UNE chief back on job after alcohol treatment

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SACO — The president of the University of New England said he feels well after being on the job for a month following treatment for alcoholism. Thomas Hedley Reynolds, who said he offered to resign after his arrest for drunken driving in September, said any…
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SACO — The president of the University of New England said he feels well after being on the job for a month following treatment for alcoholism.

Thomas Hedley Reynolds, who said he offered to resign after his arrest for drunken driving in September, said any future decision to leave before his contract expires would have more to do with age than criminal charges.

“I feel very comfortable about myself and my condition right now,” the 73-year-old said.

Reynolds has been president of the University of New England since 1991. He had led Bates College for 22 years before coming out of retirement to take the UNE post.

Reynolds said trustees rejected his offer to resign after his arrest for drunken driving in Kennebunk. His blood-alcohol level was 0.27 percent, more than three times the legal limit.

Acknowledging that he could be sentenced to jail, Reynolds said he’s not fearful. “As old as I am, if you can’t live with your fears, you can’t get very far,” he said.

Trustees for the 17-year-old university that has Maine’s only medical school have not “contemplated any change” in leadership, said trustees Chairwoman Jean Wilkinson.


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