President of the University of Colorado Mark R. Kennedy announced Monday he will resign after the school’s board of regents censured him over “his failure of leadership with respect to diversity, equity, and inclusion.” His offhanded use of “trail of tears” during a faculty meeting seems to have been the last straw.
Native American organizations have called out the President of the University of Colorado for using the phrase “trail of tears” colloquially during a faculty meeting. https://t.co/3ySYFegBro
— Denver7 News (@DenverChannel) September 5, 2020
“The Board of Regents and I have entered into discussions about an orderly transition of the presidency of the University of Colorado in the near future,” Kennedy wrote in his letter to the school’s community. “The Board of Regents has a new makeup this year, which has led to changes in its focus and philosophy.”
The University of Colorado’s Faculty Assembly censured Kennedy in March. The Boulder Faculty Assembly (BFA) approved the motion 35-to-20 on April 29 and were going to review his contract and appointment in June, according to CU Boulder Today. (RELATED: Taxpayer-Funded University LITERALLY Creates Segregated Dorm For Black People)
Kennedy referred during a 2020 faculty meeting to the “Trail of Tears” in which former President Andrew Jackson forced the Cherokee Nation tribe to rescind their land and migrate across the country.
“On-campus is declining and online is growing,” Kennedy said in the meeting. “If we don’t get online right… we have a trail of tears in front of us.”
Students and faculty protested Kennedy’s 2019 arrival as university president over his stance on gay marriage, The Denver Post reported.