United Campus Workers of Kentucky protest at April Board of Trustees meeting

The United Campus Workers of Kentucky protested the University of Kentucky’s lack of transparency when making decisions for employees at the April Board of Trustees meeting.

Following comments from Gov. Andy Beshear on losing confidence in UK for its hiring decisions, UCW members held signs reading “Protect Our Services,” “Stop Beyond Blue Reemployment” and “Don’t outsource facilities,” at the April 24 meeting in the Gatton Student Center.

On Tuesday, Beshear released a statement criticizing the university for hiring U.S. District Judge Gregory F. Van Tatenhove as dean of the J. David Rosenberg College of Law without approval from law school faculty.

UCW is an independent, member funded union that covers all campus workers. Their main concern is the university making decisions without input from workers.

Katie Goldey, an assistant professor speaking as a UCW member, said the lives of workers are impacted by decisions made at UK without proper transparency.

“A lot of jobs are going to become privatized at the university,” Goldey said. “Which means that people will be having different benefits than traditional UK employees, that people might not have the same opportunities as traditional UK employees.”

Goldey said UCW believes workers should be a part of that process. The protest was meant to show their voice despite UK’s attempts to “stifle dissent” through minimizing shared government and faculty voice, according to Goldey.

UK Spokesperson Jay Blanton said the university values transparency and employee engagement and uses multiple formal processes to review decisions affecting the workforce.

“We recognize that change can raise questions, and we remain committed to providing clear information and appropriate opportunities for input as these efforts move forward,” Blanton said.

In 2024, UK dissolved the student, staff and faculty University Senate per the recommendation of Deloitte Consulting, who is proposing the current Beyond Blue changes.

The university used Deloitte for “Project Accelerate” in 2024, designed to advance the state by making UK more efficient.

“UK plans to centralize and reemploy hundreds of IT and Marketing-Communications employees into its own limited liability corporation, Beyond Blue, as part of the Integrate Blue project,” a UCW flyer wrote. “Currently, as many as 600 workers are impacted, but more units could be moved.”

Beyond Blue employees are still UK employees, Lindsay N. Travis, issues management and crisis communications director, said. Travis said the initiative will not outsource labor.

According to the UCW, Beyond Blue will outsource labor away from employees at UK, reassigning or combining them with corporate partners.

“The purpose of a land grant institution is to educate the public, and I think the way we do that is by valuing our community and by valuing our employees,” Goldey said. “We need to make sure we are investing in good, middle class jobs and we are protecting things like the education benefit that a lot of workers get.”

UK employees can receive free, semesterly credit hours. If jobs are privatized, that benefit, among other benefits and pay structures, would be lost, Goldey said.

According to Travis, Beyond Blue does not outsource jobs nor does it impact employment status, pay or benefits, including education benefits.

“As a result of the Integrate Blue process, no employees will lose their positions,” the Integrate Blue website wrote. “Current UK employees will not experience any changes in their compensation or benefits. While some individuals may become be part of a different organizational structure or report to a different supervisor, the integration will not impact the status of their employment pay or benefits.”

Background and other hiring concerns

Van Tatenhove was appointed by the provost Robert S. DiPaola, despite concerns from law school faculty. The university decided approval from the board was no longer a necessary part of the hiring process, according to Beshear.

At the meeting, UK President Eli Capilouto said despite Beshear’s comments, the search for a dean was conducted with transparency, feedback, dialogue and consideration.

Capliouto said Van Tatenhove was the most qualified, as he interviewed each candidate before DiPaola made a recommendation.

In his statement, Beshear cited concern over outside political influence in UK’s hiring decisions.

“I worry that these actions are related to certain donors pushing partisan and undue outside influence onto the university,” Beshear wrote. “I hope students, faculty, trustees and the community attend this week’s board meetings and ask the tough questions that should be answered.”

