On Feb. 14, Haskell cross country coach Clay Mayes walked into a meeting with Haskell athletic director Zach Wilkerson not knowing what to expect. He walked out of the meeting unemployed and worried about what the future would look like. 

“I didn’t say anything besides tear up. I think my only words were just my family. I didn’t say anything else,” Mayes said.

According to a press release from the Haskell Board of Regents interim president Dalton Henry, 35 members or 23% of the university’s staff were laid off, all on Feb. 14. These layoffs come from President Donald Trump’s executive order demanding the firing of all probationary workers in the federal workforce, including Mayes. 

Probationary staff generally includes any staff that has been on the job for less than a year. Unlike other public universities, Haskell is funded by the federal government as a part of the Bureau of Indian Education, subjecting them to federal oversight. Haskell and Southwestern Indian Polytechnic Institute are the only two tribal colleges run by the Bureau of Indian Education in the nation.  

To facilitate these layoffs, the Bureau of Indian Education stated that there were “poor performance” reports. In another meeting with Wilkerson, Mayes and former head women’s basketball coach Adam Strom met to get clarification on their reasons for removal.

“Our women’s basketball coach [Strom] was heated, but not disrespectful … [Wilkerson] said my evaluation was bad. He goes, ‘No, I didn’t do those [evaluations]. Those are all carbon copies. Everyone’s termination letter. It says the exact same thing,’” Mayes said.  

After Mayes’s men’s and women’s teams won conference titles in the Continental Atlantic Conference, he was frustrated by being told he had a “poor performance.”

These mass firings at Haskell come a month after U.S. Senators Jerry Moran and Tracey Mann of Kansas proposed legislation to change leadership away from the Bureau of Indian Education toward the Board of Regents at Haskell. An anonymous source with connections to Haskell said that these firings only affected Haskell and Southwestern Indian Polytechnic Institute, and not the greater Bureau of Indian Education. The source said they believe the firing of workers only at these two schools comes as retribution for seeking self-governance.

During a community meeting aimed to help those who lost their jobs, Dan Wildcat, a Haskell faculty member and Yuchi member of the Muscogee Nation of Oklahoma, shared updates relating to the administration; however, he stated he was not speaking on behalf of the university. He said the layoffs have damaged the Haskell community.      

“At least I know two, maybe three, of the people fired on the academic side, you know what the sad part is? A year ago, they were contractors,” Wildcat said. “And they wanted, desperately, to be permanent employees at Haskell, because they love our institution so much. And we had just hired them with the promise of a career at Haskell Indian Nations University, and they were terminated. If they had stayed as contractors, they’d still have a job.”

Not only has this been difficult for the fellow faculty members of those who were fired, but students as well. Haskell Junior Hehaka-Hoksila Annis says this has affected his fellow upperclassmen harshly. 

“It’s hard. We build relationships with our teachers because it is such a small, knit school and community. So it definitely puts a lot of strain on your academic standpoint, especially when you’re a junior and a senior,” Annis said. 

In the past, Haskell has been able to contract temporary educators to fill positions, but Wildcat said there is a hiring freeze due to the executive order. In order to combat shortages in teachers and coaches, those who got fired have been stepping up in volunteer roles. Mayes has come back as a volunteer coach for the cross country and track team. Strom has also come back to volunteer as the head women’s basketball coach. 

“I have a lot of faith in our Haskell community; so many people are volunteering and jumping in.” Mayes said. “People that got hurt are still volunteering for the students. My faith in the community is stronger than ever … I keep hearing about new teachers volunteering and no longer getting paid. It’s pretty amazing, the fact that you know your livelihood is threatened, and you’re still willing to sacrifice something for the students.”

To support Haskell at this time, Mayes says that donations to the Haskell Foundation are more than welcome. These funds are used to pay teachers who will be able to come back to part-time positions. Additionally, he says that calling representatives and senators to push for Haskell to be excluded from the firing of probationary workers is another way to support Haskell at this time.