General Public Comments

John Kraft

Will read something that was sent to the Attorney General from College of DuPAge;

“IF the College had adequate advance notice that a large crowd was going to attend the meeting, that they would move to a larger room, as the Gerwin Decision requires, and the college has no issue with that requirement.”

Then he reads a reply from COD that the College will continue to hold its meetings in the Board Room.  How can you lie to the Attorney General and say you are going to move to a larger room and then change your mind?

The other item: There are 30 general public seats available. Occasionally we might reserve a couple of them. Yeah, a couple.

He then notes that there are very few seats left for the general public.

Why do you want to lie to the Attorney General again?

Roger Kempa: One of your graduates.

The Comiskey research report. I found that mind-boggling.  The 400 people who were contacted about what the reserves should be at COD. What would you say?

25% cash to keep on hand is the recommendation, not 100%.

I don’t know if there is press here but there are 6 seats here for the press. There was a reporter here taking photos and …..

interruption from the Board table and he doesn’t continue the comment.

The big thing tonight: you don’t have an American flag here, or the flag of the State of Illinois. Does that offend someone here?

Has the Board ever been threatened? Because when  we came here there were 5 guards here. Are you afraid?

I would recommend the Pledge of Allegiance.

The last thing: Boards in general have their closed meetings towards the end of the meeting so the public can make their comments and not have to wait. And the seating capacity. There aren’t many seats left for the public.

Kirk Allen

Agenda item 3B was Public Comment Policy. Respect for the Board.

Respect is earned, not legislated.

Citizens have the right to address their comments to anyone, not only to members of the Board.

Why is it okay for Trustee McGuire to make disrespectful comments but not for a member of the public to say what they want?

I will not sit silent while you or others try to legislate what people from the public have to say.

What is happening here is despicable. Where is the accountability?

When are we going to get accountability. You say that you encourage questions form the public, but nobody ever answers the questions. So the public makes assumptions. You need to communicate.

Glenn Hansen

Good evening, I’m Glenn Hansen, President of the Faculty Association and Faculty Senate.

Tonight I want to thank 2 colleagues who have stepped up to fill a void in administrative leadership as interim associate deans. Sandra Anderson and Chuck Boone have served as faculty leaders and I respect their wisdom as leaders. Sandra has been a Senator and Chuck has been Association President. They bring to the table more classroom experience than your entire management team.

That seems like a good thing. Have you ever thought about that?

Thank you.

Richard Jarman, Vice President of the Faculty Association

German theologians and board meetings: See your Niemoller and raise you a Bonhoeffer.

Hearing the name of Martin Niemoller during last month’s board meeting awakened from their slumbers remembrances of another German theologian, and sometime hero of mine, Dietrich Bonhoeffer who, along with Niemoller founded the Confessing Church during the prewar years of the Nazi regime. Unlike the mainstream church that threw in its lot with the Nazis, no doubt with much personal gain, Bonhoeffer refused to bend the knee before the tyrant. He later participated in an unsuccessful plot to kill Hitler, for which he was prepared to pay the ultimate price, being executed in April 1945, days before the war ended.

Bishop Bell wrote in a forward to Bonhoeffer’s seminal book The Cost of Discipleship, “He was crystal clear in his convictions…, he saw the truth and spoke it with a complete absence of fear.” Traits I think we would all like in our leaders. Well, traits that I would like to acquire.

I recall that Niemoller’s name was invoked in an impassioned speech against the critics at the gate – or rather overflow gallery. I have read a lot written against them of late and the tendency is to label them as the “Tea Party.” Back in September, we were urged to “settle our differences” and join together to fight the Tea Party for it wants to take over the college. I wondered then, and I think now, that the real “enemy” is not the Tea Party; but I realize it is not uncommon for embattled regimes to deflect criticism onto outside activists and agents provocateurs.

Closer examination reveals that people that could well be associated with the Tea Party, whatever that really is, have enjoyed a close association with this board over several years. I can recall former trustee Atkinson waving giant checks accusing us of buying trustees in 2009. Former chair Carlin worked for Congressman Joe Walsh, a man unlikely to be identified with socialism. And, wait, was not Mr. Carlin endorsed alongside current Vice-Chair Hamilton in 2013? Current chair Erin Birt ran her campaign in 2011 with James Long of Downers Grove, a republican who posted photos of Sarah Palin on his website.

So, really, is it the Tea Party that we have to fear here? Or is it a distraction from the main thing?