2 WELCOME TO A NEW academic year. Students and faculty are returning to campus after a summer hiatus. The campus is coming back to life. And the University has a new president, Dr. Ann Cudd, who comes to us from the University of Pittsburgh. She is the 11th president of PSU and will join us in a RAPS program in a couple of months so that you can meet her. In the meantime our September program will feature a docent-led tour of the current exhibit at the Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art. If you have yet to visit this museum on the PSU campus, do yourself a favor and join us. It is a beautiful museum with both a permanent collection and featured modern works of art. As I begin my third (and final) term as co-president, RAPS SHEET n SEPTEMBER 2023 CO-PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE As 2023-2024 begins, RAPS is hitting on all cylinders I can honestly say how proud I am of our organization. We’ve formed a strong allegiance with the PSU Foundation, are financially solvent, have a good base for our annual scholarship, are working hard toward a new history preservation project in Smith Union, and are continuing to produce strong programming which caters to you, our valued audience. As I write this column our past office manager, Eben Yemoh, is now working in the medical education section of Legacy Health. Our search for Eben’s successor is in the final stages, and we hope to have that process completed soon. In the meantime our co-president, Janine Allen, is doing double duty. One of the reasons I have chosen to serve as co-president again is because of Janine. To work with her for another year will be a joy. We are indeed fortunate to have her at our helm. —Bruce Stern As I begin my third (and final) term as co-president, I can honestly say how proud I am of our organization. AFTER TWO YEARS as the RAPS office manager, Eben Yemoh is shoving off to begin his professional career. July 31 was his first day on the job with Legacy Health. During his time with RAPS he completed a Master of Public Administration/Health Administration, which led him to Legacy and a position as coordinator of graduate medical education. A native of Accra, Ghana, Yemoh came to the United States in 2014 and later graduated from the University of Oregon with a bachelor’s degree in general science and minors in chemistry and anthropology. Yemoh said he has always wanted to work in health care, and with Legacy he’ll be graduate medical education coordinator. Legacy will be a far different working environment than office manager for RAPS, a job he began in summer 2021, just as there were hints that the pandemic was on the wane. But it was hardly gone, and the RAPS office could leave a guy feeling isolated. “It was sometimes lonely not having co-workers in the office, not having anybody to bounce ideas off of,” Yemoh said, adding that being motivated and a self-starter are helpful attributes for a RAPS office manager. Maybe those traits are why he consistently won plaudits from members of the RAPS Board for his initiative and responsiveness. Yemoh and his wife, Aliana, enjoy the outdoors and hope to remain in Oregon. With their busy schedules, long interludes in the wilds weren’t in the cards, but they did get away this year to the San Juans, visiting Shaw, Lopez, and Orcas islands. “I do like the outdoors,” he said, “and if you like the outdoors, this is a good part of the country to live in.” After two years and a master’s, Eben Yemoh bids RAPS farewell
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