"Since taking the helm in 2021, Hush oversaw a controversial workforce-management policy that included firing 23 tenured faculty members. The American Association of University Professors publicly censured ESU for that decision, and some of the laid-off faculty sued. Emporia officials, including Hush, defended the job cuts, saying they were needed to address a budget deficit and falling enrollment."
"This gift is in appreciation for the meaningful impact ESU has had on our community and on me, both as a student and in my role as president. It has been a great honor to serve my home state of Kansas, in my hometown of Emporia for the institution that has changed so many lives for the better,"
"Emporia State is focused on [students] like never before. We cannot afford to go back to the old ways of higher education that focused more on the institution than those the institution is here to serve."
Ken Hush, outgoing president of Emporia State University, is donating roughly $1.4 million, equal to his last four years of salary, to support scholarships, new student recruitment and university operations. Hush led a workforce-management policy beginning in 2021 that resulted in the dismissal of 23 tenured faculty, prompting public censure by the American Association of University Professors and lawsuits from some laid-off faculty. University officials defended the cuts as necessary to address a budget deficit and falling enrollment. Enrollment initially plunged after the cuts, but ESU eliminated a $19 million deficit and reported 6 percent enrollment growth since fall 2024.
Read at Inside Higher Ed | Higher Education News, Events and Jobs
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