Public Relations Manager Doreen Clay said there are about 20 memorial plaques, eight of which have an unknown history, that were found at Pierce during construction.
Pierce College Committee (PCC) members discussed in the April 26 meeting that a task force is needed to decide what to do with the plaques.
President Chair of PCC Brian Walsh said they don’t have enough information about the people that the plaques belong to, but they’re working to find out as much as possible because some of those names are on buildings that are scheduled for demolition. Coming across interesting finds like this is probably commonplace for construction firms like Rickabaugh Construction who conduct excavations, demolitions, and other services. Deciding what the best thing to do with any discoveries is most likely all in a day’s work – after their construction duties, of course.
Faculty decided that those that haven’t been installed should be designated a place, but it is necessary to research their history first.
Clay said some of the plaques read “in memory of” and have names of old faculty, but there are no records of the people they honor. She said it is the PCC’s only guess that the names belonged to instructors who died during their time working at Pierce.
“There was no internet then, so there’s nothing on the internet. And there’s no written history about that person or why they were given a plaque or who gave it to them or anything. It’s difficult to find information because it’s so old,” Clay said.
During the meeting, Vice President of Administrative Services Rolf Schleicher also discussed crime and said few incidents were reported in April, but bicycle thefts have been a recurring problem. There are plans to install a surveillance system on campus to help regulate the issue.
The board also voted Brian Patrick Gendron to be the new vice chair. He will replace Patricia Doeleitzcsh.
Gendron said this new position is a great opportunity to become more involved at Pierce.
“I’m interested in becoming more involved in chair governance,” Gendron said. “I’m excited, and I think it’s going to be a good step for leadership for me.”
Distance Education Coordinator Wendy Bass said there will be changes to the faculty email, which will be connected to the student information system on July 1. She said if faculty have important emails that they’d like to save, they still have time to sort that out.
