art Eckman (’64), who passed away in 2023. The Fund was first awarded in 2022, sponsoring a “Women in Sports” guest lectureship. White, who volunteered as a student web developer for Cable 8 Productions, was inspired to give back because of the financial support he received to attend WSU.

“Looking back now and being lucky enough to be in the financial position that I am in, I want to be able to provide that same sense of financial relief for other Cougs,” White told the WSU Foundation. Alumni and industry partners across the WSU community are encouraged to support the endowment.