President on leave as son recovers

By: Steve Goa

Posted: 10/1/07

DBCC President Kent Sharples remains on a leave of absence while his son recovers from brain surgery as a result of a soft-tissue tumor. During the Board of Trustees meeting last month, trustees voted to give him a paid leave of absence until June 30, 2008.

Steve Sharples was diagnosed with a brain tumor last month just a week after he began experiencing severe headaches. The practicing attorney had surgery at the end of the month and doctors reported that more than 90 percent of his tumor was removed.

Executive Vice President Rand Spiwak, in an e-mail addressed to all employees, said, "Steve is doing well…it appears that no speech, cognitive or motor skills were adversely affected. Kent and Linda sounded most relieved and thankful."

Spiwak was named interim president by the board until Sharples' crisis is contained.

At first , when Steve's headaches persisted, he went to an eye specialist.

After several weeks of exploring treatment options, Steve was sent to a surgeon at the Hermelin Brain Tumor Center of the Henry Ford Hospital in Detroit, where the Sharples stayed to give him their support.

The neurological center is a nationally recognized leader in brain-tumor treatment and its surgeons are world-renowned physicians.

As expected, President Sharples will be absent for the majority of September.

But the president's absence could be even more prolonged depending on the medical procedure. Spiwak will be replacing him at important events and for off-campus appearances.

Although he is designated acting president, Spiwak emphasized that Sharples remains the head of DBCC. "He calls very often and participates in the board meetings through video conferences," said Spiwak.

To comfort the Sharples, as well as other employees facing medically challenging times, Job Clement and James Green initiated a prayer meeting. Green is Dean of the School of Health, Human and Public Services and Clement is Chair of the Human and Social Sciences Department.

Clement is also the Baptist Collegiate Ministries adviser. He believes that the prayer meeting was "a great comfort for both the Sharples family and the college at large."

The assembly was also an occasion for the DBCC family to recognize other faculty members whose problems were not as publicized.

"Between 15 and 20 names of employees dealing with a seriously ill family member were cited," Spiwak said. "It is cool that a college as large as DBCC, with three campuses and 900 employees, is still a family."