Activist group Mizzou 600 organized a protest on April 29 against the future implementation of the MU Department of Social Justice restructuring plan.
The demonstration started on the steps of Jesse Hall, where speakers began listing the ways the Department of Social Justice had aided them. Two unnamed MU staff members followed the demonstration, stating that their purpose was to ensure the protest was safe.
Following their beginning chants and opening statements on the steps of Jesse Hall, demonstrators walked inside to continue the protest. The demonstrators continued to chant and give statements regarding the restructuring. Staff observed the demonstration from the upper level of Jesse Hall.
He said claims circulating on social media that all staff members at the centers will be let go and that the centers themselves would be eliminated are false. It is “absolutely not true that we’re getting rid of the centers,” and the university is “absolutely committed to the resources these centers provide,” Basi said.
The Columbia Missourianreported that the plan aims to raise the number of full-time staff members in the centers from 10 to 15.
The private message outlining the restructuring plan said the university would move away from “the current holistic identity-based coordinators” to new “task-oriented positions.” The new positions will span multiple centers and include individual staff members in charge of events and programming for the centers, overseeing student staff members, and managing center training programs. The