EDITORIAL: Farewell to an authentic difference maker

A good one is getting away.

Joe Dunlap and his wife, Yvette, are leaving North Idaho for the coast of Washington. Movers are scheduled to arrive today.

While the temptation is great to unload a bushel of sour grapes and lament what could have been, we will instead follow the example of what Joe himself would do. And that involves taking the high road, appreciating all that’s been good and looking ahead to the adventures that await in a new chapter of life.

Joe Dunlap leaves one hell of a mark after his 11 or so years here. If that makes him a relative short-timer, well, so be it. But he’s proof that it’s not how long you hang around; it’s what you contribute in however long that is.

In April 2012, North Idaho College’s board of trustees announced it was hiring Dunlap as college president. Based on Dunlap’s background, he was an ideal candidate for this conservative region — strong academic credentials, two decades of distinguished military service in Army aviation, and both proficiency in and passion for business. Dunlap really connected the dots between community college classrooms and good jobs.

He also knew the area well. For five years prior to taking the NIC helm, Dunlap served as president of Spokane Community College. He was vice president of instruction there for three years before his promotion, so you could argue that he was neither a short-timer nor an outsider.

In retrospect, that hiring was good for the college, but what came next was even better for the community. Being a college president pays well and carries no small measure of prestige, but Dunlap’s retirement was followed by continued — and unpaid, underappreciated — service.

In November 2018, Dunlap was elected as NIC trustee along with two longtime, outstanding trustees — Christie Wood and Ken Howard. Yes, those were the days.

Sadly, Dunlap’s 2020 bid to continue to selflessly serve his college and his community was derailed. Dunlap lost that trustee election to Greg McKenzie, and we’ve all seen how that’s worked out.

Had Dunlap won, there’s little reason to believe he and Yvette would put the SOLD sign on their home now and head west. But sometimes, these things work out in ways we might not see immediately. The hope here is that this move is everything the Dunlaps imagine it will be.

Thank you, Joe and Yvette, for leaving this place better than you found it. May we all someday be able to say the same.