U.S.

University President Gives $90K Of Salary To Low-Paid Workers

Kentucky State University interim president Raymond Burse is taking $90,000 less than he was originally offered to boost other employee's wages.

University President Gives $90K Of Salary To Low-Paid Workers
Kentucky State University / The Washington Post

Talk about a pay cut. The interim president of Kentucky State University made a pretty big sacrifice to benefit the school's lowest-paid workers.

Raymond Burse announced Tuesday he will take $90,000 less than he was originally offered so that 24 university workers earning minimum wage can have their earnings increased to $10.25 an hour. (Via WPSD)

The Lexington Herald-Leader quotes Burse as saying, "My whole thing is I don't need to work. This is not a hobby, but in terms of the people who do the hard work and heavy lifting, they are at the lower pay scale."

The Kentucky State University school board had originally offered Burse an annual salary of nearly $350,000. As a result of the generous move, he will now make close to $260,000. (Via WKYT)

And his kindness certainly isn't going unnoticed around the county.

"So what a terrific guy out there, good work. Kentucky State University, great place out there in the state of Kentucky." (Via KPHO)

"$90,000 pay cut, can you imagine? Well, we can't imagine that? Obviously, we can't because we would be broke." (Via WITI)

​Now, $260,000 a year still sounds like a pretty good salary. But that's pretty measly compared to other university presidents' salaries.

According to The Chronicle of Higher Education, there are nine public university presidents who make more than $1 million a year. Numbers from 2011 showed 42 private school presidents had an annual salary of $1 million or more.

But Burse told the Lexington Herald-Leader he doesn't expect other presidents to follow suit. "I was in a position where I could do that. That is not always the case."

Burse served as KSU president from 1982 to 1989. After that, he held an executive position at General Electric until he retired in 2012. He is currently serving as interim president until the university can find a replacement for its most recent president, who retired at the end of June.