{"id":663,"date":"2021-06-16T21:27:28","date_gmt":"2021-06-16T21:27:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/test-www.ewu.edu\/magazine\/?post_type=stories&p=663"},"modified":"2021-06-16T22:59:26","modified_gmt":"2021-06-16T22:59:26","slug":"man-of-the-moment","status":"publish","type":"stories","link":"https:\/\/test-www.ewu.edu\/magazine\/news\/man-of-the-moment\/","title":{"rendered":"Man of the Moment"},"content":{"rendered":"
David May, Eastern’s Interin President, leans into challenging times.<\/h5>\n
<\/p>\n
By Dave Meany<\/p>\n
It\u2019s March 10, 2021. David May is sitting in the president\u2019s office, his office, on the second floor of Showalter Hall. It\u2019s been exactly 365 days since then-Provost May made what would be one of the most consequential recommendations of his professional life. We must take \u201cimmediate action\u201d against this frighteningly contagious new virus, he told fellow administrators: Move finals up, extend spring break and start planning like crazy for an uncertain future.<\/p>\n
As he recalls the moment, May holds up that week\u2019s issue of The Easterner, EWU\u2019s student newspaper. Its cover is dominated by a giant rendering of the coronavirus \u201cspike ball.\u201d Inside, the copy reflects the bewilderment and anxiety of a student body that had yet to fully absorb the extent of the crisis.<\/p>\n
Across the nation, higher education leaders were themselves struggling. Just how serious is this thing? Can we conduct classes safely? If not, then what? For David May, the choice was clear: Student safety first. We act now, and then figure out the rest. His boss, President Mary Cullinan, agreed.<\/p>\n
\u201cBoy, did we get beat up,\u201d May says. \u201cBut it was the right thing to do.\u201d<\/p>\n
May\u2019s decision last spring was just the first of many improbable challenges he \u2014 and faculty and administrators across the university \u2014 would be forced to confront over a year like no other. Among the more difficult of these hurdles involved implementing an early, and at the time controversial, decision to move nearly all instruction, and most other operations, to the virtual realm.<\/p>\nDavid May at his desk in Showalter Hall.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
There were also tough calls involving twists and turns in campus governance, as circumstances unrelated to the pandemic led to Cullinan\u2019s departure from the university\u2019s leadership team. In this, too, May was ready to step up. On August 4 he was selected by Eastern\u2019s Board of Trustees to serve as EWU\u2019s interim president for a period of no less than two years.<\/p>\n
\u201cDavid May\u2019s vision and leadership during this historical stretch gives the board the utmost confidence he will keep the university on the path to success,\u201d Vicki Wilson, the board\u2019s chair, said at the time. \nFor his part, May says he was \u201ceager and excited\u201d to lead, though he admits now it was all something of a whirlwind. Especially for someone who, until recently, had never really imagined himself as an administrator, much less a university president.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
For an \u2018Introverted\u2019 Scholar, a Rapid Rise<\/em><\/h5>\n
\u201cI was really happy in faculty,\u201d May says. As a political scientist who relishes teaching subjects such as philosophy of law and the finer points of Constitutional interpretation, May had been perfectly contented as a professor for most of his 20-year career at Eastern. A self-described introvert \u2014 \u201cI\u2019m very introverted on any scale that exists in the world\u201d \u2014 he taught his classes, mentored his students and counted himself fortunate to see how he was making a difference in their lives.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe privilege of being in the classroom is that you see that transformation. It\u2019s so much fun when you\u2019re in that moment and the students are fully engaged. It\u2019s just magical to watch.\u201d \nBut as we\u2019ve all learned over the last year, even the most stable-seeming situations can change quickly. For May, change meant recognizing that what was best for Eastern and its students was his acceptance of a series of administrative posts, each with more responsibility, as Eastern reeled from turnover in top positions. In a whirlwind 11-month stretch starting in March 2020, May served as vice provost for academic affairs, interim provost and then provost \u2014 this before being named interim president. When the Board of Trustees asked if he would step up to the president\u2019s position, May says he was honored but somewhat ambivalent.<\/p>\n
\u201cI had never seen myself as a provost: not that I didn\u2019t think myself capable of doing it, but it wasn\u2019t my career objective,\u201d May says. \u201cSo when Dr. Cullinan resigned and the board asked me to serve as the interim president, there were a lot of conversations with my wife and family. It was obviously going to be a big change, not just for me but for my wife especially, her being part of the public life of the university.\u201d<\/p>\n
