BILLINGS (AP) Gov. Brian
Schweitzer appointed a former tribal college
president to the state Board of
Regents, just three days after regent Mike
Foster resigned, citing health concerns.
Schweitzer was scheduled to formally
announce his pick, Janine Pease, Monday
morning in Billings, his office said.
Pease is vice president for American
Indian affairs at Rocky Mountain College, a
private school in Billings, and is a former
longtime president of Little Big Horn
College on the Crow Indian Reservation in
southeast Montana.
Pease is a Crow tribal member, according
to information provided by the governor’s
office.
“There are few people in this country
with the level of dedication to education for
all than Dr. Pease,” Schweitzer said in a
statement. “She has shared her talent in so
many capacities, and I know she will continue
to work hard for the students of
Montana in this role.”
Pease will serve as a Democrat and fill
a term set to expire in February 2011. She
also will resign her post on the state Human
Rights Commission, Schweitzer’s office
said.
This is the second appointment the
Democratic governor has made to the
board in recent weeks.
Last month, Schweitzer chose Missoula
businessman Clayton Christian to replace
John Mercer, a former board chairman and
frequent critic of Schweitzer who resigned
abruptly in March. Foster announced his
resignation from the panel Friday, at the
end of a three-day regents meeting in
Havre (see related story Page A3).
Both Foster and Mercer had been
appointed by Schweitzer’s predecessor,
Republican Gov. Judy Martz.
Following Mercer’s resignation,
Schweitzer said he wanted a more inclusive
search process for regents than past administrations
and that appointing former
Republican lawmakers such as Mercer
hadn’t worked, because they brought “a
partisan discussion to everything that came
up about higher education.”