Van Tatenhove is the United States District Judge for the Eastern District of Kentucky, appointed by Republican President George W. Bush in 2005, and a former legislative assistant of Sen. Mitch McConnell, according to UKNow.

Charles (Buzz) English Jr., leader of the Rosenberg College of Law visiting committee, said he saw no outside influence and all were given an opportunity to provide comments to the provost about the process.

After English spoke, it was asked if anyone had questions for him. In the crowd, Ramsi Woodcock, a former tenured UK professor who was suspended from teaching in 2025 due to his criticisms of Israel, raised his hand.

“He (Woodcock) is on administrative leave with pay pending the outcome of the review President Capilouto previously announced,” Travis wrote.

Woodcock wore a keffiyeh, a scarf he said represents American solidarity with Palestinians.

The comment was directed toward the Board of Trustees, not the public, and Woodcock’s question was denied as “inappropriate.”

According to Woodcock, he was planning to ask about the risk of the law school losing its accreditation due to Van Tatenhove’s hiring.

The American Bar Association sets standards for how law schools have to be run in order to be accredited, according to Woodcock.

If a school is not accredited, students cannot take out federal government loans to attend and it is difficult for graduates to become licensed if they attend a non-accredited university.

“Greg Van Tatenhove violates certain accreditation standards,” Woodcock said. “One standard says you have to be appointed a tenured member of the faculty. Second, it says that if a substantial majority of the faculty object to a particular candidate, that candidate should not be chosen.”

According to Travis, Van Tatenhove is not seeking tenure as part of his deanship.

English, a former member of the American Bar Association, said there is no question that Van Tatenhove complies with those standards.

DiPaola said Van Tatenhove’s appointment is in compliance with ABA standards because many allow for exceptions during “extraordinary circumstances,” which DiPaola believes exist in the College of Law, according to Kernel reporting.

DiPaola cited budgetary pressures and rising costs as part of the circumstances the College of Law is facing.

The process used for appointing Van Tatenhove was different than it usually is. Van Tatenhove was appointed without approval from law school faculty, according to Woodcock.

Woodcock said faculty deemed Van Tatenhove unfit for the position as he only has one published work of scholarship, which makes him un-tenurable. Van Tatenhove also has no prior experience as an academic administrator, which the job description required a candidate to have.

Faculty sent a letter stating that Van Tatenhove was not their pick as a substantial majority.

Trustees member Jim Gray called for “a collaborative group of university stakeholders, examine, adjust and revise, where appropriate, the governing regulations to allow for a vote on these kinds of appointments going forward,” at the meeting.

Board of Trustees members passed a motion to continue this changed way of appointing employees with approval from the board. This motion will be brought forward at the next meeting.

One member of the board, Robert Vance, voted nay to the motion.

“I just thought that the process we have is working, and I didn’t think we needed any changes,” Vance said.

Vance said he was not sure what the proposed changes to the appointing process are. He said the protesters in the crowd have a right to be there to voice their opinion.

Woodcock said Capilouto’s speech at the meeting was an exercise in hypocrisy.

Capilouto opened the meeting with notes from the book “The Great Dissenter: The Story of John Marshall Harlan, America’s Judicial Hero” by Peter S. Canellos, where he reflected on the idea that “today’s sin might be tomorrow’s truth.”

“He held up a book about dissent in a case of apartheid and racial segregation in the United States,” Woodcock said. “When he, himself, is guilty of repressing dissent against the genocide of the Palestinian people that he supports.”

From Woodcock’s perspective, in order for the mission of the university to be maintained, it has to include freedom of speech and thought.

“It’s a board that’s not doing its duty, which is to protect academic freedom and the mission of the college, which is production of knowledge,” Woodcock said. “To have that, you have to have a faculty that chooses its own leaders, because only the faculty are going to stand up for academic freedom and free speech.”

Editor’s Note: This article has been updated to include the university’s input on Ramsi Woodcock, Gregory Van Tatenhove and the Beyond Blue LLC.