May and his wife, Monica, a primary care physician, have been married for 26 years. Their daughter, Emily, is an undergraduate at Western Washington University in Bellingham. (\u201cCurrently going to Western in my dining room,\u201d May joked to the InsideEWU digital newsletter earlier this year.)<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is something that I feel very proud and privileged to be able to do, but I\u2019m doing it because \u2014 as I have for the past 22 years \u2014 I want to be of service to the university and, more particularly, to its students,\u201d May says.<\/p>\n
<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
<\/p>\n
After a lot of soul searching and discussion, May says, he and his family got to \u201cyes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIt wasn\u2019t something that I was aiming for in my life,\u201d May says of becoming Eastern\u2019s interim president. \u201cIt is something that I feel very proud and privileged to be able to do, but I\u2019m doing it because \u2014 as I have for the past 22 years \u2014 I want to be of service to the university and, more particularly, to its students.\u201d<\/p>\n
Once situated in his new Showalter digs, Eastern\u2019s new leader quickly came to realize the full scale and scope of what he had taken on: enough challenges and potential land mines to make even the most seasoned administrator want to head for the hills.<\/p>\n
Funny thing, heading to the hills is exactly what May loves to do. He enjoys year-around outdoor activities like biking, hiking or backcountry skiing. It\u2019s where an introvert can really find his groove. But like many of us, finding the groove didn\u2019t come easy.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
A Winding Road to Academe<\/em><\/h5>\n
\u201cVery late\u201d is how May describes his non-traditional route to college. The son of a college professor, he didn\u2019t follow his father\u2019s footsteps so much as chart a meandering path back to the paternal trade. \n\u201cI grew up farming and ranching and sort of transitioned into construction work. I went to Whitman College because it was in Walla Walla, and my dad was teaching there. But I was not prepared to do it,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n
May recalls going to class exhausted \u2014 or just skipping it altogether \u2014 after a day of pouring concrete. He once woke up to his father sitting at the edge of his fraternity house bed, staring him down, after another professor had told him that his son had not been in class for a week.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think that made it clear that I couldn\u2019t keep doing things exactly the way I had done them,\u201d May says with a smile.<\/p>\n
Doing things differently meant transferring to WSU in Pullman, but he spent more time in Walla Walla courting his future wife, Monica. So it was back to Whitman to get that bachelor\u2019s degree in political science. Marriage followed. So did master\u2019s and doctoral degrees at WSU. After landing a faculty-in-residence position in Eastern\u2019s Department of Government and International Affairs, May\u2019s young family welcomed daughter Emily, and he settled in for a nice, steady career at EWU.<\/p>\n
Ironically, this proud professor almost didn\u2019t make the move into administration. When he first had an inkling he\u2019d be offered a position, his first thought was \u201cno way, it\u2019s not worth it.\u201d But after a conversation with then-Provost Scott Gordon, and some reflection, May decided to give it a go. And his commitment to Eastern made it even easier to say yes when asked to take over the presidency on an interim role.<\/p>\n
\u201cPeople wonder why I did it,\u201d says May. He knew the university couldn\u2019t really pull off a search in the middle of a pandemic, so he thought it would be in the best interest of campus to hold down the fort. \u201cPeople know me, and there\u2019s at least that level of trust. I hope that people can believe the decisions I\u2019m making are not in my best interest, they\u2019re in the best interest of Eastern.\u201d<\/p>\n
Those who worked alongside him agree.<\/p>\n
\u201cI would argue that no one knows Eastern as well as he does and his loyalty is, and always has been, to constantly improving the university,\u201d says longtime colleague, Kevin Pirch, a professor of political science. \u201cPerhaps more important than [his] experience, Dave has the character, intellect, patience, and creativity to lead at every level,\u201d adds Jim Headley, professor and political science department chair. \u201cHis considered even-keel approach to everything is particularly helpful in these trying times.\u201d<\/p>\n
Oh yes, about those trying times.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Calm in a Crisis<\/em><\/h5>\n
Even before the virus shifted everything into crisis mode, higher education nationwide was already facing many challenges, and May began his tenure in the middle of the storm. Declining enrollments; looming state budget cuts; the loss of campus revenue-generating services; a sudden administrative overhaul; layoffs and furloughs; a deep-dive review of academic programs that would lead to resized and reduced offerings; and a contentious review of athletics. And all of this magnified by the devastating economic and mental health issues created by the pandemic, a crisis that pushed much of the campus community into a mostly uncharted virtual world of teaching, learning, meetings and events.<\/p>\n
