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Hartford Courant reporter Livi Stanford writes in a front page story -- CCSU president steps down – “Toro’s resignation follows the scandal-plagued departures of two Connecticut State Colleges and Universities chancellors. Last week, an independent review examining Connecticut State Colleges and Universities system’s response to sexual harassment allegations against former interim Chancellor O. John Maduko found ‘serious failures in how CSCU responded to concerns about sexual harassment and gaps in the Board’s process for selecting the former interim chancellor,’ according to an announcement Board of Regents Interim Chair Ari Santiago sent to the CSCU community.”
Toro is “Central Connecticut State University President Zulma Toro [who] resigned Wednesday following an investigation into a complaint alleging the workplace culture under her leadership was oppressive, bullying and intimidating.”
The reaction to Toro’s resignation is not at all unusual.
CCSU’s director of institutional advancement Lisa Bigelow, who filed the complaint against Toro that led to her resignation, characterized the resignation as a first step that “was badly needed.”
Governor Ned Lamont faintly praised Toro. Stanford tells us, “Gov. Ned Lamont told reporters Wednesday in Hartford that he did not encourage Toro to step down. ‘I did not,’ Lamont said following an unrelated event on Arbor Street. ‘I haven’t talked to her in some months. Lamont added, ‘I do know that there have been some accusations out there that I think were disturbing on both sides. I do know that she’s been thinking about retirement for a while.’”
Reporters covering Lamont’s bid for an unprecedented third term in office will recognize the response as a “spectator’s” observation, rather as if the governor had played no part in the organizational catastrophe that has overtaken the consolidation into one CSCU “community” of what had been six higher educational institutions and sixteen campuses across the state.
Participating educational institutions are:
Central Connecticut State University, Eastern Connecticut State University, Southern Connecticut State University, Western Connecticut State University, Charter Oak State College, Online College, CT State Asnuntuck, CT State Gateway, CT State Housatonic, CT State Manchester, Great Path Manchester, CT State Middlesex, CT State Naugatuck Valley, CT State Northwestern CT, CT State Norwalk, CT State Quinebaug Valley, CT State Three Rivers, CT State Tunxis.
Connecticut State Colleges and Universities (CSCU) operates out of Hartford, the state’s Capital city, and CCSU, Central Connecticut State University, is a chip off a relatively new block.
Connecticut’s four major colleges initially were overseen by the Connecticut State Department of Education. In 1965, the General Assembly transferred control of the-colleges to an independent board of trustees. In 1983, the four institutions were converted into universities, constituting the Connecticut State University System. Connecticut universities presently are governed by the Connecticut Board of Regents for Higher Education, established in 2011 to license and accredit the institutions and their programs, approve budgets, support planning, and coordinate technology operations. The interim Chancellor of the Connecticut State Colleges and Universities was O. John Maduko – before the chaotic earthquake detailed by Stanford in her report.
The administrative body count has now crossed several red lines. But few legislators have yet seriously examined the fault lines and systemic failures of the CSCU conglomerate itself. The overriding political question, rarely put under the political microscope, is ever the same: Who decides what is to be done when serious problems occur? The line of political responsibility in Connecticut has been gerrymandered in such a way that the administrative and legislative arms of state government seem raised in a perpetual gesture of resignation.
Asked by the Courant whether he thinks Republican candidate for Governor Ryan Fazio will criticize him in the coming weeks over the CSCU situation, Lamont replied languidly, “I would think so.”
He was right. The Courant reports, “Fazio said in a statement, ‘I’m deeply concerned by the fact that complaints about Toro’s behavior reportedly date back to 2019. This is bigger than one president or one chancellor. It reflects a broader failure of accountability and oversight within Connecticut’s public higher education system. Governor Lamont has had years to address these problems, yet we continue to see leadership upheaval and scandal in a system entrusted with educating our next generation.”
Appearances are still important in Connecticut politics, and Lamont appears overly scripted, disinterested and unconcerned with systemic problems confronting his administration. He has so far agreed to only two debates with his Republican opponent. All the stars are arrayed in his favor: The General Assembly has been controlled by a hegemonic Democrat Party for decades. All the members of the U.S. Congressional Delegation are Democrats. Some large cities in Connecticut have been controlled by Democrats for nearly half a century. The business relations between Connecticut’s legacy media and Democrats are in very good repair, so much so that many people in the state are beginning to suspect that the media has lost its contrarian edge. The disposition of political forces in the state clearly favors Lamont, who appears to be resting, half asleep, on plush and comfortable laurels.
Scripted success is the bright side of politics, but there is a dark side as well. When a dominant party appears to be tailoring its political prescriptions to campaigns rather than small “d” democratic policies that benefit the whole population, voters may resent elected representatives engaged in fooling most of the people some of the time in their politically slovenly campaigns. There is something in small “r” republican virtue that does not like arrogant dominance.
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