Alamance Community College voted unanimously, 11-0, to elect Ken Walker and Jim Butler as their new chairman and vice chairman, respectively.
Their terms as chairman and vice chairman are for one year.
A member of ACC’s trustee board since August 2023, Walker has served as the trustees’ vice chairman for the past two years. He replaces Julie Scott Emmons as chairman, who served in that role for two terms, from September 2024 until August 2026.
A realtor who owns a RE/MAX franchise in Mebane, Walker was originally appointed to a four-year term on ACC’s trustee board by the Alamance-Burlington school board in June 2023.
Butler is the former mayor of Burlington and a longtime city councilman who opted not to seek reelection as mayor prior to the expiration of his term in 2025.
An executive with Modern Automotive in Winston-Salem, Butler is halfway through his second, four-year term on ACC’s board of trustees: he was initially appointed in 2020 and reappointed in 2024 by then-Gov. Roy Cooper.
However, a change in state law that took effect in 2023 stripped the governor and 115 school boards of their authority to appoint four members to each of North Carolina’s 58 community college trustee boards. County commissioner boards retained their authority to appoint four members to community college boards of trustees within their jurisdiction.
That change was originally introduced in the state senate in April 2023 in a bill cosponsored by state senator Amy Galey, who represents Alamance County and a portion of Randolph County. The provision was later incorporated into the biennial state budget that the General Assembly passed in September 2023, authorizing the state house and senate to appoint four members apiece to each of the state’s 12-member community college trustee boards.
General Assembly and Alamance County commissioners appoint three trustees
Meanwhile, the General Assembly recently appointed two members of ACC’s trustee board: outgoing Republican state representative Stephen (“Steve”) Ross and Grant Brooks, an executive with SAS.
Ross opted not to seek reelection to the state house this year. He will be sworn into office in January 2027, once his resignation from the state house becomes effective.
A state law prohibits members of the General Assembly from serving on community college trustee board, ACC president Dr. Ken Ingle confirmed for The Alamance News Monday night.
Ross’ term will run through June 2030, based on a bill that the General Assembly passed last Thursday, codifying dozens of advisory board and commission appointments recommended by the state house and senate, based on a copy of the bill that was provided for the trustees.
Ross replaces former ACC trustee Sylvia Muñoz, who was appointed by Cooper in 2022 and is employed as the assistant dean of students and director of the Center for Race, Ethnicity, and Diversity Education (CREDE) at Elon University. Her term expired June 30, 2026.
The state senate has also appointed Grant Brooks of 806 Tarleton Avenue, Burlington, to a full, four-year term on ACC’s board. He was not present for the trustees’ latest meeting Monday night but participated in the meeting and voted remotely via the online teleconferencing platform Zoom.
ACC officials said Monday night that Brooks will be sworn into office for his new term at a subsequent meeting.
A senior vice president for the Cary-based data analytics firm SAS, Brooks was initially appointed by the North Carolina senate in June 2025 to complete the remaining term of former ACC trustee Dr. Charles K. Scott, who resigned in November 2024 due to an impending move to Winston-Salem. His new term runs through June 30, 2030.
Meanwhile, Alamance County’s commissioners have appointed Lauren Kapler, an executive director for Labcorp who lives at 4007 Bowe Court in Burlington, to a four-year term on ACC’s trustee board.
Kapler replaces Tammy Karnes, who the commissioners had appointed in early 2025 to replace former trustee Mark Gordon following his resignation in October 2024. Kapler’s term will run through the end of June 2030.
The trustees also voted 11-0 Monday night to reelect Ingle as the secretary to the board, in keeping with their customary practice.
Voting to elect Walker as the chairman, Butler as vice chairman, and Ingle as the board secretary were: Kapler, Brooks, Butler, Emmons, and Walker, as well as trustees Walter Britt; Steve Carter; Dr. Roslyn Crisp; Pete Glidewell; Bill Gomory; and Blake Williams.
The president of ACC’s Student Government Association, who for the upcoming 2026-27 academic year is Citlaly Garcia Guijon, customarily serves a one-year term as a non-voting student trustee.
