Callie Rennison, chair of the University of Colorado Board of Regents, is now part of an independent review, one that she had a hand in suggesting be initiated on fellow Regent Wanda James – which James is calling a “complete failure in leadership.”
Former CU faculty members are raising concerns that Rennison, 60, has received full-time pay although she is working part-time.
Reached Thursday morning, Rennison said she could not give details: “Our general counsel has asked us to refrain from commenting until the reviews are concluded, and I’m going to honor that. After the reviews are done, I’m happy to sit down and chat.”
When asked whether or not it was true she received full-time pay when working part-time, she said that she was remaining within the confines of what the university’s lawyer advised her, adding, “The review will demonstrate the truth, how about that?”
Rennison’s bio states she is “a professor emerita and former associate dean of faculty affairs at University of Colorado Denver School of Public Affairs. She also served as the Director of the Office of Equity and Title IX Coordinator for the CU Denver and Anschutz Medical campuses.”
Rennison being in the hot seat comes after she was part of putting one of her colleagues there: on March 18, the CU Board of Regents requested an independent review of Wanda James, 60, a CU Regent who had made statements to two press outlets criticizing a CU Anschutz anti-marijuana campaign and suggesting tax-payer funding for it be redirected to social equity programs.
“The Tea on THC” campaign is a publicly funded program that used images of dark-skinned males in its anti-marijuana promotional imagery. James, who owns a cannabis dispensary, considered the tropes in the campaign racist because the cartoon-like illustrations of an age-progressing dark-skinned male tied blackness to marijuana use and laziness. CU Anschutz pulled the images from the ongoing campaign immediately after James voiced her concerns.
As news of the James review began to spread, academics, including those formerly a part of the CU system, started posting on social media about Rennison. For example, Vivian Aranda-Hughes, whose LinkedIn page indicates that she was an assistant professor at CU Denver between 2022 and 2024 and who is now an assistant professor at Michigan State University, wrote in a post:
“Regent Rennison went into ‘phased retirement’ in the academic year 2023-2024, where her pay should have been reduced due to a reduced workload, but it appears she may have continued to receive full-time pay (while working part-time) during this time. Someone should investigate whether she was, in fact, receiving full pay during this academic year.”
In response to the comments made by Aranda-Hughes and others on social media, the CU regents posted a statement on Tuesday on their website:
“We wanted to take a moment to provide an update on the independent review we requested on March 18, 2025. University Counsel’s Office has hired outside counsel to perform the review and report back to the Board concerning any possible regent law or policy violations.
After this matter was referred to outside counsel, concerns about Chair Rennison in her role as Regent were forwarded to the Board. Given that the independent review already concerns regent conduct, we have asked that these separate concerns about Chair Rennison also be referred and included in the independent review.
As we have stated previously, all Regents have important fiduciary and legal obligations to the University, and as a self-governing body, it is incumbent on all of us to ensure we honor these obligations.”
Rennison was asked to elaborate on the accusations in a telephone interview Thursday morning. Her response: “The statement speaks for itself.”
James, also reached by phone on Thursday morning, said that Rennison would probably not be added to the review had she communicated with her about her outreach to Gov. Polis following her concerns about the promotional visuals in the anit-marijuana campaign.
“It’s a shame that this Board of Regents has called so much negative attention to this board,” James said. “It’s a shame that because of failed leadership, they are now costing CU money for endless investigations.”
She added: “Most of this could have been handled if the chair and vice chair had shown some leadership and just spoken to me because they have not spoken to me at all.”
At the regent’s meeting April 10-11, it’s unclear whether the review will be complete. Community members – including Black and Latino educators and legislators who have been supporting James – will have an opportunity to weigh in during the public comments portion of the meeting.
