Cynthia Pemberton, Colorado Mesa University’s vice president of academic affairs, has recently been announced as a finalist for the position of president at Lewis-Clark State College (LCSC), a small college in Idaho.

After interviewing last week in Idaho, Pemberton was selected as one of four candidates to move onto the next round of interviews. Next week’s interview will take place in front of the Idaho State Board of Education. 

Pemberton was selected from 10 semi-finalists and 63 total applicants for the position, according to the Lewiston Tribune.

Pemberton is excited about the leadership opportunities the potential position could grant her. 

“While I love CMU, and consider living in the Grand Valley nearly Nirvana in terms of the quality of life it affords, applying for the position of president was and is a leadership opportunity I could not pass up,” Pemberton said in an email. “I believe so completely in the role and mission of higher education, and as such, the potential to contribute and serve in an increased capacity is a strong, even driving motivation.”

While CMU President Foster declined to comment extensively on Pemberton’s potential position at LCSC, he did state that the university would hate to lose Pemberton.

“As we have talented people, they are going to have other opportunities. While we would hate to lose Dr. Pemberton and are hoping she stays, we totally understand why she is pursuing this particular position,” Foster said.

Additional updates on Pemberton’s potential departure from CMU will be covered in upcoming articles by The Criterion.