To the editor:

It’s gratifying that the Journal-World is speaking out so directly about the serious problems facing faculty and students at KU. Yes, KU is a mess both on the Lawrence campus and at KU Med.

The institution’s governance structure has become so corrupt that no one can be sure that they’ll receive due process in any proceeding at KU. Lingering racist and sexist attitudes that have long contributed to underutilization of minorities and women have continued without any serious effort to eliminate them or to educate those involved in inappropriate employment practices. Meanwhile, the administration’s determined, dedicated efforts to defend those attitudes and practices has produced a culture of abuse, cover-up, and retaliation. KU’s solid reputation for educational integrity has been diminished greatly and replaced by a flimsy facade of Merit scholars as many quality faculty and graduate students either leave because of their frustrations with the current climate or are driven away for opposing it.

Compare what’s happened with Enron to what’s happened at KU. Think about how often you’ve heard that Hemenway wants to “deregulate” KU. He wants to take the classified employees out of the civil service, to remove oversight of how KU spends its money and to circumvent state regulations for construction projects. He used KU’s connections in the courts to circumvent civil rights law, ignored the university’s own guidelines for physical expansion into the neighborhoods surrounding campus and fought against the examination of the handling of the Watkins Trust. He frequently acts without consultation with or concern for those his actions affect, and he has time and again proven that the quality of education and fair treatment of members of the KU community come second to his empire-building objectives.

Haven’t you heard the adage that minorities and women are always “the last hired and the first fired?” Some of us have been canaries in the coal mine of KU for the past several years, sounding the alarm that things are spiraling out of control. If you continue to ignore the canary’s warning, the restoration of KU’s status and integrity will take much longer and be much more difficult and painful.

Mike Cuenca,

Lawrence