By Jacqueline Rabe Thomas and Keith M. Phaneuf
Robert A. Kennedy, the embattled president of the Board of Regents for Higher Education, announced his resignation today, effective immediately.
Kennedy, who was recruited last year by Gov. Dannel P. Malloy to lead the new consolidation of the higher education system, bowed to mounting pressure for his resignation after disclosures he unilaterally approved executive pay raises without board approval.
“The issues with which we’ve dealt over the past few days have become a distraction to that important work, and, as an educator all my life, the most important thing to me is the success and support of our students,” Kennedy said. “For that reason, I believe my resignation will allow the critical issues of the Board and its agenda to be addressed in a different light than they might otherwise be.”
In resigning a day after bipartisan legislative calls for his depature, Kennedy was showing the political sensitivity he acknowledged lacking when he awarded raises, including $48,000 to his executive vice president, at a time when other state employees face a pay freeze.
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