Elgin Community College’s president David Sam, who was a finalist for the same position at College of DuPage, was not offered the job and appears to be staying at ECC.

After the termination of COD’s former president, Robert Breuder, COD has been without presidential leadership since October of 2015.

Over the course of the month of April, COD hosted three forums on their campus in order to allow each presidential nominee to speak to the public about what his or her vision is for COD’s future. Sam, Ann Rondeau and Barbara Kavalier were given the opportunity to share their ideas with COD’s board of trustees, students, faculty, staff and other members of the community.

After the finalist forums, the board of trustees came to a conclusion in an emergency meeting held on Monday, May 2. The College of DuPage’s board of trustees came to the decision to select Dr. Ann Rondeau as their sixth president, and will start her term on July 1, 2016.

Following the announcement, Sam released a statement in response to COD’s decision:

“As you might know by now, the COD Board of Trustees last night chose a candidate it believes is best to lead their College; I am at peace with that and wish them well.  I hope the new president will lead the College to the next level of excellence for the sake of the students, faculty and staff, and indeed the whole Illinois community college system.

“As we move forward together, I assure you that I remain 100% committed to ECC, you as a student, our faculty, administrators, staff, and community. Have a wonderful rest of the semester.  Thank you for your support.”

Before COD’s decision, Dr. Sam reassured the students and faculty of ECC that he will remain dedicated to ECC’s efforts to stay afloat during the state budget impasse while also working on his nomination for COD’s presidential position.

After his initial statement that was sent on Tuesday, May 3, Dr. Sam released another statement in an email to the Observer.

“I am happy to continue this exceptional journey of excellence with the Board, faculty, students, staff and administrators here at Elgin Community College. I look forward to working with the District 509 Board of Trustees at its annual, on-campus, retreat in June to set goals and continue to advance the mission of the college. These are exciting times for the institution,” Sam said.