Herbst, UConn prez and invisible-animal lover

The Hartford Courant reported today that University of Connecticut President Susan Herbst earns far more than the median U.S. salary for her position. Herbst may be an obscure figure around much of the country, but she is certainly well known in Connecticut and throughout New England.

She is well regarded in her state for her guidance of UConn, and apparently she is well compensated for that role. She earned $525,000 in base pay in 2014 and another $50,000 in deferred compensation, and she secured a handsome raise at the end of the year. Across the country, university presidents earn a median of $428,000, according to The Chronicle of Higher Education quoted in the Courant article.

In addition to a lot of money, Herbst also receives a lot of attention from the press in Connecticut. I've noticed stories about her initiatives at UConn, her contract extension (which this past December brought her a raise of more than 20%) , her investments, her role with the AAC... But I have seen nothing about her great love of collecting transparent pets.

That's shocking, as Herbst has repeatedly brought her amazingly unobservable animals to press conferences and interviews. Somehow, they have never - not even once - been mentioned in the news media. Their presence has been documented only by news photographers. See below.

Herbst brought invisible cat "Ruffles"
to a recent sit-down with a CT reporter.

Invisible parakeet, "Whistler," accompanied
Herbst to the podium at a press conference.

"Goosey," Herbst's jumpy invisible beagle
was tough to control in this one-on-one interview.

Comments