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Central Connecticut State University in New Britain Credit: Shahrzad Rasekh / CT Mirror

Gov. Ned Lamont on Friday named Ari Santiago of West Hartford to be the interim chair of the Board of Regents for the Connecticut State Colleges and Universities system.

Santiago’s appointment comes in the wake of the abrupt resignation of former Chairman Marty Guay, who stepped down just days after the release of documents that showed former CSCU Interim Chancellor John Maduko allegedly violated the system’s harassment policy.

Ari Santiago has been named interim chair of the CSCU Board of Regents. Credit: CSCU

Maduko resigned in April after learning he was the subject of a complaint from an employee who claimed he had sexually harassed her. The employee also claimed that Guay told her that he’d once had a woman fired after she made a sexual harassment complaint. The employee said the comment felt like “a threat or a test.”

Earlier this month, the CSCU Board of Regents voted to hire an outside consulting firm to conduct an independent review of Maduko’s behavior and whether the CSCU system responded appropriately when the allegations were brought forward.

Maduko was appointed interim CSCU chancellor last June after the previous chancellor, Terrence Cheng, stepped down in the wake of an audit from the comptroller’s office that found Cheng had charged the university system for expensive meals and chauffeured rides.

Santiago, of West Hartford, has been a member of the board since 2020, according to a release from Lamont’s office. He serves as vice chair of the board’s Finance and Infrastructure Committee and is a member of its Technology Committee.

“As an entrepreneur who started a one-man IT company in Hartford and then turned it into a nationally recognized organization, Ari has unique experience both in the development of cutting-edge, technology solutions, and also operating a business that meets the needs of hundreds of customers and provides employment to workers here in Connecticut,” Lamont said in a prepared statement.

“I joined the CSCU Board of Regents because I believe deeply in what this system can do for students, for communities, and for Connecticut’s economy,” Santiago said in the statement. “I am accepting this role with clear eyes. The events of recent weeks have been troubling, and the public, and especially our students, deserve better. Let me be direct: the independent investigation being started must proceed with full transparency and without interference and, following it, any necessary changes will be made. That work will not wait. At the same time, this board cannot be defined solely by what has gone wrong.”

Sen. Derek Slap, D-West Hartford, chair of the Higher Education and Employment Advancement Committee, praised the move.

“I have known Ari for years and appreciate his commitment to public higher education and Connecticut’s workforce,” Slap stated in a release. “He takes over at a crucial time for the Board of Regents. We desperately need strong leadership, guided by the highest ethical standards and focus on accountability. This is an opportunity to engage faculty, staff, and students to unite around the common goal of helping all students reach their potential.”

CSCU is the public higher education system consisting of four state universities (Central, Southern, Eastern, and Western); Connecticut State Community College and its 12 campuses that are located throughout the state; and Charter Oak State College, an online higher education institution.  There are about 66,000 enrolled students across all its campuses.

As CT Mirror's Managing Editor Stephen helps manage and support a staff of 16 reporters.  His career in daily journalism includes 20 years at The Hartford Courant, where he served as a member of the editorial board, data editor, breaking news editor and bureau chief.  Prior to that Stephen was city editor at the Casper Star-Tribune in Casper, Wyo., and the editor of the Daily Press in Craig, Colo.  He has won many awards for editorial writing, data journalism and breaking news. While he was breaking news editor, The Courant was a named finalist for the 2013 Pulitzer Prize for breaking news for its coverage of the Sandy Hook shootings.  Busemeyer is a Koeppel Journalism Fellow at Wesleyan University, where he teaches data journalism, and he has also taught at the University of Hartford, the University of Connecticut and the University of Colorado.