Kansas Senate bill voids racist housing covenant on Wichita State University land

Yahoo

05-03-2025

Tom Cox, representing the internet exchange point developer Connected Nation, asked a Kansas Senate committee to approve bill nullifying racist covenants on property owned by Wichita State University and earmarked for development of an internet project in Wichita. The committee sent the bill to the full Senate. (Sherman Smith/Kansas Reflector)
TOPEKA — A Kansas Senate committee approved bipartisan legislation Tuesday voiding racist covenants restricting ownership and occupancy of single-family residences on land owned by Wichita State University on the edge of campus.
The 1.3-acre parcel was acquired by WSU in the 1950s, but discriminatory text attached to the title wasn't revealed until August 2024 when a company prepared to take possession of the property for construction of a facility to speed broadband connections. The Senate Local Government, Transparency and Ethics Committee approved Senate Bill 194 without dissent.
Tom Cox, vice president at Connected Nation and a former state legislator, said the nonprofit was working with a $5 million state grant to build the internet exchange station. But, he said, the project in Wichita hit a roadblock because neighborhood covenants written between Jan. 1, 1948, and Dec. 31, 1958, required construction of single-family housing at that location and limited occupancy along racial lines.
'We discovered there was an egregiously racist and restrictive covenant from the 1950s that the university did not know when they purchased this parcel,' Cox said. 'Unfortunately, racially restrictive covenants are fairly common in that time period.'
He said Connected Nation and Wichita State University were 'morally opposed to any racist covenant.'
Research indicated passage of a state law was the most efficient method of eradicating the covenant and allowing WSU to designate the ground for a project of public benefit, Cox said. The racist language was woven so thoroughly into the title's amendments the covenant wouldn't otherwise be open for revision until 2030 and dozens of absentee landowners would have to sign notarized documents to advance that process, he said.
Sen. Elaine Bowers, a Concordia Republican and chair of the Senate committee, said the bill was drafted to void the covenant before July 1. She indicated she was surprised the offensive covenant hadn't been discovered long ago.
'We will get this moving as quickly as we can because we understand how important this is to Wichita State University,' she said.
Sen. Craig Bowser, R-Holton, said he was the parent of a Wichita State student and was familiar with the Wichita property at 21st Street and Fountain Avenue subject to the covenant. A portion of the WSU property was used for construction of the Phi Delta Theta fraternity.
'I support this bill,' he said. 'I think it's great.'
Connected Nation entered into an agreement to lease the land from WSU to build the state's first internet exchange point, which would serve as an essential connection among internet service providers, content delivery networks, cloud providers and enterprises for the exchange of internet traffic. Lack of such a facility in central Kansas meant internet traffic from all over the state had to run through Kansas City, Missouri, before reaching its destination, Cox said.
The nonprofit secured a $5 million grant from the Kansas Department of Commerce for the project. WSU donated a 40-year land lease to Connected Nation in exchange for free access to the new internet exchange point.
The Senate bill cast the covenant repeal broadly to include comparable situations if discovered at University of Kansas, Kansas State University, Emporia State University, Fort Hays State University and Pittsburg State University.
Nathan Madden, of the Health Forward Foundation in Kansas City, Missouri, endorsed the Senate bill because it aligned with the foundation's mission of building inclusive and healthy communities.
'We support this legislation as it would statutorily align court rulings on the prohibition of racially restrictive covenants,' Madden said. 'It is a meaningful symbolic step in acknowledging the significant detrimental impacts from segregated living spaces.'
He said the legislation would adhere to U.S. Supreme Court decisions striking down the practice of 'redlining' in cities to segregate residents by race.
The legacy of redlining continued as neighborhoods previously designated for minority residents had less green space, more pollution and greater health challenges related to asthma, he said.
In 2024, the Legislature approved and Gov. Laura Kelly signed a bill that made it easier for Kansas homeowners to remove racist language from property records. Covenants often inserted into home association deeds excluded Black and Jewish people from certain neighborhoods. That legislation was the result of the cities of Roeland Park and Prairie Village struggling to remove covenants from records.