University Of Missouri’s Paying A Price For Its Lame Response To Last Fall’s Racial Protests
By Post Editorial Board
The New York Post
May 23, 2016
If the University of Missouri thought its concessions to Black Lives Matter radicals would boost its appeal to students, it looks like it made a big mistake.
Six months after the radicals garnered national attention with fiery protests against supposed campus racism — and with Mizzou’s school year set to start in August — the university faces an enrollment drop of nearly 1,500 students. And a potential budget shortfall of $32 million.
“I am writing to you today to confirm that we project a very significant budget shortfall due to an unexpected sharp decline in first-year enrollments and student retention,” interim chancellor Hank Foley said in an e-mail recently.
Just deserts? Seems so. After all, the school’s handling of the protests couldn’t have been worse.
The Black Lives Matter crowd at Mizzou, recall, was piggybacking on national protests over the death of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Mo. But as Jillian Kay Melchior noted on Heat Street and National Review, the rallies didn’t just disrupt lives; they sparked fear.
“I know I’m not alone in saying that I felt very unsafe and targeted when I encountered” protesters, one student wrote the chancellor.
Yet rather than restore order quickly, officials sought to appease the protesters: The demonstrations continued. Protesters took over a campus quad. One (now-fired) professor threatened a student cameraman. President Tim Wolfe and Chancellor R. Bowen Loftin stepped down.
By January, it was clear applications to Mizzou had dipped — and officials themselves cited the November turmoil on campus. Maybe the school learned its lesson, maybe not. Either way, it’s paying a price.
The New York Post
May 23, 2016
If the University of Missouri thought its concessions to Black Lives Matter radicals would boost its appeal to students, it looks like it made a big mistake.
Six months after the radicals garnered national attention with fiery protests against supposed campus racism — and with Mizzou’s school year set to start in August — the university faces an enrollment drop of nearly 1,500 students. And a potential budget shortfall of $32 million.
“I am writing to you today to confirm that we project a very significant budget shortfall due to an unexpected sharp decline in first-year enrollments and student retention,” interim chancellor Hank Foley said in an e-mail recently.
Just deserts? Seems so. After all, the school’s handling of the protests couldn’t have been worse.
The Black Lives Matter crowd at Mizzou, recall, was piggybacking on national protests over the death of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Mo. But as Jillian Kay Melchior noted on Heat Street and National Review, the rallies didn’t just disrupt lives; they sparked fear.
“I know I’m not alone in saying that I felt very unsafe and targeted when I encountered” protesters, one student wrote the chancellor.
Yet rather than restore order quickly, officials sought to appease the protesters: The demonstrations continued. Protesters took over a campus quad. One (now-fired) professor threatened a student cameraman. President Tim Wolfe and Chancellor R. Bowen Loftin stepped down.
By January, it was clear applications to Mizzou had dipped — and officials themselves cited the November turmoil on campus. Maybe the school learned its lesson, maybe not. Either way, it’s paying a price.
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