Alum troubled by WOUâs leadership While itâs been frustrating to read, I appreciate The Itemizer-Observerâs coverage of Western Oregon Universityâs struggles of late. As an alum, Iâm greatly disturbed by the lack of leadership in Monmouth. Yes, the pandemic forced program and staffing cuts. The problems, however, were pre-pandemic. An OPB article reported that from 2011 to today, WOU has dropped 25% in enrollment. This is inexcusable. In that same period of time, the state of Oregon grew from 3.87 million people to 4.28 million, nearly a 400,000 increase â yet WO...