President's Message
News articles
From the President – May 15, 2025
From the President – May 15, 2025 May is a tough time of year at the university. Yes, it’s really beautiful. But also yes, we are really tired. This includes our students. I recently wrote a peppy email to our students encouraging them to focus on their next step rather than the longer journey, and...
From the President – April 30, 2025
Dear EOU Community, We’ve had another whirlwind couple of weeks. One of the highlights was the Technical and Regional Universities – TRU – Lobby Day at the Capitol, where EOU students, faculty, staff, and administrators met with legislators to share the financial challenges and amazing opportunities that come with being part of one of our...
From the President – April 16, 2025
From the President – April 16, 2025 Dear EOU Community, EOU was abuzz with activity the last two weeks. We’ve hosted the Oregon Joint Ways and Means Committee. The “Rally in Our Valley” brought our university together in support of funding for higher education. Our Board of Trustees’ committees met. We had a rousing rock-paper-scissors...
From the President – April 2, 2025
From the President – April 2, 2025 I hope many of you had a peaceful break. My calendar slowed a bit, and it was great to catch up and have some time for fun. I know many of you worked over the break prepping for classes, getting students registered, working on our facilities, coaching, budgeting,...
From the President – March 6, 2025
From the President – March 6, 2025 Dear EOU Community, It’s March and we’re planning to bring it in with cookies! Friday, March 7 is Employee Appreciation Day, and we’re having cookies at the top of the Grand Staircase between 2 p.m. and 3 p.m. to celebrate you! I hope you’ll join us for some...
From the President – February 19, 2025
From the President – February 19, 2025 Dear EOU Community, I had the opportunity to attend the EOU Chamber Choir and Music Department’s You, Me & We show, and I found myself getting emotional – even misty-eyed – as it represented so much of what we do. I thought about the students who performed last...
From the President – December 11, 2024
A little ray of sunshine Dear EOU Community, As I write, the sun has just popped over the mountain leaving a crest of bright orange, red, and yellow; it’s a beautifully peaceful moment. And honestly, it’s just what I need after a couple of crazy hectic weeks. By the time you read this, we’re just...
From the President – November 26, 2024
The season of gratitude Dear Campus Community, Recently, in one of my biweekly letters to students, I asked students to share with me their greatest success this term. I had a truly heartwarming response from a single mom who chose EOU to pursue her goals. She had always wanted to go to college, but with...
From the President – Gratitude, appreciation, and kindness
From the President – Gratitude, appreciation, and kindness Dear EOU Community, University presidents spend a lot of time thinking about and planning for the future. I recently attended an EOU Leadership Team meeting where we discussed many of the wonderful new or updated student success work we’re undertaking as a result of the Ascent ‘29...
From the President – October 30, 2024
From the President – October 30, 2024 Dear EOU Community, The last few weeks were anxious ones, with me checking our numbers hoping the good news would hold in this strange new era of higher education. And they did! I’m pleased to share with you that our headcount now sits at 2,954, an increase of...
From the President – October 16, 2024
From the President – October 16, 2024 Homecoming was a rollicking success! I felt a lot of joy seeing the incredible relationships we’ve forged with our students over time. They keep coming back to EOU because we supported them on their path to success. It was delightful to see so many of you having fun...
From the President – October 2, 2024
From the President – October 2, 2024 Dear EOU Community: We had a great first week of the academic year that was full of activities. By the time you’ve read this, our office has hosted Karaoke on the Quad, and I hope I have not embarrassed myself! One of my favorite parts of the updates...