Editorial: Vote for Rennison for Board of Regents - The Daily Camera

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There are some jobs where having the fresh perspective of an outsider with no real institutional knowledge of the organization might be an asset. The University of Colorado Board of Regents doesn’t fit into that category, though.

The Board of Regents is the policy-making body for the CU system, including its flagship university here in Boulder. The board’s work is complex and its decisions can impact, for good or ill, tens of thousands of students, faculty, and staff members who work within the system.

The universities in the CU system are Colorado’s largest employers, by far. So the people who serve on the system’s board should, in our view, be comparable to those who serve on the board of directors for a Fortune 500 company.

To put it another way, a position on the Board of Regents shouldn’t be filled by someone with only a cursory knowledge of the CU system, or someone who’s just testing the political waters.

That’s why we’re recommending Callie Rennison, the Democratic nominee, to serve as the Board of Regents’ representative from Congressional District 2. Rennison is an accomplished academic with a long history of service within the CU system.

She’s a tenured professor at CU Denver’s School of Public Affairs, where she has previously served as associate dean. She’s the former director of the Office of Equity and Title IX coordinator at CU Denver and the Anschutz Medical campuses.

She’s done extensive research on criminology and statistics and has written several books on subjects related to those fields.

We don’t know much about her opponents, Dick Murphy and Christian Vernaza. Neither responded to repeated invitations to interview with our editorial board, and neither took the time to fill out questionnaires for the Daily Camera’s voters’ guide.

From what we’ve seen and heard, neither Murphy, the Republican nominee, nor Vernaza, the Libertarian nominee, have been doing a lot of active campaigning for this seat.

That doesn’t speak well to the approach either of them might take toward the job, if elected. It’s hard to imagine that after running lackluster campaigns, either of them might suddenly become energized to serve their constituents if the results go their way on Election Day.

In contrast, Rennison has done her homework and seems prepared to tackle any issue the board might be called upon to address. And probably some she would bring forward that might not otherwise show up on the board’s radar screen.

She seems committed to finding ways to make a CU education more affordable and accessible even for students who might not fit the prototypical mold. And we think she would bring more transparency to the board’s operations. That’s always important, but particularly so when the board is involved in job searches for university presidents, for example.

We don’t agree with all of Rennison’s ideas. Rennison also seems to relish the prospect of Democrats seizing control of the Board of Regents, which is entirely possible in this election. We’re of the mind that the Board of Regents should be as nonpartisan as possible, focusing on what is best for the CU system regardless of whether it fits a particular policy goal of either party.

However, on the balance, Rennison seems well suited and enthusiastic about the job. We recommend that she be elected to the District 2 seat on the Board of Regents.

–  Blake Fontenay for the Daily Camera editorial board

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Editorial: Vote for Rennison for Board of Regents - The Daily Camera
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