FEATURED
ANALYSIS: University says committee exists, but it is difficult for the public to learn anything about it
Members of a University of Nebraska committee looking into a drag show “Mass” controversy “have met,” but it is unclear to the general public what exactly has been accomplished.
As of April 22, The Fix could not find any identifiable information about the committee on the university’s website. Although billed as a “community engagement” council, there is no clear way for the community to engage with it.
The University of Nebraska Lincoln first promised the local Catholic bishop it would investigate and create a committee following a controversial drag show performance nearly a year ago. The promise came after M. Joseph Willette, a musical composition drag show, mocked the Roman Catholic Mass for his doctoral thesis.
University of Nebraska Lincoln Chancellor Rodney Bennett, who resigned in January, first promised Catholic Bishop James Conley last summer that officials would investigate the situation and also create a special committee to respond to future controversies.
To address future “emotional” and “sensitive” matters, Chancellor Bennett said the committee would be “comprised of well-respected individuals across the state of Nebraska and our country,” according to a July 2025 letter he sent to the bishop following backlash over the “Mass of Perpetual Indulgence.”
The Fix has filed multiple public records requests to obtain information on the operations of the advisory roundtable. As previously reported, the university denied a request for a list of members, citing a donor privacy law. The state’s Republican attorney general, Mike Hilgers, backed the denial.
Yet, the university’s attorney has told The College Fix that there are no minutes, agenda, budgets, spending logs, bylaws, contact emails, or application forms for the “President’s Advisory Roundtable on Community Engagement.”
In that initial request, the university’s counsel also said it could not locate any bylaws or an application form for the committee.
It subsequently denied a request for university staff members who are on the committee, citing privacy laws.
In the second request, The Fix also asked for any minutes and agendas, a list of public email addresses, including a contact email if people have concerns, as well as any budget or spending attributed to the roundtable.
“Upon searching, the University did not identify any records of or belonging to the University responsive to this portion of your request,” counsel Molly McCleery told The Fix on March 9.
The university system’s director of communications also ignored requests to interview someone on the committee, instead providing a vague statement.
“The University of Nebraska confirms that members of the President’s Advisory Roundtable on Community Engagement have met,” Cara Pesek wrote on March 23. “We are grateful for the members of the roundtable and the perspectives they’ve shared.”
She did not address questions about the committee’s goals or the status of the investigation into the drag show performance.
Pesek has not responded in the past month to a follow-up email that requested the name and email of someone on the committee.
The communications director gave the same answer to The Plains Sentinel, a Nebraska-based news outlet, when it asked about the drag show.
Insiders say ‘no paper trail’ exists
The Plains Sentinel spoke to an unidentified school official who said there is“[n]o paper trail, no proof it exists or that there was even a meeting,” the outlet reported on March 26.
The Fix again followed up with Pesek on March 30 and referenced the Plains Sentinel story.
The comments from the Plains Sentinel are similar to what a high-ranking regent told The Fix during a phone interview.
“I don’t know for sure,” the regent told The College Fix on March 17. He was part of the original group that met with Bishop Conley to discuss the issue last summer.
“I was not part of it if it did begin,” the regent said. There was one meeting he said where it was discussed, but he said he did not “remember” if the bishop was there.
A fellow with the Heritage Foundation suggested that free speech concerns about the committee led to its quiet demise.
“My guess is that legal counsel and [the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression] made clear: public university, protected speech, case closed,” Adam Kissel told The College Fix via email.
Jonathan Butcher, also with the Heritage Foundation, said he shared his colleague’s free speech concerns but also criticized the drag show.
“[T]here is no academic value to this drag-mass performance, and it shows an utter lack of seriousness among the faculty and administration to even consider this as a ‘recital’ for a music degree.”
In October 2025, The Fix also reported on the lack of information about the committee.
