Nanticoke, Luzerne County, PA -
Luzerne County Community College Board of Trustees took the next big step into LCCC’s future during Tuesday’s regular meeting, voting to make John Yudichak the next president after current president Thomas Leary retires next summer.
The appointment is contingent on the college and Yudichak “negotiating a mutually agreeable employment contract.”
The vote was 13-2, with Paul DeFabo and Holly Evanoski voting against. After the meeting DeFabo said he had nothing personal against Yudichak but that “He wasn’t my choice.”
Prior to the vote Board Vice-Chairman Robert Bertoni said the college had received 40 applications, which the search committee winnowed to six who were interviewed, with all board members invited to attend. Three names were forwarded for final consideration, with the committee voting to recommend Yudichak.
Yudichak served 12 years as state representative followed by 12 years as state senator, most of them as a Democrat, though he did switch to independent in 2019, citing the “toxic conversation that is so pervasive” in politics from both parties.
Yudichak left the senate, announcing in December of last year that he had accepted a position as senior adviser with Harrisburg-based GSL Public Strategies Group.
Leary has been president of LCCC for 16 years, first taking the job in 2007. He has worked in some capacity at the college since 1974, the year the operation was moved from downtown Wilkes-Barre to the current main campus in Nanticoke. He announced his retirement — effective June of next year — last December, two months after the board had granted an 18-month extension to a deal that was set to expire Dec. 11, 2022.
