Former EWU President Rodolfo Arévalo and his wife Nadine Arévalo are returning to Eastern on April 23, where a ceremony will be held to dedicate the campus mall in their name.

Eastern released an announcement that on April 23 the Arévalos will have the campus mall dedicated to them.

Rodolfo Arévalo began working at Eastern in 2006 and retired at the end of the 2013-2014 academic year, according to The Spokesman-Review.

The board of trustees made the decision to recognize the Arévalos for their positive influence on the campus and the community and to recognize Rodolfo Arévalo as the first Latino president of a four-year university in the Washington state’s history, according to Michael Westfall, vice president of university advancement, who is running public relations for the event.

“I thought it was particularly nice that they included Nadine [Arévalo] in that because she obviously brought a tremendous amount of energy and enthusiasm and contributed to the community,” said Westfall.

According to past Eastern press releases, Nadine Arévalo helped start the annual food drive at EWU in 2008 and continued an active role in the event until 2013.

Westfall said the board of trustees chose the campus mall because they were looking for a cost-effective way to recognize the Arevalos in a public area, and the camps mall matched both qualifications.

Westfall said he had a minor role in the design of the stone plaque, which is the only change they are making to the mall.

The plaque has the Arévalos names etched into the stone along with inspiring words honoring their contributions. The plaque will be unveiled at the event.

The entire cost of the event and plaque is $5,800, according to Westfall.

According to the press release the event will begin at 3 p.m., which Westfalls said should last about 30 minutes.

“I think Dr. Arévalo and Nadine left a very positive mark on this campus,” said Westfall. “When you look at the times that Dr. Arévalo, with his leadership, helped navigate us through the great recession it was a very difficult time and we actually, as a university and as an institution, came through it fiscally strong as you can be through dire economic times.”