photo by: Shawn Valverde

Haskell Indian Nations University is pictured on Saturday, Dec. 21, 2024.

A significant number of Haskell Indian Nations University employees were laid off Friday pursuant to an order by President Donald Trump to cut the federal work force, the Journal-World has learned.

According to a source close to Haskell, around 38 employees have been let go, out of approximately 150 employed there. Those people include a range of personnel. At least seven people on the list were instructors. Various program specialists were also on the list, as well as custodians, IT workers and others. Among the fired was Clay Mayes, the cross country coach who had been terminated once before and then later reinstated. Mayes appeared before a congressional hearing last summer to discuss allegations of dysfunction at Haskell.

“It’s going to be a big disruption to the university,” said a different person close to Haskell, who wished to remain anonymous for “security concerns.”

photo by: YouTube screenshot

Haskell Indian Nations University cross country coach Clay Mayes addresses a bipartisan congressional panel Tuesday, July 23, 2024, in Washington, D.C.

One person at Haskell who contacted the Journal-World said she had just started working at Haskell in January and was fired this afternoon. She said she thought that “around 50 people on probationary periods at HINU have been let off.”

“I am devastated,” she said. “I have no idea what I’m going to do. Employee benefits will only go on for another month. We only get paid up until today.”

When her boss gave her the news this afternoon — news that many had been dreading — he said, “I’m sorry, there’s nothing we can do.” She said it was her understanding that more layoffs were probable.

The Trump administration has intensified its sweeping efforts to shrink the size of the federal workforce, the nation’s largest employer, by ordering agencies to lay off nearly all probationary employees who had not yet gained civil service protection. Across the federal government, it’s not clear how many workers are currently in a probationary period. According to government data maintained by the Office of Personnel Management, as of March 2024, 220,000 workers had less than a year on the job — the most recent data available.

It’s expected to be the first step in sweeping layoffs. Trump signed an executive order Tuesday that told agency leaders to plan for “large-scale reductions in force.”

Haskell is under the purview of the U.S. Department of the Interior.

According to a list of “talking points” from Haskell’s president, Frank Arpan, obtained by the Journal-World, bosses at Haskell were instructed to tell terminated employees:

• “You will receive an email with a letter that will formally notify you that your probationary employment is being terminated, effective February 14, 2025.”

• “Please ensure to return all property, including your PIV card and keys/badges are returned to (your) supervisor by the close of business today.”

• “You will be in paid status through February 14, 2025. Employee benefits will continue for 30 days from separation.”

• “The Department appreciates your contributions to Indian Affairs during your time here and wish(es) you the best in your future endeavors.”

The Journal-World reached out to Arpan for comment, but he was not immediately available. His office referred the Journal-World to a spokesperson at the Bureau of Indian Education in Washington, D.C., who has yet to reply.

Dalton Henry, the newly appointed president of the Haskell National Board of Regents, expressed sympathy for the fired employees, while emphasizing that the order came from the federal Office of Personnel Management, not from the university.

“I feel for them,” Henry said. “It’s their livelihood.”

Two months ago, U.S. Sen. Jerry Moran, R-Kan., and U.S. Rep. Tracey Mann, R-Kan., released a draft piece of legislation that would allow the Haskell Board of Regents to oversee Haskell and its Lawrence campus. Under the proposal, the Board of Regents would be nominated by recognized tribes from across the country and appointed by the president of the United States, with the advice and consent of the U.S. Senate. One component of Moran and Mann’s proposal is that Haskell employees would no longer hold civil servant positions in the federal government, but rather would become employees of the university itself. All university employees, however, would be eligible for federal benefits.

The Journal-World has reached out to Moran for comment on Friday’s firings at Haskell.

Haskell is one of only two institutions of higher education operated by the Bureau of Indian Education. The other is Southwestern Indian Polytechnic Institute in Albuquerque, New Mexico, which also saw more than two dozen firings Friday.

— The Associated Press contributed to this report.