This story is included in the most recent issue of Quest Magazine, the College’s twice-yearly Alumni publication. To view the entire issue online, or to view longer-form “Quest Extra” pieces, click here.
The year is 1967. The United States is involved in the Vietnam War. Six miles from the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ), Mike Elliott was in an underground bunker designed to protect U.S. soldiers when he received a piece of paper in the mail from a student at The College of Idaho.
The piece of paper was an application.
Elliott, who hadn’t attended school in six years, filled it out while in the bunker and sent it in.
And so begins a story that Mike Elliott says isn’t about Mike Elliott. Rather it’s a story about how a small, liberal arts college in western Idaho got him on track after years wandering the country and eventually ending up in the U.S. Air Force in Vietnam.
“Vietnam made me realize I really did not want to stay in the service,” Elliott explained. “One tour in Vietnam was enough for me.”
So it was time to go back to school. The problem was, prior to Vietnam, Elliott had enrolled in five different colleges as he wandered but wasn’t that interested in the academics so, ultimately, he was dismissed from all five.
“Everywhere I went, I went where the schools were because that’s where the fun was,” he said.
He knew of the College because of time spent at a radar station in nearby Wilder, Idaho, before his deployment to Vietnam. Like the other stops, the College was where the fun was: the parties, the events, the pretty girls.
Upon returning from Vietnam, Elliott came to Sterry Hall to see the Dean of Students, Dick Winder. In his own words, Elliott says “he lit into me for lying.”
Elliott hadn’t mentioned the other schools when he applied.
“I have no idea how Dean Winder found out about that because this was 1967, this was pre-computers,” Elliott said. “But he did know and I don’t know how he knew.”
Winder sent him down the hall to another office to visit with the College’s Registrar, Jeanne DeLurme. His admission to the College would be up to her. She knew his military background and she wasn’t going to let him take the easy path.
“She was clear about me having lied, she knew all about it,” Elliott said. “She said, ‘if you want to come in here, you’re going to go into pre-engineering. Take it or leave it.’”
She also said he would be on academic probation. One bad semester and he was gone. He didn’t realize it at that moment, but she had just issued the challenge he needed.
“I said, all right, I’ll take it. And I’ll invite you to the graduation,” Elliott recalled.
His first semester at the College, Elliott earned a 3.75 grade-point average. He saw DeLurme on campus and she asked how his grades were. He told her, she smiled, and walked off.
“She knew what she had done for me and she knew what this College had done for me,” Elliott said, fondly. “And I grew to know it, too.”
His grade-point average never dipped. Before the conversation with DeLurme, he said his intention had been to major in math and history and become a teacher. Being an engineer, despite his extensive background in electronics during his time in the Air Force, never entered his mind. But he answered DeLurme’s challenge and studied engineering.
“She did so much for me and this school did so much for me to get me on the right track,” he explained. “It really paid off. It taught me to stay the course.”
Elliott transferred to New Mexico State University to complete the engineering degree – he says he did send DeLurme a note to let her know he was graduating – and embarked on a long, successful career in electrical engineering. He started at a company in Houston, Texas, and learned quickly that Houston wasn’t for him. He sent several resumes to companies in Idaho, wanting to move back, and wound up landing a position with Idaho Power. Three years with Idaho Power, nearly 20 years with CH2M Hill Engineering as a consultant, then a little more than a decade opening power plants, helping to open a branch of a Portland engineering firm in Boise, then he took a job working international projects for Power Engineers, Inc.
Now 77, Elliott is retired and living in Idaho. Despite not officially graduating from the College, he’s a member of the Board of Trustees for The College of Idaho and regularly consults and contributes to various building projects on campus. He has been involved with students on campus who are military veterans themselves or come from military families. He was adopted as a child, growing up in Kansas before leaving to find his path after high school. He found it in Caldwell, Idaho.
“I don’t classify myself as having a family when I started out,” he explained. “The school became family. It gave me roots, it gave me something to build on, it gave me purpose, and it straightened that path to where I wanted to go.”
Elliott and his wife, Becki, established a scholarship at the College in 2016. Named “the Bilanx Scholarship,” the endowed fund supports students who demonstrate academic growth while participating in extracurricular activities. Students, he says, like him. He and his wife appreciate the thank-you notes from the students, but that’s not why they do it. It’s to pay it forward for the school that did so much for him. From Kansas to a winding road of brief college stints that ultimately led to Vietnam, to Dean Winder’s office and to Jeanne DeLurme’s take-it-or-leave-it offer, his path traces to The College of Idaho.
“It’s kind of an emotional thing for me,” Elliott said with a poignant pause, gesturing toward the campus. “To me, these are hallowed grounds. I have nothing but love for this school.”
The College of Idaho has a 131-year-old legacy of excellence. The College is known for its outstanding academic programs, winning athletics tradition, and history of producing successful graduates, including seven Rhodes Scholars, three governors, and countless business leaders and innovators. Its distinctive PEAK Curriculum challenges students to attain competency in the four knowledge peaks of humanities, natural sciences, social sciences, and a professional field—empowering them to earn a major and three minors in four years. The College’s close-knit, residential campus is located in Caldwell, where its proximity both to Boise and to the world-class outdoor activities of southwest Idaho’s mountains and rivers offers unique opportunities for learning beyond the classroom. For more information, visit www.collegeofidaho.edu.
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