Effective immediately as of Jan. 31, Armando Valdez has resigned as president of Colorado State University Pueblo.
This decision is a result of findings that were completed by the university after an independent investigation was carried out. During this investigation, the university found that President Valdez had violated a university policy. Valdez disagreed sharply with that conclusion, but said he did not want to be a distraction to the university, so he resigned.
On Feb. 1, 2024, the CSU Board of Governors hired Valdez as to succeed the former president Timothy Mottet.
The following was the email sent by Valdez:
Dear Pack Family/Pack Familia,
It is with a heavy heart that I submitted my resignation as president of the Colorado State University Pueblo effective at the end-of-day on January 31st, 2025. This resulted from a finding of a violation of a University policy. While I strongly dispute and disagree with the finding, I am not here to be a distraction to the great work of this University. Colorado State University Pueblo has a tremendous team with wonderful people who care about serving others.
Colorado State University Pueblo will remain a strong serving institution continuing its Hispanic-Serving, Minority-Serving, Rural-Serving, First-Generation-Serving, Military & Veteran-Serving, student-serving, employee-serving, and community-serving mission and approach.
Angelica and I will always greatly appreciate the students, faculty, and staff, the Colorado State University Foundation, University partners, and the broader Pueblo community for your generous welcome and warm embrace. Within days of first arriving in Pueblo, we discovered the greatest treasure of Pueblo are its people. We are forever thankful for Pueblo’s warm reception, connections, relationships, and partnerships. We will always hold this community near and dear to our hearts.
I will continue to find ways to positively impact Southern Colorado, and I will always be an advocate for the efforts of Colorado State University Pueblo. Thank you for everything.
Go Pack!
Respectfully yours,
Armando
The following was the email sent by CSU System Chancellor Tony Frank:
Colleagues,
We are writing to inform the campus community that the Board of Governors of the Colorado State University System has accepted the resignation of CSU Pueblo President Armando Valdez, effective immediately. Following an independent investigation, Mr. Valdez was found to have violated a university policy. While Mr. Valdez disputes the conclusions of that investigation, he recognizes that it has caused him to lose the confidence of the Board of Governors and CSU System leadership. As a result, and to allow the institution to move forward, he has resigned his role.
We realize that any leadership change, especially a sudden one, is disruptive, and our focus is now on sustaining effective leadership for our Pueblo campus community. We have an excellent Cabinet in place that brings continuity and stability to campus operations. In addition, we have asked Rico Munn, former superintendent of Aurora Public Schools, past BOG Chair, and past executive director of the Colorado Department of Higher Education, to step in as interim president. Rico most recently has been serving as VP for Metro Denver Engagement and Strategy, overseeing our CSU Spur campus and CSU’s strategy in Denver, after two years as chief of staff to CSU President Amy Parsons. He brings deep knowledge of higher education and education as a whole and knows the mission and role of CSU Pueblo well. We are confident in his ability to help steer the campus forward during this interim period and hope you will join us in making him feel welcome.
The Board will share additional information about filling the permanent position as it becomes available. In the meantime, we ask that the campus continue to focus on what matters most: the education of our students and the continued advancement of the university as a whole. We remain grateful to all of you for your work in support of CSU Pueblo’s critical mission.
John Fischer, Chair, Board of Governors of the CSU System
Dr. Tony Frank, Chancellor, CSU System
The Today will update with more information if and when it becomes available.
