Wednesday, March 14, 2018

During his time as the chair of the University of Illinois’ Board of Trustees, Chris Kennedy presided over five consecutive tuition hikes. While forcing students and working families to pay more, Kennedy’s Board of Trustees passed out millions of dollars in contracts to administrators and football and basketball coaches. The tuition hike and massive salary for the university president were met with angry protestors flooding the campus.

REALITY CHECK:

• From 2010-2014 Kennedy presided over five tuition hikes at U of I, raising tuition by nearly 30% in total.
• While hiking tuition on working families and students, Kennedy approved a $1.6 million contract for head football coach Tim Beckman and $1.4 million more for head basketball coach John Groce.
• Kennedy also approved a $620,000 salary for incoming president Michael Hogan, an increase of about $170,000 from the previous president.
• “While the board debated inside the Student Union on the UIC campus, protesters gathered outside, angry at the tuition hike and the increase for the president’s job,” according to NBC 5 Chicago.

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