back in the day - OSU Alumni Association

membership mattersFamiliar alumna to lead Portland, Seattle effortsFormer Portland, Seattle and nationaltelevision news reporter and anchorwoman,current football sideline reporterand loyal OSU alumna CathyMarshall, ’82, has been hired to lead theOSU Alumni Association’s efforts in thePortland and Seattle areas.Marshall also has experience planningevents and producing media forseveral charities. She will serve as theassociation’s regional director, leadingefforts to serve and engage OSU’s largestconcentration of alumni in Oregon andoutside the state.More than 40,000 of the university’sapproximately 150,000 alumni live in thePortland metropolitan area, and the Seattleregion is home to more than 9,800alums.“This is a perfect fit for me, somethingthat goes with everything I’ve done inthe last 20-something years,” said Marshall,who recently completed her termon the alumni association’s volunteerboard of directors.Marshall will work out of the association’soffice in OSU’s Portland Center,707 S.W. Washington St., and will coordinateher efforts with OSU Foundationstaff members and other universityrepresentatives who work at the center.Jeff Todd, executive director of theassociation, said that while Marshall hasbeen an energetic and valuable boardmember, she will be able to provide evenmore service to her alma mater in hernew position.“I could not be more pleased aboutthe addition of Cathy to our professionalteam,” Todd said. “Obviouslyshe has great communication skills andpossesses an engaging personality, buther organizational and creative talentsare equally impressive.“With Cathy we have someone torepresent Oregon State and the alumniassociation who is already well knownwithin the alumni community and whodeeply loves OSU.“We are looking forward to workingWell known to Pacific Northwesterners as a television anchorwoman and a football sidelinereporter, Cathy Marshall, shown here with Portland’s Hawthorne Bridge in the background,will lead OSUAA efforts in Portland and Seattle. Photo by Stephen Pagenstecherwith her to build even greater presenceamong alumni in Portland and Seattle.”After graduating with honors fromOSU in 1982 with a bachelor’s degree inspeech communications, Marshall begana six-city television career that startedin Eugene and included five years withCNN, five years as host and anchor forKATU in Portland and three years as areporter and anchor for KIRO in Seattle.In 2005 she started working as a sidelinereporter for the Beaver Sports Networkand Fox Sports Northwest.In 2003, Marshall and her husband,John Marler, another veteran televisionjournalist, started Marler Communications,serving non-profit organizationsby producing fundraising videos,organizing auctions and planning othercharity events.A mother of four whose youngestwill start kindergarten in the fall, Marshallsaid she plans to offer a wide varietyof activities for OSU alumni in the Portlandand Seattle areas, including eventsfor recent graduates, family-orientedgatherings for alumni with childrenand connection-building opportunitiesfor alumni in the Portland and Seattlebusiness communities.“Having a wider range of events forpeople will draw them in and let themhear about what’s going on campus, andthat will get them excited about OSU,”she said.She noted that she has long hadtrouble containing her enthusiasm forOSU.“In my journalism career, when Iwas supposed to be dispassionate aboutthings, one thing I could never hide mypassion for was Oregon State,” she said.“Now, in this job, I won’t have to hide it. Iwon’t be above walking up to strangerswearing OSU garb and asking them tostep up and get involved.”45Fall 2008