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After months of public scrutiny and setbacks, the search for Lansing Community College’s next president has finally ended.

Dr. Brent Knight of Morton College in Cicero, Ill., will replace current LCC President Dr. Judith Cardenas after her contract with the college expires this summer on June 30.

The LCC Board of Trustees voted 6-1 at a special meeting on Monday, March 10 to bring Knight on board as the college’s next president.

“It’s an honor and a privilege,” Knight told The Lookout March 13. “It’s a great opportunity. Historically, LCC has been a great school.”

Knight bested Darnell Cole, president of Milwaukee Area Technical College, Ron Wright, former president of Cincinnati State Technical and Community College and Cardenas for the presidency.

Knight said he will get right to work upon his arrival at LCC.

 “I would like to listen, study, ask questions, meet people (and) get to know the faculty and staff,” he said.

LCC Chairperson Robin Smith praised Knight as a “visionary leader.”

“Dr. Knight demonstrated the skills and experience needed to lead LCC into the future,” Smith said. “The board is confident he will be a great leader.”

In his interview with The Lookout, Knight praised the board’s interview process.

 “The board members are very well-informed about LCC and community colleges in general, and I was very impressed by that,” he said.

Knight mentioned his current college, Morton, has a diverse student makeup, with Hispanics accounting for 77 percent of the college.

Knight said he felt confident he could translate this same message of diversity to LCC.

“I believe in diversity,” he said. “Community colleges are founded on diversity; opportunities for all.”

Knight said he is currently working on the details of his transition from Morton to LCC, and that “an orderly plan should be achieved.”

Cardenas released a statement about the search’s outcome in the form of a Campus Communication e-mail March 14. 

“Now that the presidential search process is completed, I want to take this opportunity to thank the many staff, faculty and students who have supported and worked so collaboratively with me over the past two years,” she said. “I am grateful to all of you for the part you have played in moving the college forward.”

Cardenas said she will focus on the “critical work that needs to be done in the next few months.”

“I trust you will join me in warmly welcoming our new president, Dr. Brent Knight, to Lansing Community College,” she said.

  Adviser's Blog

 For What It's Worth
  By Larry Hook

The LCC Board of Trustees is seeking a proverbial facelift for the college with its choice of Dr. Brent Knight as its president.

Knight was selected from among four finalists by the board on Monday, March 10. He will replace incumbent Judith Cardenas on July 1.

Apparently the LCC Board is looking to Knight to help restore the overall image of the college, which he has been credited with doing as president of Morton College in Cicero, Ill. That is understandably a desirable trait to seek in a president, considering LCC’s track record over the past four years.

Since 2004, when I became adviser of The Lookout, LCC has earned varying degrees of negative attention for, in no particular order:

·        Tension and strained relations on the Board of Trustees;

·        Strange departures of college leaders with expensive buyout fees;

·        Allegations of financial improprieties;

·        Problems with the college’s software and ensuing financial-aid woes;

·        Various lawsuits and legal issues;

·        The murder of an LCC teacher and the ensuing arrest of an apparently innocent man.

During that same time period, many positive things have happened at LCC. These include:

·        The opening of the west and east campuses;

·        The completion of the new Health and Human Services Building;

·        The christening of the Cunningham Administration Building;

·        The development of the new University Center;

·        The college’s 50th anniversary celebration;

·        A whole lot of learning.

These many positives, however, have been overshadowed by the negatives. Bringing in a new president will mark the beginning of a new era.

A fresh start should result in a somewhat clean slate. Hopefully the administration can learn from past mistakes to improve LCC as we head into the second half-century of the college’s storied history.

As for Judith Cardenas, I thank her for leading the college for the past couple of years with great professionalism and calm. She moved into the unenviable situation as interim president when Paula Cunningham left LCC on Feb. 1, 2006, amidst turmoil and controversy. I think Cardenas has steadied the ship quite capably and deserves a lot of credit.

Cardenas has been nothing but cooperative with The Lookout during her tenure as president, and I wish her well in the future. I understand she is being offered the post of vice president for quality performance and economic development at LCC.