So what does an interim president do in the middle of six major crises, any one of which might exasperate even the most experienced administrator? Fortunately, those days of farm work and pouring concrete left May with some pertinent life lessons.<\/p>\n
\u201cI go back to where I started with farming and ranching, construction work. You get up in the morning, you put on your pants and you do what you can,\u201d May says. \u201cMaybe you start cutting that huge field of wheat with your combine, and you think it’ll never get done. And then you remember two things: It doesn\u2019t have to get done today, and there are three other combines helping you.\u201d<\/p>\nThe Catalyst building in Spokane’s University District.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
But May isn\u2019t dwelling on all the storms swirling around him. Instead, he knows the university must remain focused on the best way to serve students in the future \u2013 a road Eastern was already traveling down before Covid-19. That future includes \u2018right-sizing\u2019 the university and the Academic Program Review is an essential component. The review, which includes stakeholders from across campus, is designed to evaluate all academic offerings to ensure that they align with student demand and the regional need for graduates, while also addressing budget shortfalls.<\/p>\n
The bottom line, May points out, is that Eastern can\u2019t simply resort to business as usual. \u201cWe will continue to teach art, we will continue to teach music, we will continue to teach philosophy, we will continue to teach political science, but we have to rethink how those things fit into the overall education of the student.\u201d<\/p>\n
May says this rethinking, while challenging, also presents an opportunity to evolve. For instance, the Catalyst in downtown Spokane \u2014 a state-of-the-art, smart, zero energy building \u2014 is now the centerpiece of some of EWU\u2019s high-demand offerings such as computer science, design and electrical engineering. \u201cBecause in that reshaping, resizing, refocusing, we can move toward things like the programs in Catalyst. Catalyst is what the new university looks like,\u201d May says.<\/p>\n
The new university also looks like the Interdisciplinary Science Center (ISC), another key addition to the rejuvenated Cheney campus. Both point to brighter days ahead, he adds. \nBut the university is not out of the woods yet. May believes the remaining barriers to better times, chief among them issues involving enrollment, can only be overcome with redoubled efforts toward greater inclusivity.<\/p>\n
Such efforts, he argues, must center on resolving \u201caccess issues\u201d that stand in the way of educational opportunities for our state\u2019s and region\u2019s lower-income families \u2014 particularly lower-income families of color. This is why, among other initiatives, Eastern is working toward earning a Hispanic Serving Institution designation \u2013 a step that will not only help attract and retain Latino students, but also provide federal resources to help students from all walks of life.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
An Extended To-Do List<\/em><\/h5>\n
But there\u2019s work to do. Despite a slight recent increase in the number of Washington\u2019s high school graduates, the state\u2019s number of potential enrollees out of high school will start to head downward. This means more competition for fewer students, a recruiting challenge that doesn\u2019t appear to be easing.<\/p>\n
At Eastern, enrollment and retention issues have been especially concerning in recent years, a trend exacerbated by the pandemic. This year\u2019s calculation of what administrators call the \u201caverage annualized headcount\u201d \u2014 a measure of turnover in enrollment \u2014 has shown a roughly 14 percent decline.<\/p>\n
Lower enrollment stresses the budget in a normal year. But in 2020, of course, the early impacts of the pandemic rocked state revenues, resulting in an appropriations hit for all of higher education in Washington, including Eastern. State-projected reductions of 15 percent meant Eastern had to cut $10 million from its bottom line over the summer \u2014 part of a projected $22 million in pandemic-related losses that the university was forced to absorb during the previous and current fiscal years.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\nDavid May on the Cheney campus following the imposition of Eastern’s Covid-19-related restrictions.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
<\/p>\n
\u201cA reduction in the budget of a place like Eastern \u2014 because of our student demographic; because of who we serve \u2014 disproportionately impacts minority students, low-income students, first-generation students, exactly the people that, at this moment in time, we need to be lifting up,\u201d May says.<\/p>\n
Fiscal hurdles are not limited to enrollment concerns. Perhaps the most highly fraught issue on May\u2019s plate involves an often-passionate debate concerning the future of Eastern athletics. \nAs Eastern\u2019s athletic programs have struggled with their own budget deficits, some faculty members have wondered aloud whether Eastern\u2019s NCAA Division I status is sustainable in its current form. Others have questioned whether intercollegiate sports should be dropped entirely.<\/p>\n
