Times Union<\/a> reported on his farewell gathering and his career. Read Tyler McNeil’s story below:<\/p>\n <\/p>\n
TROY \u2014 Louis Coplin II spent his last day as a reporter with the Amsterdam Recorder on July 31, 1986. At the time, he was headed to work at Hudson Valley Community College.<\/p>\n
On the same day, 39 years later, Coplin retired from the top job at HVCC.<\/p>\n
\u201cBizarre,\u201d said a handlebar-mustachioed Coplin, sitting with a can of Mountain Dew in hand.<\/p>\n
Coplin, 65, made his final exit on Thursday as officer-in-charge, a temporary leadership role assumed in the fallout of then-president Roger Ramsammy\u2019s June 2024 firing by the college board amid sexual misconduct allegations.<\/p>\n
Coplin\u2019s successor, former Hilbert College President Michael S. Brophy, arrived on campus on Friday. Coplin plans on making himself available to the new president for help in the coming months. But he doesn\u2019t mind if that never occurs, based on his own experience succeeding HVCC administrators.<\/p>\n
\u201cI always maintain good relationships, but I never call them,\u201d Coplin said. \u201cI think, \u2018I\u2019ll figure this thing out.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n
This is the second time Coplin has pursued full-time retirement. He originally stepped down as student affairs vice president in February 2024 and briefly helped manage HVCC\u2019S Capital South Campus Center.<\/p>\n
After several months, according to him, he started receiving calls from college officials to potentially come back and fill in for Ramsammy in light of claims that the president groped an employee during a work event at a Kentucky hotel, according to a person familiar with the matter.<\/p>\n
For Coplin, it was easy to return.<\/p>\n
\u201cI hadn\u2019t established a retirement routine yet,\u201d the Glenmont man recalled. \u201cI was still kind of antsy, so when I was asked, I was happy to come back to a special place called work.\u201d<\/p>\n
HVCC was the cornerstone of Coplin\u2019s career. He came close to quitting once in 1987 for a job as SUNY Schenectady\u2019s communications director but turned it down after getting a higher-paying counteroffer.<\/p>\n
Academia was his second route in life. After graduating from SUNY Fredonia in 1983, the Buffalo native got a job as a news assistant at the Times Union. He left that gig after two years to work as a reporter with the Amsterdam Recorder, where he covered affairs spanning from Gloversville to Schoharie for another two years.<\/p>\n
By the end of his journalism career, he recounted that his quality of life was terrible and he wanted to head back to an urban setting after \u201cchasing cows.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI was making no money, wasn\u2019t married and didn\u2019t have any children at the time, which was great. (I was) eating bologna and cheese sandwiches for lunch and Rice-A-Roni for dinner,\u201d Coplin said. \u201cI said, \u2018I got to get out of here.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n
Coplin was offered a job at the end of an interview with HVCC\u2019s information services department, the predecessor to the marketing and communications office. The unbudgeted role was originally created through a temporary work agency and made permanent about one year later.<\/p>\n
At the time, the Troy and North Greenbush campus was far less developed, and \u2014 minus a dip during the coronavirus pandemic \u2014 had about 2,000 fewer students compared to 10,000 in 2025.<\/p>\n
Coplin and Willie Hammet, vice president of student services, were among the only Black employees working in the college administration in the 1980s. The two quickly became acquainted.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s older, but we happened to favor one another, which helped immensely and our personalities were similar,\u201d Coplin said.<\/p>\n
Hammett, who retired in 2003, helped get Coplin promoted to an interim position as coordinator of the school\u2019s Educational Opportunity Program, an initiative designed to provide financial and tutoring services to low-income students.<\/p>\n
That position, which became permanent, was a building block en route to Coplin replacing Arden Piper, director of student life, in 1995. At the time, his EOP position was threatened by proposed cuts from former Gov. George Pataki’s administration. But such cuts were ultimately avoided and HVCC officials opted to have Coplin serve both offices.<\/p>\n
With the new role came teaching moments, according to Coplin. In 2000, his shutdown of the Hudsonian student newspaper office over a strip club advertisement led to protest, eventually resulting in Coplin opening the office back up under orders from the administration. Student Senate President Clifton Dixon sued the student activities office over alleged abuses of power during his 2009-2010 term.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhile there have been mishaps since 2010, that office is far better than it\u2019s ever been in terms of fact-finding, crossing i\u2019s and dotting t\u2019s,\u201d Coplin said.<\/p>\n
The 2001 SUNY Chancellor\u2019s Award-winner briefly stepped out of student activities and EOP in the mid-2000s to serve as a vice president for student services after Hammett retired.<\/p>\n
He recalled feeling like a \u201cfavorite choice\u201d of Hammett and a \u201cpuppy dog\u201d from the get-go. Coplin opted to go back into his prior role as director of student life, where he felt established.<\/p>\n
Things changed again when Alex Popovics retired as vice president of student affairs in 2017. Then-HVCC President Andrew Matonak approached a reluctant Coplin about taking the position on a temporary basis. He remembers engaging in a brief \u201cstaring contest\u201d with him before accepting the position.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was completely awkward and just before we reached that 61st second, I said \u2018I\u2019ll take it,\u2019\u201d Coplin said. \u201cHe said, \u2018I\u2019m glad because the board already approved it the night before.’\u201d<\/p>\n
Coplin decided to stay in the cabinet when Ramsammy succeeded Matonak in 2017. Coplin befriended the president. The two, according to Coplin, spoke about personal matters prior to \u201cs__t hitting the fans so to speak.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was working well,\u201d Coplin said. \u201cObviously things did not work out well for him, but I was oblivious to all of that going on.\u201d<\/p>\n
When the sexual misconduct allegations broke, Coplin recalled telling Ramsammy that the president would likely face a \u201cslap on the wrist\u201d or suspension if accusations were false, but things would \u201cspiral out of control\u201d and not \u201cbode well\u201d if it was determined credible or others came forward.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd that\u2019s the best advice I gave him, what would be the last piece of advice prior to his demise,\u201d Coplin said.<\/p>\n
Ramsammy\u2019s lawyer, Kevin Luibrand, didn\u2019t respond to a request for comment for this story.<\/p>\n
Ramsammy\u2019s administration was one of six Coplin has served under since he began working for the college in 1986. At the time of his retirement on Thursday, he was the longest-serving employee in the administration. The second-longest is Judith DiLorenzo, vice president for academic affairs.<\/p>\n
HVCC Board of Trustees President Neil Kelleher has described Coplin as a \u201cViking through and through,\u201d a reference to the college\u2019s mascot.<\/p>\n
His successor, Brophy, was appointed by the SUNY Board of Trustees in June. He\u2019ll receive a salary of $290,000.<\/p>\n
\u201cI wish Louis all the best as he begins an exciting new chapter,\u201d Brophy said. \u201cThere\u2019s no question that the college community has benefited immensely from his decades of service and unwavering dedication to student success.\u201d<\/p>\n
Don\u2019t expect Coplin to make a full-time return again: The father of three children plans on spending more time with his grandchildren, golfing and possibly volunteering at the South Campus in Albany.<\/p>\n
\u201cI can cut the front lawn today and the back lawn tomorrow or water the front lawn one day, the back lawn maybe tomorrow,\u201d Coplin said.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
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