The interim president of the University of Missouri said on February 5 that the school has to stop looking backward at the recent turmoil and concentrate on moving forward on issues of race and diversity.
But before he spoke, a student panel told members of the Board of Curators that such progress won’t happen until university leaders pay more attention to what students want and need.
The sharp contrast came into focus at the board’s meeting on the Columbia campus, one day after the curators’ meeting was interrupted by students reiterating their demands for more diversity. Those demands led to the resignation of system President Tim Wolfe and the demotion of Mizzou Chancellor R. Bowen Loftin in November.
Wolfe’s replacement, Michael A. Middleton, told the curators that he has spent much of his time since being appointed interim president in November discussing the state of the university system with lawmakers, faculty, staff, students, parents, alumni and others.
“Everyone has true concerns about this university and our future,” he said. “In fact, most of what I’ve heard is blame – a lot of people and groups blaming other people and groups for what our beloved university is facing.”
Middleton cited efforts in recent months to answer some of the students’ criticisms about a lack of diversity and attention to equality. He noted that three finalists for the newly created position of chief diversity, equity and inclusion officer for the system will appear at public forums in Columbia later this month, and $921,000 has been set aside for diversity initiatives in Columbia, St. Louis, Rolla and Kansas City.
But, Middleton noted, universities nationwide, as well as the country as a whole, are facing similar problems, so no one can expect the University of Missouri to come up with satisfying solutions quickly.
“To resolve the difficulties we face, we must get away from the blame game and focus our efforts on developing sustainable solutions,” Middleton said.
He urged lawmakers not to carry through on some of the discussions about cutting appropriations for the university because of the recent problems.
“This is a very serious situation,” Middleton said at a news conference after the meeting. “Significant budget cuts could do very, very serious damage to the university. I understand their anger. I understand their frustration. I understand their embarrassment on behalf of their constituents. I don’t understand why the university should suffer.”
He took particular exception to people who he has heard say that the university has become a zoo where the animals are in charge, or that the inmates are running the asylum.
“Let me say we are neither an asylum nor a zoo,” Middleton said. “We are a university, discovering new knowledge, serving Missouri’s communities, teaching, mentoring, counseling, guiding young adults, developing new products. Our students are neither inmates nor animals. They are young adults that we are grooming to lead us through the 21st century.”
Before Middleton’s address, four students at Mizzou discussed diversity efforts on the campus, as part of the theme of this year’s chair of the board of curators, Pam Henrickson of Jefferson City: a culture of respect.
But the students appeared to have little respect for the efforts of the curators so far. Tim Love, an African-American graduate student, echoed some of the demands of the student protestors and said the university needs to pay more attention to the needs of individuals, not to the bottom line.
“If there was monetary gain in racial harmony, the University of Missouri would immediately approve diversity course requirements,” Love said. “They would immediately hire more African-American faculty and make sure that African-American students, Muslim students, Middle Eastern students, Latino students and LGBTQ students are properly represented and treated fairly.”
Alluding to the fact that the only two African-American members of the board, Yvonne Sparks and David Steward, resigned in recent days, Love added, “And it also doesn’t help that all of you are white. That sends more of a signal that there’s a gulf between us.”
Disclaimer: The University of Missouri’s Board of Curators holds the license for St. Louis Public Radio.
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Reprinted with permission from news.stlpublicradio.org.
