Emporia State University’s general counsel has helped to draft a legislative bill that would adjust certain tenure policies if approved.
Salina Representative Steven Howe, the Higher Education Budget Committee chair, has introduced the bill on behalf of Steven Lovett, who also serves as a law professor at ESU but has been acting as a private citizen with this effort, according to ESU Director of Media Relations and Internal Communication Gwen Larson.
The bill is significant because it would end the state’s property rights of tenure — or the assumption professors can expect future employment. Tenure has offered protections for professors, especially those teaching controversial subjects, but Lovett says those property rights cause financial issues for the state and need to be changed. He also says professors have academic freedom protections under the First Amendment instead of due process.
As part of a House Judiciary Committee hearing, Lovett renounced and surrendered his tenure.
Opponents say the bill, if passed, would severely damage university abilities to attract qualified professors and would ripple negatively across the state economy.
And there’s the issue of an ongoing civil case against ESU involving several professors fired during the university’s restructuring process in 2021. Those professors — Michael Behrens, Rob Catlett, Dan Colson, Charles Emmer, Amanda Miracle, Michael Morales and Lynette Sievert — had a hearing in their respective cases last month. They were among over 30 faculty members who had their positions terminated during Emporia State’s push through its Framework for Workforce Management. Verdicts are currently pending through US District Court.
Lovett has not responded to a KVOE News request seeking comment.
