This university president is a true gentleman and scholar.
University of Cincinnati President Santa Ono has rejected his annual bonus, asking for the money to instead be donated to charities and scholarships, WCPO reported. Ono has also turned down a raise in his base salary.
"This may sound crazy, but it's hard for us when someone turns down a raise," University Board President Tom Humes told the news outlet. "But we've learned that the way to satisfy President Ono is to give him the ability to help others.”
Since becoming president in 2012, Ono has not accepted his yearly bonus. This year, the $200,000 bonus will be divided among 14 organizations and scholarships, according to WCPO, including the university’s LGBTQ center, a local STEM high school, and GEN-1 House, a program for first-generation college students.
The president will also give $10,000 from the bonus money to the family of Sonny Kim, a police officer killed in a shootout last Friday, Cincinnati.com reported. Ono has also offered full tuition to UC to the three sons of fallen officer. While, according to the news site, the Ohio Revised Code requires state universities to pay up to four years of tuition to the children of police officers who die in duty, the university will further cover full room and board should they attend, Ono wrote on Twitter.
In January, Ono was named by Inside Higher Ed as the nation’s “most notable college president” for 2015, and he has certainly fulfilled that distinguished title with this selfless act.
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