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Sounds like the kind of glowing letter an exemplary employee would receive from an appreciative boss, right?
Well, it appears there’s a little more to it.
The part that neither Warner nor Cano Morales is willing to discuss these days is the reason for her abrupt departure, or why the college agreed to pay her up to $180,000 — a year’s salary — plus a $2,200-a-month health care stipend on her way out the door.
Those details only came to light after I requested a copy of Cano Morales’ severance agreement, which is dated May 14. The agreement also spells out specific language for the college to use to communicate her decision to step away, explaining that she was leaving to pursue other opportunities.
As is typically the case with severance agreements, the deal prohibits Cano Morales and Warner from making any disparaging statements about one another. Both sides interpret that to mean that they can’t speak about the arrangement at all.
None of this passes the sniff test.
If, in fact, Cano Morales left the college on perfectly good terms simply to pursue other opportunities, that would mean Warner signed off on a $180,000 taxpayer-funded golden parachute for a seven-year employee who wasn’t working under a contract. This wasn’t a buyout.
If something else happened, the public — including the hardworking students at this commuter school — deserves to know why their money is funding payouts like this one.
Either way, their silence is deafening.
This is where I have to show my cards: I truly don’t know what happened, even off the record. This isn’t a situation where I’ve heard rumors about an employee or employer behaving badly, and I happen to think highly of both Cano Morales and Warner.
Cano Morales has a beautiful life story, a first-generation Colombian who graduated from the University of Rhode Island and then earned a master’s degree at RIC. She has become one of Rhode Island’s most influential members of the Latino community, previously holding roles as chair of the Central Falls School Board of Trustees and at the Latino Policy Institute at Roger Williams University.
In Warner’s case, I was quick to call on Governor Dan McKee and Postsecondary Education Commissioner Shannon Gilkey to remove the interim tag from his presidency. They did, and by all accounts, he has delivered. Rhode Island College is in a better place than it was 10 years ago, and the future looks bright.
What I do know is that secretive year-long severance payouts to public employees aren’t very common in Rhode Island, and they usually involve the threat of a lawsuit or wrongdoing on someone’s part. In 2019, for example, I covered the city of Providence’s decision to pay its human resources director a year’s salary in exchange for her not suing the city.
In this case, I know that RIC isn’t planning to fill Cano Morales’ role, which raises some diversity questions about Warner’s leadership team. At the vice president level, the college’s leader on diversity, equity, and inclusion was part of Warner’s cabinet. Now the college is in the process of hiring a director of DEI, according to spokesman John Taraborelli, putting the leader of the college’s DEI efforts significantly lower in its leadership hierarchy.
“The rest of her portfolio has been distributed among several members of the leadership team to ensure that the projects and initiatives within those areas continue without interruption,” Taraborelli said.
When I asked Taraborelli if RIC had entered into any other severance or separation agreements with non-union employees in recent years, he was able to produce only one other example. In July 2023, Jeannine Dingus-Eason resigned from her role as dean of the Feinstein School of Education and Human Development to become associate provost of DEI initiatives at the same salary for one year. She was allowed to work remotely, and agreed to not apply for any role at RIC in the future.
Back to Cano Morales. For now, her departure remains a mystery.
She has been receiving $15,000 a month from RIC as part of the severance package, and she has been guaranteed at least eight of those payments, according to the agreement. She is entitled to four more of those monthly payments as long as she doesn’t secure employment elsewhere.
Judging by Warner’s recommendation, she’d make quite a hire.
Dan McGowan can be reached at dan.mcgowan@globe.com. Follow him @danmcgowan.
Local News
A Rhode Island husband and wife in their 50s were identified as the two people killed in a Swansea car crash Friday night.
Carlolyn Carcasi, 54, and James Carcasi, 53, of Bristol, Rhode Island, were killed in the Feb. 27 crash, the office of Bristol County District Attorney Thomas Quinn said in a press release Monday.
The crash occurred at the intersection of Route 136 and Route 6 in Swansea, Quinn’s office said.
Police in Cranston, Rhode Island identified the driver who allegedly hit the couple as Demitri Sousa, 28. Sousa allegedly shot and killed a man in Rhode Island nearly four hours before the crash, Cranston police said.
At around 12:18 a.m. Friday, Swansea police spotted Sousa’s Infiniti barreling down Route 6, Swansea officials said previously.
