Ted Gregory

Just ask Robert Millis, director of Lowell Observatory in Flagstaff, Arizona, who recently named an asteroid for Emeritus Professor Scott Smith. Smith, Millis says, helped him imagine a future he hadn't known was possible.

Or ask Cassie Lively, Mediation Services Director for the Center for Conflict Resolution in Chicago, who says she left Eastern a changed person, with goals to match, because of the influence of Professor Craig Eckert.

Or ask Ted Gregory, an EIU alumnus who recently shared the Pulitzer Prize for Investigative Reporting with five of his Chicago Tribune colleagues.

Eastern, he says, "gave a kid like me—a kid who woke up a little late, who stumbled around but found his way—an opportunity."

From the cities, the suburbs, and, most often, the small towns of America, students come to Eastern seeking opportunities of their own. They choose Eastern because, like you, they know that an excellent education can be within their reach.