According to by the Hartford Courant, UConn has quietly approved and spent $1 million on renovations to the president's on-campus house. The renovations include a family room with a cathedral ceiling, prodigal furniture pieces, a new granite kitchen, a French door corridor, a breakfast room with a bar and a whirlpool bath among others.
The Board of Trustees originally approved renovations in the amount of $300,000, but cost ballooned to over $1 million. The UConn Foundation has pledged to raise $500,000 for the project and most of the remaining costs will be paid by funds from UCONN2000 and 21st Century UConn.
According to Austin, the reason for the renovation is the need for a suitable place to entertain donors. He claims that the historic house that was worth $200,000 was too shabby to entertain donors. Perhaps now, the addition of a whirlpool bath in the house will convince donors that they should contribute to UConn.
If the president's house was unsuitable for entertaining donors, Austin should bring donors to see the atrocious conditions of facilities such as Torrey Life Sciences, Montieth or Arjona. Such facilities are definitely not appropriate to entertain donors, let alone teach. Certainly, $1 million is a relatively small amount in the capital budget, but the university should use state approved funds to benefit the students first. Money spent to entertain donors should be last on the list. The UConn Foundation Building and Alumni House are appropriate existing venues for raising money.
The Hartford Courant also reports that since getting a divorce three years ago, Austin has moved from his Farmington house to the UConn-owned president's house in Storrs. The fact that Austin is now living in the house seems to provide ulterior personal motives to renovate the house in such a lavish manner. Hopefully Austin was not simply looking out for his best personal interest. However, when looking at some of the items renovated and added to the house, it is hard to think otherwise.
Austin described the renovations as "modest." To someone of privilege, the renovations are modest, but to the majority of UConn students, the renovations are excessive.
The Founding Fathers of this country specifically selected the name president rather than king. They did so because they wanted to abolish the extravagant spending stereotypes associated with European kings. Perhaps the university should take a note from history - Americans believe that presidents should live in modest houses, but in this country, presidents are not entitled to houses fit for kings.
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