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Mark Kennedy new, but soon to be old CU President - Official CU president Thread

At UND, he seemed to be good at making unpopular decisions that may not be liked by the masses, but needed for the overall good. Past that, not sure what to think either way.

Are people turned off because of his political positions?

Just let Rick George do his thing and mostly stay out of the way in athletics.
 
Just let Rick George do his thing and mostly stay out of the way in athletics.

That isn’t enough, IMO. The President of the University needs to be the public face of the school. As such, he/she needs to be actively and publicly supportive of the school - all of the school. He can’t just sit back and let RG do his thing. That’s the kind of attitude that gave us Betsy Hoffman. Being the President of the University of Colorado system is a big job. He needs to be up to the job.
 
Obviously not everyone is going to have glowing reviews of a person, and this is written with hints of some form of an agenda, but there are certainly a lot of concerning things coming out:
https://www.sayanythingblog.com/ent...ime-job-plus-expenses-to-commute-from-boston/

Overall, it feels like CU is in a good position in almost all aspects of the university. I'm not sure anyone can argue this looks like an upgrade over Benson. Ignoring some of the personal views vs views if the university it feels like whether it was the right decision or not, hiring someone who specializes in cutting and downsizing does not seem like it aligns with the direction of CU. Someone compared this to a coaching hire. If we hired a coach from a small school and everyone at that school was celebrating they were leaving would anyone be here happy?
 
Believe it or not, I don't actually worry to much about individual politics for this position. However, I don't know how students and staff who are LGBTQ can feel comfortable with someone that holds his views at the top of the organization.

This just seems like a really bad fit and a really bad hire to me.
 
Believe it or not, I don't actually worry to much about individual politics for this position. However, I don't know how students and staff who are LGBTQ can feel comfortable with someone that holds his views at the top of the organization.

This just seems like a really bad fit and a really bad hire to me.
I tend to agree. 2 major things I think CU is known for is being inclusive and being (possiblely extreme) on the environmentally friendly side. Kennedy seems to fall on the opposite side of both of those.
 
I tend to agree. The 2 major things I think CU is most well known for is being inclusive and being (possiblely extreme) on the environmentally friendly side. Kennedy seems to fall on the opposite side of both of those.
Also a research institution that has been investing heavily into raising its profile on medical and bio-chem. We are hiring a president who voted in congress to ban all stem cell research.
 
Given the article that RollTad provided, it mentions "surprise budget cuts" as the reason for those budget cuts at UND so Kennedy cannot be blamed for those budget cuts.

If you think those type of consultant deals are unique to UND or Kennedy, I have a bridge to sell you in Fargo. Neither is the whining on Facebook and other social media about Kennedy's political affiliation which is way overblown when it comes to college presidential appointments.
 
Given the article that RollTad provided, it mentions "surprise budget cuts" as the reason for those budget cuts at UND so Kennedy cannot be blamed for those budget cuts.

If you think those type of consultant deals are unique to UND or Kennedy, I have a bridge to sell you in Fargo. Neither is the whining on Facebook and other social media about Kennedy's political affiliation which is way overblown when it comes to college presidential appointments.
There are several bridges in Fargo, but UND is in Grand Forks.
 


CU’s Board of Regents voted unanimously Wednesday to name Mark R. Kennedy, the University of North Dakota’s president and a former Minnesota congressman, 61, the sole candidate to take the reins of the state’s largest university system from outgoing president Bruce Benson.

The selection of Kennedy drew initially praise from CU’s regents, though some in the university community immediately raised concerns about the former Republican congressman’s votes against gay marriage and to restrict abortion rights in the early 2000s. More recently, Kennedy’s tenure at North Dakota has not been without controversy, thanks to a very public falling out with a top donor.

By Wednesday evening, at least one regent, Lesley Smith, a Boulder Democrat who holds an at-large seat, expressed newfound reservations.
 
Gordon Gee is so hated for his time as President of Brown University that the have the “E Gordon Gee Lavoratory Complex” named in his honor. I think most CU alumni remember him more fondly.
 
I don't get the obsession on politics, the regents would have vetted that. In addition his job in Congress is different than the president of a University politically and he is probably capable of seperating the two, just like many of us do in our jobs.

Yes in Congress he voted on party lines, maybe he didn't like that and wants to side on issues based on his own viewes as well. He can speak for himself on that.

As a congressman you have to raise funds and hold fundraisers, I can see why that would be something that is looked at.

I do see the hire as uninspired and if it was done on the cheap, Kroll will just publicly blame it on the football program and the supposed money the AD is siphoning from the school. I also see this as a hire that won't rock the boat.
 


CU’s Board of Regents voted unanimously Wednesday to name Mark R. Kennedy, the University of North Dakota’s president and a former Minnesota congressman, 61, the sole candidate to take the reins of the state’s largest university system from outgoing president Bruce Benson.