In late February, a consultant\u2019s report commissioned by the university outlined multiple options for May to consider before offering a recommendation to the Board of Trustees. A period of public comment followed, and May has since been actively seeking input from a broad range of concerned individuals and groups.<\/p>\n
As of press time, he had yet to make public where he stands. He acknowledged, however, that nothing he can recommend is likely to please everyone. \n\u201cAbsolutely, we will come to a decision about athletics,\u201d May says. \u201cAnd it will be a decision that not everyone will be happy with, because there is no answer that will make everyone happy.\u201d<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
The New, and Better, Normal<\/em><\/h5>\n
Acknowledging that this and other decisions will almost certainly disappoint, even anger, many of those whom he would very much like to win over, is, his colleagues say, key to May\u2019s appeal. Even in disagreement, he wants to engage, to convince, to take seriously the alternative point of view.<\/p>\n
This is evident even on Zoom. May is frank but never condescending, authoritative but not intimidating. He often leans slightly into an exchange, a posture that conveys an earnestness rare among wizened administrators.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s a demeanor that seems right for this moment, these challenges. His old political-science peers agree. \u201cI really couldn\u2019t imagine a better person to lead Eastern through this environment, he\u2019s thoughtful, creative and respected,\u201d says Pirch. \u201cHe has a great leadership quality of listening to a variety of different perspectives and then making a decision, but once he makes that decision, everyone knows why he did it and what his justifications were.\u201d<\/p>\n
Just as important, adds Headley, will be May\u2019s sturdy hand at the helm. \u201cWe haven\u2019t seen storms like this before, and Dave\u2019s steady demeanor is helping us navigate the storms and get us through to a better place.\u201d<\/p>\n
May says he can\u2019t wait for Eastern to be in a better place. He wants to walk the grounds and visit with students, say \u201cHi\u201d again to staff and faculty, and make the rounds with enthusiastic alumni. Most of all he wants to feel that electric, youthful vibe that grips the Cheney campus each fall and spring.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
If he is to be Eastern\u2019s long-term leader, in other words, May believes he must earn it. He thus welcomes a national search for a new president.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
<\/p>\n
So does this mean he also wants that interim tag removed?<\/p>\n
\u201cI do not,\u201d May says emphatically. \u201cI do not want to assume the presidency by default.\u201d<\/p>\n
If he is to be Eastern\u2019s long-term leader, in other words, May believes he must earn it. He thus welcomes a national search for a new president. \u201cI believe I have a vision for Eastern; I believe it’s a vision that is shared by a large number of people on this campus, but I don’t know if I’m the best person, and I think that the only way to know that is to go through this process.\u201d<\/p>\n
In late April, just as Eastern magazine was going to press, the EWU Board of Trustees voted to begin that process, announcing the formation of a Presidential Search Advisory Committee to head the hunt. As part of this effort, the board also announced it would hire a consultant to conduct a nationwide search for qualified candidates.<\/p>\n
\u201cOne of the most important responsibilities of the Board of Trustees is to select the university\u2019s president,\u201d says chair Vicki Wilson. \u201cWe encourage the campus community to fully engage in this process.\u201d \nMay says he has not yet decided whether he will declare himself a candidate for the permanent position. When pressed on the question, he adopts a mock-stern scowl, stares into the Zoom camera and says nothing.<\/p>\n
Eventually, he laughs and says, \u201cI’ve learned how to not react by years of serving in the Faculty Senate. But the honest answer to your question is that it\u2019s a conversation that my wife and I are having, along with our daughter.”<\/p>\n
In the meantime, May adds, his singular focus remains on the task at hand \u2014 or, rather, the tangle of tasks at hand. And there is good news on that front. Like the wider world, the university is finally inching closer to a return to pre-pandemic normalcy. More campus buildings will reopen in July, and plans are taking shape for a return to in-person instruction this fall. New federal relief appropriations \u2014 albeit in the form of one-time funding \u2014 are meanwhile helping EWU to extend its support for students facing their own financial challenges, while improving state revenues are providing hope that Olympia will do its part to sustain and expand our state\u2019s investment in public universities like Eastern.<\/p>\n
In short, better times appear to be on the horizon.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ll get there, but the better we can do today, the sooner we\u2019ll get there,\u201d May says. \u201cWe also have to continue to give each other as much grace as possible. We\u2019re all in a pressure cooker together.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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