The council on postsecondary has scheduled a contract renewal meeting outside of their normal cadence in order to renew the contract for Meghan Hughes. Hughes, a close friend and sometimes neighbor of Gina Raimondo, seeks a contract extension of 3 years despite already making her primary residence outside of the state. The council will most likely follow the lead of council chair Timothy DelGiudice, a long time financial supporter of Raimondo’s election campaigns and will renew for the full term. The council (and RI Board of Education) has been made aware of the various no-confidence votes against Hughes but nonetheless seem to be resolute. They seem to have done little investigation into the allegations of mis-reporting on student data and the results of studies on the effectiveness of the administration (see the PACE report.)

It’s really saddening to have seen the school go from a student and education focused place of learning to a political farce. Sure, the talk about student focus is there, but is it ever really put into practice? This administration is focused on one thing: self-preservation.

The council also knows that president Hughes has been shopping around for other jobs. She was not selected in-part, due to the present state of the college. Shouldn’t this be an indication that she’s really not fully invested or able to do the job adequately? Let’s be clear… we are not talking about firing President Hughes. We are talking about whether to HIRE her for another term. Just because she hasn’t committed any offenses that are fireable (that we know of) doesn’t mean she’s the best choice for the position.

Gina Raimondo has left. I’m calling upon her appointees to now use their own judgement instead of towing the party line.