Presidential candidate drops out,
college continues with finalists
BY MERARi CALDERON RUIZ
MANAGING EDITOR
A s th e search for C lackam as C o m m u n ity
College’s new president com es down to the
fin a ls, one candidate withdrew. Tim Cook,
Jessica How ard and C h ris H ain es rem ain.
Each candidate recieved an equal chance
to .'sp eak at a p ub lic fo ru m o n c a m p u s ,;
w h e re fa c u lty , s t a ff, stu d e n ts an d th e
photo provided by Clackamas Community, College
S B in stitu tio n , like C lack a m as, he keeps
science fro m th e U n ive rsity o f Kentucky.
his word. “ U ltim ately, the w ay it works in
m y profession, if I ’ve applied som e place,
I ’ d say ‘y e s ,’ th e first place th a t com es
to m e , I should be saying ‘y e s’ t o ,” said
T ho m son .
H e p r e v io u s ly w o rk ed a t N o rth e rn ;
K entucky U n iversity fo r 19 y ears.
For th e past seven years, he has focused
o n h is jo b an d c an cer su p p o rt. H e is a
widower fo r a little over a year and a h a lf,
c o m m u n ity co u ld p a r tic ip a te an d a sk
q u e stio n s. L ast W ed n esd a y , J . M ic h a e l
T ho m son spoke at the last forum .
A n au d ien ce m e m b er said , “ Y o u ’ re a
fin a lis t in a n o th e r sea rch . C a n you list
your d ecision p o in ts fo r how you w ould
so h e said h e sh u t e v e r y th in g o f f fo r a
w h ile. H is next step is to build a new life
b y m o v in g to a new place and g ettin g a
new jo b , said T h o m son .
decide w h ich college to go to , should ypu
be offered b o th jo b s?”
For 13 years he was at the Eastern Cam pus
President o f Cuyahoga Com m unity College
“ If I am building a new life, I have applied
in O h io . H e has a b achelo r’ s degree fro m
to m ore th a n one p la c e .” sa id T h o m son .
Tie said th at if he m akes a com m itm en t to
P e n n s y lv a n ia S ta te U n iv e r s ity a n d a
m a ste r’ s and doctoral degree in political
A t th e Cuyahoga C o m m u n ity C o lleg e,
o n e o f h is a c c o m p lis h m e n ts w as th a t
he secured a $10 m illio n endow m ent to
create the Jack, Joseph and Morton Mandel
H u m an ities C enter.
A lso , he helped p ass a $227.5 m illio n
bond project in N ovem ber th at w ould set
th e college up for 15 years in a fin an cial
plan. He said th at the cam paigning is a lot
o f hard work and it is done w ith teamwork,
b u t he loves it.
H aines took the stage on Ja n . 22 fo r the
presidential forum . The Interim President
o f P h oen ix C ollege in A rizona m ajored in
political science and received her m aster’ s
d egree in e d u c a tio n a l co u n s e lin g fro m
N o rthern A rizona U niversity.
F o r m o re th a n 30 y e a r s , s h e h a s
b e e n w o r k in g in h ig h e r e d u c a tio n , in
com m unity colleges as well as universities.
H a in e s a ls o c o a c h e d v o lle y b a ll a n d
b ask etb all.
I f s h e w e re to b e c o m e a p a r t o f
Clackam as, she said her first goal would be
- to get to know as m any people as possible.;
M ee tin g w ith fa cu lty and s ta ff fro m the
schoo l, student leaders, th e com m un ity
and legislators is im p o rtant to do in the
b egin n in g.
She talked to students on cam pus and
th ey voiced th eir concerns about havin g
more scholarships available because som e
students m ake just enough that they don’ t
qualify for th e P ell G ran t, but not enough
for all o f schoo l’ s expenses.
AlsOj. sev era l p eo p le b ro u g h t up th e
issue about th e la c k o f d iversity on this-
cam p u s.
“ I don ’t th in k that ju st one person could
fix it ; I th in k it has to do w ith everyone
b ein g in ten tion al about it and w an tin g to
do s o m e th in g ,” said H ain es. “ To m e, it ’ s
really im portant th at students see people
J. Michael Thomson spoke at one of the four forums held for each candidate
before his announcement that he withdrew from the race.
Clackamas Print
Chris Haines
th a t she valu e s.
“ E s p e c ia lly th e c o lla b o r a tio n p ie c e ,
the com m unication p iece, the caring and
feed in g o f the stud ents, and m a kin g sure
th at everybody is valued for the w ork th at
th e y d ô ,” said H a in e s. “ A ll th ose th in g s
stu ck ou t to m e and th a t’ s th e place th at
I w an t to b e .”
S tep h a n ie Sch a efe r, d ep artm en t chair
in th e co u n selin g d ep artm en t, is a part
o f th e D iv e r s ity E q u ity an d In c lu s io n
C o m m itte e . Sh e a tten d ed th ree ou t o f
th e fo u r p resid ential fo rum s and offered
her in sig h ts.
“ The candidate has to be w ell rounded
in a lot o f d iffe ren t w a y s,” said Schaefer.
“ E very d e p a rtm e n t, every d iv isio n , we
have our ow n th in g s th a t are n ea r and
d ear to our h e a r t, b u t th e th in g th a t I
th in k is m ore im p ortant to m e in a leader
r ig h t now , is so m e o n e w h o can fo ste r
th e d iversity effo rts on cam pu s 'A I need
a p resid ent w ho is go in g to lea d us and
im prove w h at we are d o in g, rather th an
ju s t ke ep in g th e statu s q u o .”
N o w t h a t C C C ’ s P r e s id e n t Jo a n n e
in positions o f power th a t look like t i i e i n ,
and if we can do th a t at an y lev el, I th in k
th a t’ s im p o rta n t.” -
needs to be fille d . The college still has a
d e c isio n to m a k e b y M a rc h , a c co rd in g
She said th at the B lack Student U nion
to th e p r e s id e n t’ s o ffic e , b u t S t u d e n t ,
iiu c 3 u a ic . id lc f u n u g i n j u r i e , u ie p u s n u o n
at her college wanted to have Black Lives
staff, facu lty and the co'm m unitycan still
M atter on cam pus, and they did. Haines
said that she has only worked in H ispanic
service institutions and she believes in that.
provide their inputs. The president search
fe e d b a c k su rv ey ist o p e n n ow th r o u g h
Feb. 2 at:
,
She said C lackam as’ job description for
president listed a lot o f the sam e qualities.
http://www.claclfamas.edu/president-
candidate-forums
th eciackam asp rin t.n e k
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January 31, 2018