Griego and Gallegos: Beall way off-base with his criticisms of CU

It’s unfortunate that professor Jeffrey Beall has such an inaccurate view of his own university (“Beall: It’s time for regime change at the University of Colorado,” Statesman May 17). Certainly it’s fair for faculty or others to criticize leadership for real or perceived problems, but we believe professor Beall missed the mark in several of the points he tried to make.

He charged that CU President Bruce Benson has turned CU into a “profit-seeking enterprise” with a “massive administration” that raids students from other institutions and sends faculty to far corners of the world for their research. Beall suggests that CU is not living up to its mission due to “incompetent” leadership.

As leaders of the university’s governing board, elected by the people of Colorado, we disagree. CU is not only meeting its mission to educate students and serve the state and society, but also is a critical driver of the economy, health and culture of Colorado. The university is thriving.

Since Bruce Benson took over as president nine years ago, CU has seen its research funding hit record levels. University researchers attracted $924 million last year (up from $660 million when he started), which improves lives, fosters innovation and has a substantial economic impact on Colorado. Fundraising has nearly tripled, from $135 million in 2008 to $384.5 million today. CU’s endowment has nearly doubled, from $640 million to $1.2 billion.

President Benson would be the first to tell you that CU’s success is the result of hard work, innovation, dedication and collaboration from the entire university community, not any one person.