Office of the President

From the President – March 4, 2025

Was February Short and Sweet?

Dear EOU Community,

Friday, March 6, 2026, is National Employee Appreciation Day. You are invited (invitation opens in a new tab) to stop by my office suite for an open house from 10:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m.—to celebrate you and have some conversation!

Great news in and around the university abounds!

Most importantly, we learned that the Oregon legislature will not be reducing the Public University Funding allocation. This is good news for EOU’s FY27 budget process, as we are not anticipating having to reduce our budget this year! The legislature sent loud alarm bells, but decided on making smaller cuts this term. We’re celebrating, even as we are aware that the governor requested no budget increases for the 27-29 biennium. Unfortunately, this does equate to a cut for EOU since costs consistently rise, and without an increase in state funding, we will have to absorb those increases. We will share more with you as we learn more. For now, let’s enjoy a big sigh of relief, even as we plan for a tight fiscal future.

I am pleased to share that the Benefits Navigator Food Program received $6,000 from the Oregon Food Bank, and some of the funds will support the purchase of seeds and plot fees for students in the Community Garden.

On February 19, Dr. Tracey Hanshew joined American History Hit for the episode Rodeo: An All American History? (opens in a new tab) to discuss her recently published article, “’Here she comes wearin’ them britches!’ Saddles, Riding Skirts, and Social Reform in the Turn-of-the-Century Rural West, in Montana: The Magazine of Western History. It’s a great episode—full of details I never knew. I also learned that Dr. Hanshew and I share the same favorite part of the Pendleton Round-Up. You’ll have to listen to find out!

AASCU accepted EOU into its competitive Post-Secondary Value (opens in a new tab) Strategic Planning Collaborative. The Collaborative will help EOU design a framework to focus on access, affordability, student support, completion, outcomes, and earnings to ensure that our value is clear to our community and the state. We look forward to sharing our learning with you as we progress through the process.

Student success is our #1 priority. With 154 alerts submitted this fall (2025), Early Alert outreach helps connect students with timely support and keeps advisors and the retention coordinator informed. Please join me in thanking our top Early Alert reporters for consistently providing updates: Tanya Kausler, Wendy Morton, Jenny Slinkard, Sheri Rysdam, Eliot Treichel, Kevin Roy, Mary Fisher, Cory Peeke, and Julianne Standish. Thank you!!

I hope you will join me in congratulating our colleagues who were recognized for their work in Union County. Dr. Kelly McNeil was named Union County Educator of the Year for 2025, in recognition of her work with local students and teachers at all levels in advancing health education. Susan Murrell was named Union County Art Patron of the Year!

Men’s and Women’s Basketball won the Cascade Collegiate Conference Championships for their respective sports. This is only the second time in EOU history that we’ve managed to pull off a double title in basketball! Congratulations to Coach Weisenflueh, Coach Kemp, and all the players!

EOU has been recognized by the American Indian Science and Engineering Society (AISES) in Winds of Change as one of the “Top 200 Colleges for Indigenous Students (opens in a new tab).”

Student Affairs reported a highly successful Student Involvement Winter Club Fair, with over 100 students participating. I’m grateful to our student club representatives and mentors for keeping our campus lively, as well as to Kathryn Shorts and Kelly Marriott for keeping them organized.

Thank you to Professor Susan Murrell and all the students who made the Bring Your Own T-shirt (BYOT) event a big success again this year. About 90 custom T-shirts were created! Our students’ creativity, planning, teamwork, and leadership made for an amazing event. I encourage you to check out some photos from the event on @eou-art on Instagram (opens in a new tab).

I attended an event in honor of the Right Track Resource Center’s (opens in a new tab) new mission to provide broader services to Union County’s houseless, and learned that EOU faculty, staff, and students have been heavily involved in the daily operations of the organization through their volunteerism. Professor Olivia Kuljian serves on the board and has helped the center stay open on weekends, along with other supporters. Great work EOU!!

February is short and sweet (now that we’ve got great news about our budget). We’ve managed to get some good work done in spreading the good news and advocating for EOU in 28 days! The Oregon Public University presidents had the opportunity to meet with Tim Knopf, Gov. Kotek’s Chief Prosperity Officer; Chris Warner, Gov. Kotek’s Chief of Staff; and Ben Cannon, Executive Director of HECC. While in Salem, we had our very first WOU and EOU Alumni event at WOU’s Salem Campus. It was great to see Alumni Board Chair Rich Sipe, as well as alumni and donors in attendance. We’re grateful to Suzannah Moore for planning and keeping us organized.

I’ve had some great fun with students, including a Valentine’s Day event where we made S’mores over the heat of Sterno flames! We held a student leadership reception in honor of several of our great student leaders. And of course, I’ve enjoyed all the fun and games of supporting EOU athletics.

We’ve held a great number of shared governance and board meetings this month. Our Faculty Senate and University Council continue to make great progress on their goals for the year. Our Board of Trustees met, as have our Alumni and Foundation Boards. We’re grateful for all the work they do to keep us focused on our mission and financial health. We also held our University Updates, which University Council sponsors to keep communication lines flowing. I’m grateful to those of you who participated in the survey to share your topics of interest and preferred modality. And thanks to all of you who took thetime to listen. It really helps create more accurate communication.

I had the great opportunity to convene our EOU Centennial Planning Committee, which is charged with helping us create events and themes for our 2029 celebration. Thank you, Sarah Rowland, chair of the EOU Centennial Planning Committee, for sharing the June 5, 1929, edition of the La Grande Evening Observer (opens in a new tab), which is dedicated to the opening of the Eastern Oregon Normal School. (Make sure to take a look at the ads! They are so much fun.) I’m also grateful to McKenzie Jerofke, Melody Karle, Suzannah Moore, Tracey Hanshew, Tyler Dubsky, and Chuck Hofmann for sharing your time and expertise. Look out for communication from this group in the coming months—they’re off to a great start with wonderful ideas.

And just for fun, I encourage those of you who have travel plans that will take you through Portland to stop by the Portland Art Museum (opens in a new tab) for the “David Hockney” exhibit. It’s the best exhibit they’ve had since I moved to Oregon (IMO). For some inspired reading, Lumina just released a new report, The College Reality Check: What Students Experience vs. What America Believes (opens in a new tab). The study breaks down experiences by political affiliation and other common demographics, that make it particularly enlightening in this moment.

Wishing you a cozy day, and hoping to see you on Friday!

Sincerely,