Dec. 14--College of DuPage Chairwoman Katharine Hamilton abruptly resigned Sunday, following seven tumultuous months at the helm of the school's board of trustees.
In a letter to students and faculty sent Sunday evening, Hamilton cited "personal reasons" for her decision to quit. She declined to elaborate on those reasons when contacted by the Tribune.
"It is with sadness ... that for personal reasons I am resigning from this board effective immediately," she wrote in her resignation. "I have enjoyed working together with my fellow trustees to build upon the strengths of COD and address its future needs. I will miss the collaboration and energetic debate that marks the COD Board as one that is so caring and committed to all of its stakeholders."
Hamilton's resignation compounds the ongoing dysfunction at the state's largest community college, which currently is under federal and state investigation. The school's accrediting agency also is considering sanctions against the institution after finding problems with the school's finances and leadership.
Hamilton, 53, also has been named in lawsuits filed by former President Robert Breuder and two other ousted administrators in recent months. All three claim she led a public effort to fire them in order to bolster her own political agenda.
Hamilton's resignation comes as the college recently began a search for its next president.
The remaining trustees -- who are now locked in a 3-3 split -- will select her replacement. The board was informed of Hamilton's decision Sunday night.
The resignation will stun DuPage County political observers, as many predicted Hamilton would use her college trustee position as a springboard for higher office.
A Republican from suburban Hinsdale, she was elected to the Glen Ellyn-based board in 2013 and became the panel's lone regularly dissenting vote about a year later. In August 2014, she was censured for publicly criticizing Breuder and her fellow trustees.
Ostracized from the panel, she endorsed three like-minded candidates in the spring election and backed her support with nearly $120,000 in contributions -- an unusually large amount of money for a community college campaign. Her gamble paid off in April, however, when all three won seats on the board and put Hamilton in charge of a 4-3 majority.
During her brief tenure, Hamilton pushed for many reforms, including shuttering Waterleaf, the campus' high-end restaurant which lost nearly $2 million in four years. She also pushed for tighter financial controls and brought the college's investment portfolio into compliance with school policy.
In keeping with a campaign promise, Hamilton fired Breuder and nullified his controversial $763,000severance package to leave three years early in March 2016. She also terminated Treasurer Thomas Glaser and Controller Lynn Sapyta amid allegations of financial mismanagement. All three now have wrongful termination lawsuits pending in federal court.
And at Hamilton's urging, trustees also made symbolic cuts to both the tax levy and tuition.
The board, however, also has been mired in its own petty feuds for the past seven months. The Higher Learning Commission -- which issues the school's accreditation -- criticized the board for its "ongoing strife," saying that the board's bickering "serves to impede the board's ability to serve the public good."
The board particularly assailed Hamilton's leadership and suggested she was "micromanaging" the college with frequent phone calls to interim President Joseph Collins. Hamilton denied the allegations, saying the school needed strong and involved leadership amid turmoil.
"I cared about COD before I was elected, cared deeply during my time on the Board, and will continue to follow its progress and wish the very best for its future," she wrote.
State Rep. Jeanne Ives, R-Wheaton, said she did not know the personal reasons behind Hamilton's decision but said "it is an immense challenge for anybody to fight back against such an ingrained, corrupt system."
"Kathy Hamilton had the most difficult elected position in the entire county of DuPage, which is reforming an institution that has been corrupt for years and is managed by many people with many different interests at stake," said Ives, who is on the college's presidential search committee. "You have to overcome so much inertia in the state of Illinois for any reform to move forward, and it is exhausting."
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