Eastern Washington University President Retiring

The president of Eastern Washington University has announced he will be retiring after eight years of leadership in Cheney.

President Rodolfo Arevalo will retire in July with 42 years of experience in higher education.

He is credited with growing Eastern Washington University, while other colleges were struggling to survive the economic downturn. He advocated with state government leaders to keep tuition low, shepherded the university toward record enrollment and helped negotiate an innovative faculty contract that brought national attention to Cheney.

Arevalo also launched the university's first comprehensive fundraising campaign and was president during good times for the school's football team as well.

And he was the first Latino president at any public four-year college or university in the state of Washington.

The university has not announced plans for hiring his replacement.