'Widespread, Pervasive Fear': Officials, Students Respond to Free Speech Concerns on UNK Campus

by John Gage

(Photo credit from the University of Nebraska at Kearney’s Twitter account)

University of Nebraska officials, lawmakers, and students have responded to reports that the University of Nebraska at Kearney (UNK) has created an environment that targets conservatives on campus and stifles free speech. The Plains Sentinel reported last week that conservative faculty believed they were being targeted by the administration and students who said they were not able to speak their mind in classes because they held conservative beliefs.

UNK issued a statement last week saying they were opening a “systematic review” with their compliance officer, Alex Straatmann, over the claims made. Straatmann is set to go on a military deployment this summer, but a UNK spokesperson said they expect the review will only take 30-45 days and that the university will release a report with its findings.

The Plains Sentinel reached out to the University of Nebraska President’s Office to ask for comment on the report, and a spokesperson for President Jeff Gold says the “university stands by its practices,” which includes operating “in a nondiscriminatory manner, and protect[ing] free speech, while at the same time upholding our academic mission.”

The spokesperson said that the “University of Nebraska has full confidence in Chancellor Schnoor to lead a thorough review process in a timely manner, and to appropriately address any concerns.”

More Students Speak Out

Following our initial report, The Plains Sentinel spoke with more students who believe the university is actively creating an environment that forces students to keep their personal beliefs closeted and limits the academic rigor on campus. Allison Arens, a senior studying English at UNK, said she was shamed for asking for an alternative option to the required reading, which she said was the “equivalent of lesbian pornography.”

“Later that week, I was informed by another classmate of mine who had not initially joined in my boycott of the lesbian porn that the rest of my peers chastised me as being ‘simple’ and ‘ignorant’ for my unwillingness to read the grotesque text,” she said. “My professor and my peers saw me as sensitive and uncultured.”

Arens said she found a lot of the books required for class “intellectually unstimulating” as professors promoted poorly written political content over classics of the western canon. She said at one point she asked the chair of the department to allow her to do an independent study of John Milton, the author of the epic poem “Paradise Lost,” but was told she was not allowed to.

“Not allowing a student an independent study is not a common thing,” she said, adding that the ability to do an independent study was advertised by the department. “When I went to the department chair… she said ‘you don’t need Milton.’” Arens said she went on to read Milton on her own time.

Instead of Milton, Arens was recommended to take an adolescent literature class, which pushed “political themes,” including books that promoted cross-dressing for children, racism, anorexia, and sexual assault.

“They like to talk about these political topics in a lot of our classes where I don’t think it’s relevant,” she said.

Multiple students reached out about an incident on campus following Governor Jim Pillen’s comments last Monday slamming the university for hosting a learning session about “trans-spectrum students.” Pillen called the session “nonsense” and threatened to cut funding to UNK if they did not “police its own ranks.” UNK responded by saying they’d pulled the session from their schedule.

On Wednesday, Dr. Jim Hollar, an assistant professor of teacher education at UNK, ended his class abruptly after ranting at students for ten to twenty minutes about “how angry he is at the governor” over his recent comments, according to students in his class.

“He was yelling at us, telling us we shouldn’t be teachers if we did not have the same beliefs,” a student told The Plains Sentinel on background for fear of backlash from Hollar and other professors on campus. “If we didn’t agree with what he was saying, then we should not teach, we should not be around kids, and we should stay the hell away from his kids.”

According to the student, Hollar went on to say that “old white men” should not be able to vote, adding later that his comment was directed at old white men who are older than himself.

(Photo of Dr. Jim Hollar courtesy of UNK)

A second student confirmed Hollar had made the comments but did not remember whether he had used the phrase “old white men” or just “old men.”

The Plains Sentinel has reached out to Hollar for comment.

When asked about the free speech environment on campus, one student said they keep their opinions to themselves because “all of my teachers are definitely left-wing” and that teachers make their opinions “pretty well known.”

The student also expressed concern over the fact that, because of the major they had chosen, the administration had “forced them” to join a national organization that pushes left-wing ideology.

“Their money goes towards things I don’t even agree with,” the student said.

The other student in the class said that they generally kept their mouth shut about their political opinions because the professors were pushing an LGBTQ+ agenda and similar politics.

“I don’t try to speak my mind. It’s not that I can’t, but I choose not to,” the student said. “I don’t know if I would get in trouble or not.”

