There is a new reason to be proud of Lawrence’s Haskell Indian Nations University. The university awarded diplomas to 229 graduates on Friday, a new record for the second year in a row.

As usual, the graduation ceremony for Haskell Indian Nations university was a colorful and rich celebration of American Indian culture. Unfortunately, graduation week at Haskell included a tapestry of an unwanted variety too: a red flag.

The university’s board of regents on Thursday reluctantly agreed to cancel the track and field season for the Haskell men’s and women’s teams. It is unclear whether the track and field program will ever be restarted.

Track and field is not an integral part of the university’s educational mission, and the number of participants is relatively small compared with the school’s enrollment. But its cancellation is concerning, nonetheless. It continues a trend of a shrinking athletic presence for Haskell. The football program was suspended indefinitely in 2015. Not that athletics are paramount, but for a small university they can provide a very important window to the world.

What’s more concerning is that Haskell repeatedly finds itself in a position where it feels it has no choice but to shrink itself because of funding constraints. The football program was cut because of a lack of money for equipment and facilities. Football can be an expensive sport. Track and field, however, generally is not. The school’s track and field budget was $8,000, plus coaching salaries.

One reason that Haskell cited for the cut is that Haskell doesn’t have a permanent athletics director and doesn’t know when it will have one. This year, the federal government enacted a hiring freeze for employees in that classification category. Haskell would need to get a waiver from Washington, D.C., to make such a hire.

Such issues are emblematic of the funding challenges Haskell faces. It would seem many of them are unnecessary. Haskell is run by the federal government. It is the only four-year university in the entire country operated by the U.S. Bureau of Indian Education. Haskell’s budget is an inconsequential part of the federal budget. It could be increased many times over and still be an inconsequential part of the federal budget.

Not that Haskell should become a repository for pork-barrel politics, but Republicans run the federal government now, and Kansas is full of Republican lawmakers. It should not be difficult for a member of Congress to gain an exemption to allow Haskell to hire an athletic director, for example. Honestly, it shouldn’t be difficult for a member of Congress to add some additional funding for Haskell onto any number of bills. It happens all the time for other projects.

But it seems that Haskell does not have that type of champion in Congress. Maybe the state’s congressional delegation has good reason for not providing greater support to Haskell. If so, they should make their concerns public and create the challenge for Haskell to do what it takes to earn their support.

Haskell is an asset to Lawrence, to the state and to Indian Country. But is not nearly the asset it could be. The existence of a track and field program won’t be what makes the difference for the university. Instead, what the university does need is a champion who can carry the idea of adequate Haskell funding to the finish line.