VOLUME 15 ISSUE 19 | WESTERN OREGON UNIVERSITY| FRIDAY, APRIL 3, 2015
FINAL FOUR
Final presidential candidates identified By Jack Armstrong News Editor
BERGESON RESIGNS Men’s head basketball coach ends historic season for new coaching experience in Colorado
By Rachel Shelley Freelancer Great Northwest Athletic Conference Coach of the Year Brady Bergeson will be leaving Western after four years as head coach of the men’s basketball program. Bergeson heads to Regis University in Colorado, another NCAA Division II team, as the new men’s head basketball coach. Bergeson led the Wolves to season and program highs this past season, finishing with a record of 69-45 (.605) through his career. He also leaves with the seventh most wins as a coach in school history. Ten All-GNAC players, one GNAC Player of the Year, one GNAC Newcomer of the Year and the first NCAA basketball All-American in Western men’s basketball program history and have played under Bergeson. He also led the 2014-15 season team to Western’s first-ever GNAC regular season title and the first tip to the NCAA Division II National Tournament as part of the West Regional. During the same season, Bergeson broke the 20-win season mark, the first time since the 1996-97 season as well as the program’s first-ever NCAA Division II national ranking. Western ranked as high as No. 15 in the National Association of Basketball Coaches’ Poll. “The national ranking is a great honor. It’s something that is in the history books and our kids and fans can be proud of. Additionally, we are proud that we have been able to give national recognition to our university,” Bergeson said in an interview Feb. 4. Prior to coaching at Western, Bergeson earned his master’s degree in negotiation, conflict resolution and peace-building from Cal State Dominguez Hills in 2007 after earning an undergraduate degree in psychology with honors from Chapman in 2000. At Chapman, Bergeson played point guard where he finished his four years with a 66-34 record and was the Student-Athlete of the Year and team captain during his senior year.
PHOTO BY ZACH GARDNER
Sports
Opinion
Campus Life
Swing into spring
Up in smoke
“Out of Pandora’s Box”
Track indoor nationals
Generation of disillusionment
Club Profile: Anime
Baseball and softball spring break coverage. PAGE 3 Sultessa makes Western history. PAGE 3
The ethical dilemmas if a convenience store clerk. PAGE 4
Millenial questions stereotypes. PAGE 5
Western has entered the final stage of the process to replace retiring university president Mark Weiss. After Weiss announced his retirement, a search committee was created to help select his replacement. As of March 30, Western had announced four finalist candidates to take over the position: Dr. Rex Fuller, Dr. Fernando Delgado, Dr. Margaret Madden and Dr. Christopher Ames. According to current Western president, Mark Weiss, the most important consideration in selecting a new leader is to look for a candidate who “has distinguished themselves as leaders and understand the importance of institutions like Western, and the difference we make in the lives of our graduates.” Weiss said, “I am delighted to say that each of our candidates has shown this potential from their previous work in a university structure.” It is clear from the brief biographies in the most recent press release published by the search committee that all of the candidates have served at similar levels of higher education administration before being considered for Western’s presidency. Fuller served as provost and vice president of academic affairs at Eastern Washington University (EWU) since 2010. Fuller oversaw the development of the EWU College of Health Science and Public Health. Delgado serves as provost and vice chancellor of academic affairs at the University of Wisconsin-River Falls since 2009. Delgado began his career in education administration serving as a dean for both MSU-Mankato and Hamline University. Since 2002, Madden has served as provost and vice president of academic affairs at State University of New York (SUNY) – Postdam. Her focus was in expanding and improving the network of campuses that comprised the widespread SUNY. Ames is currently the vice president for academic affairs at Shepherd University in West Virginia. He supervises seven academic deans in addition to the school’s division II athletics program. The committee tasked with selecting the possible candidates was organized by Judy Vanderburg, director of human resources, and contains a wide range of individuals representing Western, the alumni and the Oregon University System. The committee is chaired by Jim Francesconi who is a member of the Oregon State Board of Higher Education. While the search committee has made their recommendation of the four finalist candidates, OUS has the final decision of who will actually be appointed. According to Western’s website, “the OUS Board will be making the final decision regarding the next president since the first
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Western’s annual drag show goes Greek. PAGE 6
Characters and culture. PAGE 6
Entertainment “Unbreakable” addiction Review of Netflix series. PAGE 7
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