photo by: Dmitry Martirosov/Journal-World

The Hilltop Child Development Center at the University of Kansas is seen on Wednesday, Sept. 23, 2026.

Supporters of Hilltop Child Development Center at the University of Kansas — which is facing an imminent closure — are not going away without a fight.

On Monday, KU faculty, staff and graduate students, as well as elected officials across Douglas County, sent two letters of support to KU Chancellor Doug Girod and Provost Arash Mafi, asking them to reconsider the university’s decision to close the childcare center and, if that fails, that they commit not to tear down Hilltop’s main campus on Ousdahl Road.

One letter, signed by more than 450 faculty and staff members at KU, including directors, department chairs and professors, warns that closing Hilltop will cause ripple effects that go beyond the families currently enrolled at the childcare center; the closure will affect KU up and down the chain, the letter says, from students to faculty to research.

The letter, authored by Katie Batza, professor and chair of KU’s women, gender, and sexuality studies, and Alesha Doan, associate dean in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, is asking Girod and Mafi to “pause” Hilltop’s closure and instead come up with “viable short- and long-term solutions.”

“We ask KU to use the full range of its institutional resources and collective expertise to develop a financially and operationally sustainable model for continuing to provide childcare to our university community,” the letter says.

The second letter, authored by state Rep. Suzanne Wikle, D-Lawrence, is asking Girod for a commitment not to demolish or alter Hilltop’s main campus in any way through at least March of 2028.

“The community, in partnership with KU, deserves time to explore all viable options to bring the Hilltop facility back to a functioning child care center,” Wikle said in the letter, which is signed by 15 state, county and city officials representing Douglas County.

photo by: Dmitry Martirosov/Journal-World

The Hilltop Child Development Center at the University of Kansas is seen on Wednesday, Sept. 23, 2026.

News of Hilltop’s closure broke last week, as the Journal-World reported, when Chari Young, KU’s chief human resources officer who also serves as Hilltop’s board president, notified parents and staff that the center will be closing at the end of next month, so long as it continues meeting “all applicable safety, staffing, and licensing requirements.” The decision, Young said, was based in part on Hilltop’s financial viability — which includes significant maintenance needs at its main campus — as well as safety and other regulatory requirements. On Thursday, parents learned that Hilltop received a notice of suspension from the Kansas Office of Early Childhood, based on three investigations from earlier this year, warning the center that its license could be suspended unless it takes certain steps.

Hilltop has also been subject to numerous state violations that resulted in a significant enrollment decline over the past year. The center’s current enrollment is 130 students or fewer, according to parents with knowledge of the matter, while its total capacity is 400 or more.

When the news broke, many parents — including some who are currently enrolled at KU as students — found themselves without childcare alternatives, forcing them to scramble and, in some cases, compete with each other for empty slots.

But even before the planned Oct. 30 shutdown, impacts of the decision are already being felt at KU.

Batza and Doan, in their letter, said that faculty members are asking their departments for “emergency accommodations” because they are unable to find childcare alternatives, and that graduate students with children are questioning whether they can continue their studies if they can’t find affordable solutions.

“We recognize that Hilltop faces financial, structural, and liability challenges in its current form. Those challenges deserve serious attention,” Batza and Doan said. “But they should prompt the University to bring together its expertise and resources to find a sustainable solution — not to abandon campus childcare with little notice to the families who depend upon it.”

Batza, in a brief interview with the Journal-World on Monday, called childcare “a lifeline” for faculty and students and said that it’s what allows them to study and do their work.

In her letter to Girod, Wikle is asking him to provide a response by Friday.

“A child care center with a 54-year history like Hilltop’s should not be abruptly shuttered without a good faith attempt to re-open in the future,” she said.