LA GRANDE Ore.
An education veteran is coming out of retirement to help
guide troubled Eastern Oregon
University out of its mire.
Dixie Lund accepted the position as Eastern
Oregon’s interim president Monday, the second time she has served
in that position since 2003. She replaces Khosrow Fatemi, who will resign at
the end of the month after three years as president.
She will lead Eastern during one of the most challenging
junctures in its history. The university faces a bleak financial situation
brought on in part by declining enrollment. Eastern Oregon
is planning $3 million in permanent cuts over the next three years, $800,000
this year alone.
George Pernsteiner, chancellor of the Oregon University
System, asked Lund to come out of
retirement and take the position.
“I was truly enjoying being retired,” she told The
Observer newspaper.
But Lund said
she was compelled to accept the offer because of her deep feelings for Eastern.
