Carlisle opposes selection of Benson
Regent Cindy Carlisle will not be supporting Bruce Benson for the position of CU president.
In a letter entitled,” I will not support this sole finalist,” published in The Daily Camera on Sunday, Feb. 10, Carlisle offers foresight into why she will not vote for Bruce Benson for CUs presidency, and why she did vote for him for CUs presidential candidacy.
In the letter, Carlisle explains how during the vote, she was dismayed that the only alternatives to Bruce Benson for candidacy she heard, “a ‘second tier’ of two entirely unacceptable candidates.”
“What I didn’t want to do was to vote on a purely partisan basis, which is what my peers did.” Carlisle said. “I wanted to have a choice and I didn’t have a choice, which is why I moved (Benson) forward.”
Carlisle said that a sole candidacy doesn’t imply a presidency.
“The implication is that once one person is named candidate, it’s a done deal,” Carlisle said. “I’ve never seen it like that; otherwise the vetting process would be useless.”
Carlisle added that she learned a lot through Benson’s vetting process.
Carlisle wrote in her letter how the single finalist process is the “end result of a disastrous decision” to move “the CU system, and hundreds of Boulder jobs, from our flagship campus to a downtown Denver office building.” She writes how this relocation “has diminished the presidency.”
“The president used to interact with students and have an active role with the campus,” Carlisle said. “There was always a close connection between the president and this campus. When the president moved to Denver, there was definitely a different relationship with how the president related to it.”
Carlisle said that her move could have an effect on the presidential election process.
“If the presidents office is in Denver it will attract different types of people to apply (for presidential candidacy) than if it was at Boulder,” Carlisle said.
Regent Michael Carrigan said that he disagrees.
“Where certain jobs are held is irrelevant to the presidency,” Carrigan said. “The move was overwhelmingly supported by the Board of Regents and I think it showed how Boulder is now a three campus system.”
Carrigan said that he believes that the relocation of the president’s office to Denver has made it clear who the true head of the Boulder campus is.
“There has been a historic confusion over who is the head, the president or the chancellor,” he said. “Before when there was a problem someone could just walk a couple of blocks to the president’s office, now it is clear the chancellor is the head.”
Agree with Carlisle’s opinion on the president’s office relocation or not, some are just happy that she is not going to vote Benson for president.
“I think it’s huge, it shows that Cindy was listening to her constituents,” UCSU Representative-at-large Daniel Ramos said. “I talked to her on the phone and she said that the regents were going to keep an open mind, so I think it’s great that she listened to the people’s opinion.”
Contact Campus Press Staff Writer Jon Tattum at jon.tattum@thecampuspress.com.
