BOULDER, Colo. -- "There’s no way I drop out. You just do not quit in life," Bruce Benson said Monday, after two weeks of vocal opposition to his selection as the sole finalist for the president of the three campus CU system.

"I think, in general, it’s probably less than I expected," Benson said. "Everybody always thinks, 'Oh well. He’s the big ogre.' But I’ve got a lot of faculty friends."

On campus Monday, a wooden, imitation oil well sat inside the Student Union as Benson critics passed out fliers arguing Benson didn’t believe in global warming and was academically unqualified to be president.

"Care about your campus. Care about your campus," said one Benson critic.

"We don’t feel like Mr. Benson is qualified or suited for this job," said one of three student body presidents, Hadley Brown.

Benson earned an undergraduate degree in geology in 1964 at CU Boulder.

Past presidents have most often had post-graduate degrees.

"I know that from where I’m coming from, it’s not about the fact that he’s a Republican. I think the people more, that when it comes to politics, are protesting the fact that he’s such a polarizing figure," Brown said.

Benson said his track record of raising millions of dollars, often with bipartisan groups, is exactly what the CU system needs.

"We don’t want to balance all this on the student’s backs and just keep raising tuition," Benson said.

"I look at this much more, and I think most people do, as a business job. And I expect that I would spend about 25 percent of my time on the inside," Benson said.

He says his contacts in Washington D.C. would be crucial in helping to increase funding for higher education in Colorado.

Benson says he would try to clarify competing constitutional amendments that often prevent lawmakers from providing their own solutions to the college budget issue.

He'll meet with CU Boulder faculty at 4 p.m. Tuesday and with students at 6:30 p.m. in the Glen Miller Ballroom.

A closed-door session with the Board of Regents follows Wednesday night.

The Board could vote as soon as Friday on Benson for president.