Former TV reporter Korey ‘knows how to make that happen’

Korey

Credit: DKS Editors

Eileen Korey, candidate for vice president for university relations, said she thinks Kent State has a story to tell and that she can help tell it.

“My first reaction was, I can do this; I can help do this,” she said. “I know how to take an institution that has felt like its story has not been told, an institution that has room to grow in terms of the messaging and make that happen.”

A handful of faculty attended yesterday’s open forum where they asked questions ranging from her passion for crisis communication to her interest in Kent State to her days as a journalist.

She is the first candidate to interview for this position that Kathy Stafford retired from in June. Tom Neumann currently serves as the interim vice president for university relations.

Korey has been the vice president for communications at The MetroHealth System in Cleveland since 2004. She previously worked for eight years as a medical reporter/anchor at WKYC-TV3.

She said she became even more interested in Kent State after she learned her children, who are now in their twenties, learned very little about the school from their guidance counselors at Lakewood High School.

“That really upset me and motivated me to believe in the need for this position to do what it’s called to do,” Korey said.

Bruce E. Mitchell, Jr., first year advising center for undergraduate studies and adjunct English professor, said he thought Korey provided candid yet thoughtful answers.

“I think she did a good job of responding to everything that was asked of her and being very detailed (by) providing examples,” he said.

Pete Goldsmith, vice president for enrollment management and student affairs, said he thinks Korey is “polished and articulate.”

“She’s a very knowledgeable, very impressive candidate,” he said, adding that there are still two more candidates to interview.

Iris Harvey, the next candidate, will meet for an open forum from 3 to 4 p.m. Wednesday in Room 122 of the University Library. A third candidate has not yet been scheduled.

Contact student politics reporter Nicole Stempak at [email protected] .