A candidate for the Montana House of Representatives and a post-doctoral fellow at Montana Technical University in Butte has been reappointed to his position with the public university, even amid a request for an investigation by the state’s largest human rights organization because of concerns that he is an avowed white supremacist and neo-Nazi.
The Daily Montanan requested and received the letter appointing Trenin Bayless through the end of 2024 as a post-doctoral researcher who will work with students, something that specifically concerned the Montana Human Rights Network, which provided a detailed dossier of social media activities and posts attributed to Bayless. MHRN provided that dossier to the university system as well as the Daily Montanan.
The Montana Human Rights Network had earlier in the summer asked the Board of Regents of the Montana University System, which has oversight of all public colleges and universities in the state, including Montana Tech, to investigate the claims and, at a minimum, eliminate contact Bayless has with students.
In previous interviews with Bayless, he has denied the connections that were first uncovered by FashFreeNW, a research organization that tracks, documents and publicly identifies white nationalists, supremacists, neo-Nazis and other radical groups in the northwest.
“I’m not that,” Bayless told the Daily Montanan in July, calling the accusations “nonsense.”
However, in that same interview, Bayless declined to elaborate on his views, political or otherwise, saying that they could be misconstrued in a lawsuit he said he was planning against the Montana Human Rights Network.
Bayless, a Republican, will appear on the ballot in a race in House District 74, which covers Butte. His challenger is Democrat Marc Lee.
Previous calls to the Montana Republican Party went unreturned, and requests for any statement about Bayless’ candidacy have also gone unanswered.
Montana Human Rights Network executive director Niki Zupanic said she’s heard nothing from Bayless or attorneys since the organization went public with its concerns.
However, after months of not hearing anything from the university system, Montana Human Rights Network reached out again to ask about the progress of the case and any information on the outcome. The Daily Montanan did the same, and university officials responded with a brief acknowledgment that they had received the complaint, but nothing about what actions, if any, the university took.
“We share your interest in ensuring that Montana Tech is a place to learn and work free from discrimination. We strive to provide an environment that is free from harassment and discrimination, while honoring the constitutional principles of free speech,” said the letter, signed by Vanessa Van Dyk, Montana Tech’s head of human resources, which includes Title IX.
It also encouraged any student who has felt they’ve been discriminated against to file a complaint, and included a link to an online form.
Officials at the Office of the Commissioner of Higher Education in Montana did not respond to a list of questions from the Daily Montanan, instead only provided the letter, dated Sept.10. MHRN said that’s the only correspondence between the university system and the human rights organization it has received. The letter came one day after the Daily Montanan had requested follow-up information. The Montana Human Rights Network had originally sent its concerns to the Board of Regents and the Commissioner’s Office on July 1, only to hear nothing in the intervening months.
It also appears that Montana Tech Chancellor Les Cook re-appointed Bayless to his position, which pays an annual contract salary of $60,240, after the concerns of the Montana Human Rights Network had been brought to light. The original story concerning Bayless’ activity first appeared on July 11, and the appointment letter is dated July 24. Bayless accepted it the next day, July 25.
The appointment outlines the various duties and terms, including that his end date is Dec. 31, 2024, not June 30, 2025, like most contracts, which follow the school year. It is not a tenure-track role and is dependent upon funding from outside research sources. Bayless’ duties include “help(ing) the students with characterization and analysis as needed.” It includes advising or working with four graduate students, whose names are redacted. He will work as a post-doc in the Army Research Laboratory.
Also as part of the appointment process, Bayless had to sign off that he is subject to “all institutional policies and procedures governing the conduct of employees.” This would include the university system’s institutional policies against discrimination.
Leaders at the Montana Human Rights Network said they were doubly disappointed by the tardy response and inaction of the university system.
“It took over two months for Montana Tech to respond to our report about Trenin Bayless and his association with the white nationalist movement. We’re disappointed that an institution that believes prejudice and discrimination are detrimental to human development – and voices support for an environment in which everyone is respected, welcomed, and appreciated – isn’t taking seriously evidence that one of their staff is active in promoting white supremacy, antisemitism, and accelerationism.
“In his online writings, Bayless has stated that his main objective is to get as close to central leadership as possible in order to position himself and his like-minded friends to eventually seize control of both state institutions and groups of racist activists. On Substack, Bayless writes that ‘We seize control by: showing up and making friends, then getting ourselves into useful positions, then getting more of /ourguys/ into useful positions.’ This post has since been deleted after the release of our report in June 2024. This information is deeply concerning considering that Dr. Bayless serves as an advisor to graduate and undergraduate students at Montana Tech.”
The university system has also repeatedly refused to outline or discuss what processes the system or Montana Tech took to either investigate the concerns or even exonerate Bayless.
“Why wasn’t there even a response? What was it doing?” asked Zupanic.
In an ideal world, Zupanic said she would have hoped that the university would have acknowledged a complaint and then provided assurances that Bayless would not have contact with students. Zupanic also said that the Montana Human Rights Network was not necessarily calling for him to be unemployed, just not exposed to students.
“We think he has the right to free speech, and we believe in protecting that,” Zupanic said. “But this type of speech has a detrimental impact, and we want to make sure he’s not in a position to impact negatively the students.”
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