LTCC president to retire

unedited oct. mt. news article:

By Kathryn Reed

Incoming email dings in the background. A forest of pines sways outside the large windows. Student artwork adorns the walls. Papers are scattered about a desk and conference table.
This is Guy Lease’s office, but it is not his world. Even though he says he spends too much time tucked back in the main building of Lake Tahoe Community College, others see him as a regular around campus.
Interacting with students is a large part of what he does. It doesn’t matter if he knows their name, he says hello. He smiles. Those who know him engage him in conversation.
“It’s rewarding to meet with students … to talk about what their aspirations and goals are,” Lease said. “Without community colleges, people might not realize their dreams.”
Lease stands out – not just because he’s one of the few guys on campus wearing a tie or that full head of gray-blond hair. At 63 he still looks like he could hold his own on a basketball court. After all, he went to Rice University on a full athletic scholarship.
His aggressiveness on the court when he played hoop for the local Rotary team warranted a one game suspension. But that was 20 years ago when he and Art Slavack tussled on court. Now they are good friends.
In June, Lease is calling it quits. He became president of LTCC in 1990 after starting at the college in 1982 as dean of business services.
“We came through the same doctoral program at USC. I knew exactly the kind of preparation he had,” said Jim Duke, the college’s first president, on why he hired Lease. “It wasn’t a major factor, but we both had some military experience and that gave us a bond. The most important thing in the relationship of a president with senior people is chemistry. From the time I interviewed him there was chemistry.”
Duke encouraged the Vietnam veteran to apply for the presidency. The college’s first president is still in town, but when he left the job he knew hanging around campus wouldn’t allow Lease to grow into his new role.
“I was very careful to stay out of the way and have a low profile. We didn’t even go to college plays for the first year,” Duke said. “Way back I played (golf) fairly even with him, but the last number of years when we play I can’t compete with him. That’s the only negative thing I can say about him.”
Board members don’t regret their decision to hire Lease.
“We were ready to move into more of developing the staff and curriculum phase and pulling the campus together,” said Roberta Mason, one of two original board members still serving, as to why Lease was hired. “He has expanded our horizons as far as programs go and services to the Hispanic community and vocational programs. He has led us into all kinds of new directions.”

Finding his way

As Lease took over the presidency 17 years ago, the college as we know it was in its infancy. The campus off Al Tahoe Boulevard opened in October 1988 after being in what is now the Value Inn Motel.
The state Legislature had just passed a bill that called for shared governance – which means employees have a say about what goes on. Faculty input is sought in curriculum, the Academic Senate has authority.
“He was under pressure to prove he was an advocate for faculty and he did that,” said drama instructor Dave Hamilton, who was hired the year before Lease became president.
Lease admits it was an adjustment to go from supervising people with master’s and doctorates to being responsible for the whole campus and to the community.
“I had to decide how I was going to spend my time. There were more decisions to make,” Lease told the Tahoe Mountain News in a lengthy interview. “I remember sitting down at my desk and thinking ‘now what?’”
About 10 years ago he thought about moving on. He could have made more money, been at a bigger college in a bigger town. The board upped his compensation package, which helped convince him to stay.
“I felt I could make a difference here. It’s not just about making a living,” Lease said.
Plus, in this size town he can meet with the superintendent of the K-12 districts, City Council members, the city manager and whoever else is in a decision-making role.
Lease has been instrumental at the state level in securing funding for the 10 or so rural colleges in the state community college network.
“We’ve brought in millions of dollars to this campus and community,” Lease said. “We’ve done all of this without tapping local taxpayers.”
The state ponied up money well beyond the normal per pupil allocation. Local voters have never passed a bond for the college, though Lease predicts they may be asked to in the future to contend with maintenance issues and additional facilities.
“He has gotten us money on many occasions as a small college that I’m sure we could not have gotten on our own,” Mason said. She talked about his proficiency at writing letters to lawmakers to make a stand for LTCC.
His leadership became apparent to many others when the Angora Fire erupted and the college was turned into the resource center for survivors. The Red Cross, Office of Emergency Services, Small Business Administration, insurance companies, sheriff’s department – they all set up shop at the college.
His speech to staff last month started out with what the institution did during those chaotic few days and the role it has today.
“There was so much activity here it’s hard to describe,” Lease told the group. “The community needed us and we were there. I’ve never been more thankful for our buildings and staff.”
Fire related meetings are still conducted at the college – including the bi-state fire commission the two governors created.
Lease’s loyalty to his employees is evident by the fact that despite this publication and much of the staff knowing he was going to announce his resignation at the annual convocation Sept. 13, he didn’t want them to read about it until they heard it from him.
“I came here for no more than two years. That was 25 years ago,” Lease told the staff that day. “I would not have stayed if it were not for the wonderful people.”
It’s hard to know if Lease was joking when he said because his executive assistant Pam Barrett is leaving after 27 years that he couldn’t do his job without her. He even announced her retirement before his own.
At his office the next week, Lease talked about life after LTCC – for himself and the school.
“I’ll probably miss the structure in my life,” he said. “I’ll have to figure out what I’m going to do instead of asking Pam what I’m going to do.”
He and his wife, Peggy, are staying in town. Their daughter and three grandsons live here.
Lease expects to stay involved in the community college system for a handful of years doing “executive administrative” work.
His wife of 35 years will probably have a thing or two to say about his schedule. She’s retiring from LTUSD in June. Travel is likely to be a big part of their lives. Their son lives in London and offers from former students to come visit keep rolling in.

