College of DuPage retirees call for trustees to do their jobs
Former College of DuPage professors and administrators are calling on school trustees to overcome their differences and to take steps to repair the college's reputation.
The Glen Ellyn-based school has been dealing with a series of controversies, including questions about its spending practices and state and federal investigations. Last month, the board of trustees was thrown into chaos when Chairwoman Kathy Hamilton resigned.
Now the evenly divided board must figure out how to come together and address issues raised by the Higher Learning Commission, which has placed the school on two years' probation, even while three of the six remaining trustees have refused to attend meetings.
The problems inspired Bernard Fradkin and three other retired COD employees - Brenda Marcy, Russell J. Watson and Prudence Widlak - to sign a letter urging trustees to "do their fiduciary functions."
"The board is not acting as a board right now," Fradkin said on Saturday. "Even if they disagree, that doesn't mean they shouldn't meet."
Fradkin, an administrator who retired from COD in 2007, said the letter was written because "action needs to be taken as soon as possible."
"We're all retirees," Fradkin said of those who signed the letter. "We're not employees. We don't gain financially for anything that happens there. The letter is from our hearts and our commitment to a college that we feel is being maligned right now because of the actions of this board."
One request the retirees make is that the board pick Hamilton's replacement.
If the board doesn't fill the open seat by Feb. 11, Lazaro Lopez, the chairman of the Illinois Community College Board, will appoint the seventh trustee. Fradkin said that shouldn't happen.
"Issues need to be resolved by the community. Outside involvement by anyone else is not responsible and doesn't contribute to a long-term solution," he said.
While four people signed the letter, Fradkin said at least a dozen retired professors and administrators agree with its contents.