Sen. Jerry Moran of Kansas says he’s seen too much neglect from the U.S. Bureau of Indian Education in recent years to trust that it can protect and support indigenous students studying at Haskell Indian Nations University.

Now, he’s calling for a major restructuring that would preserve federal funding for the country’s only Tribal Nations University in Lawrence, Kansas, while ceding control of the school to an independent board of trustees made up of tribal representatives.

His legislation, introduced Monday in partnership with Salina Republican Rep. Tracy Mann and several other lawmakers, follows a congressional investigation into the university over its failure to address student concerns about sexual assault.

“Haskell University once provided Native American students the opportunity to receive a high-quality, tuition-free education in an environment that understood and prioritized indigenous heritage and culture,” Moran said in a statement.

He went on to accuse the Bureau of Indian Education, or BIE, of mismanagement for failing to protect students, respond to congressional inquiries and address the university’s basic infrastructure needs.

Amid the turmoil of the last decade, Haskell has seen eight university presidents resign or get removed from office. Most recently, Frank Arpan resigned in May after more than two years on the job.

After first putting forward a proposal for restructuring Haskell in December, Moran and his bill co-sponsors took six months to solicit feedback from university stakeholders, including various tribal groups and the Lawrence community.

“I am thankful that Sen. Moran and Rep. Mann have introduced this legislation to strengthen Haskell as a federally chartered university to further the federal government’s treaty and trust responsibility to Indian people,” said Joseph Rupnick, chairman of the Prairie Band Potawatomi Nation.

In a statement, a BIE spokesperson said the agency has a policy of not commenting on pending legislation.

“The Bureau of Indian Education remains committed to supporting student success at Haskell Indian Nations University,” spokesperson Jennifer Bell told The Star.

Haskell proposed changes

The language of the bill would require Congress to authorize no less than $27 million in annual funding for the university — up from $21 million in the legislation’s first draft.

At the request of Haskell stakeholders, the lawmakers added additional language clarifying that students will continue to receive a tuition-free education.

The 320-acre campus served just over 900 students last school year.

As it stands, Haskell is completely run by the federal government. The bill proposes a series of sweeping changes modeled after public colleges and universities.

The precarious nature of the university’s current arrangement was driven home this February when the Trump administration abruptly fired three dozen Haskell employees.

Moran’s proposal calls for Haskell staff and faculty to be employees of the university rather than the government.

The bill sets up a system where Haskell would become “congressionally chartered,” joining the Institute of American Indian Arts in Santa Fe and five institutions in Washington, D.C. — American University, Gallaudet University, Georgetown University, George Washington University and Howard University.

It would require annual reporting to Congress on academic performance, governance, and budget projections.

It would also form a 16-person Board of Trustees that would consist of 12 trustees from each of the geographic regions under the Bureau of Indian Affairs, one trustee from the Indian tribes of Kansas, one alumni trustee and one at-large member from any Indian tribe in the geographic regions. The Haskell student body president would be a non-voting trustee.

Turmoil at Haskell

According to a 2023 report from the Department of the Interior, numerous student allegations arising from Haskell’s athletics department fell on deaf ears when they were reported to university leadership and federal officials in 2022.

Those allegations of sexual assault, harassment, theft, nepotism and fraud were ignored or dismissed by the university president, BIE director and the assistant secretary of the Bureau of Indian Affairs, the report found.

An earlier 2018 federal report concluded that former Haskell President Venida Chenault mishandled multiple sexual misconduct complaints. Three years later, another president was fired under a cloud of accusations and counter-accusations about mismanagement.

Transitioning away from direct federal oversight would represent yet another transformation for Haskell, which has seen many different iterations since its inception in 1884 as a strict boarding school where Native children were forcibly assimilated into American culture.

“For far too long, the U.S. Department of Interior and the Bureau of Indian Education have mismanaged the university, turned a blind eye to misconduct to the detriment of its students and failed to comply with federal oversight,” Mann said.

“I am grateful for the tribal members, Haskell students, staff, and alumni, and the Haskell Board of Regents who weighed in to help us get this bill right.”

Other Republican cosponsors of the bill include Sen. Roger Marshall, Sen. Markwayne Mullin of Oklahoma and Rep. Derek Schmidt, whose district includes Lawrence.

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