I don’t know if she will accept this step down from her lofty post; it seems like it would awkward for her. But I know LCC would benefit from having Cardenas aboard the ship as it sails forward toward an uncertain horizon.

Larry Hook is a graduate of Lansing Community College and Michigan State University, with a degree in journalism. He has been adviser of The Lookout since the summer of 2004.

LCC Online Profile

  Autumn "Luciano" McPherson

  Age: 21
 
  Studying:Film production
  and photography
 

  Interviewed by Audrey Zarb

Autumn “Luciano” McPherson, of Lansing, is a photographer and aspiring filmmaker who said she likes to tell a story with her art. Aside from recently completing a short Zombie film, McPherson also currently works as a photographer for a portrait studio and freelances. Lookout Staff Writer Audrey Zarb sat down with McPherson to talk about her recent accomplishments and goals.

How would you describe what you do as an artist?
Honestly, I don’t always consider myself an “artist” in a typical sense.  I feel that an artist has to spend too much time trying to create something new.  As a photographer I like to think that I don’t create but I capture and improve.  That gives me more time to develop what I have to say; to tell my story.  I believe that art is about the story that it tells.  Art should mean something and if it doesn’t, if there is no story, it is not worth telling.

You say you don’t “create” but “capture and improve.” What do you like to capture in your art?
“(I like to capture) things that no one pays attention to; things that aren’t real.  Normally I’ll take one picture and turn it into something completely different. I know a lot about things that aren’t real.

What has formed your eye for composition with photography and film?
It’s something that you develop throughout your life.  No one sits you down and says, “Look this is what composition should be.”  I’ve seen people go through classes where they are told how to compose a picture or a scene and then I see their final product and it’s just awful.  The whole class can hear the same (lesson) but everyone takes away something different.  You either got it or you don’t.

What is it that you are looking for when you photograph people?
I like people to have fun and usually when I do photo shoots with my friends, it turns into playing dress-up.  Honestly, I feel that people are who they are the most when they are pretending to be someone else.  It’s like they are safe if they are dressed in a costume and they are free.  It’s really great to see people open up and have fun.

What story do you tell with your work, both photography and film?
My work is often biographical, in some sense at least. Sometimes there are parts of me that are already in my work and even I don’t notice them until it’s finished. It ends up being about self discovery.  It’s really amazing.  Film especially allows me to include how I feel about what is happening in my life and I hope that others can relate but I understand that not everyone will.  In general, it’s really more about how I feel — that’s what I know.  If other people can relate to it, that’s good too, but I’m just trying to express what I’ve got in my head; what makes me “an artist.”  Like I said, I wouldn’t really consider myself an artist, I’m just a filmmaker.

How do you define your style of film?
I like to do dark comedies.

Are you working on any films right now?
Yes.  I just finished a short film called Zombie Girls Don’t Cry and now I’ve picked up another project, more of a period piece this time, set in the 1940s. It’s (tentatively) called The Secret Kite Flying Society.

What is "The Secret Kite Flying Society" about?
It’s going to be a story about a girl who sneaks off all the time to this place where she can be herself.  I’m still in the writing process with the storyline.  There’s so much aesthetically that I want to do with it.  I don’t always start with a plot, if I get an image in my head, a story will come from it.  I don’t always have to have the whole story outlined before I decide, for example, what color the kites are going to be.

Are you inspired by anyone in particular?
Oscar Wilde, Charlie Chaplin, Wes Anderson, Stephen Crane, Woody Allen.  Music has a big part of it too, like the Smashing Pumpkins, The Smiths and David Bowie. 

What kind of effect do you hope to leave on the world?
I would hope I would be known for everything.  For everything that I do, I want to succeed in it.  I don’t need to be super famous or anything. It’s not so much “being known” but putting myself out there and trying to be an inspiration to other people.   If I could inspire someone else the way somebody has inspired me, that pretty awesome in my mind because these people have changed who I am in so many ways. 

Artist links:
Zombie Girls Don’t Cry: http://www.myspace.com/zombie_girls_dont_cry
Luciano Photography: http://www.myspace.com/foetography

Read the full story about Autumn “Luciano” McPherson in the March 24 issue of The Lookout