Democratic State Sen. Donne Trotter says the departure Chicago State University President Thomas Calhoun Jr. indicates he didn't work with members of the board of trustees.
Trustees at the financially troubled university voted Friday to approve a separation agreement that includes a $600,000 payment for Calhoun Jr. after he spent just nine months on the job.
Trotter, whose district includes Chicago State, said he's been told Calhoun aligned himself with those fighting the administration. He also said the university ``is still at war,'' and Calhoun was ``not a wartime leader.''
Trustees in February created a four-person management committee including Calhoun that oversaw hiring, layoffs and other personnel decisions.
Associate history professor Bob Bionaz said the arrangement didn't allow Calhoun to make decisions a chief executive of a college should be able to make.
