PENDLETON — Luca Lewis had a story to tell about Blue Mountain Community College, but not enough time to tell it.

Lewis, the vice president of student services at Whatcom Community College in Bellingham, Washington, opened his time at the BMCC presidential candidate forum Monday eventing, June 14, detailing a road trip he took to visit all five of the college’s campuses. Lewis was a last-minute addition to the slate of finalists after the board of education learned late in the process that the search committee had identified a fourth candidate.

Lewis had just finished recounting his trip to Boardman when interim President Connie Green interjected to remind him their time was limited and he still had to field questions from the audience.

Nevertheless, Lewis was able to weave his experiences in Eastern Oregon into his answers from various community members. Through anecdotes, he painted a picture of an institution that was struggling to stay relevant with the people it’s supposed to serve.

He recalled a conversation he had with a young Boardman Recreation Center employee, who told him she was much more excited about the course offerings at Columbia Basin College in Pasco than BMCC. A family he talked to in Milton-Freewater admitted to knowing nothing about Blue Mountain but lit up at the mention of Walla Walla Community College.

Following an extended period of declining enrollment across BMCC, Lewis said he would prioritize growing the student body if selected as the college’s next president.

Blue Mountain has many strengths, he added, but it lacked an understanding of the communities it was serving, especially its communities of color.

“(We) assume the students will find us,” he said. “They’ve flipped the script on you. They want to know if you understand them, and if they matter.”

With the final round of interviews completed, the task of picking the next president falls on the board of education. Besides Lewis, the board also is considering Mark Browning, the vice president of college relations at Western Idaho College, Western Nebraska Community College President Carmen Simone and Christopher Villa, the former president of Portland Community College’s Rock Creek campus.

The board will meet behind closed doors twice on June 16 to discuss the candidates. The board expects to make a formal decision in July.