Former president of Clarke University to visit EOU as candidate for vacant president position
Apr. 18—LA GRANDE — Community residents may meet Eastern Oregon University's next president in the next 10 days.
The school has narrowed its list of presidential finalists to three, and they will be visiting the campus in the coming days. Each of the candidates will participate in public forums and receptions as part of their visits.
The first finalist to visit will be educator Thom Chesney, who will be in La Grande Thursday and Friday, April 20-21. The candidate on April 20 will appear at a public forum from 3:30-4:30 p.m. at Huber Auditorium and at a public reception from 4:30-6 p.m. in the lobby of Badgley Hall outside Huber Auditorium.
Chesney's career in higher education has spanned nearly 25 years.
Most recently, he served as the president of Clarke University in Dubuque, Iowa, from 2019 to 2022. Prior to Clarke, Chesney served as president of Brookhaven College in Dallas, Texas.
A second finalist will visit Eastern April 24-25, and the third finalist will visit the school April 27-28. There will also be public forums and public receptions for those candidates.
The names of the second and third finalists will be announced two days before the start of their visits to Eastern. The names of the finalists are not being released until two days before their visits because some are employed, said Tim Seydel, Eastern's vice president for university advancement. Seydel said releasing the names of the finalists early could impact relationships with their employers.
"We don't want to put any of them in an awkward situation," he said.
The three finalists were recommended to the EOU Board of Trustees by a search committee whose members included EOU facility, administrators, staff and students plus community members.
The finalists, during their day-and-a-half visits, will have the chance to learn about the school and its mission and values, while engaging with students, faculty, staff, partners and members of the community and region.
"We are excited to be entering the final stages of the search for EOU's next leader with three excellent and well-qualified candidates," said Cheryl Martin, EOU Board of Trustees chair. "I'm very pleased and want to thank the search committee for their excellent work in interviewing and recommending finalists from a very strong pool. We are a strong organization and it shows in this search."
Eastern's search is being conducted with the assistance of Summit Search Solutions, of Asheville, North Carolina. Seydel said members of the Summit Search Solutions team told him they are very impressed with the quality of applicants the university has received.
Martin said it is clear what the board wants in EOU's next president.
"The board and the university are keenly focused on hiring a leader who will continue the great work our university community has accomplished over the past several years, and build on the momentum we have toward achieving our Ascent 2029 strategic plan goals," she said.
Ascent 2029 goals include enrollment, student success, graduation rate and community engagement objectives to be achieved by the year 2029, which will mark Eastern's centennial.
EOU is searching for a successor to Tom Insko who stepped down in 2022 to take a position as president and chief executive officer of Collins, a wood products company based in Wilsonville. Insko had served as EOU's president since July 2015.
Lara Moore, Eastern's vice chair for finance and administration, and Richard Chaves, who previously was the chair of Eastern's board of trustees, are now serving as Eastern's interim co-presidents. Moore is serving as EOU's internal interim president, and Chaves is the school's external interim president.
