Shari McMahan
CHENEY- Fresh from the Golden State, Shari McMahan is ready to settle in as the 27th president of Eastern Washington University.
McMahan served as Provost at California State University, San Bernardino the past six years. Before that, she was a faculty/administrative member at California State University, Fullerton.
McMahan finds an alignment between her values and the mission of Eastern as an inclusive, diverse university.
"There's a lot of parallels with what I had been doing the last six years-and in my 20-plus years before that," she said. "I started out as a faculty member and then progressed through the administrative ranks to the second highest level which was a provost."
The development of her mission statement for diversity and inclusion blossomed during her studies as a first-generation college student and teaching in public health.
Her passion for this central ideology grew as she continued her career in higher education.
"For me it's really about taking underserved individuals that may not have an opportunity to get a college degree and really come through," she said.
McMahan earned a bachelor's and a doctorate in social ecology at the University of California, Irvine in social ecology. She also holds a master's in health science from California State University, Northridge.
McMahan said that she wants to ensure individuals, particularly first-generation students at Eastern, are aware of the full scope of opportunities and access to resources, whether in their studies, financial aid, or everything else.
"In those [faculty and administrative] ranks I got to understand those students very clearly and what their needs were," she said. "I helped develop a public health program and 10 years ago when no one really knew what public health was."
While teaching public health, McMahan said she began understanding other cultures' importance in all aspects of modern life.
"In my classes, we would talk about alternative health therapies-What do different cultures think?" she said. "After that, people began getting exposed to other ideas. We have to understand that people come from all different walks of life."
McMahan said her goal is to continue delivering Eastern's message of diversity, equity and inclusion through community outreach and listening.
"Right now, I'm focusing on the first hundred days- I don't know all of the issues until I've listened," she said. "I want to make sure that morale here is good. COVID has taken a toll on everyone, but I want to build excitement."
Her main priorities lie in connection with the community and energizing the Eastern values and mission by being an active community partner.
"I'm just so excited right now. I think that we're all on this earth for a purpose and since I've been in higher ed the majority of my life, it's about transformation." McMahan said. "Eastern is a very welcoming environment so if people aren't sure, they should reach out to us and make that first step. We are a great place to be."
Michaela is a former newsroom intern at the Cheney Free Press. She covered stories on education, city government, cops/courts/fire departments and local businesses.
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