Opening up the world

Travel isn’t just something the Leases do, it’s something LTCC students do.
Lease is credited with developing the international travel program at the school as well as in Rotary. He has been part of the local Rotary club since the 1980s.
“His commitment to youth is what impresses me. Not only through his job at the college, but his commitment to the youth exchange program with Rotary,” said Rotarian Mark Lucksinger.
Through Rotary 30 kids come to the area each year and 30 from here travel abroad.
The international education program is No. 2 on Lease’s list of achievements. It’s sandwiched between being instrumental in the construction of the college and relationships he’s built with people on campus.
Several hundred LTCC students have participated in a variety of travel-study opportunities. In the last 12 months, 20 went to London, about 13 were in France last spring and 20 spent the summer in Mexico.
“I’m interested in getting our students out into the world,” Lease said. “You can’t become fluent in (a language) until you live where that language is spoken.”
The college has set up two- and three-week language immersion programs in Spain, Mexico and France, with talk of Italy in the works.
“Dave Foster took a class to France in the spring and he said how it changed some of their lives,” board member Mason said. She praised Lease for bringing international education to South Lake.
Lease got the travel bug when he worked for the U.S. government in Germany from January 1970 to July 1976. He met his future wife there. They married in 1972.
Skiing was a big part of their lives – in Europe and Tahoe. She’s hung up her boards, but he still hits the slopes.
Lease was instrumental in the early years of Buddy Warner.
The next phase
The board will hire a consultant to find prospective candidates to be LTCC’s third president. According to the Chronicle of Higher Education, 22 of the 109 community colleges’ in California are in the same boat. It’s the baby boomers saying bye-bye.
Lease wouldn’t disclose what he’d warn his successor about, but he knows sharing the history of the school will be a top priority.
“I hope he has new ideas to get to whatever the next level is,” Lease said of the next president. “I think the community is very fortunate to have its own college. It’s an educational and cultural center.”
For most of the staff, Lease is the only president they’ve known.
“I think he did well for the college, but I think it’s time for the college to transition into the next phase or era. Guy presided over an incredible growth period,” instructor Hamilton said. “Love or like or not what he has done, he put his heart and soul into this college. It was more than a job.”
Hamilton admits not agreeing with everything the president has done, but knows Lease thought out his decisions before making them.
With the current tenure of a community college president being three years, LTCC could be in for more frequent leadership changes.
“We are looking for someone who is strongly supportive of community colleges as a whole and who has leadership abilities and courage to face difficult times,” Mason said.