It’s amazing how quickly all of this is just going away. There has been a huge and almost instant shift.
The Springfield News Leader reports:
Missouri State University ends DEI efforts, closes Office of Inclusive EngagementMissouri State University has stopped its diversity, equity and inclusion programs and closed the Office of Inclusive Engagement.The announcement came Wednesday morning. The changes are effective immediately.“As a university, we value diverse thought and actions and support all our students, faculty and staff,” said MSU President Richard “Biff” Williams, in a statement.“However, 38% of our budget comes from the state. For us to continue providing a quality education to our students, we must align with the requirements laid out by state leadership.”Shortly after taking office, U.S. President Donald Trump announced plans to dismantle DEI efforts at the federal level and in all levels of public education.Missouri lawmakers have also introduced bills to eliminate or reduce publicly funded DEI programs. In recent years, DEI efforts have become controversial and politicized.
The MSU Board of Governors, which met behind closed doors Monday, supported the changes.
As part of the announcement, Missouri State outlined changes it has made since 2023 to review and update programs that support students, faculty and staff. They include:
- Discontinuing limited instances where individual departments required diversity statements from job applicants;
- Eliminating diversity hiring policies that streamlined the hiring process for diverse faculty and staff candidates;
- Removing scholarship requirements that limited eligibility based on race, sex and other characteristics. This included institutional, college/department and donor-funded scholarships;
- Removing program participation requirements that limited eligibility based on race, sex and other characteristics.
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