Kansas has its own free speech hero worthy of honor. Have we forgotten about William Allen White?
Legendary Emporia Gazette editor William Allen White stands watch in January 2025 in the Kansas Statehouse through this one-ton limestone statue. (Photo by Sherman Smith/Kansas Reflector)
The Kansas House is set to decide whether to commemorate a conservative firebrand on Monday, voting on a resolution establishing a “Charlie Kirk Free Speech Day” in Kansas.
The Senate already approved the legislation, and it appears on a glide path to passage. But I wonder about another free speech champion, another devoted Republican, who actually lived and worked in Kansas throughout his life. I’m talking about legendary Emporia Gazette editor William Allen White.
White fought the racist Ku Klux Klan, promoted progressive ideals in government and was arrested for exercising his First Amendment rights. He died in 1944, but he still makes Kansans proud, as the enormous limestone statue of him in the Statehouse rotunda proves. So why not honor him along with Kirk?
I have a sneaking suspicion about the answer.
Kansas Legislative leaders don’t really care about free speech. They couldn’t even manage a resolution condemning the unconstitutional raid on the Marion County Record newspaper. Honoring Kirk offers an opportunity to lambaste liberals as violent hypocrites, and that’s what conservatives really want.
Otherwise, they would be lining up to create not just a resolution but an actual statute honoring White. The official Kansas days of commemoration fall rather short. They could use a home state hero.
Dwight D. Eisenhower Day? Sure thing. General Pulaski’s Memorial Day? Um.
Lawmakers will honor whoever they want, however they want. But free speech and the U.S. Constitution’s First Amendment protections matter more than ever these days. No one defended them more eloquently than White, whose 158th birthday just happens to fall on Feb. 10.
His words from the Pulitzer Prize-winning editorial “To an anxious friend” resonated back in September, following Kirk’s death. They resonate no less today:
“You tell me that law is above freedom of utterance. And I reply that you can have no wise laws nor free entertainment of wise laws unless there is free expression of the wisdom of the people — and, alas, their folly with it. But if there is freedom, folly will die of its own poison, and the wisdom will survive. That is the history of the race. It is proof of man’s kinship with God. You say that freedom of utterance is not for time of stress, and I reply with the sad truth that only in time of stress is freedom of utterance in danger. No one questions it in calm days, because it is not needed. And the reverse is true also; only when free utterance is suppressed is it needed, and when it is needed, it is most vital to justice.”
Happy birthday, Mr. White.
Rep. Pat Proctor, R-Leavenworth, listens at a hearing on Feb. 3, 2026, in Topeka. (Photo by Sherman Smith/Kansas Reflector)
Election powers
President Donald Trump made waves last week by calling for the federal government to “nationalize” elections. Seems like he’s been scared by recent Democratic strength in special elections and wants to tilt the scale in favor of Republicans.
Kansas City Star Statehouse reporter Matthew Kelly followed up those provocative words by asking Kansas secretary of state candidates whether they agreed with the president.
Kansas Rep. Pat Proctor, R-Leavenworth, has puffed pompously as chair of the House Elections Committee. But he fell short of actually endorsing Trump’s words: “I have not heard his exact comments, but I share his concerns with some of the states that don’t require a voter ID. States that don’t have a paper trail for their ballots. I don’t know what he’s proposing in terms of taking over elections or anything like that.”
Rep. Ken Rahjes, R-Agra, said he supported the president but wondered about setting a precedent of federal government interference in local elections.
“What happens in the day when Donald Trump is not president? Then what happens?” Rahjes asked.
Matthew Neumann speaks to Kansas Reflector reporter Anna Kaminski on Feb. 6, 2026, at the Statehouse. He is executive director of the LGBTQ Foundation of Kansas. (Photo by Sherman Smith/Kansas Reflector)
Trans activism
Good for Kansas transgender advocates for sharing their thoughts about legislation that would forbid them from using bathrooms that match their publicly obvious gender. They peacefully protested Friday at the Kansas Statehouse.
They smartly pointed out, as I have done repeatedly, that the law in question would lead to more gender conflict, rather than less.
“I am a bearded man being put into a women’s restroom,” said Matthew Neumann, executive director of the LGBTQ Foundation of Kansas.
You can see him in the photo above. Just what are Republican leaders playing at?
A word of advice, however, for activists. This goes not just for LGBTQ+ folks, but for anyone who wants to reach legislators.
Few people come to the Statehouse on Fridays. Most lawmakers take the day off.
Yes, the rest of us still have to work, but we’re not lucky enough to be elected as senators or representatives. If protesters want to reach those in power, they should make a point to be in the building on Tuesdays, Wednesdays or Thursdays. (Mondays can be a little thin, too.)
Blake Flanders appears at a Jan. 28, 2025, recording of the Kansas Reflector podcast. (Photo by Sherman Smith/Kansas Reflector)
New Regents leader
Blake Flanders, president and CEO of the Kansas Board of Regents, has announced his retirement after leading the higher education governance body for 11 years. He will depart in July.
I’m not sure who will replace Flanders, but one name comes to mind: Ken Hush.
That’s right, the slash-and-burn Emporia State University president should be finishing up a five-month assignment as a higher education budget consultant for the Kansas Legislature toward the end of May. He would be looking for new challenges over the summer. What better role than overseeing every public college in Kansas?
Colleges better hope that almost any other human being gets the job.
Clay Wirestone works next to a framed copy of the First Amendment on Jan. 12, 2026, in the Kansas Reflector office in Topeka. (Photo by Sherman Smith/Kansas Reflector)
Where I’ve been
I was on the ground at the Kansas Statehouse for much of its first three weeks. The fourth week, however, I mostly spent at home.
Why? I was working through copy edits and proofreading my upcoming book from the University Press of Kansas. It’s titled Opinionated: Kansas Journalists Who Proved Why Commentary Matters — Then and Now and will be out in October. I finished the manuscript last fall, but now comes the time for cleaning up loose ends and turning disparate computer files into a physical object.
I’ve written about my progress on the project for some time, and you’ll hear far more from me in the months ahead. You call also preorder the volume at the link above if you’re curious. Thanks for your patience, and I look forward to stalking the halls in Topeka again soon.
Clay Wirestone is Kansas Reflector opinion editor. Through its opinion section, Kansas Reflector works to amplify the voices of people who are affected by public policies or excluded from public debate. Find information, including how to submit your own commentary, here.