By Keenan A. Mount
kmount@lc.edu
During the public comment portion of the Lewis and Clark Community College Board of Trustees meeting, Board Chair David Heyen can be heard on Zoom making an explicit verbal comment toward L&C Philosophy Professor Member Gerald Mozur.
“Just move on, you ugly son of a bitch,” Heyen said while Mozur, who was also attending via Zoom, was attempting to get confirmation that he could be heard.
None present at the meeting recognized or addressed the comment. However, once the meeting was posted to L&C’s YouTube account, the comment came to light. All of the comments on the video of the meeting address the apparent comments made by Heyen.
The comment can be heard at 2:25 in the above video.
“Mozer is an amazing man and professor who doesn’t deserve to be spoken to like that, whether intentionally or not,” JD Christopher said in the comments.
Following this initially unrecognized incident, Mozur moved on to make public comments about a previous statement made by a board member he left unnamed. Mozur explained that the previous statement was that it would be “cheaper to knock down the main complex” as opposed to renovating it.
Mozur said it was an “alarming comment” that reveals the board member responsible for the statement was more concerned with finance than the college itself. Mozur alluded to the complex’s artistic and historical relevance.
“The main complex has been a fixture in this community for over a century and represents continuity with Monticello College, from which Lewis and Clark was born,” he said.
L&C President Ken Trzaska gave a brief budget health update, where he reported positively on the financial wellness of the operations and maintenance funds. He cited an increase in tax revenues and funds, plus conservative spending from departments, among other favorable financial outcomes, as responsible for the positive balance of $7.6 million.
Tim Bell, interim vice president of student affairs, gave an enrollment update, which notably contained the report of a trend towards more students taking in-person classes and a continued pursuit of developing more concurrent enrollment programs.
The meeting saw an approval of all items on the agenda, grants, sponsored contracts, as well as staffing changes.
The meeting also saw the recognition of retired Art Faculty Member Chris Brennan in the form of the college’s nomination for the 2022 Emerson Electric Excellence in Teaching Award, as well as the recognition of a number of human resources department members via a new item on the board agenda, human resources’ monthly recognition report.
The members recognized included Kate Kessler, assistant director of academic advisement; Korin Fisher, creative services manager of marketing and public relations; Cory Zippmann, building maintenance supervisor; Jason Quigley, maintenance tech; Cody Zippmann, supervisor in campus logistics; and Laura Inlow, manager of marketing and public relations.
