EWU Senate Faculty approves in favor of the vote of no confidence

By Randle Kinswa, Co-Managing Editor

June 22, 2020

Earlier today the EWU Senate Faculty voted in favor of the vote of no confidence in President Mary Cullinan. The vote tally was 35-2, with four abstentions, and one absence. President Cullinan was upset with, yet respected the Senate Faculty's decision. She cited that the Senate Faculty had a right...

EWU President Faces Vote of no Confidence

By Randle Kinswa, Co-managing Editor

June 21, 2020

The EWU faculty organization plans on holding a vote of no confidence on President Mary Cullinan at Monday's Faculty Senate meeting. In a memo sent out by members of the Faculty Senate leadership, up to 60% of full-time faculty rated Cullinan's performance in six of the seven areas as "lacking". The...

Jamie Neely, head of EWU journalism department and faculty adviser to The Easterner, set to retire

June 8, 2020

Editor’s Note: From co-managing editors Drew Lawson and Malati Powell After over 25 years as a professional journalist and 12 years as a full-time professor at EWU, The Easterner’s faculty adviser, Jamie Neely, is retiring.  Neely, the head of the journalism department at EWU, was The Easterner’s faculty advis...

EWU to eliminate Office of Diversity and Inclusion, consolidate all ethnic departments

By Karlee Van De Venter, Reporter

June 8, 2020

Along with university-wide budget cuts, EWU’s Board of Trustees decided to eliminate the Office of Diversity and Inclusion and consolidate all ethnic departments. This was announced to all students and employees in an email from EWU president Mary Cullinan on March 6.  The email outlined EWU’s plans for this ch...

Cheney businesses reopen during Phase 2

By Aaron Hutchinson, Reporter

June 8, 2020

  Several Cheney-area businesses are back open during Phase 2 of Washington’s four-phase reopening plan.   Phase 2 allows restaurants, hair/nail salons and retail stores to reopen with some restrictions. Restrictions include masks and heighten sanitary measures, as well as capacity limi...

West Plains Roasters continues to serve community

By Emily Driskel, Reporter

June 8, 2020

Before the pandemic caused the community to practice social distancing, West Plains Roasters in Cheney was able to seat many people in their lobby. Walking inside, people are seen chatting with friends while sipping their coffee.  The past couple months have brought many changes for small businesses due ...

EWU leadership presents the financial impacts of COVID-19 to Board of Trustees

By Aaron Hutchinson, Reporter

June 6, 2020

EWU leadership is proposing sweeping changes to university finances and structure in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, according to presentations given to the Board of Trustees on May 29. Vice president for business and finance Mary Voves presented a revamped budget that included cuts or freezes t...

EWU choir sings to inspire, inform

By Karlee Van De Venter, Reporter

June 1, 2020

When EWU announced that spring quarter would be fully online, many departments were left questioning how they could make their student learning objectives work. The choir program was one of these departments, and professor Kristina Ploeger-Hekmatpanah had only two weeks to design an all-new approach t...

EWU waives SAT and ACT admissions requirement

By Karlee Van De Venter, Reporter

May 27, 2020

  On May 18, EWU announced its switch to testing-optional admissions. This means incoming students will not be required to submit SAT or ACT scores with their application. Previously, it was required of all students in order to be considered. Then, President Mary Cullinan announced a temporary ...

Visitor Center shifts to virtual tours

By Aaron Hutchinson, Reporter

May 25, 2020

  In order to stay connected to incoming and prospective students during COVID-19, the EWU Visitor Center has shifted to virtual tours.  With students unable to make campus visits before EWU closed to the public in March, and Admitted Student Day canceled, the Visitor Center was forced to ma...

Some Greek life members feel as if they were unfairly scrutinized during 2020 ASEWU elections

By Randle Kinswa, News Editor

May 19, 2020

Over the course of the 2020 ASEWU election season,many candidates faced technological and communication problems.  Some of the Greek-related candidates faced other problems.  Victoria Mahle, chapter president of Alpha Omicron Pi, ran a winning campaign for the position of ASEWU vice president...

Emergency grants explained

By Aaron Hutchinson, Reporter

May 18, 2020

Eligible EWU students will receive emergency grants from the financial aid office as part of the Higher Education Emergency Relief Fund (HEERF). HEERF, which provides money to higher education institutions experiencing extreme financial distress in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, is part of th...