Tuesday, Nov. 23, 2010 • Trustee Robert Hill retires from college board

Publisher’s note: This story originally appeared in the Tuesday, Nov. 23, 2010 edition of the Lassen County Times.

After many years as a Trustee with the Lassen Community College Board of Trustees, Robert Hill has left the building.

At the board’s Nov. 9 meeting, Hill expressed his heartfelt gratitude to the board and the college that he has helped shaped over the last few years.

“Demographically, most of our students are in their mid-20’s to mid 30’s,” Hill said. “That 10-year period is when you’re building a family and building your career. That time is so precious. The money you take from your income to go to college and the debt that you incur if you’re taking student loans are at the worst possible time. It’s during the time when you’re trying to get ahead. You’re taking money from your children’s mouths and your spouse‘s mouths. You’re taking time from things you could be doing recreationally.

“Students put in a lot of their time, trust and their money. We should never forget that’s why we’re here. We owe them. They are our customers. They pay to go here. We put our trust in them, and I think we do that wonderfully.”

Hill said he has enjoyed his time serving on the board. With many of the present trustees, including his friend of more than 35 years and recently re-elected trustee Tom Holybee, he said he was grateful to be with them while serving on the board during many of the college’s difficulties and triumphs. He felt Lassen Community College was one of the premiere community colleges in the system in California. He said that’s an awful lot of distance to come in a few years, coming from when the college was on probation and it wasn’t as fiscally sound as it has been.

Hill credited the hard work of longtime trustees Sophia Wages, Chris Click and Holybee, as well as the more recent members like Scott Blackwood and Jeff Hemphill. He thanked LCC President Douglas Houston for all the work he’s done to bring the college back to a respected state.

“I want to thank Bob for all his dedication this education system,” Wages said. “He’s been an individual that has been a help to many of us, and I look to him as the model boardmember. It’s been an honor to have served and worked with him, and I wish him all the best.”

Hill will be retiring to Florida, as his term expired this year. The trustee board will be interviewing for Hill’s replacement before the end of the year.