Friday Morning the UM system Board of Curators discussed a variety of issues that have been at the forefront of recent news. Most notably, the protests that led to former UM System President Tim Wolfe’s resignation has left newly appointed interim UM System President Mike Middleton with a big challenge.
“We were thrust into the national spotlight, and you can either take that as an embarrassment and a harmful incident. I would much rather view it as us being chosen to take the lead to set the world right,” Middleton said.
To continue to combat the racists incidents on campus, newly appointed interim Vice Chancellor for Inclusion, Diversity and Equity Chuck Henson announced an 18-month long lecture series at the University of Missouri-Columbia that will open up dialogue on the history of being African American in the state of Missouri. The lecture series will begin January 2016 and will be a partneship with the Missouri state historical society.
A separate 18-month long lecture series on the first amendment will also be held beginning January 2016. This is in response to the incident that took place on the Columbia campus involving a journalist that had his first amendment rights violated.
The next Curators meeting is scheduled to be held Febuary 4th and 5th in 2016.