College of DuPage Board Votes to Put President on Administrative Leave

About 200 people attended the meeting Thursday night - the first with new board trustees Charles Bernstein, Frank Napolitano, and Deanne Mazzochi.

“Before a crowd of about 200 people, trustees elected Katharine Hamilton as the board’s new chair, putting the longtime lone board dissenter in charge,” the Tribune reported. “Hamilton was elected chair in a 4-3 vote, setting the tone for what is likely to be a divisive board.

“Indeed, the three-member minority, all of them returning trustees, voted against the entire agenda because it was not created with all trustees’ input.”

The board approved the administrative leave of Breuder with a vote of 4 - 3. That leave means he cannot “exercise the duties” of president, has to turn in keys and other college equipment, the Tribune reported. This is not the case for a family leave, which Breuder began on Wednesday.

“The board, meeting at the Glen Ellyn campus, also named Executive Vice President Joseph Collins as acting interim president, and announced it would put together a transition team to help direct the future of the college,” the Tribune reported.

The votes and board changeovers come at the end of a long line of controversy at the school:

• In January, school board members voted to send the community college’s president Robert Breuder away with a $762,000 buyout. That was funded by taxpayers.
• Then there were the business dealings at the college radio station and a move to censure a board member.
• Earlier in March, it was revealed that nearly $200,000 was charged in food and liquor costs at the college’s fine dining restaurant, Waterleaf.
• The last week in March, the college allegedly awarded signage contracts to a foundation member without going to bid for the jobs.
• On April 13, the former radio station employee pleaded not guilty to the charges he faces.
• Then on April 20, it was discovered that an additional $160,000 has been spent at the College of DuPage restaurant, Waterleaf, from an account that was previously undiscovered.