EIU Media Relations

University Statement on Naming Committee Meeting

The following message is being shared on behalf of Ken Wetstein, Vice President for University Advancement:

In accordance with Monday’s meeting announcement, EIU’s Naming Committee met virtually at 8:30 a.m. Wednesday, April 28th.

Several members of the committee, while discussing a motion to recommend the renaming of Douglas Hall, expressed an interest in casting their votes on that motion via ballot vote. The committee members discussed this option and concluded that they would cast their votes on the motion via ballot vote.

To facilitate that process, the Chair of the committee directed members of the committee to communicate their votes to me (the convener of the committee, a non-voting role) via the chat function of the Zoom virtual meeting platform. After receiving the chat communications from each of the voting members, I acknowledged the outcome of the vote (six to zero in favor of recommending the renaming Douglas Hall) by voice to the committee members. That vote – through Zoom’s chat function – was viewable only to myself. Upon advice of University Counsel, we understand that this vote through the chat function was improper, as it was not available to the public.

We believe posting the contents of the vote chat with the meeting’s recording is the best remedy.

To correct this procedural oversight, this morning’s meeting recording is available at https://www.eiu.edu/naming/recordings.php. Additionally, a link to the pdf document of the votes that occurred in the Zoom chat function is available here.

I apologize for this procedural oversight in the virtual environment. Please know I remain personally committed to ensuring that the activity of EIU’s Naming Committee remains as transparent as possible in our current, nontraditional virtual meeting environment.

Thank you for your patience and understanding as we worked to resolve this issue.

Ken Wetstein
Vice President for University Advancement