CLC's First African-American VP Retires

 The fall semester at Grayslake's College of Lake County ended with the retirement of Darl Drummond, the institution's first African-American vice president. Drummond served as vice president for student development since 1999. She originally came to the college as dean of student development in 1997 and then was promoted to vice president.

At the December board of trustees’ meeting, the board passed a resolution honoring Drummond’s accomplishments, citing her as a “tireless advocate to improve services for students.”

“We will miss Darl very much,” said Board Chairman Richard Anderson after reading the resolution.

During her years as vice president, Drummond led initiatives resulting in the creation of a Student Advisement Center and New Student Orientation program and the development of retention programs such as the First Generation program and Student Empowerment centers. She also led efforts to enhance services to veterans, resulting in the college being named a Military Friendly School for three consecutive years by Military Advanced Education and four consecutive years by G.I. Jobs magazine.

Drummond fostered relationships with the faith community and the African American and Latino communities, and she led efforts to create Men of Vision, a male-student support organization, and Sister-to-Sister, a similar organization focused on women students.

“Darl has been a true champion of students’ needs,” said CLC President Jerry Weber. “Supporting their success has always been her number one priority.”

Submitted by the College of Lake County