Dr. Christine Watson appointed new interim president and CEO, replacing Darin Brecht
By Becca Myskiw
Darin Brecht has resigned as interim president and CEO of Red River College (RRC).
A statement sent on Feb. 19 from Loren Cisyk and Janice Hyde said the board of governors has accepted Brecht’s resignation as interim president and CEO and his role of vice president of Finance and Administration. The statement said Brecht resigned for family reasons.
The college’s board of governors gave no further explanation or comment on Brecht’s resignation when The Projector reached out.
Red River College Students’ Association president Josh Roopchand said the board was not expecting Brecht to resign.
“There’s been a lot of change in the past year,” said Roopchand. “It was unfortunate he had to leave.”
Brecht’s resignation was effective immediately. His former position as vice president of Finance and Administration has not yet been filled, said Roopchand.
Brecht became RRC’s interim president and CEO on Aug. 8, 2019 after the college didn’t renew Paul Vogt’s contract.
Vogt was tasked with cleaning up the financial mess his successor Stephanie Forsyth made after allegedly spending the college’s money for personal reasons. After four years with the college, the president was voted out last summer.
Brecht’s role started with public speculation the move to fire Vogt was politically motivated. The PC government and RRC denied that, saying the college was just going in a new direction.
In his six months at RRC, Brecht was at the grand opening of RRC’s Prairie Research Kitchen in November and gave opening remarks at Jordin Tootoo’s mental health speech earlier this month.
His resignation comes two months before the regular winter term ends.
Following Brecht’s resignation, the board of governors has appointed Dr. Christine Watson as the new interim president and CEO. Watson is the vice president, Academic.
Watson has been with RRC since 2013 and has been the vice president academic since July 2016.
Roopchand said he can’t say when the board will find a permanent president and CEO. He said Brecht’s resignation was fast, and it depends on what happens next.
