Sen. Witkos Questions Out of Control Expenses at Board of Regents

Hartford – State Senator Kevin Witkos (R-Canton), Ranking Member of the General Assembly’s Higher Education Committee, released the following statement regarding the Board of Regents’ decision to continue paying former President Gregory Gray his full salary after replacing him with the new Interim President Mark Ojakian who will start on September 28. Gray will continue receiving his $380,000 annual salary payments through December costing the state an additional $95,000 on top of the salary paid to the new president.

“The wastefulness and inefficiency of the Board of Regents has never been more evident than now. Why is the Board of Regents paying two huge salaries for the same job at the same time? It’s ridiculous. President Gray failed to make the Board of Regents successful. So he resigns, gets replaced and still gets to keep collecting his paycheck for three months? What world are they living in? If Dr. Gray is truly being kept around to ‘advise’ on special projects I hope to see a detailed report on all of these as well as monthly updates highlighting exactly what taxpayers are getting from two president salaries.

“The Board of Regents is like a tape worm, eating up more and more taxpayer funds every day. There’s no limit. Money is being poured in, and it’s quickly absorbed in salaries before it even comes close to reaching our students. This is another example of repeated, outrageous wasteful habits, and shows why the Board of Regents is thoroughly flawed. Our schools and our students deserve better.”