Mason Cannot Pinpoint Sternberg Decision Date, but Outside Consultation Came Before Museum Staff Meeting

By Gaille Pike

Special to the Hays Daily News

email [email protected]

phone number 267-307-4374

 

Fort Hays State University (FHSU) President Tisa Mason said in an Oct. 5 exclusive interview that she could not pinpoint when she decided to end Sternberg Museum’s public operations but acknowledged university officials consulted an outside museum-transactions expert before informing museum staff.

Mason said she made the decision after consulting FHSU’s executive team as administrators evaluated how to address a $2.4 million recurring budget shortfall. Although she could not identify when the decision was made, the timeline places it after the Kansas Legislature passed the state budget containing the cuts during the overnight hours of March 26-27, 2026, and before an unnamed FHSU employee posted on Facebook on Sept. 21 that Mason planned to close Sternberg in December. Mason met with the Sternberg Museum staff on Sept. 29 before formally announcing her decision.

“I’m going to own the decision,” Mason said, while adding that the executive team also concluded FHSU could not continue subsidizing the museum at its previous level.

The executive team includes Mason; Jill Arensdorf, provost and vice president for academic affairs; Wesley Wintch, vice president for administration and finance; Joey Linn, vice president for student affairs; Ben Schears, vice president for economic and workforce development; and Joe Bain, general counsel.

Asked whether the university would release the museum’s complete financial records and the analysis supporting the decision, Mason directed interested parties to submit Kansas Open Records Act (KORA) requests through FHSU’s general counsel so requests would be handled consistently.

Mason acknowledged the announcement became public before she had discussed it with the full museum staff, allowing incomplete information and assumptions to spread quickly.

“It was very unfortunate that I didn’t get a chance to sit down and have a conversation with the staff because it all went viral so fast,” Mason said.

She said staff members were always intended to be part of evaluating the museum’s collections and determining their future. FHSU has since met with museum employees, she said, and is working with them as the university reconsiders the museum’s operational model.

Mason also addressed concerns about whether items from Sternberg’s collections could be sold. She declined to state unequivocally that no objects would ever be sold, saying FHSU must first complete a thorough review of what the museum has, needs and can maintain.

“Is the goal to sell things? Absolutely not,” Mason said. “Can I say that there’s never going to be anything sold? I think that would be not very wise at this point.”

Mason said neither she nor members of her executive team had spoken with an auction house.

Mason said FHSU contacted an international expert after hearing him discuss museums and paleontology on a podcast. She said the university sought preliminary guidance about museum practices and what steps might be required if public operations ended, including ethical deaccessioning. Mason said the expert brokers transactions involving museums, but she did not know whether he was affiliated with an auction house. She said FHSU did not sign a contract with him or authorize him to sell anything. Mason said the expert brokers transactions involving museums, but she did not know whether he was connected to an auction house. She could not recall his name during the interview.

“Talking to outside people seemed prudent to do,” Mason said. She said the university primarily consulted one outside expert—not several—and emphasized that museum employees’ expertise is now part of the collections review.

Additional forthcoming articles from Pike’s Oct. 5 exclusive interview will further examine Sternberg’s finances, deferred maintenance, Mason’s efforts to find sustainable funding prior to her decision, her commitment to students and staff, and her answers to continuing community questions.

Visit https://foundation.fhsu.edu/save-sternberg/ to donate to the FHSU Foundation #SaveSternberg campaign.

The campaign must raise $855,000 by Dec. 31 to keep Sternberg Museum open another year. Although the money would postpone closure, it would not resolve the museum’s long-term funding challenges.

The FHSU Foundation is a separate nonprofit that raises and manages funds for university priorities, including several Sternberg Museum accounts. Donations designated for the museum must be used for the donor’s specified purpose, and the foundation must authorize any transfer to FHSU for salaries or other university-paid expenses. The university cannot independently take the money or redirect it to another purpose.