4th Annual EIU Annuitants Fall Social

Charleston Country Club
4 to 6 p.m. on Thursday, September 3, 2026 
RSVP by August 24 to Gloria Leitschuh at gleitschuh@eiu.edu or text (217) 549-3206

The Coles County Historical Society invites EIU students, staff, faculty and interested members of the general public to attend the Historical Marker Unveiling in honor of Major Charles B. Hall, Tuskegee Airman and EIU Alum. The unveiling will take place at 4 p.m. Tuesday, August 25 at the corner of Fourth Street and Garfield Avenue on EIU's campus, just north of Coleman Hall.

Charles B. Hall became the first African-American student-athlete at Eastern Illinois when he enrolled in the fall of 1938. He lettered in football and track and helped the Panthers football team to a combined 9-6-1 record in the 1938 and 1939 seasons. On his way to a great career as a halfback for the Panthers, he decided to put school and athletics on hold for a greater cause. He left EIU in the spring of 1941 to join the United States Army Air Corps. Hall was sent to Tuskegee Army Air Field in 1942 where he received his pilot’s wings on July 3. Hall joined the 99th Pursuit Squadron and was sent to North Africa on April 15, 1943. Almost three months later on July 2, 1943 Hall made history by becoming the first African-American fighter pilot to shoot down a German plane during World War II. This distinction brought visits by several generals including the commander of U.S. forces in Europe and future president Dwight D. Eisenhower.
 
Despite his sudden fame, Hall did not forget the students of Eastern Illinois or the citizens of Charleston.  He wrote a statement in a letter dated December 21, 1943, available in this feature at EIUPanthers.com. An excerpt:

“Up in the blue it doesn’t make any difference where you come from, what color you are, etc.
I can appreciate the land, sea, engineers, cooks, nurses, Red Cross, tanks,
defense workers, people buying bonds and a thousand and one other things.
I look at them and say this is worth fighting for.”

Hall eventually flew nearly 200 missions over Africa, Italy and other parts of Europe and shot down three enemy planes before returning home.
 
Hall received numerous awards and honors over his lifetime and since his death in 1971. Hall was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross (the first African-American to earn the honor), the Air Medal with three oak leaf clusters, a portrait in the Military Hall of Fame, a memorial statue in his home town of Brazil, Indiana and the Oklahoma City Chapter of the Tuskegee Airman Inc. is named after him.

Mental Health First Aid is a skills-based training course that teaches participants how to identify, understand, and respond to mental health and substance-use issues. Just as CPR helps you assist an individual having a heart attack, Mental Health First Aid helps you assist someone experiencing a mental health or substance use-related crisis. In the Mental Health First Aid course, you learn risk factors and warning signs for mental health and addiction concerns, strategies for how to help someone in both crisis and non-crisis situations, and where to turn for help. Topics covered include depression, anxiety, trauma, and substance use.

Mental Health First Aid (MHFA) is an evidence-based training created by the National Council for Mental Wellbeing designed to provide participants with the skills to identify, destigmatize, understand, and respond to signs of mental illnesses and substance use disorder, enabling those trained to offer immediate, concrete support.

You must attend the full training to receive certification. 

If interested, individuals must register using this link. For any questions, please reach out to HERC staff at (217) 581-7786 or email herc@eiu.edu.

There is a new member benefit to support your health and wellbeing.

Be Well Total Wellbeing powered by TELUS Health is a fun and interactive platform designed to help you build and maintain a healthy lifestyle, wherever you may be on your wellbeing journey. It allows you to:

• Compete with your colleagues in friendly challenges
• Set personal goals and track your activity to help build and keep healthy habits
• Connect with colleagues by sharing tips, ideas, and photos in interest-based communities
• Learn how to improve your physical, mental, and dietary health through articles and videos
• Earn rewards for tracking all kinds of healthy activities, including preventative screenings.

