WASHINGTON ― University of Missouri System interim president Michael Middleton said Tuesday that he is hopeful that a series of initiatives meant to bring about more diversity, equity and inclusion at the system’s flagship campus can stave off the tumult that rocked the campus last fall.
“While we’ve made significant progress since November, there’s much more to be done,” Middleton said during a talk at the National Press Club. “I’m optimistic about the progress made and will continue to make and hopeful that our students will have the patience to allow us to continue that work.”
Middleton—the former deputy chancellor of the University of Missouri who came out of retirement last fall to serve as interim president after protests led to the ouster of his predecessor, Tim Wolfe—has been speaking to various higher education organizations over the past few months about the importance of taking heed to the concerns of student protesters.
Tuesday’s talk was no different except it provided an extended opportunity for journalists to question Middleton about various issues—from strained race relations on campus to threats to academic freedom—that have beset not only Mizzou but campuses nationwide as of late.
Middleton also outlined a series of efforts that he said he hopes will bring about positive change at the main campus at Mizzou, which has been beset by declining enrollment figures—a decline of 2,600 students this fall, by one account—that he conceded were “grim.” The decline in tuition revenue is estimated at $36.3 million, according to a recent news report.
Asked what he was doing to counteract the problem, Middleton stated that he had a communications team working to “accentuate the positive and minimize the negative and that kind of thing, but we can’t gloss over it.”
