Missouri State University has announced the elimination of the office of inclusive engagement. It also said the Collaborative Diversity Conference and Inclusive Excellence Awards Gala are eliminated at university-supported events. This year’s events have been cancelled.
In a letter to faculty and staff Wednesday, MSU President Dr. Biff Williams said, “the idea of and support for diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) is under considerable scrutiny on a national basis and closer to home in Missouri’s state legislature.”
Missouri Governor Mike Kehoe, in the State of the State Address Tuesday, said he will not support diversity, equity and inclusion programs within state government in his administration.
Williams pointed out that there have been many bills filed in Missouri to eliminate DEI within state agencies, including higher education and that, while none of them passed, “we at Missouri State took note.”
The letter shares changes made to DEI programs at Missouri State in 2023, including:
- Discontinuing limited instances in which individual departments were requiring diversity statements from job applicants and communicating with all units that diversity statements will not be required in the future.
- 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 scholarships, college/department scholarships and donor-funded scholarships.
- Removing program participation requirements that limited eligibility based on race, sex and other characteristics.
- Removing old web content that described DEI activities/programs the university no longer offered as of 2023.
Williams said since 38% of the university’s budget comes from the state, “for us to continue providing a quality education to our students, we must align with the expectations established by state leadership.”
Employees of MSU’s office of inclusive engagement who were faculty prior to their current positions will return to their respective colleges, he said. The remaining staff will move to open positions across the university.
