Ken Hush, president at Emporia State University since November, said financial realities compel ESU to consider realigning the budget through process that could include employee layoffs and changes in of academic programs. (Margaret Mellott/Kansas Reflector)
The search to find Emporia State’s 18th president seemed to begin in the standard, precise way that was to be expected by the 23 members of the search committee.
However, suspicions of the legitimacy of the search quickly surfaced for some members, as one candidate seemed to fly through rounds with seemingly unearned success, according to one member of the committee who spoke to The Bulletin on the condition of anonymity.
In June, that candidate, Ken Hush, was named president of ESU.
The search to find ESU’s 18th president was completely closed to the public, with only the names of the search committee members being available as public record, which differed from previous years.
In 2015, the search to find the university’s 17th president was comparatively more open, and allowed for two finalists to visit campus following the release of their names and biographies, according to the official ESU website.
Gwen Larson, director of media relations, said she suspects that search, resulting in the appointment of Allison Garrett, to be the last of its kind for ESU for the employment protection of the candidates.
The committee that decided on Hush included a chair who is a major donor to ESU, a member who was an employee of Koch Industries, a member of the Lyman B. Kellogg Society – a society of people planning to gift their estates to ESU. All members of the committee were required to sign Ethics and Confidentiality Commitment statements stating only the chair is permitted to speak to the media on behalf of the group and because of this, the two committee members who spoke to The Bulletin are anonymous, for their protection.
The link that once listed the names and biographies of the committee members through the university website has recently been taken down.
When the presidential search reached its final two days of interviews before the process would be taken over by KBOR, all candidates were given a one hour window of time to answer a set of questions written by the committee previously.
Ken Hush was the last to be interviewed on the first day, but rather than receiving the same questions every other candidate answered, the search committee chair, Greg Kossover, selected at least one question regarding shared governance to be skipped, according to a member of the search committee.
Of the questions Hush did answer, the committee member said they don’t remember most answers being of note, at least one causing concern as his answer reflected his world view and politics, although the individual declined to elaborate further.
The Bulletin reached out to Kossover via phone call multiple times for a comment on this story. He did not answer the phone or call back.
Kossover is a major donor to the university, one of his contributions being to the Kossover Family Tennis Complex, a complex in which Hush also was a major donor.
In order for candidates to make it to the final two days of committee interviews, they had to pass through an evaluation system where the committee would rank them according to how well they fit the criteria earlier established by the group, according to a member.
While the narrowed down group was filled with some “excellent” unnamed candidates, some committee members were surprised to see Hush among them, one committee member said.
One member also remembers leaving for the day knowing Hush would make it into the list of finalists and now believes that even from the beginning, KBOR was never going to hire anyone else as president.
While the names of the other three finalists interviewed with Hush are not open to the public, the schedule for the final KBOR interviews on June 21 are public record. The details of this meeting and the subsequent interviews with the four candidates have not been disclosed.
When asked for a comment on the alleged bias in the presidential search, KBOR responded via email with a statement by Chair Jon Rolph.
The statement said KBOR is “proud” of the search committee’s “rigorous process to vet candidates for Board consideration.” Rolph also said KBOR takes the responsibility of leading a state university seriously.
Rolph said the search and appointment is just the start of their process.
“We have a robust process to assess their leadership, help them manage any real or perceived conflicts of interest and evaluate how well they are serving students and the state of Kansas,” Rolph said.
As part of the search, interviewees had to sign a Ethics and Confidentiality Commitment statement which said they would bring forward any conflicts of interest they may have and will “guard against inaccuracies, carelessness, bias and distortion made by either emphasis or omission of information.”
KBOR will not require Hush to fill out any conflict of interest statements until April, per board policy.
Rolph also said that while the changes at ESU have been hard, KBOR is “pleased” to see the reinvestments into programs.
“The university must reverse its long-term enrollment decline if it is to solve its financial challenges, and this reinvestment is an important first step,” the statement said.