With catlike tread: Board of Regents approach potential successor to embattled Cheng.

Profligate Connecticut State Colleges and Universities (CSCU) Chancellor Terrence Cheng will find nothing on the menu at his favorite restaurant, the tony Capital Grille in Hartford, to ease the pain of being squeezed out of his $440,000 a year sinecure. Three state audits have examined Cheng’s spending habits and found them wanting.

Cheng is on a payment plan to return housing expenses. State auditors concluded that Cheng did not move from New York to Connecticut while receiving a housing allowance. He used system funds to dine with other state employees and even hired a car and driver while receiving a generous automobile allowance.

An influential member of the Board of Regents, with the consent of several board colleagues, contacted a finalist in the search that produced Cheng about replacing the former English professor and novelist, Daily Ructions can report. The discussion was not a success because the Regents are not certain of the way forward after the disappointing and tumultuous Cheng years.

The formulation of a plan to shed Cheng will be discussed in an executive session of the Regents on Thursday. Any thorough discussion of Cheng’s deteriorating position will include his disappointing appearance this week before the General Assembly’s budget committee. The air at the Capitol Village was thick with dismay over Cheng’s conduct and concern at how solid some of his enrollment figures will be when subject to scrutiny. Cheng’s position may deteriorate further as staff members share tales of their treatment by Cheng and his palace guard.

This is a developing story. Updates as events require.

Published February 21, 2025.