4 to vie for 2 positions on San Jacinto College Board of Trustees

Positions to be filled in election on Saturday, May 6, 2023

PASADENA, Texas — Four candidates have qualified for the ballot for two positions on the San Jacinto College District Board of Trustees.

Board of Trustees Positions 1 and 2 will be filled in the election. Each position is for a six-year term. Mrs. Erica Davis Rouse (incumbent) and Mr. Brad Hance have filed for Position 1. Dr. Michelle Cantú-Wilson and Mrs. Karen K. Wheeler-Hall have filed for Position 2.

Mrs. Erica Davis Rouse

Erica Davis Rouse was born in Galena Park, Texas, before moving to the South Belt-area as a child. She has continued to make South Belt her home and where she has raised her own family. She was first elected to the San Jacinto College Board of Trustees in May 2017.

Davis Rouse has always had a passion for community and education. Her parents lived and still live a lifestyle that modeled service and giving. In her former role as a manager for John Wiley & Sons, Davis Rouse is vividly familiar with the challenges faced by students and faculty in the 2-year college environment. She previously worked as a regional manager with School Innovations & Achievement, which provides software in the K-12 market. She has volunteered with several non-profits, including Making it Better Texas.org, Yellowstone Academy, and she is an advisory board member for the Smahrt Girl Foundation. Davis Rouse has also volunteered with the Pasadena Independent School District, including service as team mom for several of her son's activities, mentoring and coaching in the Leaders of Tomorrow program, tutoring at New Covenant Church, and serving in various leadership capacities throughout the community. She is proud to be an ambassador for the Houston Texans as a member of the NFL Alumni Association.

Davis Rouse is a graduate of J. Frank Dobie High School and Texas A&M University-College Station. She and her husband, Bobby, have three children, all attending college.

Mr. Brad Hance

A life-long resident of Deer Park and Pasadena, Brad Hance is an honors graduate of Deer Park High School. He attended San Jacinto College, where he was vice president of Phi Theta Kappa National Honor Society and president of the sophomore class of 1968. He went on to the University of Houston, where he earned a bachelor's degree in mathematics. Hance then went to work for Maintenance Engineering Corporation in 1971, and in 2003, he bought the chemical division and named it MECO Inc. The company services the Gulf Coast water treatment needs with offices in Houston and New Orleans. He sold the company in 2017 and now serves as a consultant.

Hance and his wife, Evelyn, have four children and 10 grandchildren. He served on the San Jacinto College Foundation from 2007 to 2011 and was that organization's board chairman in 2010 and 2011.

Hance served as San Jacinto College Trustee, Position No. 1, from 2011 to 2017. During that time, he was a member of the San Jacinto College Building Committee and was involved in the building and startup of the San Jacinto College Maritime Campus.

Hance served as treasurer for the Second Century Corporation of Pasadena, a non-profit organization for community development. He is also representing and appointed by the City of Pasadena as a commissioner on the Houston Pilot's Board, working closely with the U. S. Coast Guard monitoring all traffic in the Houston Ship Channel.

Dr. Michelle Cantú-Wilson

Dr. Michelle Cantú-Wilson is the creative director and speaker for Marquee Consulting Inc., a leadership consulting firm. She also oversees the Luxlead Institute, an online program that offers leadership training.

Cantú-Wilson proudly served San Jacinto College for nearly 10 years. She began in the English as a Second Language department at the North Campus before becoming a college preparatory adjunct and then full-time faculty member. In her most recent role, Cantú-Wilson was the director of teaching and learning initiatives and special projects, functioning as the College liaison to external partners in education, including Achieving the Dream, Frontier Set, Texas Pathways, AACC Pathways, AVID-Higher Education, the Houston Endowment, and the Association for College and University Educators.

Prior to her career with San Jacinto College, Cantú-Wilson was a junior high assistant principal and English teacher in the Pasadena Independent School District. She is a lifelong learner, a community builder, a wife, a mom, and an animal lover.

Mrs. Karen K. Wheeler-Hall

Karen K. Wheeler Hall grew up in La Porte and graduated from La Porte High School. She attended San Jacinto College, the University of Texas at Austin, the University of Houston-Clear Lake, and the University of St. Thomas. She holds a Bachelor of Science in political science, with an emphasis on public administration (including K-12 certifications), as well as a Master of Education in special education.

Wheeler-Hall taught at La Porte High School for 21 years. She then worked as an educational diagnostician for LPISD for 10 years. In 2021, she retired from education and bought the Rothe Companies (Rothe Development Inc. and Rothe Enterprises Inc.). Both companies are Women Owned Small Businesses and are contractors to NASA and the Department of Defense. She currently serves on several committees for LPISD and the Citizens Advisory Council to Industry in La Porte.

Her experience in working with high school students has validated her belief that a community college is so important to help so many students succeed. She has had the opportunity to see many of her former students receive associate degrees as well as valuable certifications that have helped those students become successful adults. Her current businesses hire many employees that hold certifications and degrees from San Jacinto College.

Both of Wheeler-Hall's parents have served on the La Porte ISD School Board, and her father, Dr. Ruede Wheeler, is a current San Jacinto College trustee. It is her desire to continue the contributions her family have made to the College. She is committed to work to ensure that San Jacinto College continues to provide excellent, affordable education to all students.

Candidates for the San Jacinto Community College District Board of Trustees must meet all of the following requirements:

• Must have lived continuously in one of the independent school districts comprising the San Jacinto Community College taxing district six months prior to the last date on which the candidate could file to be listed on the ballot;
• Must have lived continuously in Texas for 12 months preceding the filing deadline;
• Must be a qualified voter;
• Must be 18 years of age or older;
• Must be a U.S. citizen;
• Must not be a convicted felon;
• Must be aware of the nepotism law;
• Must serve without compensation; and
• Must not have been determined mentally incompetent by a final judgment of a court.

Voters in the following school districts elect the seven San Jacinto Community College District Trustees: La Porte, Deer Park, Pasadena, Galena Park, Channelview, Sheldon, and portions of Clear Creek, Pearland, and Humble. Elections for the San Jacinto College Board of Trustees occur every two years, in odd-numbered years. The Board is elected in numbered at-large positions, 1 through 7, and serve six-year terms.

The election will be held Saturday, May 6, 2023. Early voting runs Monday, April 24, through Tuesday, May 2. To find polling locations and additional election information, visit the Harris County Elections website.

About San Jacinto College

Surrounded by monuments of history, evolving industries, maritime enterprises of today, and the space age of tomorrow, San Jacinto College has served the people of East Harris County, Texas, since 1961. The College is one of the top five community colleges in the nation as designated by the Aspen Institute, and was named an Achieving the Dream Leader College of Distinction in 2020. The College is a Hispanic-Serving Institution that spans five campuses, serving approximately 41,000 credit and non-credit students annually. It offers more than 200 degrees and certificates across eight major areas of study that put students on a path to transfer to four-year institutions or enter the workforce. The College is fiscally sound, holding bond ratings of AA and Aa2 by Standard & Poor's and Moody's.

For more information about San Jacinto College visit sanjac.edu.