Guests at an annuitant’s luncheon left the Cross County Mall in Mattoon last Monday with the impression that interim President Lou Hencken was readying his application for president of the university.

A member of the Eastern Illinois Annuitants’ Association asked Hencken whether he intended to apply for the position, and Hencken replied before about 200 guests that he would, Evelyn Goodrick, a retired professor who still teaches a class at Eastern and a member of the organization, said.

“He was applauded,” she said. “(Louis Coons, formerly of the math department) gave a speech about how wonderful Lou Hencken was.”

Bob Whittenbarger, current president of the organization, sat beside Hencken at the meeting and recalls him saying he was planning to apply for the permanent position.

Hencken said Sunday he was misunderstood, and the first question someone asked was whether he had applied for the position of Eastern’s next president.

“At that time, the answer was ‘no,'” he said.

Another guest then asked whether Hencken had worked on his resume. Hencken said he told the guests he had, but didn’t specify that he was submitting it to Eastern’s Presidential Search Committee.

“Maybe I want to work at DePaul. Maybe I want to work somewhere else,” Hencken said Sunday.

Eastern’s last president, Carol Surles, left the position after last spring semester to seek treatment for breast cancer. Hencken, who use to serve as vice president for student affairs, has held the position in the interim since then.

The Presidential Search Advisory Committee had received 30 applications at the time of its last meeting on Jan.7.

Last Wednesday, Katie Cox, student representative to the committee, told the Student Senate 43 applications had been submitted. On Tuesday, committee members will narrow down the list to about 10 or 12 candidates to begin interviewing off campus.

The search committee has established a policy of applicant confidentiality that prevents Hencken or anyone else from announcing an intention to seek the presidency this early in the search.

“I don’t want to betray that,” he said Sunday.