EUGENE, Ore. – Bushnell University recently hosted its Fall 2025 Academic Creativity and Excellence Day, a campus-wide celebration of senior capstone projects and other student research. Founded by Dr. Tim Bergquist, emeritus professor of quantitative business models, ACE Day provides a platform for students to share academic work shaped by careful inquiry and practical relevance.
Among the day’s events was “The State of Teaching at Bushnell University,” a Bergquist Laureates panel highlighting student perspectives on teaching and learning. The Laureate distinction honors students whose classroom habits reflect a sustained commitment to learning. This year’s panel brought together Laureates representing multiple academic disciplines to discuss course elements that support or hinder learning and to offer recommendations for strengthening the student learning experience.
Creativity in Action: Applied Projects and Community Partnership
Applied projects give ACE Day a strong professional and community-facing dimension. In the Marketing 230 Richardson Sports Expo Competition, teams developed original product ideas and full marketing campaigns, which they pitched to Richardson Sports, a family-owned, Oregon-based headwear company known for performance and custom caps.
The Best Campaign Award went to sophomore business majors Mason Millar and Eryx Awaya and junior interdisciplinary studies major Mira Campanella for their performance beanie campaign; they were recognized for a spirited video ad that judges described as engaging and memorable. The Client’s Choice Award was awarded to junior business major Marina Castaneda, freshman business major Kaylee Lundeen, and sophomore business major Katie Spillum for a premium performance headband; Richardson Sports guest judge and director of brand marketing Jarod Courtney selected the project for its thorough campaign strategy and inclusion of a prototype. The Visitor’s Choice Award went to junior mathematics major Eli Ekwere, sophomore accounting major Blake Thornton, junior interdisciplinary studies major Mikiah Southmayd, and freshman accounting major Landyn Munyon for their performance sports cap, with attendees citing a polished presentation and high-energy delivery.
Interactive Humanities: History as Public Scholarship
History students translated research into interactive learning experiences. In “Playing with World History: From Primary Sources to Interactive Experiences,” teams built short, thesis-driven activities from primary-source investigations. Visitors engaged with board games, role-play scenarios, living-history stations, and podcast excerpts designed to test historical claims and practice evidence-based reasoning. In the Interactive Game Design Contest connected to course History 161, judges’ scores produced a tie between two winning teams.
Freshman business major Terren Crabb, freshman psychology major Ethan Price, junior business major Nino Gavriel, and senior psychology major Will Haberfield presented a fantastic game called “Steelyard Charter” that required players to collect resources, navigate economic and environmental challenges in order to make it to London in time to sign a trade deal, while sophomore business major Reyn Gaspar, freshman pre-nursing major Clay Dewitt, and freshman business major Ryan Demoss presented “The Virtues of the Superior Human: Or, Confucius, A Board Game,” which required players to traverse a series of choices using Confucian ethics as guide.
Students in History course 210, “Hearing True Stories: A Bushnell University Listening Lab,” presented mini-exhibits from podcasts in progress on Bushnell’s history. Pairing audio storytelling with visuals, the Listening Lab explored campus memory as a record shaped by change, debate, and lived experience, extending history into accessible public scholarship.
Innovation in STEM and Technology
Students in computing disciplines presented projects that paired technical proficiency with user-centered design. Students in Software Engineering 130, Programming for Everyone, presented Python final programs incorporating databases, interfaces, and graphics, showing how introductory coding tools can be adapted to practical tasks. From Software Engineering 300, Web Development, students expanded that work into full-stack platforms, including budgeting and personal-finance tools, university-application systems, blogs, e-commerce sites, and other MERN-based builds. Together, these projects reflected growth from foundational programming to applied platform development.
Academic Excellence on Display: Senior Capstones and Research
Senior capstone presentations formed a large portion of ACE Day’s academic showcase. In psychology, students delivered evidence-based syntheses on contemporary issues, including excessive smartphone and social media use and its impact on attention, limerence and obsessive love, mental health stigma and help-seeking among college athletes, mindfulness and performance anxiety in sport, neurodiversity and inclusive primary education, and stalking escalation in intimate partner violence. These capstones demonstrated disciplined engagement with empirical research and clear attention to human well-being.
Capstones in communication and biblical and theological studies explored culture, relationship, and formation. Students examined the role of gesture and nonverbal cues in classroom communication; family communication patterns and humor in Christian homes; cross-cultural understandings of honor in Eastern, Western, and biblical frameworks; and parents’ central role in children’s faith development. ACE Day’s debate tradition continued with the 2025 Bushnell Debate Championship, in which senior psychology major Ana Augusto bested sophomore psychology major Maggie Fruean by audience vote to earn the debate title.
Poster Showcase and Judging
Poster presentations offered a concentrated look at student research, particularly within teacher education. From the Classroom Relations & Management course, student posters addressed topics such as teacher–student–parent collaboration, brain breaks, strategies for noncompliance, exercise and academic outcomes, teacher attire and classroom perception, English Language Learner student and family engagement, supports for attention and impulsivity challenges, fatigue management, music as a transition tool, and incentive systems that build motivation and positive behavior. Students in the Nonverbal Communication course also participated.
Judges engaged presenters and evaluated projects using a standardized scoring process that emphasizes clarity, evidence, and scholarly communication.
Students were judged in three categories: posters, presentations, and overall effectiveness. Junior teacher education majors Creeann Jarman, Dulce Ramirez-Ramos, and Kayla Coalwell earned the top overall spots, respectively. Senior communication Jon Kleespies was also recognized for the third best poster.
ACE Day reflects Bushnell University’s mission to foster wisdom, faith, and service through excellent academic programs within a Christ-centered community. Through research, exhibits, applied projects, and capstones, students demonstrated academic excellence and showed how their learning prepares them to discover and answer God’s call with purpose.
For a complete list of ACE Day presentations, visit www.aceday.bushnell.edu. To view the full photo gallery, visit Bushnell University’s Pixieset gallery.