President Donald Trump’s crackdown on diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) has now impacted the University of Missouri. On Friday, the University of Missouri’s Division of Student Affairs told the Legion of Black Collegians (LBC) and several other multicultural organizations that they would be reclassified as “Recognized Student Organizations” and would no longer be directly funded by the division
“To comply with restrictions issued by the U.S. Department of Justice on allocating university resources such as funding or space based on protected demographic characteristics, the university reviewed the way it has been providing funding to five specific student organizations,” MU Spokesperson Christopher Ave told KOMU.
“It was determined that the university must change the way we have been providing funds for these five student organizations to comply with federal requirements and avoid jeopardizing crucial funding for student financial aid, research, and other university programs. For that reason, the university will end its practice of providing designated funding for the following affinity student organizations,” Ave added.
One of the first moves the Trump administration made last year was to issue a memo banning DEI and any consideration of race in student life at publicly funded colleges and universities. The Education Department has regularly threatened to pull federal funding from schools if they have any policies that could remotely be considered DEI. These changes have seen schools like Brown, Harvard, and MIT shuttering their DEI initiatives to restore or protect their federal funding. The ban has even led to several schools outright removing classes about race from their system.
The organizations will now be funded through Mizzou’s Organization Resource Group, where they will undoubtedly receive reduced funding as they now have to compete with 600 other student groups. “As an organization that serves and protects a broad group of students on campus, we are not in a position to compete with 600 other groups for an already limited amount of resources,” Mizzou Association of Latin American Students (ALAS) said in an Instagram post.
“It is important that we distinguish that a memo is not a federal law, thus this decision was at the hands of the University of Missouri and the University alone,” ALAS wrote in the post. ALAS ain’t wrong. In fact, a federal judge ruled last year that the Education Department’s anti-DEI guidance was unlawful, but when has the United States ever let legal rulings get in the way of racism?
“The university is taking calculated steps to push minority students further away from the Mizzou stratosphere,” LBC said in an Instagram post. “Attacks such as this diminish not only our legacy, but our continued ability to serve and uplift the students that the University neglects.”
In addition to changing the LBC’s designation, Mizzou is also revoking the organization’s status as a student government. LBC President Amaya Morgan was critical of the change and told KOMU that the student government designation allowed Black students to be included in important conversations they might not otherwise have been a part of. “We’ve always been a student government — and that didn’t come lightly,” Morgan told KOMU. “There’s people that fought for that.”
The Columbia Missourian reports that the LBC and several other student organizations held a town hall on Monday to discuss the changes. What was intended to be a meeting discussing the new status quo turned emotional as students realized that these organizations, which have been around for decades, are effectively being defunded.
“It did definitely get very emotional just because we all put into perspective all of the work of the people that came before us. And it did kind of feel like it was the end.” Association of Latin American Students President Karina Franquiz said.
“I think we live in a time right now where we have a lot of people telling us exactly how they’re feeling, how to think, and sort of an oppressive means of getting exactly what they want done. And a lot of people are just not cool with it,” Mizzou student Ben Miles said during the town hall.
Morgan told the students at the town hall that the LBC is considering potential legal action to dispute the reclassification. The shame of these moves is that Black and brown students will never be able to completely trust that their schools will look out for them. If this administration has proved anything, it’s how quickly schools and organizations are willing to scapegoat their Black students for a dollar.
SEE ALSO:
University Of Memphis Latest School To Shutter DEI Office
Trump Memo Doubles Down On Anti-DEI Requirements For Federal Funding
Northwestern President Resigns Amid Pressure From Trump Administration
