Cullinan asks Eastern to be inspired at state of university address

Six of the seven banners flanking Eastern Washington University President Dr. Mary Cullinan on the stage at Showalter Hall auditorium all began the same way: "Eastern Inspires..."

Each, however, ended with a different word: collaboration, innovation, joy, transformation, excellence and critical thinking. But it was the seventh and final banner that summed up Cullinan's call to action in her annual state of the university address - simply "Eastern Inspires."

In her address to faculty, staff, students and community members last Tuesday, Sept. 20, Cullinan heralded a list of achievements over the last several years, including graduating over 3,000 students at campuses in Cheney, Spokane, Bellevue and Longview, Wash. to increasing student retention from 74.6 percent in 2010 to 77.8 percent in 2014.

She said last fall's freshmen class was the most diverse in university history, with 32.7 percent of students from underrepresented demographic groups - increasing overall diversity from 21 percent to 26 percent over the last five years.

Cullinan noted how the university has changed over the last several years, listing new programs such as the Veterans Center, the Pride Center along with a learning commons. A number of Eastern graduates have gone on to successful careers in a variety of fields, with 400 university faculty and staff possessing EWU degrees. Top that with over 75,000 EWU graduates throughout Washington alone, and it makes for good representation in society.

"Eagles are everywhere," Cullinan said.

Cullinan also told several stories of how faculty members have stepped in to help students, including one member who found out one of her students was living in a car.

"She helped that student find a place to stay, helped her negotiate the challenges of getting academic work done in such a difficult environment," she said.

Another story involved a staff member who noticed a student walking around campus on a chilly day wearing shoes full of holes. When asked, the student said he didn't have another good pair, so the staff member went home, grabbed a pair of tennis shoes he had just purchased for himself and, still in the box, gave them to the student.

As another example of faculty initiatives to help students, Cullinan cited the $1.89 million raised by faculty for student scholarships last year, adding the university distributed over $14 million in financial support in 2015-2016.

"Nearly half our students graduated with no debt at all, pretty amazing given the economic backgrounds of many Eastern students and their families," she added.

Cullinan ended by directing those assembled to keep in mind a longer vision for the new school year, drawing attention to aspects of education that revolved around the words on those six banners. The university will still keep its focus on increasing student retention, looking at achieving an 82 percent rate for the incoming class, who Cullinan referred to not as the freshmen of 2016 but the graduating students of 2020.

"We need to help our students have 20/20 vision," she said.

Cullinan tasked faculty and staff to raise over $2 million in student support this year, while also noting the university plans to increase its investment in academic affairs, an area that she said doesn't currently have the structure to support the university's mission.

"We'll see stronger organization of academic functions, better alignment between planning and resources, stronger academic partnerships," she said. "We'll see better support for faculty teaching and research."

Finally, Cullinan asked those present at Showalter Hall to imagine a university that was everything from the school of first choice of all students east of the Cascades, that carried a 90 percent retention rate and that attracted high-quality students from around the country and abroad.

"Let's begin this academic year with our commitments to inspiring excellence, collaboration, critical thinking, innovation (and) transformation," she said. "Let's commit to inspiring joy."

John McCallum can be reached at jmac@cheneyfreepress.com.