Board of Trustees holds busy meeting

By Mallory Stiles
Editor in Chief

At the LCC Board of Trustees meeting on Monday, March 18, there were a flurry of announcements.

Chair Angela Mathews called for the approval of the minutes, accepted and made suggested corrections to the agenda and swiftly turned things over to LCC President Dr. Steve Robinson for his usual president’s report.

Robinson said he would be spending most of his speaking time to a new LCC employee, but pointed out his usual written presidential report would still be available in the informational packets dispersed.

“Good evening, everybody,” Robinson said. “As I told Chair Mathews, I intend to use my oral president’s report a little differently at this meeting in order to provide Dr. Dale Dan with an opportunity to give us an update on her activities during her first several weeks as chief diversity officer.”

Robinson said the department would be undergoing some changes. He asked the board to listen to Dan’s proposal with open ears and faith that nothing would be taken away, only added.

“Dr. Dan and the college community will be embarking on a rebranding of the department,” he said, “but, diversity, equity and inclusion are permanent parts of our culture here at Lansing Community College.”

Following Robinson’s remarks, Dan took the podium. After passionately thanking all audience members for their attendance, she offered a pearl of wisdom she found long ago through her career in DEI.

“I have learned a lot of lessons over the years, too many, but one that sticks with me that I would like to share tonight is to not define the word diversity too narrowly,” Dan said.

“Diversity is not just about color, race or ethnicity. Diversity happens as soon as there is a second person in the room.”

She said for 10 weeks she talked to everyone she could on campus to get a feel for the current climate.

After all her research, she presented the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats related to LCC’s diversity program. She also presented an updated slogan and a path forward that is more inclusive than ever.

In other news, two unarmed guards are being requested, to survey both the west and downtown campus. The total cost of the employment is estimated to be $140,000 annually.

A three-year subscription to WebEx was approved but at an aggregate cost of $242,892 for the entire term. The historic Herrmann House at LCC needs a new heating system and that is expected to cost $262,450.

A request for retirement fiduciary consulting services was made, and is expected to cost a total of $315,000 for a seven-year term. There is also a software renewal fee billed by a company called TargetX, totaling $272,300.

The largest expense detailed in the briefing came to $1,244,925. That is for the college’s eCommerce system; the program that pays bills and receives payments.