An ancient ceremony marks the installation of Shari McMahan as Eastern’s 27th president.
By Charles E. Reineke
During an investiture ceremony replete with academic pomp and regalia, EWU formally recognized Dr. Shari McMahan as its new leader.
McMahan was selected by EWU’s Board of Trustees to serve as the university’s principal administrative officer in February 2022. She began her service four months later. Prior to coming to EWU, McMahan served as provost and vice president for academic affairs at California State University, San Bernardino.
Presidential investiture is a tradition that Eastern shares with a number of universities across the nation. Its origins date back to the early Middle Ages, when the Latin term investituram was adapted to describe a ceremony in which a new leader was formally “clothed” in the symbolic vestments of governance.
Eastern’s Oct. 23 event carried echoes of those ancient traditions. It began at the historic One-Room Schoolhouse, where the building’s antique bell tolled over an assembly of faculty luminaries — each gowned in full academic regalia — who then marched in procession to Showalter Hall.
“What an honor it is to stand before you today,” McMahan said as the applause died down. “And it is my honor to serve as the 27th president of Eastern Washington University.”
At the Showalter Auditorium, the ceremony began with a solemn acknowledgement from Margo Hill, an associate professor of urban and regional planning, that Eastern resides “on the unceded lands of the Spokane People.”
“As we work together making decisions that will benefit all — all of our students, our faculty, our staff, our Eagle community — may we also do so with one heart, one mind and one spirit,” said Hill, a member of the Spokane Tribe and a nationally prominent advocate for Native women. “We are grateful to be on the shared lands of the Spokane people. And we ask for the support of their ancestors and all their relations.”
Washington Gov. Jay Inslee joined the ceremony via a video-taped congratulatory message, using the occasion to remind audience members that he has an Eag in the family.
EWU, the governor said, “has brightened minds and built leaders since 1882. More than 116,000 Eagle alumni live all over the world, with more than 87,000 still doing great work in our state. I take this as evidence of the lasting connections and sense of community that has been built at Eastern.”
Addressing President McMahan directly, Inslee smiled and reminded her that “you are in a really important role, doctor, and I’m confident that you and every Eagle will soar even higher in the years to come.”
A series of short speeches from EWU luminaries followed, before Jay Manning, chair of the EWU Board of Trustees, placed a gold medallion around McMahan’s neck and administered the oath of office. The assembled crowd of guests and visitors cheered.
“What an honor it is to stand before you today,” McMahan said as the applause died down. “And it is my honor to serve as the 27th president of Eastern Washington University.”
In subsequent remarks, McMahan described her first days on the job as a whirlwind of conversations and meetings — including numerous heads-up about the coming winter. “When I started here a year and a half ago,” she recalled, “I had just moved from California. When I arrived, many people warned me about the winters, preaching caution when driving on icy roads and encouraging me to stock up on gloves, scarves and warm coats. ‘And don’t forget to layer!’”
Through it all, she added, one thing stood out: “I was immediately embraced as part of the Eastern Eagle family. And what an amazing family it is — supportive, welcoming, gracious and, above all, proud of the institution that has stood strong for over 140 years.”
McMahan, a first-generation college graduate, next recalled how her parents had enthusiastically supported her academic ambitions, urging her to pursue a university degree. Their confidence in her, she said, set her on the path that led to Eastern’s top job. “The decision to attend college required a great amount of courage, and has provided more opportunities than I could ever have imagined,” she said.
Through it all, she added, one thing stood out: “I was immediately embraced as part of the Eastern Eagle family. And what an amazing family it is — supportive, welcoming, gracious and, above all, proud of the institution that has stood strong for over 140 years.”
McMahan went on to thank the many family members, friends, and academic mentors and colleagues whose support made possible her success as a faculty instructor, researcher and administrator. She cited in particular an undergraduate-research experience at the University of California, Irvine, where her work with a faculty investigator involved using human hair samples to track potentially harmful lead exposures.
The project’s findings, she recalled, indicated that disadvantaged communities were at greatest risk from lead poisoning, a result that helped to open her eyes to the potentially transformative power of a life in academe.
“It was because of that research and personal growth that today, as an administrator in higher education, my passion is working with first-generation and underserved students, to propel them forward and create opportunities for their transformation,” McMahan said. “For these humble, kind and hardworking students, it not only changes their lives but also positively impacts their families and the communities we serve.”
After praising the many alumni, faculty and community donors whose financial support, she said, is crucial to helping EWU fulfill its mission, McMahan next referenced the ongoing “strategic planning process” that will help leverage such support going forward.
That process, she said, “will set goals, strategies and investments in order to close equity gaps in graduation rates, increase our regional impact, and ensure all students — whether they’re first-generation or part of a family tradition — find success and a sense of belonging as Eagles.”
The strategic resource allocation process, initiated in the months after McMahan’s accession to the president’s office, will likely come to be regarded as an important milestone in her tenure — as well as in the future of the institution as a whole.
In its initial phase, the process involved asking each of EWU’s academic programs and services to complete an evaluation of how their current expenditures align “to meet regional workforce needs, and… ensure the student experience is meaningful and campus resources are efficient and effective.”
That phase was completed earlier this fall. The data gathered were then reviewed by two task forces comprised of EWU faculty and staff. On Dec. 6, task force members submitted a report outlining recommendations to the Board of Trustees, one that placed EWU programs and services into one of five funding-decision categories — “invest, maintain, streamline, transform and disinvest.”
McMahan and the co-leaders of the SRA process, EWU Provost Jonathan Anderson and Mary Voves, vice president for business and finance, emphasized that the reports are purely recommendations, and that McMahan and her executive leadership team will make final decisions only after a feedback period involving listening, careful review of impacts, and communications with the campus community.
The entire process will take time— perhaps as long as several years, they said.
In the end, McMahan said, decisions related to resource allocations, like all of her leadership choices at Eastern’s helm, will be intensively focused on student success, and that her work with, and for, Eagle students will serve as the lynch pin of her legacy as EWU’s president. “Students need EWU to be its best every day — and we need to ensure that our next strategic plan, and our next 140 years, continues to deliver on our promises,” she said.
“In closing,” McMahan added, “I can’t express enough my gratitude and honor to serve as president of Eastern Washington University. We have a bright future, a clear path and a community of support that will continue to propel us forward.”