The couple was driving southbound on Route 136 when the Sousa crashed into the side of a Subaru Ascent. Both cars had “catastrophic damage,” and the Subaru was engulfed in flames, Swansea fire and police officials said.
Both occupants of the Subaru were declared dead at the scene, Swansea officials said.
Sousa was transported to a local hospital, where he is being treated for serious injuries. He is expected to live and will be held in Cranston police custody until he is medically cleared, police said Sunday.
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CRANSTON, R.I. (WJAR) — Women’s Fund of Rhode Island and U.S. Sen. Jack Reed celebrated Women’s History Month in Cranston with a panel discussion on Monday.
The event was held at the Cranston Public Library at 9 a.m.
Reed and other leaders of WFRI hosted a panel discussion with women leaders in environmental and agricultural advocacy, education, community resilience, housing, finance, workforce development, and more, officials said.
Women’s Fund of Rhode Island and U.S. Sen. Jack Reed celebrated Women’s History Month in Cranston with a panel discussion on Monday. (WJAR)
“Women have played a critical role in this process, most often without any recognition,” Reed said. “Today’s panel brings together an extraordinary group of women who are addressing the challenged of sustainability from various angles and I want to thank you all for your great efforts.”
The panelists highlighted their experiences, shared insights and tips on lifting up women’s voices, provided strategies for sparking change and more.
JOIN THE CONVERSATION (1)
According to officials, some of the panelists included Executive Director of the Rhode Island Food Policy Council Nessa Richman, Executive Director of Strategic Initiatives at Rhode Island College Kim Bright, Newport Housing Authority Executive Director Rhonda Mitchell and more.
Local News
A Seekonk man is accused of murder after he allegedly shot and killed a man in Rhode Island before causing a car crash in Swansea that killed two people last week, police said.
Demitri Sousa, 28, is charged with murder, using a firearm while committing a crime of violence, and carrying a pistol without a license, the Cranston Police Department said.
The shooting occurred Thursday night in Cranston, police said in a press release.
That night, Sousa allegedly arrived at the Cranston home of Javon Lawson, 35. Sousa began banging on the side door of the home, police said.
When Lawson approached the door, he was hit by gunfire from outside, police said.
First responders transported Lawson to the Rhode Island Hospital, where he was pronounced dead, Cranston police said.
“Based on the preliminary investigation, the motive is believed to be a dispute between the suspect and the victim over a mutual female acquaintance. Detectives are continuing this investigation to gain more insight, as well as to collect and analyze evidence,” Colonel Michael Winquist, Chief of Cranston police, said in an emailed statement to Boston.com.
Neighbors gave police video footage that “showed a male subject wearing dark clothing and a mask walking toward the residence moments before the shooting and fleeing immediately afterward,” Winquist said.
The suspect was also seen running to a white Infiniti sedan which then drove off, the Cranston police chief said.
Shortly after the shooting, a license plate reader captured the vehicle driving southbound on Route 10, and then later in Fall River and Westport, Massachusetts. The sedan’s license plate was registered in Sousa’s name, Winquist said.
At around 12:18 a.m. Friday, Swansea police spotted Sousa’s Infiniti barreling down Route 6, Swansea officials said.
Just moments later, Sousa allegedly “crashed into the side of another vehicle, a blue 2022 Subaru Ascent that had been traveling southbound on Route 136,” Swansea Police Chief Mark Foley and Fire Chief Eric Hajder said in a joint press release.
Both vehicles had “catastrophic damage,” and the struck car was engulfed in flames, the Swansea officials said.
The driver and passenger of the hit car — a man and a woman — were declared dead at the scene, they said.
“Swansea Police had been alerted to be on the lookout for the suspect vehicle. However, Swansea Police were not involved in the pursuit and were not pursuing the vehicle at the time of the crash,” the Swansea chiefs wrote. Swansea official have not announced charges related to the fatal crash.
Sousa had been driving the Infiniti and appeared to be suffering from serious injuries, Winquist said. Inside the car, police found a pistol and “additional .22 caliber ammunition was recovered” from Sousa at Rhode Island Hospital, Winquist said.
Police arrested Sousa and transported him to Rhode Island Hospital. Sousa is expected to survive, Winquist said. Sousa will be held in Cranston police custody until he is conscious and medically cleared, Winquist said.
“On behalf of the Cranston Police Department, I want to extend my deepest condolences to the family and loved ones of Javon Lawson and the two individuals who were killed in the crash in Swansea,” Winquist said.
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