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Alumna Therese Cagle.
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125 Anniversary Celebration: Therese Cagle

June 2, 2025

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Editor's Note: This is a series of stories about Western Illinois University students, alumni and community members, highlighting their experiences during our 125th anniversary celebration. We will feature 125 individuals from August 2024 to August 2025.

MACOMB, IL - - Alumna Therese Cagle sees Western Illinois University as a place of opportunity, engagement and collaboration.

For Cagle, being a Leatherneck is about never giving up, pushing forward and being driven by a spirit of resilience and accomplishment.

"Being a Leatherneck means never giving up on your journey," Cagle said. "I am pulling up my bootstraps and trudging uphill in the mud backwards. Eventually, even in the rain and wind and deep ravines that slow me down, I will keep my Leatherneck upright, my focus will remain on task and just as those who refused to sleep until their task completed, I will not fail to accomplish my goal of obtaining my Master's in Instructional Design and Technology at 60!"

Cagle's favorite Leatherneck memory is taking the course Business Practices and Culture of Ireland, where she had the opportunity to expand her understanding of Irish business strategies and management techniques.

"Weeks of planning, researching all aspects of Ireland, including human resources, finance, education, business acumen and several tourism features of the areas we were visiting. We also had to interview a business person in the field we were focusing on," Cagle said. "I chose to reach out to EPIC, The Irish Emigration Museum. It was such a successful connection and amazing opportunity."

During her time as a student, Cagle was a graduate assistant for both the Department of Business and Technology and the Center for Innovation in Teaching and Research (CITR). She also served as vice president of the Merit Award Student Chapter of Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM).

As students consider attending WIU, Cagle's advice is to invest time in broadening their areas of interest and use the resources to learn and prepare for the future.

"Choose a couple of fields of Interest and research. Interview your mentors, don't lose track of your interests and reach out to like-minded people passionate about your field," Cagle said. "Talk to your professors and gain insight on their experiences because they could be your greatest assets coming out of graduation. Your professors could be the resources that help develop your future."

As we honor 125 years of educational excellence, we invite local WIU students, alumni, faculty and staff to share their stories and be featured in our series. Contact University Communications at U-Communications@wiu.edu to participate.

To learn more about the WIU Business and Technology programs, visit wiu.edu/cbt/.

Posted By: University Communications (U-Communications@wiu.edu)
Office of University Communications & Marketing