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Haskell Indian Nations University (HINU) students protested the federal layoffs that terminated 35 probationary employees of the university outside the Kansas State Capitol on Monday.
HINU, located in Lawrence, Kansas, operates under the U.S. Department of the Interior Bureau of Indian Education. Probationary federal employees across the country have been impacted by recent layoffs.
According to Haskell Board of Regents Interim President Dalton Henry, nearly 23% of Haskell's staff was impacted on Feb. 14 by President Trump's executive order to downsize the federal workforce.
Students said they want their teachers back.
"As students, as faculty, we will fight for what is right and we will not be silenced again like we were in the past," freshman Sara Vincent, Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma, said outside the Capitol.
Vincent said one of her instructors and a faculty sponsor for a campus club she's involved with were both terminated. Other students said they have lost their advisers and athletic coaches.
"We definitely want our faculty and staff back," she said. "They mean the world to us."
Senior Kylie Standingwater, Cherokee and Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma, organized the protest. About 20 to 30 students gathered in the morning; attendees were expected to come and go throughout the day.
"We're trying to get our instructors back so we can continue our education and fight for future generations' education," she said.
Standingwater said students chose to protest in Topeka to make sure their voices were heard.
"If that one person that has the right connections can see us, that can go a long way," she said.
The National Haskell Board of Regents submitted a formal waiver that requests exemption from the executive order. The board said Haskell employees deliver legally mandated educational services to Tribal Nations.
"Haskell Indian Nations University was established under the federal government’s treaty, trust, and statutory obligations to American Indians and Alaska Natives," a press release from the National Haskell Board of Regents stated. "Congress has enacted multiple laws, including the Snyder Act (25 U.S.C. § 13) and the Indian Self-Determination and Educational Assistance Act (1975), mandating the provision of educational services to Tribal Nations."
Junior Allison Levering, Winnebago Tribe of Nebraska, joined the protest on Monday.
"We have so many leaders that were active during the American Indian Movement, and we're kind of embodying that today with protesting here at the Capitol," she said.
Levering said she is a proud third-generation Haskell student.
"I'm really proud of that and so is a lot of Indian Country," Levering said. "We all go through Haskell to bring up our communities, to become these leaders and make change in our own communities."
Levering is studying media communications and journalism. She said without Haskell, she wouldn't be able to receive an education.
"I think it's really important that Native voices are telling these Native stories," she said.
Several Haskell students have told KSHB 41 News they plan to use their education to better their communities and reservations.
Standingwater said she wants to become an FBI detective and focus on solving Missing and Murdered Indigenous Peoples cases.
"We want to go back to our reservations and make them better than what we found it," Standingwater said.
She said the protest was not just about the current generation of Haskell students but for the generations of Haskell students to come.
"It's empowering just seeing all of us band together and be able to stand united. That's just a feeling you're never going to get over," Standingwater said.
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