State lawmakers have found a new way to punish University of Missouri students who protested campus racism on the Columbia campus last fall: all four of the university’s campuses may not be included in a statewide budget increase for state schools.
Earlier this month, the House Committee for Higher Education Appropriations chose to raise funding for state schools by 2 percent but excluded the University of Missouri’s four campuses from the increase. Rep. Donna Lichtenegger (R-Jackson) proposed the 2 percent plan a decrease from Gov. Jay Nixon’s plan, which would have given schools a 6 percent increase. Under Gov. Nixon’s proposed $55.8 million plan, which the committee took down to $9.9 million, the University of Missouri would have received an additional $26.8 million in funding.
Meanwhile, on Monday, the university’s budget as proposed by House Budget Committee Chairman Tom Flanigan (R-Carthage) was announced. The budget would take an $8 million cut, including revoking the salary of Melissa Click, an assistant mass media professor and member of Mizzou’s Department of Communication who angered lawmakers with her involvement in the protests. Other salary cuts include that of Mitchell McKinney, Chairman of the Communications Department, and Dean of Arts and Science Michael O’Brien. This collectively cuts roughly $400,000; the remaining $7.7 million will be cut from system administration which includes the Board of Curators.
