From shy kid to change-agent
Brice Hoerauf BA’25 arrived at Willamette as a shy and anxious kid from Salem who was unsure of his ability to make an impact. Now, he’s about to graduate having completed a double major in Environmental Science and Economics, an internship with U.S. Senator Jeff Merkley in Washington D.C., two years in student government, a position as a community change-agent, and so much more.
How did he arrive at such a transformation in four short years? For Brice, it was all about one word: community.
“At Willamette, I began to understand who I am — that being in a community with one another is everything in this world, and that the only thing that truly has value is our connections with one another,” Brice says. “I was challenged in ways I never could have imagined. In those moments, I was able to grasp that the strength of being in community is what gets us past those hard times.”
That commitment to others is at the heart of Willamette’s motto: Not unto ourselves alone are we born. Brice says he learned it inside and outside of the classroom. In collaboration with Dempsey Chair of Environmental Policy & Politics Joe Bowersox, Brice collected data from the Beachie Creek Fire of 2020 to help inform wildfire policy for Oregon. The experience was visceral for Brice, as he experienced the fires firsthand as a high school student in Salem.
“I learned that the only way we can go forward is together — that’s what the motto means to me,”
Turning knowledge into action
Brice says he embraced Willamette’s curriculum, which “seeks to explain how the world functions and more importantly what it means to interact as an individual in a community.”
Brice turned that knowledge into action as a Catalyst for Climate Justice with the Office of Civic Engagement. Catalysts are responsible for mobilizing their peers around a community-identified goal. They help fellow Bearcats understand how to make a positive impact while learning about the root causes of pressing community concerns.
For Brice, the Catalyst program was a chance to get experience partnering with community organizations to have a real-world impact on issues he cared about: climate justice. In one memorable project, Brice helped lead a coalition of volunteers to remove 2,000 pounds of trash from Salem parks. Brice credits Assistant Dean for Civic Engagement Tommy Van Cleave and the Catalyst program with helping him “fall back in love with Salem.”
With the confidence he gained at Willamette, Brice is ready to take on his next challenge: an internship working on housing issues in Salem, hopefully followed by a graduate program in Public Policy. Ultimately, Brice hopes to pursue a career in sustainability compliance, working to address the housing crisis in the context of climate change.
“Willamette helped me develop into someone who doesn’t shy away from a challenge, but sees new experiences as opportunities for growth,” Brice says. “My experience has been something that I could not imagine happening anywhere else.”
What were some of the highlights of your time at Willamette?
- Serving as Catalyst for Climate Justice with the Office of Civic Engagement
- My internship with Senator Merkley while studying in Washington, D.C.
- Serving as ASWU Treasurer in my sophomore year
- My internship with Salem for Refugees
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