Community College Corruption Culture Claims Another Crooked Captain: At Least Light Does The Honorable Thing


THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH

Saturday, September 6, 2008 3:04 AM

NELSONVILLE, Ohio -- Embattled Hocking College President John Light has announced that this school year will be his last at the helm of the two-year college.

Light, 77, who has led the tax-supported public school since 1968, is thought to be the longest-serving college president in the nation.

His current two-year contract ends June 30. When he signed the $142,464-a-year contract, he told trustees that he would leave when it expired.

In a memo sent Thursday to faculty and staff members, Light said he had advised the trustees to begin searching for his successor.

The state auditor, attorney general's office and Ohio Ethics Commission are investigating fraud and theft allegations at Hocking College. Light has denied any wrongdoing.

Light used a fund he controlled to pay for tens of thousands of dollars in foreign travel for himself, his wife and college trustees. He did not report many of the trips on his financial-disclosure forms. The travel was college-related, he said.

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