To learn more about the program, check out the video using the link below.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zDlstziQ_tk

As mandated by the Safe Drinking Water Act of 1996, EIU is required to publicly post Consumer Confidence Reports detailing the quality of drinking water available on campus during the previous calendar year, as well as any contaminant and/or non-contaminant violations. For compliance, EIU issues two reports annually -- the EIU Consumer Confidence Report and the City of Charleston Consumer Report. Both reports are available to view and/or print using the links below for the 2025 calendar year reporting period (January 1 through December 31, 2025).

• 2026 EIU Water Consumer Confidence Report (IL0295500)
• 2026 City of Charleston Water Consumer Confidence Report (IL0290100)

These reports are also available to view and/or print at www.eiu.edu/fpm/fpmdocs.php.

Paper copies of these reports will not be distributed via mail. To obtain a printed copy, or for questions or concerns, please contact Aaron Kemper, EIU Plumber Foreman, at (217) 581-7212.

An email containing the above links also will be sent to all students and employees, including all building coordinators, to ensure these reports are available to the occupants/employees of any building connected to the public water system. Students and employees also can review Important Information About Your Drinking Water here.

This news item will remain active until August 30, 2026. The links to the 2026 Consumer Confidence reports will remain on appropriate areas of the EIU website until the 2027 reports replace them next year.

As a reminder, class packets for the Fall semester will once again be printed and finished through the Panther Print & Copy Center, located on the second floor of the University Union, Room 2055. As in previous years, completed packets will also be sold through the PPCC, helping to keep costs as low as possible for students.

To ensure timely production, we ask that all Fall class packets be submitted no later than August 7, 2026. We appreciate those who have already responded and thank you for your prompt attention.

Please bring or email your syllabus, supplemental materials, readings, and/or class packets to the Panther Print & Copy Center. We will print and finish your materials according to your specifications and make them available for students to purchase in a timely and convenient manner.

Our goal is to provide quick, courteous, and accurate service to faculty, staff, and students while minimizing hassle for instructors and keeping costs affordable for students.

Thank you for the opportunity to serve you and your students. We truly appreciate your continued trust in us.

If you have any questions or need assistance, please do not hesitate to contact me by email, bjflynn@eiu.edu or by phone at 217-581-5334.

Beginning March 16, 2026, parking lots between the Student Services Building, the Old Steam Plant, and south of Blair Hall will be closed as part of a comprehensive upgrade to EIU's campus infrastructure. NOTE: ADA parking spaces immediately south of Blair Hall will remain open, and an ADA‑compliant ramp will be installed to accommodate east–west pedestrian traffic at the northwest corner of the Student Services Building.

Please review a map of the parking lot availability HERE, noting the additional details below.*

Per IGP#19, campus-wide summer office hours will be in effect from Monday, May 11, 2026, through Friday August 14, 2026. When summer office hours are in effect, all offices must be open Monday through Thursday between 8:00 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. and on Friday from 8:00 a.m. until 12:00 p.m. All administrative offices (and others where possible) will remain open during the lunch hour, Monday through Thursday.

Each office is to change voice mail, signs, and other public communication to reflect its summer hours. Regular business hours will resume on Monday August 17, 2026. Please contact the Human Resources office with any questions.

Employees needing to complete a flex schedule: Please visit Flex Schedules to submit a request for supervisor approval. 

Holiday Weeks

• Memorial Day: Monday, May 25, 2026
  • Employees will record Holiday 7.5 hours and then work 30 hours between Tuesday – Friday. If you still want to leave at noon on Friday May 29, 2026, you may use accrued leave time off or work the additional 3.5 hours between Tuesday and Thursday (this would not be overtime, it would be considered flex time).
• Juneteenth/National Freedom Day
  • The week of June 15, 2026, employees will work (4) 7.5 hour days Monday – Thursday and record Holiday 7.5 hours for Friday June 19, 2026.
• Independence Day
  • The week of June 29, 2026, employees will work (4) 7.5 hour days Monday – Thursday and record Holiday 7.5 hours for Friday July 3, 2026.