Mott Community College faculty, staff and the community are concerned about some social media posts from board trustee Janet Couch that resurfaced.
FLINT, Mich. (WJRT) – Community members outlined concerns with several years-old social media posts that they deem inappropriate from Mott Community College trustee Janet Couch during a meeting a Monday evening.
Many of them also commented on ethical issues and the search for a permanent president to lead Mott.
“Some of it is clear cut,” said Mott Community College Education Association Interim President Brian Littleton. “We have to call it what it is. Some of those comments were flat-out bigotry.”
He was referring to social media posts that go back as far as nine years from Mott trustee Janet Couch, along with more recent posts from her daughter Dana Whitehead-Hopper.
While the posts and comments were written before Couch became a trustee, some people still deem them as unbecoming of a trustee. Jeremy Peters told the board that he became aware of the posts from other residents.
He referenced posts from Couch that called neighbors “the Blacks in Flint” and referred to former Flint Mayor Karen Weaver as “the Black mayor.” Couch indicated in posts that Blacks should be thankful because, “If they were in those other countries like Africa they’d be dying of hunger and disease.”
Peters also raised an issue of pride flags being taken down around campus. He believes some students, faculty and staff are afraid of retaliation if they address some of their concerns.
“At Mott, we have a diverse faculty, staff, and student population,” said Littleton. “So everyone here should be respected and valued and this is problematic when you have someone on the board of trustees who exposes these kinds of views.”
He said this only adds to the community’s concerns with Couch. She also has been accused of having a conflict of interest in the home sale between her daughter and new Mott President Shaunda Richardson-Snell.
The board’s former Attorney William Brickley investigated the issue before he resigned in December. Brickley said all board members have the responsibility to disclose personal relationships that could be of concern to the college, according to board policy.
“I definitely want to hear from Trustee Couch about these comments,” said Littleton. “There’s this overall lack of transparency and ethical considerations. I hope that the other trustees will investigate this matter further.”
Couch was absent from Monday’s meeting and she did not return messages seeking comment Monday evening.
