The previously unreleased details from the Oct. 5 exclusive interview: Mason details financial reasoning, search for solutions and possible ‘Sternberg 2.0’
By Gaille Pike
Special to the Hays Daily News
As first reported Monday night, Fort Hays State University (FHSU) President Tisa Mason’s main message in a 40-minute exclusive interview was that her decision to end public operations at the Sternberg Museum of Natural History was driven by the university’s budget crisis — not by a lack of appreciation for the museum — and could be reconsidered if sustainable funding emerges.
Additional details from the interview were released in subsequent reporting available on HDNews.net, focusing on the timing of Mason’s decision, university consultation with an outside expert, Salomon Aaron, and the issue of deferred maintenance.
Beyond those issues, Mason’s remarks offered further insight into the financial pressures behind the decision and the possibilities that have emerged since the public response.
Previously unreleased details include additional information about the decision-making process, Mason’s thoughts on the university’s financial responsibility for the museum, her efforts prior to her decision to find outside support for Sternberg and how public reaction has expanded the options under consideration.
Mason said it was important to her that in her “decision to close” the public-facing operations of Sternberg, she laid out a framework for the university’s budget alignment strategy for the cut and that this would be a “strategic stopping” of activities that do not directly and clearly enroll students. She stated that her budget strategy prioritized programs that directly contribute to enrolling students and helping them complete their education.
“Although there’s a lot of educational benefit from the Sternberg Museum, and I honor and recognize that, it doesn’t help us in a large, significant measure produce students and get them through their education,” she said.
When asked what she saw as FHSU’s financial responsibility to Sternberg as the museum’s parent and owner institution, Mason insisted the university has demonstrated its commitment but can no longer absorb the museum’s operating deficit after legislative reductions and what she described as inequities in the state funding formula.
“I think we have demonstrated a strong commitment over the years with what we have been subsidizing for the Sternberg Museum,” Mason said. “But we have gotten more than one cut from the Legislature, and with the inequities of the funding formula, we couldn’t carry that debt any longer.”
She also stressed that Hays and Ellis County residents do not pay local property taxes directly supporting FHSU or Sternberg. Mason stated that community members contribute to the museum’s finances primarily by visiting, buying memberships or donating.
Mason emphasized that the university’s financial problems extend beyond Sternberg. She said FHSU has reorganized the president’s office, moved its magazine to the FHSU Foundation, ended its ability to operate the Small Business Development Center and eliminated men’s and women’s sports programs as part of broader reductions.
“It’s not just been Sternberg,” Mason said. “We have just done a lot … to make sure that all of our decisions are protecting the core of the academic university.”
Before announcing the museum decision, Mason said she had spent approximately two years exploring possible funding solutions. Those efforts included asking about STAR bonds, discussing the possibility of a taxing authority and searching for federal programs comparable to funding FHSU secured for the Forsyth Library renovation.
“I asked a couple of people at the federal level, ‘Do you know of any specific museum-level funding that we could access to help Sternberg?’” Mason said. “I looked for a couple years in a lot of different spaces, and I didn’t get anywhere.”
However, Mason said the public response has brought forward prospective partners and renewed financial support that were not previously available.
“It’s not about closing. It’s about affordability,” she said. “If we can bring finances to the table to solve it, great. It’s a win-win. We can keep it open.”
Mason said the university’s short-term goal is to secure $1 million for fiscal year 2027. If that funding is obtained, the museum could operate in some form, although she said officials had not determined whether that would mean full-time or part-time operations.
“Maybe it opens for the spring semester — maybe full time, maybe part time,” she said. “We just don’t have enough information to make that decision at this point.”
Mason said the museum’s staff, provost and dean are also being asked to consider a more affordable long-term model, including possible changes to operating and staffing patterns. Mason referred to the potential result as “Sternberg 2.0.”
“Because of the outcry and the public support, the opportunities for solutions are expanding, not constricting,” she said. “If we can find a win-win solution, I’m all there, and ultimately everything is my decision.”
Mason acknowledged that the initial announcement spread rapidly through social media before she had spoken with the full museum staff. However, she rejected the suggestion that Sternberg’s position within the university’s supervisory structure caused the financial problem.
“It was always going to be with the staff, not to the staff,” Mason said. “We’re listening, and we’re pivoting, and we’re getting support that we couldn’t get before.”
She encouraged supporters to purchase memberships, visit the museum, offer ideas and contribute financially. Mason said she is collecting proposals while internal staff and external partners consider new possibilities.
“We heard them, and we’re doing our best to manage a budget crisis,” Mason said. “We want help to get a new vision and a new future for Sternberg.”
Mason said she continues to believe the original decision was necessary, but the community response may allow the university to transform a closure into a more sustainable future.
“Maybe it just goes from a cut to a reimagined, more sustainable model,” she said, “which would be fantastic.”