From the President – November 25, 2025

From the President – November 25, 2025

Thankful to EOU

Dear EOU Community,

I really enjoyed being in community with you at our “Fall into an Attitude of Gratitude” all-campus event. Thank you for spending time with us and for sharing your gratitude for one another. Many folks used a post-it note to share what they are grateful for, and the dominant theme was appreciation for one another – friends, colleagues, family, and the EOU community, programs, and campus.

It’s been a busy season at EOU, and I’m hopeful each of you finds time to lean into the break that Thanksgiving provides all of us. A little time to reconnect with ourselves and our loved ones is much needed this time of year.  

We’ve had some major changes at the university lately, including having a new Chair of the Board of Trustees, Dr. Chuck Hofmann. As a member of the board since I arrived at EOU, I’ve gotten to know Dr. Hofmann well and trust his leadership will be beneficial to EOU. He is already bringing lots of great energy and ideas to the table.  

We finalized EOU’s contract with Risepoint, our Online Program Marketing Manager, and participated in a visit by Risepoint Vice President Phyllis Hauptfeld to meet with faculty and staff. I hope many of you were able to meet her. She has good energy! That’s a good start to the partnership!

Provost Geissinger and I received the report from NWCCU on our accreditation visit. Though the report has not been finalized by NWCCU’s Board, EOU received commendations for our focus on student success, our efforts to enhance collaboration, and our partnerships with the community. They have recommended we work on refining our academic program learning outcomes assessment and using that work to improve teaching and learning at the university. We are also asked to bring focus to accomplishing key strategies in our strategic plan.  

The past few weeks have included a lot of travel between EOU meetings. Recently, I visited with Director Torrie Griggs of Boardman’s Chamber of Commerce for a Facebook Live podcast to highlight the great work we do at EOU. She shared that it has over 2,500 views! Dean Scott McConnell and I met with Lisa Mittlesdorf, CEO of the Port of Morrow, and Ben Harvey, Community Engagement Lead with Amazon Web Services. I connected with EOU donors in La Grande and attended the Soroptimist’s Festival of Trees annual event in support of scholarships. 

As always, there’s a ton to be thankful for at EOU. We are so fortunate to be a cultural hub for our region. I enjoyed the newest exhibit in the Nightingale Gallery, Shifting Grounds by Andrew Parker, and the Thursday night performance of Shakespeare in Love, directed by Mike Heather. The gallery served as an excellent location to put a spotlight on our artistic endeavors at a donor event last Saturday.

Our Athletics continue to astound me!  Coach Kaki McLean Morehead was recognized as the 2025 Cascade Collegiate Conference volleyball Coach of the Year.  Wow!!

Have a wonderful holiday break, and I look forward to seeing you back for the homestretch of the fall term!

In appreciation,

Kelly A. Ryan, Ph.D.
President