Angela Scionti

Equinox Staff

KArina Barriga Albring

News editor

When Keene State Collge announced last month that Dr. Anne Huot was elected the new college president, a question that started to rise on the campus was what will happen with Interim President Jay Kahn when Huot moves into the Hale Building?

Kahn’s succesor, Dr. Anne E. Huot, will take office on June 30, 2013. After serving as Keene State College’s Interim President for his one-year term, Jay Kahn is now looking into serving  for other college boards.

Kahn, who developed a respected reputation as vice president for Finance and Planning of KSC since 1988, was named interim president in the summer of 2012 after former President Helen Giles-Gee left Keene.

“Even though he was president for only a year I believe he has, in the short time he had, made a positive impact on KSC,” freshman Kimber Millard stated.

For many students, Kahn has become a friendly figure rather than only an authority for the KSC community.

Walking his golden retriever around the campus or playing with his grandson by the quad, cheering for the Owls or supporting the music students in the Redfern recitals and always wearing a smile, Kahn has proven to be approachable and devoted to the KSC community.

On March 26, when the University System Board of Trustees officially named Huot the head of KSC, Kahn stated, “It is a very exciting moment for the campus. I know that the office is in good hands.”

When Kahn referred to the future of KSC, however, he did not mention his own plans for the future.  Kahn is currently running for a presidential position on the Board of Regents for higher education in Conn. As one of the three final candidates, Kahn has the opportunity to oversee “four Connecticut state universities, 12 community colleges and one online college,” according to a March 28 article by The Keene Sentinel.

If Kahn is selected, then he is expected to leave the KSC community this summer. If Kahn does not win, it has not been said if he will remain a part of KSC staff or not.

Kahn chose not to comment about the possibility of him becoming the new President of the Board of Regents in Connecticut.

According to the Norwalk Citizen, the Board of Regents was supposed to come to a desicion on April 4. However, the Citizen stated, “The panel emerged and seemed to take a hands-off approach, saying it would send the names of all three candidates it has been considering to Gov. Dannel P. Malloy.

Lawrence Denardis, Jr., a member of the executive board, said it is possible that the governor will not have enough time to make a decision about who will be the next president. If the Legislature passes a bill before the governor comes to a decision, the board will be responsible of naming the next president rather than the governor, indicated the Stamford Advocate.

Chairman of the Executive Board Lewis Robinson stated in the Stamford Advocate, “It’s hard to put one [candidate] over another, they have different strengths. All three are going forward.” The CTPost stated, “The position has since been vacant since fall when a pay raise scandal forced resignation of the previous president.”

Regarding the salary offered for the position, the Norwalk citizen indicated, previous Board of Regents President Robert Kennedy “had a base salary of $377,000 and perks that brought the bottom line to more than $445,000.”

Kahn previously applied for a position as President of Antioch University; however, that new position was declared to another university administrator, Stephen B. Jones, on April 3, according to an article in The Keene Sentinel.

At present time,  Kahn’s professional future is still unknown. Educators in Conn. as well as KSC students and staff await for a decision.

Should Connecticut offer the job to Kahn, it will mark an end to 25 years of service to the college and Keene community. If Kahn is not awarded the position in Connecticut, there is no word as to whether or not he will stay with the KSC community.

Whether Kahn stays or leaves, his duty as interim president of the college would be remembered for his diligence and commitment. When asking students how they felt about the possible leaving of Kahn, freshman Heather Massed stated. “I think he will be greatly missed if he leaves KSC.”

Angela Scionti can be contacted at ascionti@keene-equinox.com

Karina Barriga Albring can be contacted at kbarriga@keene-equinox.com