ST. LOUIS — The University of Missouri is making major changes to its diversity, equity and inclusion programs on campus. President Mun Choi announced a restructuring.
The move appeases Republicans who used legislation to threaten school funding.
Vice Chancellor for Inclusion, Diversity & Equity Maurice Gipson will depart to take a role at an HBCU in Arkansas. His department will be disbanded and staff would be moved to different departments.
The University of Missouri invited 5 On Your Side to interview Choi.
“As a university, we receive about $500 million per year in appropriations and $200 million in capital one-time projects,” Choi said. “If we don't receive the $700 million per year, we would have to eliminate every single position in all of the colleges that we have at the University of Missouri. That is not a risk that I want to take. I want to have a good relationship with the supporters of our university. And our biggest supporters are the taxpayers, and by proxy, they're the elected officials that represent them.”
Choi said that Gipson’s departure gave the university an opportunity to proceed with the restructuring, and realignment would’ve been inevitable even if he had stayed on.
“We would have made these changes anyways, but there would have probably been another role.”
Senator Bill Eigel broke the news on the stage during the GOP debate in the Governor's race.
Choi said the Supreme Court's ruling overturning affirmative action changed the dynamics on campus.
The University of Missouri says despite the shifting focus, its admissions department registered an uptick in Black and Hispanic freshmen enrollment.
According to recent U.S. Census data, 12.4% of Missouri's population is Black. Black professors make up just 3.4% of Mizzou's faculty.
