Gov. Kelly says it’s up to WSU president whether to stay after Ivanka Trump uproar
Whether Wichita State University President Jay Golden stays or goes in the wake of an uproar over a canceled Ivanka Trump speech is his decision to make, Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly said Monday.
Asked at a news conference, “Should president Golden stay at Wichita State University?” Kelly answered tersely, “I think that is a decision that is up to President Golden.”
As Kelly started to leave the podium, the reporter asked, “What about the Board of Regents?”
Kelly’s response: “I think that they’ve already spoken.”
Golden, who came to the university in January, caught flak from wealthy donors last week over his decision to remove a speech by Ivanka Trump — daughter of and advisor to President Donald Trump — from the online graduation ceremony for Wichita State Tech, the university’s trade-school arm.
Executive Vice President and CFO of Koch Industries Steve Feilmeier, Pizza Hut co-founder Dan Carney and several longtime donors and supporters were “very upset and quite vocal in their decisions to disavow any further support,” said Steve Clark, a former regent and former chair of the Wichita State University Foundation, in a letter to the Kansas Board of Regents on Monday. The official from Koch Industries clarified that he was speaking only for himself and not the company.
Clark is a large donor to the university, and recently had his name added to a university campus building — the Steve Clark YMCA & Student Wellness Center — after he donated $1 million. He told the regents that he and several others would pull future support unless Golden was fired or forced to resign.
Koch, which has donated or pledged more than $15 million to the university in the last seven years, issued a statement saying it would honor its commitments and evaluate “future funding opportunities as they arise.”
The story made national news when Ivanka Trump released her speech online and on Twitter cited cancel culture, calling it “antithetical to academia.”
It also drew condemnation from Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, a former Republican U.S. congressman from Wichita, who called the action “shameful” and said the university missed a chance to showcase itself to the rest of the nation.
Under pressure, the regents met in closed session for more than four hours Wednesday to consider whether to fire Golden.
While they were doing that, thousands of students, faculty and alumni were signing petitions and bombarding the regents with messages supporting Golden. Most objected to what they see as undue influence of big-business donors over university decisions.
The regents, a majority appointed by Republican governors Sam Brownback and Jeff Colyer, ultimately issued a cryptic statement asking for “patience and understanding as we work to improve communications during times of crisis.”
Until Kelly’s remarks Monday, the only public confirmation that Golden could stay came from the student body president, Rija Khan, who live-streamed an address to students after talking on the phone to Golden and regents President Blake Flanders, who is not a regent but heads its paid staff.
This story was originally published June 16, 2020 at 11:15 AM.
