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.

A collective of Haskell Indian Nations University students, alumni and former faculty are calling for the reinstatement of the recently fired — for the second time — cross country coach who has for years been at the center of investigations into the university.

The students want coach Clay Mayes, who was laid off Friday along with dozens of other Haskell employees, to be reinstated immediately. Mayes, as the Journal-World has reported, was fired once already and reinstated amid reports of dysfunction at Haskell that resulted in congressional hearings in July of last year.

“To date, BIE has now wrongfully breached Coach Clay Mayes’ contract, twice,” a letter to BIE Director Tony Dearman said. The group notes that the BIE’s own investigative report found that Mayes’ contract earlier had been breached “through retaliation, false reporting, and harassment.” Mayes, who was originally hired in July 2021, was fired the first time in April 2022, though he had been removed from his role much earlier.

The report, which described Haskell’s athletic department as being in “disarray,” deemed Mayes’ firing a “poor decision based on unsupported allegations,” and it said that Haskell leadership inappropriately terminated his contract.

Mayes, a contract coach, applied for reinstatement in the summer of 2023, and eventually got his job back.

The students called Mayes’ firing on Friday a second breach of his contract and suggested it was retaliation for Mayes speaking at the bipartisan congressional hearing last summer, which concluded that conditions at the university were poor — “a toxic culture,” in the words of Congresswoman Melanie Stansbury, D-New Mexico.

The report referred to in the letter was prepared by an administrative investigation board under the U.S. Department of the Interior’s Bureau of Indian Education, the federal agency that oversees Haskell’s operations. The report has been a subject of controversy as it was initially mired in secrecy, and more than one version of it appeared to be in existence, with accusations that the original report had been altered.

“What has occurred over the last three years, what has been allowed, and what has unfolded is a disservice to our student body, athletic teams, faculty, alumni, and to the coaches and educators that have our best interest at heart,” the group’s message to Dearman said. “Coach Clay Mayes is one those that has invested in us, and it’s time we do the same for him, and to reinstate Coach Clay Mayes, effective immediately.”

As the Journal-World has reported, U.S. Sen. Jerry Moran, R-Kan., and U.S. Rep. Tracey Mann, R-Kan., have crafted legislation that would strip control of Haskell Indian Nations University from the Bureau of Indian Education and let the university govern itself, under the oversight of the Haskell Board of Regents, while still receiving federal funding.

In the wake of Friday’s firings pursuant to a Trump Administration order, sources close to Haskell said that hundreds of students out of Haskell’s 900-plus enrollment would face classes with no instructors. It is estimated that the firings resulted in Haskell losing more than a quarter of its workforce, including instructors, coaches, advisers, custodial staff and many others.

President Donald Trump and his “efficiency” adviser Elon Musk have said they are targeting waste, fraud and abuse, which is what Mayes was also targeting at Haskell, according to his congressional testimony.

In his congressional testimony last summer, Mayes described the atmosphere of Haskell as almost “ganglike,” alleging incidents of large-scale theft of athletic equipment, an environment of no accountability and the refusal to listen to women who had reported sexual discrimination and assault. He believes students came to him — a “cross country coach” — because no one else was listening to them.

A source close to Haskell told the Journal-World: “Clay should be the Trump/Musk Poster Federal Employee, not terminated.”

According to The Associated Press, the massive federal layoffs involving hundreds of thousands of people are unlikely to yield significant deficit savings. The government spends about $270 billion annually compensating civilian federal workers, according to the Congressional Budget Office, with about 60% going to workers at the departments of Defense, Homeland Security and Veterans Affairs. Even if the government cut all of those workers, it would still run a deficit of over $1 trillion.