The University of Colorado’s Board of Regents is scheduled to vote Wednesday morning on an agreement outlining the terms of CU President Mark Kennedy’s departure.
The virtual board meeting — kicking off with a private executive session followed by a public meeting — will be the first public appearance by university leadership following last week’s announcement that Kennedy will be stepping down in the coming months, ending his presidential term after about two years on the job.
“The University of Colorado and Mark Kennedy have agreed to part ways,” Ken McConnellogue, the CU system’s spokesman, said in a statement. “This is neither a resignation nor a termination. The Board of Regents will vote on an agreement between the board and president that replaces his existing contract and allows CU to move forward in the best interests of the university.”
According to a short agenda posted online, the public meeting starts with a vote to allow for the expiration of Kennedy’s current employment contract and ends with a vote to approve a “transition agreement and release.”
Details about the agreement, including a payout, were not yet available.
McConnellogue previously told The Denver Post that Kennedy’s looming departure was precipitated by the Board of Regents, who recently flipped from a Republican majority to Democratic control for the first time in nearly four decades.
Board Chair Glen Gallegos, a Republican from Grand Junction, said in a previous interview that Kennedy’s decision to leave “may be a mutual thing.”
Kennedy’s announcement about stepping down cited the board’s “new makeup,” which he said led to “changes in its focus and philosophy.” Kennedy was voted into his presidential role on a split board vote along party lines in 2019.
The departure decision came weeks after Kennedy was censured by Boulder faculty and students for his handling of diversity issues.
Kennedy’s leadership has been contentious since he was first announced as the sole finalist to succeed Bruce Benson in 2019, drawing protest and outcry from faculty, students, staff and alumni who called out the former Republican congressman’s voting record against issues such as gay marriage as well as some of his comments around diversity.
