Message from EMU President James M. Smith
Greetings from Eastern Michigan University!
It has been one year since I joined Eastern as its 23rd president. When my wife, Connie, and I moved to Ypsilanti last summer, we discovered a charming and welcoming community with passionate residents, dedicated non-profits, vibrant arts scene, and innovative small businesses. I was also immediately impressed with how much time and energy Eastern students, faculty and staff dedicate to the community. Whether running after-school programs in the local schools, volunteering with non-profit agencies, or hosting educational events on campus, Eastern is committed to supporting our community.
I also discovered that many people outside our campus are not aware of the many partnerships between Eastern and our community. This is partially our fault—and one of my first goals as president is to address it.
To engage more with the community, we have developed two new outreach initiatives.
First, I am pleased to launch this online newsletter to community leaders. Several times each year, we will update you about Eastern’s engagement with the community and our goals for future engagement going forward.
Second, we will soon launch a new community newsletter, which we will mail to households in the 48197 and 48198 ZIP codes. The newsletter will feature stories about Eastern’s community engagement activities to inform you about our work with you in this region.
Community engagement is part of Eastern’s history, it is part of our mission and it is part of our future. We look forward to working with you to make our community an even better place to live, go to school, run a business or raise a family. We welcome your feedback about these and other community initiatives in the coming months.
Sincerely,
Jim Smith, President