The small auditorium became crowded quickly as the community took its seats to witness the new GCC Board of Trustees members swear in Monday night.
In taking oaths, Dr. Kathleen Burke-Kelly, Anita Quinonez Gabrielian and Ara Najarian said in unison, “I take this obligation freely without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion and that I will well and faithfully discharge the duty upon which I am about to enter.”
“It’s great to be back. I look forward to continuing to serve,” Gabrielian said. Gabrielian served on the board last year. She will hold the position of clerk during this term. The newest board members, Burke-Kelly and Najarian, thanked the board and shared their thoughts on the positions.
“I would like to thank everyone for welcoming me as the new kid,” said Najarian.
The three board members were elected following elections held April 1. After weeks of forums around Glendale and GCC, the community chose the three candidates to represent GCC’s financial matters. The election results replaced two long time members Robert Holmes and Martin Pilgreen.
The two former members, who had a combined service of 28 years on the board, holding the positions of president and vice president in the most recent term. A reception on May 8 in the Los Robles building from 11:30 to 1:00 will be held to honor their time and service to GCC.
Dr. Armine Hakopian was named as the new president and Victor King as the new vice-president of the BOT on Monday night.
After thanking her fellow members for the nomination/election, Hakopian said there are many things she would like to accomplish as the president. She would like to work closely with students and with area community colleges, meet regularly with department chairs, keep language barriers open to help everyone understand what the business of the college is, examine the parking problem and maintain an active profile in the community and state.
But the meeting was not all celebrations. The board approved increases in services fees also Monday night to combat recent state budget cuts to the college.
The student services fee has been increased from $10 to $15, ID card fees have been raised from $7 to $10, catalogue fees have gone up from $4 to $5, transcript fees have increased from $5 to $7.50.
“When we move out of this budget crisis the fees will be moved back down. It’s not a permanent increase,” said Student Trustee and President of ASGCC Antonino Patti.
“Once the budget crisis is over they will come down, but it won’t be for a while,” said Hakopian.
The board members thanked the AS and students for their proactive movement in the ongoing budget crisis. AS has mailed out 8,000 letters to the capital as of Monday and 8,000 more are expected to be sent. “Endless hours have been spent,” said Patti.