Will CU Hire A Republican Hack?

The University of Colorado's Boulder Faculty Assembly tonight overwhelmingly rejected a resolution supporting Bruce Benson to be the next CU president.

The vote was 4 in favor and 40 against, with three abstentions.

From here.

Student groups have likewise been deeply skeptical of the appointment.

Thirteen state legislators who have immense sway over C.U.'s budget have opposed the appointment.

Two of the three Democrats who are C.U. Regents voted not to even consider the nomination, while the third has since stated that she will vote against the appointment. Benson has previously threatened to run attack ads against one of the current Republican C.U. Regents.

A big part of the opposition is Benson's strong connnection to partisan politics: "Benson is a former state Republican Party chairman. He helped finance the Trailhead Group, which ran attack ads on Democrats." Unlike 99% of sitting university system Presidents, he does not have a graduate degree.

Benson was removed from his position on the Board of Trustees of Metropolitan State College in an effort to clear out political influence there. While Chairman of the Board he tried to weaken the tenure system at Metro State, a matter still being litigated.

Disappointing, if true, is the support he claims to have from Denver Mayor John Hickenlooper and Denver Public Schools Superintendent Michael Bennet.

C.U. will be much worse off if it hires Benson who isn't even remotely appropriate for this job. This hire is little more than a hissy fit by an impotent board controlled by little known Republican elected officials who control very little else (the state school board, the Attorney General's spot, and the much bungled Secretary of State's office) in state government.