{"id":47042,"date":"2021-04-30T20:28:11","date_gmt":"2021-05-01T02:28:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.durangoherald.com\/tj\/faculty-censures-cu-boulder-president-citing-failure-of-leadership\/"},"modified":"2021-05-01T02:28:11","modified_gmt":"2021-05-01T02:28:11","slug":"faculty-censures-cu-boulder-president-citing-failure-of-leadership","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.durangoherald.com\/tj\/faculty-censures-cu-boulder-president-citing-failure-of-leadership\/","title":{"rendered":"Faculty censures CU Boulder president, citing \u2018failure of leadership\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"Motion says Mark Kennedy fails to improve diversity, equity and inclusion on campus\n

\"Mark
Mark Kennedy addresses audience questions at the University of Colorado, Denver campus.<\/span>Hart Van Denburg\/CPR News file<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

University of Colorado President Mark Kennedy was formally reprimanded Thursday by faculty on the Boulder campus for a \u201cfailure of leadership with respect to diversity, equity, and inclusion.\u201d<\/p>\n

The censure vote by 53 members of the Boulder Faculty Assembly, a body of 60 faculty members from different departments on campus, came Thursday afternoon.<\/p>\n

Ultimately, the action has no immediate consequence for Kennedy, but the assembly forwarded the resolution to the Board of Regents, which will evaluate Kennedy\u2019s performance and contract this June.<\/p>\n

Faculty alleged in a formal motion that Kennedy\u2019s ongoing conduct, such as what they called his delayed aid to support international students during the pandemic, is counterproductive to CU\u2019s efforts to improve diversity and inclusion on campus.<\/p>\n

The assembly introduced the motion in early April, when several faculty members brought up areas of concern they had related to Kennedy\u2019s past actions.<\/p>\n

But while the resolution ultimately passed by a vote of 34-19, it was not without considerable debate. Faculty members argued that it failed to account for the progress Kennedy had made in addressing diversity, equity and inclusion on campus.<\/p>\n

\u201cSome of the statements that are in the current motion do not fit with reality,\u201d said David Kassoy, professor of mechanical engineering. \u201cI find it difficult to support a motion where some of the facts are not correct.\u201d<\/p>\n

Kassoy specifically referenced Kennedy\u2019s hiring of a chief diversity officer.<\/p>\n

History professor David Paradis responded by saying Kennedy\u2019s support must extend beyond hiring.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s more that he isn\u2019t leading on diversity, equity and inclusion,\u201d Paradis said. \u201cSo in particular, he has Theodosia Cook in that (diversity) office and that\u2019s great. Now, fund the office so that she has full-time employees, fund the office so that they could submit grant proposals to sustain the diversity, equity and inclusion efforts.\u201d<\/p>\n

Even before the vote, Kennedy responded to the censure resolution in a statement.<\/p>\n

\u201cI have the utmost regard for CU faculty and I respect their right to be critical of me or any CU leaders,\u201d he said. \u201cWhile we are making progress in diversity, equity and inclusion, we need to make much more, and I invite anyone interested in doing so to join me in this important work.\u201d<\/p>\n

Kennedy was a three-term Republican congressman from Minnesota until 2007 before moving into consulting, then academia, eventually becoming director of the graduate school of political management at George Washington University. He served as president of the University of North Dakota from 2016 to 2019 before taking over CU in July 2019.<\/p>\n

This is the third formal disciplinary action Kennedy faced this year. Earlier this month, CU\u2019s student government also voted to reprimand Kennedy, citing near-identical grievances as their faculty counterparts. The CU system\u2019s Faculty Council, which makes recommendations to the Board of Regents on behalf of faculty members on all four CU campuses, also reprimanded Kennedy in April for failing to protect the \u201cuniversity environment.\u201d<\/p>\n

Kennedy will face his yearly evaluation in June, where regents will decide whether to renew his contract. While elected to the nonpartisan position by a Republican-majority board, he will now face the first Democrat-run board at the university in almost 40 years.<\/p>\n

For more news from Colorado Public Radio, visit www.cpr.org<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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