Washington Governor Jay Inslee has named student Stassney Jane A. Obregon, of Renton, to the Board of Trustees of Bellevue College. Obregon is the third student to serve on the Bellevue College board.
As a student trustee, Obregon will have all of the duties and powers of a regular trustee, but must excuse herself from participation or voting on matters related to hiring, discipline or tenure of faculty and personnel, or any matters pertaining to collective bargaining agreements. Her term lasts until June 30, 2015.
Obregon, who is working towards an associate’s degree in science, is an active and dedicated member of four leadership clubs at Bellevue College: the Organization of Women Leaders, Rotaract Club, El Centro Latino, and Black Student Union. She’s also served as the outreach coordinator for the BC Sustainable Business Practice program.
Students at Bellevue College spearheaded the effort to allow those who attend the state’s community and technical colleges to serve on their boards of trustees, a right that students at the state’s public universities have enjoyed for years. Those efforts resulted in the passage of SB 5217 in the Washington State Legislature and signed into law by former Gov. Christine Gregoire in 2012. The law allows any college district’s board of trustees, which are comprised of five members, to establish a sixth trustee position to be filled by a student. The governor selects the student from a list of three to five candidates submitted by the student government of that college district.
Current members of the BC Board of Trustees include: Steve Miller (chair), Marie Gunn (vice chair), Lisa Chin, Merisa Heu-Weller, and Vicki Orrico.
Last Updated October 3, 2016