CU President Mark Kennedy To Leave Position

University of Colorado President Mark Kennedy is set to leave his position "in the coming months," officials announced Monday.

Kennedy is in discussions with the CU Board of Regents in an effort to conduct an "orderly transition of the presidency," the university said.

“I appreciate the many smart and dedicated people who work hard every day to help the university meet its mission to serve its students and the state,” Kennedy said in a statement.

“CU is one of the country’s great public universities and I have every confidence it will continue to build on its strong reputation and upward trajectory.”

A former Republican congressman, Kennedy was selected as the university's president in 2019.

The news of his transition comes just weeks after CU Boulder's faculty assembly voted to censure Kennedy over what some called a lack of leadership on diversity and equity. The president issued an apology in 2020 after he casually used the phrase "trail of tears" to describe the potential consequences of online education failure, and he was also criticized for a directive, obtained by The Denver Post, that asked for campus statements on "sensitive" topics, such as equality, be vetted by his office before publication.

In a statement issued to The Post, Kennedy said that advancing diversity is among his top priorities, and that he respects faculty members' right to criticize him.

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The CU Board of Regents is set to meet soon to discuss the transition, officials said. Glen Gallegos, the board's chair, and Lesley Smith, the board's vice chair, released the following statement:

“The Board of Regents will move quickly to determine our next steps and will work closely with President Kennedy in the coming months to ensure an orderly transition of the presidency. He has led CU though the pandemic and has been making progress on key initiatives we agreed to, so the university is in good position,” the statement read.

“We appreciate President Kennedy’s contributions and dedication.”

The board will conduct a national search for the next permanent president, the university said.