Long-time teacher Doyle Burke joins board

Joseph Starkloff

Don Covey, the Maricopa County Superintendent of Schools, has selected Doyle Burke, who taught English at MCC for 38 years, as the replacement for former MCCCD board member Colleen Clark.Burke, Ed Contreras and Marci Hendrickson were selected out of 15 other applicants by Randolph Lumm, the board president, and other MCCCD employees as the top candidates for Covey to choose from.

Burke has served on the Arizona Humanities Council, Tempe Public Library Advisory Board, and Interfaith Counseling Services as a board member.

Tom Gariepy, district director of marketing and communications, stated that the public had a voice in the process of replacing Clark.

“The goal was to make sure that the community had a great deal of input into the process. People were encouraged to make comments about the candidates, and those comments were taken into account,” Gariepy said.

Lumm commended Covey for his handling of selecting Burke.

“It took a lot of courage on his part. I think he was even threatened to not get reelected if he didn’t make a partisan issue,” he said.

Lumm also detailed the attributes he was looking for in a board member.

“I wanted a person I can talk to about issue that wasn’t just a political ideologue. Someone with a lot of experience (and) brings world knowledge. The fact that he has college experience (and) an open mind . I think he’ll be a really good asset to the board,” he said.

Burke attended his first board meeting as a member on Oct. 26.

He stressed that he didn’t have an agenda as a board member.

“I did not come in with an agenda. I’ve been in this district for 38 years, (and) we have a very transparent process. People work together to prepare program, policies, and plans. I support that and I plan to be a part of it,” he said.

He also correlated his past experience to what he will bring to the board.

“Given my experience in the district I think I can get up to speed as fast as anybody. I’ve done curriculum, I’ve done strategic planning, I’ve done budget at the college, (and) I’ve done negotiation. The board deals with all those areas and I have some past experience,” Burke said.

  • Mesa Legend Staff

    These are archived stories from Mesa Legend editions before Fall 2018. See article for corresponding author.

Welcome to the Mesa Legend! Subscribe to know more about what goes on at Mesa Community College!

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *