Heyen resigns as Chairman from Lewis and Clark Community College Board of Trustees
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By Steven Spencer
The Lewis and Clark Community College Board of Trustees accepted the resignation of former chairman David Heyen during Tuesday’s board meeting, effective immediately.
Heyen’s resignation comes after an investigation regarding a remark he made towards a Lewis and Clark faculty member during the last board meeting on Sept 13.
Board member Julie Johnson will take over chairperson, leaving a vacancy open for her previous role as vice chairman.
“The board wishes to apologize to anyone who was negatively impacted by this course of events,” Johnson said in regards to Heyen’s comments at the September meeting.
“The board remains committed to preserving the publics right to address the board during meetings in a safe and respectful environment. The consensus of the remaining board members is to focus on our commitment to providing leadership together and moving the college forward,” Johnson said.
This isn’t the first time Heyen’s resignation has come up on the board’s agenda.
In May of 2019, several people requested that Heyen resign after posting content online that was found to be Islamophobic and xenophobic. At the time, students and faculty alike questioned how a place of higher learning that boasts diversity and inclusion could allow such comments from a board member, it also raised concerns from some that the Higher Learning Commission would possibly revoke the college’s accreditation. Heyen ultimately kept his position after the 2019 incident.
After approval of the resignation, Professor of Philosophy Gerald Mozur, whose Heyen’s previous remarks were directed towards, spoke to the board.
“I appreciate what I just heard from the Board of Trustees,” Mozur said. “I have a simple request tonight to ask you. I am concerned about the vacancy on the board, particularly in regard to who will be appointed to fill it. So I ask the members to think this through very carefully and I hope this decision to appoint someone will be a collective effort and not an appointment by the outgoing member. So please find a person who has real credentials in education, who values education and does not demean it, who has experience in educational institutions, especially higher education and more importantly find someone who exhibits intellectual humility, a cardinal virtue of all educated minds. The college is in great need of this, for this level of power, so now is the time that we should fill this vacancy with the appropriate person.”
