ESU president to step down in December

The Emporia State University president who oversaw firings will step down in December. Ken Hush announced his retirement Thursday.

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State News

July 25, 2025 - 2:58 PM

Ken Hush was voted president of Emporia State University in June 2022. Months later, the university fired 30 tenured or tenure-track professors. The move was widely criticized, and in the following years, enrollment at ESU declined. Hush says the university has since turned a corner. Photo by Margaret Mellott/Kansas Reflector

TOPEKA — Emporia State University President Ken Hush announced his retirement Thursday, nodding at past and future challenges in higher education.

Hush, an Emporia State graduate, wrote in an email to alumni, staff and students that his last day will be Dec. 17. He plans to stay involved, he said.

“For more than a decade, higher education has faced significant challenges and pressure to change – this will not only continue but will increase in the future,” he wrote. “There will be winners and losers. Those who are able to adjust will survive; those who don’t…

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