The University of Missouri Faculty Council met Thursday to make final revisions to the diversity, equity and inclusion language in the faculty handbook. Conversations centered on language in the handbook that went against the Trump administration’s executive orders.
These orders emphasized that DEI initiatives amount to unlawful discrimination.
James Crozier and Nicole Monnier, co-chairs of the Academic Affairs Committee, brought forth the amendments proposed by the committee.
Before voting started, Monnier wanted to make clear to the council that the handbook is in fact a “living document” and is subject to further alteration.
The first phrase that was altered was, “The university seeks a heterogeneous student body reflecting diversity of race, ethnicity, age, geography (including international students) and physical disability.”
With a 12-11 vote, it was determined that to maintain wording compliant with current laws, striking the phrase in its entirety was the best outcome.
Aaron Campbell, member of the Academic Affairs Committee and the Black Faculty & Staff Organization, spoke out on the topic.
“I think that we shouldn’t falsely advertise that we’re going to consider (admissions) based on those sort of sub-contexts,” Campbell said. “So I thought, yes, that we remove it because that’s not something that we’re doing here.”
However, most of the faculty still wanted to include something making it clear they respect the range of backgrounds that the student body comes from.
After much deliberation, a solution was brought forth by council member James Van Dyke. On a 16-6 vote, the phrase, “The university highly values applicants who show how they overcome adversity, show qualities of resilience, determination and leadership and show how they offer unique perspectives based on their life experiences,” was accepted by the council.
Despite the adjustments being adopted by the council, nothing can be confirmed before the Academic Affairs Committee reviews the changes with the University’s Office of General Counsel.
Similar changes were made to segments of the handbook that mentioned diversity related to religious observations, and in a unanimous vote, the entire sentence including diversity was deleted.
