Kansas lawmakers want to end federal control of Haskell

U.S. Senator Jerry Moran and Representative Tracey Mann of Kansas recently announced plans to propose legislation to remove Haskell Indian Nations University from the control of the U.S. Bureau of Indian Education, The Kansas City Star reported.

The university serving Native American students in Kansas is one of only two higher ed institutions directly operated and funded by the bureau. The bill would put a new university Board of Trustees, appointed by the tribal community, in control of the university, including a dozen trustees representing different regions under the Bureau of Indian Affairs, a trustee from Native American tribes in Kansas, an alumni trustee, an at-large trustee and the student body president as a nonvoting member.

The university would also have a new status, “congressionally chartered,” and receive $21 million annually from Congress. Kansas lawmakers released a draft of the bill in advance of introducing it to allow for discussion, given the complexities of the potential shift. The plan has the support of Brittany Hall, the president of the Haskell Board of Regents, and Joseph Rupnick, chairman of the Prairie Band Potawatomi Nation.

Haskell Indian Nations University has been roiled by presidential turnover. It also came under fire from politicians last year after the Bureau of Indian Education released a scathing investigative report that concluded Haskell mishandled student sexual assault claims, among other issues.

At a heated congressional hearing over the summer, federal lawmakers questioned a U.S. Department of the Interior official, the former president of Haskell Indian Nations University and others regarding student and employee complaints about the university.

“Haskell should be a crown jewel for both Native Americans and Kansas, but for far too long has been failed by the federal government,” Mann said in a press release about the impending bill. “It is obvious that the best way to protect Haskell’s rich heritage and culture is to charter the university and remove its governance from the federal bureaucrats to a Board of Regents nominated by Tribal communities.”