Class Notes I Fall 2022
Read about the exciting things going on with our current students and alumni. Learn about job changes, professional achievements, a marriage or new addition to their families, gatherings with other YVC alumni or other significant news.
Do you have news to share with your classmates? Submit your news and photos by emailing communityrelations@yvcc.edu.
Christie Vogler
Alumnus Christie Vogler is making an impact as an assistant professor of history at the University of Lynchburg. After attending Yakima Valley College, Vogler majored in anthropology at Whitman College. After studying abroad in Athens, Greece, her junior year, her focus broadened.
In Athens, she engaged in archaeology firsthand and realized she wanted to combine her interests in mythology, history and anthropology and learn more about the people who built the temples and made the pottery.
After earning her bachelor’s degree at Whitman, Vogler completed her master’s and a PhD in anthropology at the University of Iowa. In 2012, while a graduate student at Iowa, she made her first trip to Sicily to work on the Gangivecchio Archaeological Project.
She returned to the site in 2015, 2017, 2019 and 2022, and also used her research as a basis for her PhD thesis, “The Women of Gangivecchio: Investigating Gender, Wealth, and Work in the Agricultural Economy of Roman Sicily.”
At Lynchburg, Vogler is the faculty advisor of the Student Archaeological Society. She teaches Turning Points in World History, Introduction to Archaeology, Archaeology Lab, Greek Civilization and Roman Civilization. In addition, she recently developed a new course, Gender Archaeology in the Ancient World.
Read the full story on the university’s website.
Leyla Gonzalez and Samantha Mallery
Alumni Leyla Gonzalez and Samantha Mallery were recently awarded scholarships from the Washington Wine Industry Foundation to continue their pursuit of a four-year degree.
Leyla Gonzalez grew up around vineyards, nature and plants. She spent two years at Mercer as an intern, learning from hands-on experience at both the vineyard and the winery. Gonzalez recently completed her associate degree in vineyard technology at Yakima Valley College, and transferred to Washington State University in September to pursue her bachelor’s in viticulture and enology. Gonzalez aims to develop her own winemaking style and open a winery. Gonzalez received the Albert Don Memorial Scholarship, a Foundation Scholarship, and the Horse Heaven Hills Wine Growers Scholarship.
Samantha Mallery started as a student of Washington wine in 2017. In 2022, she became an enologist at the Owen Roe Winery. As a first-generation student and a single mom, Mallery is determined to further her education and is pursuing a Bachelor of Applied Science in Agricultural Sciences at Yakima Valley College. Mallery received the Walter J. Clore Scholarship.
Lucero Liliana Mendez and Martha Guitron
CAMP students Lucero Liliana Mendez and Martha Guitron recently earned honors for their artwork from the 2022 Northwest CAMP Consortium held in October.
Lucero Liliana Mendez’s (Yakima) artwork titled, “50 Years of Harvesting CAMP Leaders,” earned a first place award. Martha Guitron’s submitted three progressive pictures which earned a third place award.
Their artwork was selected from entries from 12 colleges across Washington and Idaho. Both pieces were displayed during a recent Board of Trustees meeting.
