There was something different about coming back to Eastern this semester. It took me awhile to figure out what it was, but I had this feeling that something had changed.

It wasn’t that Booth Library was starting to take shape, or that the area around Lantz was beginning to look more like a sports complex; there was something deeper -stability.

For the first time since I have been an Eastern student, the administration is starting to take shape, much like Booth Library and the other construction projects on campus have as they near their completion dates.

Most of the interim-vice presidents have been replaced with permanent positions and other crucial positions on campus have been filled like the director of housing and dinning.

Even though there is a search for a new campus leader, the president, the temporary replacement can hardly be considered an office temp.

The Board of Trustees made a good decision for the university when they appointed Lou Hencken as our interim-president. Hencken brings 36 years of experience to the interim-president position.

I got to know Hencken back when I was covering the Student Senate beat three years ago. Nearly every Wednesday night he would be sitting – usually by himself – in the back of the Arcola/Tuscola Room of the Martin Luther King Jr., University Union watching the Student Senate make decisions on campus issues.

By watching Hencken through my years at the newspaper I realized that he was a good friend to have if you wanted to know something. He has never been too busy to answer questions or to stop and say hi when you pass him on the street.

In my mind it takes a leader, who not only walks the halls of Springfield looking for funding for the university, but also a person who walks the halls of Eastern getting to know the students and the work they do.

This is the type of person I think of when I think of Hencken -a people person. I was talking with a friend the other night who is new to this campus. She was telling a story of this man who stopped to talk with her while she was handing in papers in Old Main. Come to find out, it was Hencken. She had no idea who she was talking to; all she knew was that someone had taken the time to stop her to ask her about her day.

Since the time I have been here I cannot say that the university structure has been stable. How could it be with the amount of turnover and temporary positions on the administrative level that has been seen in recent years.

Our former president succeeded in one aspect of her job, getting funding for the university, but she fell short when it came to getting to know the campus community.

Hopefully, the new position for Hencken will not take away from his time to continue getting to know the community of Eastern. After all, how much pride and joy can one take in getting a few extra dollars for Eastern if he does not know the people that will reap the benefits.