Attempting to succeed in business without really trying
Serafín Méndez-Mendez
Central Connecticut State University
Professor of Communication
By all accounts Mark Ojakian, the President of the Connecticut State University System, is a great man. I fondly remember the evening I was sitting by myself at Tisane´s in Hartford while this man with a perfectly ironed and starched shirt was gleefully celebrating that the governor was going to appoint him as president of our system.
Not knowing who he was, I had to flirt and tip the server well to get his identity. At the time, I was involved in a certain political campaign. I called someone “in the know” who as an attorney confirmed the information for me with a simple phrase: “Who the hell leaked that?” I left the restaurant happy because I always believed that our system, like what happened in Massachusetts, needed someone who could advocate on our behalf before the LOB because for too long we have been a neglected asset in the state.