COLUMBIA - MU s social justice centers have been in the public eye for the last few months due to their response to multiple issues on campus.
In April, many employees were told their positions would no longer exist due to a restructuring of the centers, which include the Gaines/Oldham Black Culture Center, the LGBTQ Resource Center and the Multicultural Center. The restructuring was paused in May, which meant a July 1 implementation was no longer the case.
MU spokesperson Christian Basi says the restructuring is necessary to improve academic success for marginalized students.Â
Now, less than a month before the fall semester, multiple employees in these centers have stepped down from their positions due to what they say is a lack of professionalism in the workplace.Â
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