Chicago State University

and improve enrollment and graduation rates.
On February 26, 2016, all 900 employees of Chicago State University received layoff notices in anticipation of inadequate funding. Since the Illinois Budget Impasse began in July 2015, Chicago State had zero state funding.
In fall 2016, the freshman class had just 86 students as overall enrollment dropped 25 percent, and in the $84 million university budget for the 2016–17 academic year, the state of Illinois provided only emergency funding to the university.
In September 2016, the university board voted to accept President Calhoun's resignation only nine months after he assumed office, and named Cecil Lucy, the university's vice president for administration and finance, as interim president. The agreement included a $600,000 severance package for the outgoing president and a commitment not to disclose the reasons for the separation. The board's decision received harsh criticism for its lack of transparency and the high cost it imposed on the institution already in …