Board of Regents for Higher Education Should Be Embarrassed

Hartford, CT – State Sen. Toni Boucher (Wilton) ranking member of the General Assembly’s Higher Education and Employment Advancement Committee released the following statement today re: promotion of a CCSU employee and poet Ravi Shankar while he is jail.

“Dr. Jack Miller of CCSU has taken responsibility for not alerting the Board of Regents to the alleged criminal case involving the employee in question.

“Though Miller has taken responsibility for his action, the Board of Regents should be embarrassed. They should be doing background checks when considering a major promotion.

“It is being reported that Shankar has been in jail for five days. Shankar -who published reports say was convicted of giving the police a false statement in a credit card fraud scheme, has also been arrested for criminal impersonation, violation of probation, and illegal operation of a motor vehicle while under suspension.

“Remarkably, some of the charges have reportedly been on the Superior Court docket for years.

“I am requesting Dr. Gregory Gray meet with the leaders of the General Assembly’s Higher Education Committee to discuss compliance and notification issues for staff under the Connecticut State University (CSU) system.

“The safety of our students and staff should be paramount.”

Shankar is due to return to court on May 22nd.