advertisement

Only COD's name is diminished, not its quality

It was a night he would not forget.

Bill Hillmann had been adrift, ambivalent about pursuing a career in physics, when he signed up for a course in short fiction at College of DuPage.

It was an unconventional class, with guest lecturers and hands-on activities, which got him reading Hemingway late into the night.

He had never read a novel before, and Hemingway's journeys to exotic destinations in pursuit of answers to life's biggest questions stoked Hillmann's imagination, leading to his new career destination.

First, he took off for Pamplona, Spain, where he was gored while running with the bulls, painfully reliving the episode from The Sun Also Rises.

Second, with feedback and encouragement from his instructor, he began writing his own fiction, culminating in The Old Neighborhood, his debut novel named Best New Book of 2014 by the Chicago SunTimes.

Now Hillmann's latest book, a memoir entitled Mozos: A Decade Running with the Bulls of Spain, has already been praised by CNN, NPR, and The Washington Post.

His literary achievements, and maybe more importantly, finding what he was looking for, would never have happened without College of DuPage, which changed his life, he told me recently in an email.

And I cite Bill Hillmann's experience as a reminder of COD's value to the community, in spite of its recent travails.

For it's important to former and current faculty members, and to student alumni, that our school's troubles be perceived as separate from its rich academic, vocational and artistic legacy, which has nurtured many success stories, from author Bill Hillmann and comedian John Belushi, to Hollywood actress Marisol Nichols.

I taught for 15 years at COD before retiring in 2005. And like Hillmann, I found it fertile ground for indulging in creativity and for daring to dream.

The administration promoted teachers doing research, writing, experimenting with innovative methods and creating new courses.

But in 2009, the board hired Robert Breuder as president, aware of his reputation as a union buster at Harper College in Palatine, where he frequently battled with Harper's faculty association, who gave him an official vote of no confidence in 2002.

Under Breuder, COD's focus changed from learning and creativity to empire building and revenue raising.

Breuder went on a building binge, erecting Waterleaf, a gourmet French restaurant; a for-profit campus hotel (Inn at Water's Edge) and a Homeland Security Education Center, complete with a replica of a small town, including a shop with Breuder's name on the storefront window. During that time, he cut teachers' summer school pay, health benefits, and faculty development programs.

Alarms were subsequently raised by the press about nearly $200,000 Breuder charged to taxpayers for gourmet meals and wine at Waterleaf, and by the school's faculty who handed Breuder the second vote of no confidence in his career.

This year, a $762,000 secret board buyout of Breuder's contract, along with allegations of financial improprieties involving the administration and the College Foundation have all been uncovered and chronicled in these pages.

The scandal could have possibly been avoided, had there been a faculty representative on the board of trustees. After all, at both Harper and College of DuPage, it was the faculty that had raised red flags early on.

While teachers in a school district cannot currently serve on a school board because of potential conflict of interest, this law can and ought to be changed; or a teacher might serve and then recuse himself during teacher contract negotiations.

Why not have a working professor to participate in, or, at least, audit board meetings, who can make recommendations from the inside?

Remember that though COD has been damaged, it remains the same school with most of the same faculty that changed the life of Bill Hillmann and thousands of other students.

Its continued contributions to our state are way too important to permit it to ever again be sabotaged.

David McGrath is Emeritus English Professor, College of DuPage, and author of The Territory.

Article Comments
Guidelines: Keep it civil and on topic; no profanity, vulgarity, slurs or personal attacks. People who harass others or joke about tragedies will be blocked. If a comment violates these standards or our terms of service, click the "flag" link in the lower-right corner of the comment box. To find our more, read our FAQ.