Students and faculty at the University of the District of Columbia are really displeased with university president Allen Sessoms’ costly travel bills, like a $7,952 flight to visit UDC’s “campus” in Cairo — especially considering the college is fighting a budget battle which could see the elimination of 20 academic programs. Sessoms has claimed that all the costs are “above-board” and that the stories about them didn’t take into account “extenuating circumstances surrounding the travel” — like the fact that flying coach would, according to Sessoms, kill him.

The allegations of overspending center on Sessoms’s habit of traveling on refundable first-class tickets. In a news conference Monday afternoon, Sessoms said that’s the only way he will travel. He has circulatory problems in his legs that, he said, require him to stretch out on long voyages.

“Yeah, I’m going to fly first-class,” he said. “I’m not going to die for any job.”

Sessoms also told reporters that some of the travel is undocumented because “things get lost around here…I don’t have to tell you that,” and promised an audit of the office’s spending. Sessoms will appear before the D.C. Council this morning to explain further about how an extra few inches of legroom help to save his life.