President Kay Norton announces retirement

President of the University of Northern Colorado, Kay Norton, announced in an email on Tuesday that she will be retiring.

The announcement was first made in her annual State of the University Address on Tuesday. Norton, who has held office for 15 years, said that she will be retiring in the summer of 2018, at the end of June.

According to Norton, she has been holding office for the past two or three years in order to “see things through.” She will give the Board of Trustees time to search for a successor. Norton said that the board will hire a search firm to help engage in a national search.

“I am grateful to each of you for giving me reason to be proud of my time as your president. Without your hard work and commitment to UNC, none of these things would even be possible,” Norton said in an email.

Student reactions ranged from apathetic to content.

“I didn’t really know her that well,” said senior journalism major Cody Carroll. “I’m just kind of interested to see who’s going to be replacing her or not.”

Junior journalism major Amanda Andrews fell into the other camp.

“She’s problematic, right?” Andrews said. “And I’m glad she’s gone. Because you can’t be married to the president of the university and married to the mayor.”

Norton’s husband, Tom Norton, is the mayor of Greeley. He is not running for mayor this year.

The board will discuss the search for a new president at their fall retreat this Friday.