Last day on the job at Colorado will be July 1. 12:23 pm, May 19, 2021 ×
File photo of former UND President Mark Kennedy. Photo by Eric Hylden/Grand Forks HeraldEric Hylden/Grand Forks Herald
Former UND President Mark Kennedy will be leaving the University of Colorado system on July 1, with a $1.3 million payout in hand.
The University of Colorado Board of Regents voted 8-1 on Wednesday, May 19, to pay out Kennedy’s contract. They also voted 6-3 against allowing Kennedy to serve out the rest of his contract.
Kennedy s total payout will be $1.35 million. He was set to make $850,000 in the final year of his three-year contract; the additional dollars include unused vacation time and other money.
Hart Van Denburg/CPR News
Mark Kennedy answers audience questions April 24, 2019 at the CU Anschutz Medical Campus. Kennedy was the only finalist for the position of president at the University of Colorado when he was appointed in 2019.
The University of Colorado Board of Regents Wednesday approved a $1.3 million departure payment for President Mark Kennedy, who announced earlier this month that he was leaving after two years on the job. His departure date is July 1.
The “transition agreement” passed on an 8-1 vote.
The buyout covers the remainder of Kennedy’s contract, which began on June 15, 2019, and was set to run through June 30, 2022. Kennedy’s starting salary was $650,000, and it rose to $850,000 in subsequent years.
By Doug Barrett
May 19, 2021 | 1:53 PM
The University of Colorado Board of Regents today (Wednesday) approved a $1,358,982 transition agreement with President Mark Kennedy that calls for the former UND President to leave his CU position. The agreement was approved on an 8-1 vote after a virtual board meeting that was held in Executive Session.
The move comes several weeks after University of Colorado Boulder faculty and students voted to censure Kennedy for his actions surrounding diversity. Kennedy was hired by the CU Board in 2019 after three years at UND. Kennedy was scheduled to earn $850,000 dollars this year and next.
Last week Kennedy released a statement saying had started discussions with the Board of Regents about an “orderly transition” from the post.
I spend a lot of time with young people in my role as a regent at CU, and as the head of SheFactor, a company I founded with my oldest daughter to help young women launch a life they love.
Young people are hurting right now; 63% of young people are suffering significant symptoms of anxiety or depression.
They have ramped up their use of substances, including alcohol, marijuana and prescription drugs. They are lonely, frustrated with social restrictions and they can’t travel. It’s hard to date, to eat out, it’s even been hard to see their grandparents. They’ve missed so many milestones. It’s heartbreaking.
This is a sad and stupid week in Colorado, where higher education and diversity took a blow on Monday from the leftist woke mob. It is a great day for a fortunate university somewhere else that needs a good leader.
Hardline Democrats took control of the University of Colorado Board of Regents last November. On Monday, they pressured CU President Mark Kennedy to resign. The two sides will announce Kennedy s final day after they resolve a contract that runs through June of 2022. Kennedy, as always, took the high road. He should take every dollar possible in the contract settlement.
âCU is one of the countryâs great public universities and I have every confidence it will continue to build on its strong reputation and upward trajectory, Kennedy wrote.