© 2024 WEMU
Serving Ypsilanti, Ann Arbor and Washtenaw County, MI
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

Eastern Michigan University's New President Updates Local Community After Six Months On The Job

Lisa Barry

With six months under his belt as the new president of Eastern Michigan University, Dr. James Smith gave an update on where the University stands Monday at an Ann Arbor/Ypsilanti regional chamber luncheon.

Dr. Smith talked about the newest degrees available at Eastern, the fact that 87% of Eastern's students are from Michigan, and how many students are first-generation college students in their families.

He also talked about Eastern's emphasis on "real world" experience.

"We want to help students get out and be able to get into the world of work," Smith said.

Credit Lisa Barry

Kimberly Hurns is the dean of business and technology at WashtenawCommunity College.  She sees a positive impact from EMU on the local community.

"It was really good to see fresh leadership, fresh ideas, and all those ideas were about student success and jobs, and I think those things are things that we know make a big difference in today's economy," Hurns said.

President Smith mentioned that Eastern is close to announcing who will be part of the school's new "diversity inclusive committee."

It will be comprised of about 13 people, including full-time professors and people who work in industry's related to the University to deal with recent incidents of racial graffiti on campus.

Like 89.1 WEMU on Facebook and follow us on Twitter

— Lisa Barry is the host of All Things Considered on WEMU. You can contact Lisa at 734.487.3363, on Twitter @LisaWEMU, or email her at lbarryma@emich.edu

Lisa Barry was a reporter, and host of All Things Considered on 89.1 WEMU.
Related Content