Hired to calm the waters that were threatening to engulf the University of Colorado, Hank Brown has more than kept his side of the bargain as president. His steady hand and political dexterity guided the school beyond the bedlam and onto the path of normal academic commotion.
CU’s enrollment is up. Private giving has increased. And the shroud of secrecy over the school’s foundation and athletic department has largely been removed.
Just 18 months after Brown stepped in, it’s almost hard to remember how bad it was for CU in 2005. His political stature made the former U.S. senator the perfect person for the job.
We applaud Brown’s tireless efforts as CU president, and hope he will be able to undertake one more major battle – the one to restore funding levels that will allow Colorado colleges and universities to operate at a level with their peers.A recent study suggests Colorado schools would need an extra $832 million just to meet average funding levels of their national peers.
Brown already has his share of work to do over the next year as he presides over a series of internal reforms he hopes to accomplish before leaving office, but after he steps down he’ll be needed in the budget brainstorming to come.
As a former president of both CU and the University of Northern Colorado, and a former Republican U.S. Senator and state lawmaker, Brown knows that the structure and amount of state funding need to change. We urge him to help lead a bipartisan effort to reverse the backwards trend of starving our colleges and universities of much-needed state funding.
Quite simply, the state’s budget lacks the flexibility needed to make higher education a priority – even if lawmakers wanted to. Colorado will need a successful higher-ed system if it wants to thrive in a 21st century economy that relies on an educated workforce.
Brown understands the stakes. On Friday, he said the next state recession could result in a 50 percent cut to CU’s budget. The last recession caused a 39 percent reduction in funding. “We’ve got a ticking time bomb on our hands,” he said.
Brown will need more than the 13 months left on his watch to diffuse that ticking time bomb.
We hope he accepts the challenge, because we know he’ll give it his all. His knowledge and commitment to Colorado colleges can be an ongoing legacy after he steps down from the CU presidency.
