|
UPDATE: Credible rumors are circulating about a testy exchange (some are adding the words "of threats") between Benson and Republican CU Regent Paul Schauer leading up to the vote. Details may follow shortly.
UPDATE #2: The Rocky reports on Schauer/Benson fireworks after the jump, after reading you'll find the situation even more ethically murky.
UPDATE #3: Benson claims he's "backing down from all the partisan stuff." Bet you didn't see this one coming. From The Denver Post:
A prominent Republican businessman and education activist who has made millions on oil has been recommended as the sole finalist for the top job at the University of Colorado.
Bruce Benson was the top pick after almost four months of vetting more than 100 names through a 17-member search committee.
And close to midnight Wednesday, the CU Board of Regents accepted that nomination in a 7-2 vote.
Regents Michael Carrigan and Stephen Ludwig voted against the nomination, saying they were worried about Benson's political activism.
"I'm concerned with Mr. Benson's party politics," Carrigan told the search committee and his fellow regents. "I would like to have more than one finalist."
Benson will now face perhaps the toughest part of his interview - days of Q&As, tours around CU's four campuses, faculty meet-and-greets and town-hall meetings in Denver, Boulder and Colorado Springs. He would be in charge of a combined $1 billion budget.
Benson, 69, graduated from CU in 1964. After serving as chairman of the state Republican Party from 1987 to 1991, Benson ran for governor in 1994. He lost to Roy Romer after tapping at least $3.4 million of his own money.
Benson is also one of the major fundraisers in Colorado Republican politics, notably a principal backer of 2006's notorious Trailhead Group, and while Carrigan and Ludwig are right to worry about this, the damage may be bigger for Republicans. Might Benson have to curtail his financial involvement with Republicans if he ends up as CU's President?
|
