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University of North Dakota President sole finalist for CU role

neil29fp

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I'm not particularly excited about this. Thoughts?

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I think this is semantics. They did the same thing with CSU recently. It’s some kind of procedural thing where the actual hire is named the “sole finalist” for a couple weeks before it can become official. Kind of like Tucker was the sole finalist before the regents officially hired him. CU conducted a wide search.

Initially, I like the hire from what I’ve read. Seems like a guy with a good background in both business and academics that should run CU pragmatically.
 
I’m ok with there being a sole finalist. I doubt he was the only guy considered. If he checks all the boxes and none of the other candidates did, why drag out the process?

Seems a little odd for that letter to be made public like that, though. Basically preempting whatever communications might have come out of CU.
 
I got an email on this from the CU Advocates this morning. They are pretty aligned with it. Went from George Washington Univ in Washington DC where he was a professor and director of the Graduate School of Political Management (2012-2016). Has only been pres at ND since 2016. Also was a US house rep from MN 01-07
 
Michelle Bachman's old seat!

I don't know anything about the guy, but I am always amused that for all the complaining about liberal Universities, CU almost always has a Republican as the President.
 
Let's cut the **** and get to the most important question... Is he a supporter of Athletics?

Hard to tell. ND is a hockey power but outside of that, Big Sky in most everything. Have been looking for info and quotes but he was know for a unifying strategic plan for the entire ND campus. Engaging alumni was one of the planks but not really sports driven. Sort of. Not much on fundraising at least from what I can find.

Let everyone know what you find TSchekler in your research
 
Let's cut the **** and get to the most important question... Is he a supporter of Athletics?
UND has a very highly respected hockey program. Outside of that, it’s not really known for athletic success. @FLounder should be able to shed some light on this, though.

The CU system is much, much bigger than the UND system, so he will have a learning curve for sure.
 
That isn't particularly reassuring
Meh. Comments by some pissed off alumni on a message board should be taken with a grain of salt. A guy can’t be all things to all people and he obviously had a difficult decision to make there. If the guy was in politics, he sure as Hell knows how to raise money. We don’t need a Boy Scout.
 
I think he will be a business minded president. He’s a conservative republican, so I can’t imagine that he will demagogue on athletics. He’s cut some sports at ND when he had to.

In general, his politics are definitely not well aligned to the CU Boulder campus (7% ACLU rating, 0% by some health care policy advocates, A+ by the Christian Coalition, 100% by the NRA). You get the picture. I don’t think that’s a huge deal for the university. He’s also cosponsored a lot of bipartisan legislation during his time in congress.

http://www.ontheissues.org/House/Mark_Kennedy.htm
 
Kinda creepy looking dude.
 

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What I got from the UND message board is that Kennedy is kind of a dick but that he gets stuff done. Came into a budget mess and fixed a lot to put UND on a good path for decades to come. May not have made a lot of friends in the process, though.
 
I am curious how CU, a liberal school in a liberal town can choose so many Republican presidents.

Not sure of the full history, but below is the breakdown for a bit

Bruce Benson (R) - Oil Tycoon
Hank Brown (R) - Politician
Elizabeth Hoffman (?) - But I believe it is rumored that Condoleezza Rice (R) was the runner up

Before people start getting all over me, I am actually liking it, keeping things balanced out
 
I am curious how CU, a liberal school in a liberal town can choose so many Republican presidents.

Not sure of the full history, but below is the breakdown for a bit

Bruce Benson (R) - Oil Tycoon
Hank Brown (R) - Politician
Elizabeth Hoffman (?) - But I believe it is rumored that Condoleezza Rice (R) was the runner up

Before people start getting all over me, I am actually liking it, keeping things balanced out
CU has always been a Republican led school. They weren't gonna let that change
 
The guy doesn’t deserve a lick of credit for any athletic accomplishment. In his first year on the job, men’s and women’s basketball, women’s volleyball, and football, all won the big sky and subsequently qualified for the NCAA playoffs. A school first. Add the Men’s Hockey National championship in the same year, the schools 8th, and the media will be proclaiming he’s a champion of athletics. Don’t be mistaken. The media will bring up our state of the art IPF (which rivals any FCS school and the majority of FBS too)as an accomplishment of his, bull****, we broke ground on that way before his arrival. The man rarely showed up to sporting events to begin with, and once the locals and alumni soured on him, he refused to show up.

He’s a ****ing clown in a 3 piece suit. Has that super weird kid from middle school vibe. Darren Rovell-esque.
 
His politics aren’t an issue, and I wonder why people take that into consideration. This isn’t a political appointment.

FLounders comments do give me cause for concern, though.
 
Also I know how everyone here wants sports added like lacrosse, hockey, and base/softball.

The man is infamous for choosing to cut UNDs women’s hockey team.

If you want a president who only cares about the bottom line. You might like him.

If you want a president who’s passionate about Colorado Buffaloes athletics, go find a pike to impale yourself on because Mark Kennedy is a snake.
 
The guy doesn’t deserve a lick of credit for any athletic accomplishment. In his first year on the job, men’s and women’s basketball, women’s volleyball, and football, all won the big sky and subsequently qualified for the NCAA playoffs. A school first. Add the Men’s Hockey National championship in the same year, the schools 8th, and the media will be proclaiming he’s a champion of athletics. Don’t be mistaken. The media will bring up our state of the art IPF (which rivals any FCS school and the majority of FBS too)as an accomplishment of his, bull****, we broke ground on that way before his arrival. The man rarely showed up to sporting events to begin with, and once the locals and alumni soured on him, he refused to show up.

He’s a ****ing clown in a 3 piece suit. Has that super weird kid from middle school vibe. Darren Rovell-esque.
Yikes.

As long as he takes a hands-off approach with athletics and lets RG run the show, I'm fine with that.
 
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