CSCU President Terrence Cheng commands the attendance of campus leaders at Monday morning press conference on CSCU budget.
The Legislative Office Building will be thick with presidents Monday morning. CSCU President Terrence Cheng is requiring presidents of the state’s universities, community colleges and other campus leaders to skip the business meeting they were planning to attend and serve as his gallery at his 10 a.m. press conference.
Campus leaders received the command in a Wednesday email from Alice Pritchard, Ph.D. (She/Her/Hers), Chief of Staff and Chief Strategy Officer. “Good afternoon all,” it began. “Rather than the all campus leader meeting scheduled for Monday April 24th, President Cheng will hold a press conference at the state legislative office building at 10am. Your presence is required.“
Observers are braced for an early Festivus airing of grievances. Mandatory attendance at someone else’s press conference about state budget appropriations is never to thank the governor, legislature and the people of Connecticut for their generosity. Expect Cheng to mewl about unmet and underfunded needs. Do not expect a discussion of the state’s falling college age population and its continuing contortions to fill empty classrooms and dormitory space at on especially burdensome university.
Campus leaders will be expected to nod often and applaud at appropriate moments. This will not, however, be a day of action–just unhappy talk. Action will follow on Thursday when union members will enter the halls of government and search for their elected representatives.
Cheng is at a distinct disadvantage from University of Connecticut President Radenka Maric, who threatened end UConn men’s basketball games at Hartford’s XL Center. Earlier this month when Governor Ned Lamont was not complaining about Houston, he and Mrs. Lamont were sitting with Maric at the NCAA men’s basketball finals.
Both UConn and CSCU had been told to prepare for an end to Covid-19 pandemic funds. Lamont’s budget director, Jeffrey Beckham, scolded the leadership of UConn and CSCU when they complained about the proposed immediately after its February release. “The ARPA funding was one-time federal funding, for emergencies to keep the doors open to pay their expenses, despite the fact that they didn’t have revenue because kids weren’t there,” Beckham pronounced in a rebuke, according to the Hartford Courant. “They should have been used for one-time expenses. They should not have used that for ongoing programs.”
Published April 21, 2023.