UPR President Ferrao’s resignation called inevitable, ‘tragic’

The resignation of University of Puerto Rico (UPR) President Luis Ferrao Delgado, effective Feb. 15, was inevitable because he knew he could not work without the trust of all university sectors, according to one of several opinions gathered by the STAR.

Frustrated by groups that hindered his efforts to make UPR a sustainable institution, Ferrao’s decision to step down came Monday, just days after he withdrew a plan to pause some 60 university programs due to enrollment of fewer than 10 students in each. Former UPR President José Saldaña remarked that Ferrao had no choice but to resign after the Jan. 30 meeting of the UPR governing board, where it was evident he had lost the trust of the main institutional bodies. The governing board had even requested a management evaluation report.

“The board, despite having the necessary information to act on Ferrao’s resignation at that meeting, chose to hide behind a report that had been under preparation for months,” Saldaña said. “This allowed Ferrao to attempt to function without the support of any institutional bodies representing faculty, students, and staff.”