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FREEPORT — Freeport lawyer David Shockey and Marine veteran Blake Musser were elected to Highland Community College's two open trustee seats.
Shockey, who received 39.71 percent of total votes in the college's district, already has two six-year terms on Highland's board behind him. Robert Urish, also with a two-term tenure, failed in his re-election bid with 27.44 percent of the vote.
Musser received 32.85 percent of total votes cast. Highland's district covers portions of four counties: Stephenson, Carroll, Jo Daviess and Ogle.
Declining enrollment, reductions in state funding, and a deficit in this year's operating funds are among the challenges Highland faces in the immediate future. These factors have pushed up Highland's tuition to $118 per credit hour this year, one of the highest of the 39 community college districts in the state.
Musser, a Freeport native and Aquin High School graduate, is the only one of the three candidates who attended Highland, first for a semester after he graduated from high school and then for a second semester in 2004, as a 24-year-old Marine veteran. He enlisted before 9/11 and spent nine months in Iraq before he was injured and returned home.
Musser got his bachelor's degree at Illinois State University and a master's degree in conflict analysis and resolution from George Mason University. He and his wife returned to Freeport in 2012. He works as a strategic aide to the chief executive officer of SupplyCore Inc., an integrated logistics company in Rockford.
Shockey, a Freeport lawyer who lives in Ridott, has a bachelor's degree in agriculture and economics and a law degree from the University of Illinois. In March, when Highland's administration asked for a $10 per credit hour tuition increase for fiscal 2016, Shockey moved to amend the increase to $5 instead, which passed 7-1.
Urish, a business owner from Mount Morris, is a Yale University graduate with an MBA from the University of Michigan.
Cindy Scott Day: 815-275-2874; [email protected]; @CindyScottDay
Results
Shockey: 39.71 percent
Musser: 32.85 percent
Urish: 27.44 percent
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