New College of DuPage board votes to sideline embattled school president

During a decidedly bitter meeting, the new College of DuPage board of trustees followed through with plans Thursday night to put the school's embattled president on paid administrative leave.

The move capped a whirlwind week at the state's largest community college that saw its president, Robert Breuder, getting approval for a medical leave hours after the board announced it would vote to sideline him at Thursday's meeting.

Before a crowd of about 200 people, trustees elected Katharine Hamilton as the board's new chair, putting the longtime lone board dissenter in charge. She will oversee a new majority on the seven-member board following a political shift in last month's election that included the selection of three new trustees.

Hamilton was elected chair in a 4-3 vote, setting the tone for what is likely to be a divisive board. Indeed, the three-member minority, all of them returning trustees, voted against the entire agenda because it was not created with all trustees' input. Board members were at odds with one another on every issue throughout the nearly-five-hour meeting.

Read more in the Chicago Tribune.