Raymond Burse, interim president of Kentucky State University, elected to have his salary decreased from $349,869 to $259,745 in order to boost the paychecks of the university's lowest-paid workers, according to the Lexington Herald-Leader.
Burse's pay cut will increase the salaries of 24 KSU employees, some of whom were making as littles as $7.25 an hour, to $10.25 an hour, WLKY reported. Burse said that his giving up $90,124.96 is a response to "tough times" and wanting to ensure that university workers know the school's board and president "care about them and want to do the very best by them," according to the Herald-Leader.
Burse has experience dealing with KSU employees -- he served as KSU president from 1982 to 1989, according to KY Forward. After his presidency, Burse held an executive position at General Electric Co. He retired in 2012 after 17 years with good benefits, the Herald-Leader reported.
For all of his Good Samaritanism, Burse wants to make clear that his pay cut is not a poke at other university presidents to follow suit, according to the Herald-Leader. Burse said, "I was in a position where I could do that," and he recognizes that his decision is one that many people aren't able to make.