and personal protection. That background informs the work she does today with other researchers, health care professionals and community members, seeking to leverage public health tools to reduce firearm injury. More than 80% of Oregon gun deaths are suicides. Hearing stories is a core part of this work, and that can be exhausting when grief and trauma are palpable. But sharing can allow people to connect, heal and solve problems. The fact is, Carlson points out, most of us are not far removed from gun violence. And locked societal doors can open. In the 25 years since she graduated from OSU, Carlson has witnessed a huge and crucial shift from not even being able to say “firearm injury” in class to increasingly receiving support for research focused on preventing gun violence and suicide — research that leads to strategies that work. “There’s so much we have yet to do,” she said. That’s her message of hope. To start, we need to understand the scope of the problem. Carlson’s center was recently allowed access to Oregon’s health monitoring systems in order to generate reliable data on nonfatal firearm injuries. That’s information we’ve never had before. When we know more about how firearm injuries occur, she said, as well as the social and environmental circumstances in which they’re occurring and who is most at risk, then we can start developing effective solutions. “I don’t think I would put my eggs in this research basket if I didn’t think we can make a difference in this,” she said. “Every year, we are seeing more progress.” FIND STRENGTH IN CONNECTION For school principals struggling to close stubborn achievement gaps, Conrad Hurdle, ’96, MAT ’97, offers strategies to enhance educational systems and provide encouragement and hope — hope that they can do the work, and hope that they can get better. “We still have large inequalities — students who aren’t able to read, for whom the system is failing,” said Hurdle, a member of the OSU Alumni Association Board of Directors. His job is to help leaders take small steps forward. After working 20 years in public schools in the Portland area, including 15 years as a principal, the College of Education graduate founded FC Hurdle Consulting in 2018, aiming to help schools and government agencies reach across the barriers of cultural differences. Hurdle helps educators develop cultural awareness, so they can respond to situations like a student’s seemingly innocuous but hurtful comments mocking another student’s dialect. His work at the systems level includes helping principals engage families. “There can be a notion that some families, especially those identified as low income, aren’t interested in education,” he said. “How do we shift that mindset, and plan with these families instead of for them?” At the same time, it’s important to cultivate educational environments that are healthy for teachers. Like other communities across the nation, Portland has a significant teacher shortage, and budget pressures often lead to cuts that place additional stress on the educators who remain. In a 2024 Gallup poll, 44% of K-12 education employees reported feeling burned out either “very often” or “always”: the highest level of any group in the U.S. workforce. Hurdle advises principals to try to count38 PAGE ↗ Conrad Hurdle helps school principals deal with complex issues of race and culture.
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