WRITER: Chad Lawhorn

KU among 45 universities being investigated by feds for improper use of race in university matters

The University of Kansas is among 45 universities that the U.S. Department of Education is investigating related to concerns that racial preferences are playing inappropriate roles in admissions or other operations. The Department of Education released via press release a list of schools that it had opened investigations regarding possible violations of Title VI of the Civil Rights Act, which prohibits ...

Plans filed for 500-bedroom apartment complex in south Lawrence; project to use affordable housing tax credits

There are new signs that a large affordable housing apartment complex will develop in the heart of south Lawrence’s big box retail district. A site plan has been filed for an approximately 500-bedroom apartment complex at the southeast corner of 31st and Michigan streets, which is basically across the street from the Menards home improvement store. If some of this sounds familiar, we reported in June that ...

'It is very valid to be anxious': University leaders react to rapidly changing federal environment for higher ed

University leaders have been told a lot recently. In February there was a “Dear Colleague” letter from the U.S. Department of Education that was a little light on the “dear.” The letter to university leaders across the country said they had “toxically indoctrinated” students with the idea that the United States had been built upon “systemic and structural racism.” It said universities were ...

Kansas State begins limited job cuts related to loss of federal funding; KU hasn't yet announced any layoffs

UPDATED 1:50 P.M. MARCH 14 Kansas State University is eliminating nine jobs due to federal cuts in international aid programs, and KSU is indefinitely suspending two programs that help improve crop yields in the U.S. and overseas. K-State on Friday announced that it would suspend operations of its two Feed the Future Innovation Labs on April 12, and would eliminate nine employee positions as part of the ...

Kansas' efforts to weaken tenure protection for professors isn't yet over, university leaders told

A bill that would threaten tenure protection of professors at the University of Kansas and other schools isn’t likely to become law this year, the state’s higher education leaders were told this week. But don’t call the bill dead. “It is blessed. It is not dead,” KU Chancellor Douglas Girod said Wednesday during a subcommittee meeting of the Kansas Board of Regents. Girod and the presidents of ...

Girod says bevy of cuts, including hiring freeze, 'on the table' as KU works to adapt to federal policy changes

In a matter of weeks, the University of Kansas is expected to make decisions about a campus-wide hiring freeze and whether future graduate class sizes should be reduced as leaders grapple with federal policy changes. “We haven’t just immediately pulled the trigger, but we are evaluating every one of those now,” KU Chancellor Douglas Girod told the Journal-World in a brief interview on Wednesday. “In ...