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About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (July 27, 2016)
July 27, 2016 The Page 3 INSIDE Week in Review This page Sponsored by: page 2 L OCAL N EWS PCC Hires New Leader pages 6-7 Mark Mitsui picked from Obama Administration O PINION page 8 S PORTS M ETRO page 9 A leader from President Obama’s My Brother’s Keeper initiative and a former Seattle educator will be the next president of Portland Community College. Mark Mitsui, the current deputy assistant sec- retary for community colleges within the Office of Career, Technical and Adult Education for the U.S. Department of Education, will be hired as PCC’s seventh president. The selection by the PCC board of directors was made public Thurs- day after a nationwide search. Among his many duties to advance President Obama’s community college agenda, Mitsui was co-leader the My Brother’s Keeper Postsecond- ary Completion interagency team, which strives to improve college access and completion for the nation’s young men of color. Mitsui will begin his work with PCC on Aug. 29, replacing Sylvia Kelley, the college’s exec- utive vice president, who has served as interim president since the departure of Jeremy Brown in May 2015. “The board of directors was tremendously impressed by President Mitsui’s passion for the transformative power of community colleges, and by his clear understanding of PCC’s complex en- vironment,” said Gene Pitts, PCC’s board chair. “He brings demonstrated strengths as a strate- gic thinker and transparent decision-maker, and he is a passionate advocate for social justice and inclusion. Coupled with his wealth of regional and national connections, President Mitsui is a natural fit for PCC and one who we believe will benefit the students and communities we serve,” said Pitts. Prior to working in Washington, D.C., Mitsui was the president of North Seattle College where he was the founding chair of the Asian Pacific Is- lander Association of Colleges and Universities, was a member of the National Asian/Pacific Is- lander Council of the American Association of Mark Mitsui will serve as Portland Community College’s seventh president. Community Colleges, and in 2013 was honored for contributions to the Multicultural Student Ser- vices Directors Council of Washington state. He also served as the vice president of Student Services at South Seattle College, from 2006 to 2010, and he has worked as an administrator and teacher at a variety of other educational institu- tions throughout the Pacific Northwest over the course of his career. Mitsui holds a bachelor’s degree in physical education from Western Washington University. He has pursued doctoral studies in Educational Leadership and Policy at the University of Wash- C ontinued on P age 14 Former Miracles Director Sentenced pages 10-13 Arts & ENTERTAINMENT C LASSIFIEDS C ALENDAR page 14 page 15 A former director at the Mir- acles Club has met his fate for the theft of $144,000 from the non-profit organization which serves Portland’s African Ameri- can community. Herman Bryant, 59, was sen- tenced Wednesday to three years in prison for embezzling the mon- ey over two years and then gam- bling it away at Spirit Mountain Casino, southwest of Portland. Multnomah County Circuit Court Judge Henry Kantor ordered him to repay the entire amount, a sum that “is going to live with you for the rest of your life.” Herman Bryant His attorney, Drake Durham, reiterated how Bryant maintained being clean and sober for 16 years before his downfall, so he could work with those in need. He also won praise from another non-prof- it, JOIN, for helping place home- less individuals back into perma- nent housing. The Miracles Club began back in 1993 as a home base for mem- bers of the community suffering from drug, alcohol and other ad- dictions. Officials said Bryant himself has suffered from such addictions, including a gambling addiction.
