Kansas lawmakers questioned Fort Hays State University’s handling of a proposed museum closure and its budget decisions after a $1.2 million donation helped keep the Sternberg Museum open.
Tisa Mason, president of Fort Hays State University, told the Legislative Budget Committee the university will be able to keep Sternberg Museum of Natural History open after donations flooded in. Photo by Sherman Smith/Kansas Reflector
Kansas lawmakers questioned Fort Hays State University’s handling of a proposed museum closure and its budget decisions after a $1.2 million donation helped keep the Sternberg Museum open.
TOPEKA — The Sternberg Museum of Natural History will remain open after fear of its closure pushed donors to gift $1.2 million toward its operating expenses, the president of Fort Hays State University told a legislative committee Monday.
Despite the museum’s reprieve, legislators challenged the way Tisa Mason, who has led the university since 2017, managed the recent announcement the museum would close and also her reasoning for deciding to cut the facility from FHSU’s budget.
Mason told the Legislative Budget Committee that the announcement was mishandled through no ill intent. She had planned to let the museum staff know the museum would close in December before the message was publicly released, but someone posted the information online.
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