Upon arriving at Eastern most students probably have noticed some changes. But chances are they have only realized the minor changes. A lot more is different than a few more parking spaces and a few new flowers.

Over the course of the summer Eastern has lost a president and welcomed a new provost and vice president for external affairs.

Former President Carol Surles left office this summer after serving 2-1/2 years of her three-year contract. Surles left in order to seek further treatment for breast cancer.

Former Vice President for Student Affairs Lou Hencken is acting as interim president. Hencken has worked hard for Eastern for over 30 years and has the experience and knowledge to lead this university capably until a new president is found.

In addition, the university chose Blair Lord to take over the positions of vice president for academic affairs and provost and announced that Jill Nilsen will take over the vice president for external relations job for good.

Surles came to Eastern in March 1999 as the university’s eighth president.

Over Surles’ term as president, the university saw good and bad times. In a prepared statement to Eastern’s Board of Trustees, Surles outlined some of the goals she had set out to accomplish during her tenure. Some of these included enhancing Eastern’s state appropriation for operations and closing funding disparity between Eastern and peer universities within Illinois.

Surles said she is satisfied with the accomplishments of the university during her tenure. The question remains if the campus was satisfied with those same accomplishments.

Along with improving funding disparity and enhancing state appropriations, Surles also had a lawsuit filed against her alleging racial and sexual discrimination and included the administration in a long and nasty battle with Eastern’s chapter of University Professionals of Illinois.

What our newly staffed administration needs to do now is repair its relationship with the faculty and try to build an administrative team that can work together to build the best university it can. Eastern has a lot of potential that has been missed in recent years.