Walker roasts Cheng at budget hearing. “I’m very disappointed.”

Another difficult day at the Legislative Office Building for beleaguered Connecticut State Colleges and Universities (CSCU) Chancellor Terrence Cheng. The appearance of the leader of the state’s largest higher education system concluded with budget committee House co-chair Toni Walker (D-New Haven) with a heaping helping of scorn poured over Cheng.

Walker, a Southern Connecticut State University graduate, surveyed the state of CSCU, its potential, and Cheng’s failings. Walker, listing what alarms her, said, “The thing that scares me the most, sir, is that the people who work for you” do not have confidence in you. Cheng has been on the losing end of two votes of no confidence.

“We cannot continue to look the other way,” Walker declared in a reference to three recent critical audits of Cheng’s personal spending prompted by Hearst newspapers investigative reporter Jacqueline Rabe Thomas. “We don’t have to indulge in those perks.” With federal support of public education in doubt, Walker reminded Cheng, his entourage, and her colleagues, “This is not a time to turn our backs on our children.”

“I’m very disappointed,” Walker concluded. Walker is not ordinary legislator. She is prudent in her pronouncements and enjoys the respect of her colleagues. CSCU’s Board of Regents would be wise to take note of Walker’s appropriations aria. When you have lost Toni Walker on higher education, you have lost.

Walker’s remarks begin at 1:30:03 in the above YouTube video.

Published February 19, 2025.