GET WOKE, GO BROKE: More Misery in Missouri: The university continues to struggle with fallout from the 2015 protests.
Indulging protesters can be expensive, as the University of Missouri is discovering three years after students successfully demanded the resignation of the president and chancellor. Last week the school said it will have to eliminate 185 positions on top of 308 cut last year.
Apparently fewer parents want to send their kids to a school where activism eclipses academics. Between the fall 2015 and 2017 semesters, freshman enrollment dropped by 35%. Lost tuition accounts for $29 million of the university’s current $49 million budget shortfall.
In response, Mizzou has had to lay off employees, decline to renew expiring faculty contracts, and leave positions unfilled after retirements. The university is also cutting back on travel and phasing out low-demand courses, among other austerity measures.
Mizzou claims more aggressive recruitment from neighboring states’ schools has contributed to the enrollment decline. And it says growing maintenance, research and personnel costs have contributed to the budget strain. But “we know the perception of Mizzou was a key factor in the difficulties we had over the past two years,” adds spokesman Christian Basi. . . . Missouri is learning the hard way that most students and parents believe a university should be a place for open inquiry run by administrators who will insist on it.
Wreck your university to please a few dozen angry students and staff who by their very nature are never happy for long. Good plan. But hey, they’ve wrecked their standing with the voters and legislature, too.