The selection of Kennedy drew initially praise from CU’s regents, though some in the university community immediately raised concerns about the former Republican congressman’s votes against gay marriage and to restrict abortion rights in the early 2000s. More recently, Kennedy’s tenure at North Dakota has not been without controversy, thanks to a very public falling out with a top donor.

By Wednesday evening, at least one regent, Lesley Smith, a Boulder Democrat who holds an at-large seat, expressed newfound reservations.

Oh, so a multimillion dollar commitment to a black football coach is a bridge too far for some of our regents because it belies CU's real priorities but it's hunky dory to install an anti-LGTBQ asshat as the leader of the University unanimously?

**** all of them.

Also I'm a bit concerned because he's never been involved with a University in any capacity with an enrollment as big as the Boulder campus- he's worked in individual schools at Johns Hopkins and George Washington, both of whom are a bit smaller than Boulder. UND is about the size of CU-Denver, and add in Boulder, UCCS, and Anshutz and this is much, much bigger than any University he's ever worked for.

I also don't see any real positives being touted by the regents beside generalities and I have to say I'm not overly enthused about his CV.
 
Honestly, if he can continue on the trajectory Benson has us on, I'm cool with that. I don't think anyone can honestly say Benson did anything less than a stellar job, unless they're pushing an agenda. He took over a mess that Brown had only just stabilized and turned the entire system around.

The more important thing is that being the President of CU, with all the ridiculous nonsense and political bull**** that our state and its silly laws puts on the entire system, you have to navigate minefields while walking a tightrope. I have no overall knowledge in this area, so I could be wrong, but I would imagine that being the President of the CU system is one of the harder positions in the country.

My point is, all things considered, Benson was a very good to great President for CU, and replacing him is probably impossible. However, the stakes are very high because the possibility of failure is large and the consequences can be disastrous. What I'm reading about this guy does not fill me with confidence.
 
Honestly, if he can continue on the trajectory Benson has us on, I'm cool with that. I don't think anyone can honestly say Benson did anything less than a stellar job, unless they're pushing an agenda. He took over a mess that Brown had only just stabilized and turned the entire system around.

The more important thing is that being the President of CU, with all the ridiculous nonsense and political bull**** that our state and its silly laws puts on the entire system, you have to navigate minefields while walking a tightrope. I have no overall knowledge in this area, so I could be wrong, but I would imagine that being the President of the CU system is one of the harder positions in the country.

My point is, all things considered, Benson was a very good to great President for CU, and replacing him is probably impossible. However, the stakes are very high because the possibility of failure is large and the consequences can be disastrous. What I'm reading about this guy does not fill me with confidence.

Uhhhhhhhh - I think Benson did a really good job with fundraising, but UCCS and UCD are not in good shape, and Anschutz has its own fair share of issues. Boulder is doing very well at least.
 
Uhhhhhhhh - I think Benson did a really good job with fundraising, but UCCS and UCD are not in good shape, and Anschutz has its own fair share of issues. Boulder is doing very well at least.

I've heard UCD has issues, but I thought UCCS is in decent shape? I'm amazed at how much they've grown compared to where they were at when I was a kid in the Springs.
 
Uhhhhhhhh - I think Benson did a really good job with fundraising, but UCCS and UCD are not in good shape, and Anschutz has its own fair share of issues. Boulder is doing very well at least.

Well that highlights my bias, I suppose, lol.

At the same time, I think my point still stands about the insane bull**** a leader of the CU system has to deal with. Whether Benson has been as good as I said aside, it takes a certain kind of person to not fail at this job, and I'm not heartened by this new guy's experience.
 
That isn’t enough, IMO. The President of the University needs to be the public face of the school. As such, he/she needs to be actively and publicly supportive of the school - all of the school. He can’t just sit back and let RG do his thing. That’s the kind of attitude that gave us Betsy Hoffman. Being the President of the University of Colorado system is a big job. He needs to be up to the job.
Well, no ****. I was talking about the AD. The president of a School system does not need to be meddling in every aspect of one of its Schools athletic department.
 
Were you expecting a President from a more prestigious school to replace him? I'm confused here...
Strange that you seem to think the only people that can get university president jobs are ones that are currently presidents of other universities...
 
Well, no ****. I was talking about the AD. The president of a School system does not need to be meddling in every aspect of one of its Schools athletic department.
Also, nobody outside of people w CU affiliations know Bruce Benson is the President of the University system. The ADs and HFBC/HBBC of major institutions are just as much the public face of the entire institution as the Presidents.

As you said, as long as this new guy keeps the same or increases support for the AD and allows RG to run ****, I couldn’t care less to be honest.
 
Ignoring the thoughts on whether or not this is a good fit, the fact the the hiring committee and regents seem to have 1. Not even known about this information publicly available via a simple Google search 2. Have not prepared responses for issues that were likely to cause some backlash makes me question how qualified they actually are to hire a University president
 
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