Board of Trustees honors hoop squad

By Mallory Stiles
Editor in Chief

The LCC Board of Trustees meeting on April 15 began at 6 p.m. with a strong applause for the LCC women’s basketball team and its phenomenal season.

Board Chair Angela Mathews recited each player’s individual stats and referenced a very specific team accomplishment.

“They were the winners of the Michigan Community College Athletic Association (Western) Conference,” Mathews shouted, full of pride. 

There was a team picture taken with the board. Women’s Head Coach Megan Hudson said a few words of gratitude, both to those in the room and online.

“Thank you all so much for your support,” Hudson said. “We really appreciate it. This year was a lot of fun. To see our stands were packed often, both home and away, was really special. The Lansing community really came out in droves to support us. Obviously, as we kept winning, more and more people showed up.

“We are looking forward to continuing that next year.”

The LCC women's basketball team is  shown with Coach Megan Hudson.  Photo by Mallory Stiles.


After the team was dismissed, LCC President Dr. Steve Robinson gave his usual president’s report and opened by thanking the PR department.

“April is Community College Month; I want to thank (Director of Public Relations) Marilyn Twine and the entire team here for making some noise,” Robinson said. “At LCC, every month is Community College Month, but we join the rest of the country in celebrating our nation’s 1,100 community colleges.”

He went on to thank LCC Provost Dr. Sally Welch. He said Welch was highly complimented by many on a recent public appearance during which she displayed a great amount of professionalism.

“I am delighted to brag about Dr. Welch a little bit,” Robinson said. “She represented LCC at a U.S. Department of Energy press event on the future of the EV battery industry. I just wanted to tell everyone what a great job she did and thank her for representing us so well on the national stage.”

The next slide in his presentation was about the prospect of a 24/7 LCC podcast. It was confirmed by the president’s staff that LCC is already operating 24 hours a day, but Robinson said those efforts will being continued.

Robinson also said he was proud to mention LCC is the only current affiliate of “Michigan Public” to have its own content on the FM airwaves.

Purchases “presented for action” included $143,675 for continued internet service, $300,000 for campus-wide fixtures and lamps, $510,000 for electrical supplies and $510,000 for HVAC and plumbing.

Additionally, there was also $561,000 requested for electrician services and $268,803 requested for video cloud service renewal.

The last agenda item was a tax-sharing agreement between the Charter Township of Meridian, the Meridian Charter Township Corridor Improvement Authority and LCC.

The college’s revenue stream relies solely on property taxes, state funds and student fees. This agreement would redirect a portion of that revenue, to a municipality, to be used for development of that township to increase the overall property value.

Several members of the board expressed concern over the possible expense, but Chief Financial Officer Don Wilske described this agreement as more investment than an expenditure.

“If this plan was not in place, over time the property values could actually decrease,” Wilske said. “So, this helps protect what we already have.”

The explanation was accepted, but Mathews had one more inquiry.

“So, how does the tax capture help us alleviate increased tuition for students?” she asked.

Wilske responded that if the expected property value increase occurs, that will be a larger source of revenue, allowing the remaining two sources, fees and state funding, to become less crucial.

Lastly, LCC Police Deputy Chief Tim Davis gave the department’s monthly safety report. There were three citizen complaints, 17 traffic violations, two officer-initiated interactions and seven responses to calls to dispatch.