Triton College Faculty and Staff Call for Transparency and Accountability Following Board Chairman's Drug Arrest

On Tuesday, Aug. 25, Triton College faculty and staff stood before the Board of Trustees and questioned the Board Chairman's fitness to continue as board chairman. They called on the board to act with transparency and told board members that the board owes its students, faculty, and taxpayers real answers, not silence.

Mark Stephens was pulled over by police in Harvard, Illinois, in McHenry County, on July 31 at 10:52 p.m. According to police, an officer saw him drop a prescription bottle that later tested positive for cocaine. He was charged with unlawful possession of a controlled substance, unlawful possession of cannabis by a driver, and speeding. Stephens has not been convicted and is entitled to due process like anyone else, but as chairman of the Triton College Board of Trustees, we have a right to question Stephens' fitness for leadership and ask what the board is doing about this situation.

Cook County College Teachers Union President Tony Johnston spoke during public comment at the board meeting on behalf of the union's full-time faculty, mid-managers, and classified staff at Triton College. Johnston said, "Boards owe their students, faculty, and taxpayers real accountability." He also pointed to reporting on the overlap between Stephens' private business interests, his family's control of Rosemont's government, and a public dispute between Rosemont and Triton College over taxing districts that Triton's own leadership believed would cost the college funding, calling those entanglements exactly what a board of trustees exists to guard against.

Johnston asked trustees to do three specific things: formally take up whether Stephens can continue fulfilling his duties while the charges are pending, commit to a transparent public process for that review rather than a private conversation with no record, and examine, independent of the criminal case, whether the business and political ties described in news reports have ever influenced board decisions.

CCCTU Suburban Vice President Delwyn Jones also addressed the board, framing his remarks as a moral appeal. "We come from a positive position with deep concern for Triton regarding what President Tony Johnston has presented," Jones said. "Our Local 1600 members have deep concern about the reputation of Triton College with these recent events. We are making a moral appeal to this board that you consider how this affects faculty, staff, and students. We ask, what do you stand for?" Jones asked trustees to weigh how the public, including the high school counselors and parents across the district who send students to Triton, would view the board's response. He also drew a direct comparison to how the college already holds its own students accountable: "As a college coach, we would kick the student-athlete off the team if they were in this same situation." "Let's do the right thing here," Jones told the board. "Please, think long and hard about how we proceed. The key to longevity is doing things the right way."

Immediately following public comment, trustees recessed into closed session. They returned to open session a short time later without publicly addressing any of the concerns that were raised.

"When a Board of Trustees is under this kind of cloud, silence isn't neutral. It's a choice, and it sends its own message about what this board considers acceptable," Johnston told trustees before they left the room.

CCCTU is calling on the board to hold any further discussion of Stephens' status as chairman in open session, and to tell the public clearly how, and whether, it plans to address what was raised Tuesday night.

Triton union leaders address the Triton College Board of Trustees