“It’s not worth the risk,” they added.

Elected Officials Weigh In

The Plains Sentinel reached out to all 8 of the University of Nebraska regents. Only Regent Paul Kenney returned a comment.

Kenney said that he had “full faith” in Straatmann to act fairly in his review. “He’s running all the questions to ground,” he said. Kenney said he had heard a lot of feedback about UNK following The Plains Sentinel report, saying “people have been knocking my door down.”

The regent said he would like to see faculty step forward publicly so it could be easier for the university and officials to judge their story fully. “They will be protected too,” he added.

When asked about free speech concerns expressed by students and faculty, Kenney said if UNK members were engaged in suppressing speech, they “need to be looking for another job.”

“If someone is denying free speech, those are the people who need to be taken care of,” he said. “That’s not a person I want employed.”

State Sen. Kathleen Kauth told The Plains Sentinel that multiple professors from UNK had reached out to her who “are afraid to speak out because they have seen how people who speak out get treated.”

“There are significant concerns that the DEI programs have just been restructured and the staff has been put elsewhere and able to continue pushing their agendas,” she added.

State Sen. Dave Murman, the chair of the Legislature’s Education Committee, and Barry DeKay have both been in touch with UNK students over concerns on campus.

Congressman Adrian Smith responded to the reports from campus last week, issuing a statement, saying, “UNK should listen to its students, their primary constituency, and continue appropriately investigating DEI initiatives that may violate federal policy.”

UNK Internal Review Begins

Students and faculty on campus told The Plains Sentinel that the internal review on campus has already begun, with students and faculty saying the compliance officer is conducting interviews.

Faculty members told The Plains Sentinel they were reluctant to come forward because of fear of backlash from the administration.

“There is also a broad concern about potential retaliation, whether from administrators toward faculty who file complaints, among faculty colleagues, or from faculty toward students,” a faculty member told The Plains Sentinel. “I have had colleagues tell me we must be careful what we say on campus because the walls have ears.”

“On one hand, there is a genuine desire across campus to maintain collegial relationships, which is praiseworthy. On the other hand, that same dynamic contributes to a significant hesitancy to file complaints, particularly when doing so is perceived as unlikely to lead to meaningful action and may carry professional or academic risk,” the faculty member added.

The Plains Sentinel asked UNK how the review would be conducted in a fair manner, given concerns by members of the university that there could be backlash. UNK stated, “The systematic review is coordinated by UNK Compliance and includes collaboration across the University of Nebraska System to ensure a thorough and balanced assessment.”

Mady Kramer, a Board of Regents Scholarship recipient and current UNK student who wrote a letter to lawmakers about concerns she had with UNK, said she and other students were afraid of retaliation from the university.

“A lot of us have been scared, and this is a widespread, pervasive fear across the campus,” Kramer said, noting she had mentioned to the compliance officer about her free speech concerns. “We are going out and giving these things to the public and telling them the truth about things. And you [UNK administration] obviously are not going to be happy about that.”

John Gage is the executive editor of The Plains Sentinel.

Editor’s Note: The Plains Sentinel has opened a tip line for current and former students and faculty of the University of Nebraska to discuss their experiences and the learning environment across the university system. Send confidential tips to — plainssentinel@protonmail.com

Update: Following our report, the University of Nebraska at Kearney released the following statement:

UNK Statement on Campus Climate, Free Expression

UNK supports free speech, academic freedom and open dialogue. The university takes concerns seriously and does not tolerate retaliation against individuals who choose to share concerns, participate in review processes or express differing viewpoints.

“University administration is firmly committed to free speech, free expression and nondiscrimination, while ensuring multiple robust confidential and anonymous avenues are available for individuals to report concerns,” Chancellor Neal Schnoor said.

UNK is undertaking a systematic review to assess the issues raised and determine whether university policies, processes or expectations were violated. Coordinated by UNK Compliance and conducted in collaboration across the University of Nebraska System, the review is intended to ensure a thorough and balanced assessment grounded in established university processes and verifiable information.

At the same time, we caution against broad characterizations of the campus community or academic environment based on what we understand to be isolated allegations and claims attributed to unnamed sources.

UNK remains committed to providing a learning environment grounded in academic rigor, professionalism, nondiscrimination and respectful engagement across a wide range of perspectives.

READ MORE: