The Fallout at Mizzou: How Donors Alumni Parents and Fans Led the Backlash Against the University of Missouri

By Jillian Kay Melchior

‘You have a PR nightmare on your hands’
Grandma ‘I will pull every dime before my granddaughter sets foot on your campus’
‘A national disgrace – disgusting’
‘the mob’s threats … totalitarian to insane’
Student: ‘racism smaller than it is made out to be’
Student: ‘As an African American, I am embarrassed by my fellow students’
‘I pledge NOT to contribute to your fund’
Donations to Athletic Department plunged 72%
Overall donations down
Freshman student enrollment down a quarter

Mizzou’s vice chancellor for marketing and communications, Ellen De Graffenreid, received a disheartening email last fall at the pinnacle of the crisis on campus. A disgruntled parent wrote to the university’s Board of Curators, describing how her son, a sophomore, considered transferring out, while their two high-school-aged children “have all but eliminated Mizzou from their college list.”

Someone had forwarded the note to the university’s Department of Marketing and Communications, adding: “I’m sure you already know this but you have a PR nightmare on your hands.” De Graffenreid, in turn, forwarded it to the college’s leadership, adding the letter from a parent was “pretty representative of the middle of the road people we are losing.”

Read More: White Privilege Conference ‘Too White’

New correspondence reviewed by Heat Street and National Review depicts the cataclysmic backlash against the University of Missouri as its administrators grappled with demands from rowdy protestors, a hunger-striking grad student, and a boycotting football team. The protests ultimately toppled both the president and the chancellor.
Students at the University of Missouri. Photo by Michael B. Thomas/Getty Images
Students at the University of Missouri. Photo by Michael B. Thomas/Getty Images

In one instance, a retired professor wrote a prescient note to top university officials, cautioning that “serious backlash could result” and that “students making demands, protests, disrupting events or that kind of thing won’t sell well outstate.”

His prediction proved spot-on. The 7,400 pages of emails, reviewed exclusively by these two publications, reveal how Mizzou overwhelmingly lost the support of longtime sports fans, donors, and alumni. Parents and grandparents wrote in from around the country declaring that their family members wouldn’t be attending Mizzou after the highly publicized controversy. Some current students talked about leaving.

MORE: Emails show safety fears rampant on Mizzou campus

This passionate backlash doesn’t appear to have been a bluff. Already, freshman enrollment is down 25%, leaving a $32 million funding gap and forcing the closure of four dorms. The month after the protests, donations to the athletic department were a mere $191,000—down 72% over the same period a year earlier. Overall fundraising also took a big hit.

Here’s the timeline of what happened on campus and the avalanche of negative feedback that followed—including a sampling of the messages Mizzou leadership received.

Oct. 5: A drunk white male interrupts a homecoming rehearsal for the Legion of Black Collegians, calling them the n-word.

Oct. 6: A black student writes to Mizzou’s chancellor, Bowen Loftin, describing how someone called him the n-word during his freshman year. Nonetheless, he writes: “I have one thing to say to you, this is not a racist school. …. One man’s ignorance should not be linked to that of an entire race. And I’m quite tired of the notion being made that my school is full of hatred. I believe the only way to stop this Mob-Like mentality is not through mandating race training for teachers or hiring more chancellors for racial issues but letting the students change the hearts of themselves.”

Oct. 8: Chancellor Loftin announces that beginning in January, all incoming students will be required to complete diversity training. The university will also hire a vice chancellor for inclusion, diversity, and equity.

Oct. 10: At homecoming, 11 black student protestors block the car of UM’s president, Tim Wolfe.

Oct. 24: A swastika scrawled in feces is found on the bathroom wall of a dormitory.

Nov. 2: Graduate student Jonathan Butler announces a hunger strike, demanding the resignation of the college’s president.

Nov. 2: Mizzou leadership struggles with an appropriate response to the hunger strike. “Does admiring [Butler’s] courage = calling going on a hunger strike courageous (and in doing so glorify it)?” wonders President Wolfe’s chief of staff as administrators draft a statement.
Jonathan Butler
Jonathan Butler

Nov. 3: The group #ConcernedStudent1950 issues a list of demands. Among other items, they want President Wolfe to be removed—and to hold a news conference at which he would publicly apologize and “acknowledge his white male privilege.”

MORE: Mizzou protestors demand generators, fire pit from admin

Nov. 6: Emails show the protestors do not speak for all students on campus. One writes to President Wolfe: “While racism exists at Mizzou, there are a great deal of students who disagree with methods for ridding racism. … We do not agree with the recent attacking of your personhood, for that will not resolve anything.”

Nov. 7: Black football players say they will boycott football games until President Wolfe’s removal. Students continue disruptive protests in several locations on campus. One shouts, “If you’re uncomfortable, I did my job.”

The #ConcernedStudent1950 protest at @mucampusdining Plaza 900 earlier today. pic.twitter.com/ryEJ82uqSe

— Anurag Chandran (@AnuragRC) November 7, 2015

Nov. 8: Football coach Gary Pinkel tweets out that he supports his players’ decision.

Nov. 8: Athletic director Mack Rhoades and Coach Pinkel issue a statement saying, “After a meeting with the team this morning, it is clear they do not plan to return to practice until Jonathan resumes eating.”

Nov. 9: The backlash begins against the football team. President Wolfe resigns, while Chancellor Loftin announces he will also step down and “transition” into another position at the school. The same day, a viral video captures communciations professor Melissa Click calling for “some muscle” against a student reporter.

Nov. 9: A parent writes: “It is only a matter of time before the remainder of Mr. Butler’s demands are implemented with the mob’s threats not so subtly in the background, demands that range from totalitarian to insane. … I have two sons at Mizzou. I will be immediately searching for alternatives for both. I do not trust the education they might receive at such a school.”

Nov. 9: A Department of Athletics staffer asks the parents of a current student for their sizes so he can send them Mizzou T-shirts. “No thank you,” the mom writes. “After what has transpired these last couple of days, as an alumni and a parent of a current student, I am ashamed and embarrassed.”

Nov. 9: A freshman writes to Chancellor Bowen Loftin: “Amongst the racial tensions at Mizzou I feel as though some of the protestors have handled it poorly. … I believe the racism issue is smaller than it is being made out to be. … That is why it pains me to say I just received a call from my parents today saying they were considering pulling me out of Mizzou.”
Dr. R. Bowen Loftin. Photo by Bob Levey/Getty Images
Dr. R. Bowen Loftin. Photo by Bob Levey/Getty Images

Nov. 9: A donor writes “to finalize my 40 year history with the Athletic Department of the University of Missouri.” He adds: “For the last 10 years, I have attended between 60-85 athletic events per year… always bought a ticket, program (if available), two hot dogs and a small diet coke. … Now, I have a hole in my heart that you could can drive a truck through. … I pledge from this day forward NOT TO contribute to the [Tiger Scholarship Fund], buy any tickets to a University of Missouri athletic event, to attend any athletic event (even if free), to give away all my MU clothes (nearly my entire wardrobe) after I have removed any logos associated with the University of Missouri, and any cards/helmets/ice buckets/flags with the University of Missouri Logo on it.”

Nov. 9: A black student writes to President Wolfe: “As an African American student, I am embarrassed by some of my fellow students’ behavior and words toward you and I apologize on their behalf. …. I really hope you know that there are some of us who feel you did not deserve this.”

Nov. 10: A senior internal recruiter for TEKsystems, an information-technology company that hires hundreds of new college graduates a year, writes to the director for student-athlete development: “With everything that is going on at the school, I regret to inform you that we are unable to attend the career fair today.”

Nov. 10: A 2015 graduate of the UM law school writes: “I am ashamed to say that I graduated from the University of Missouri. I will be revoking the pledge I made upon graduation, and I will not be making any future monetary donations. I know I am not the only alum who feels this way.”

MORE: Cornell students want race-based elections

Nov. 11: A woman who has bought season tickets for more than 30 years writes to the athletic director: “It is an outrage that Missouri University football players threatened to refuse playing ball unless their demands are met. … Along with other supporters of the program I will consider dropping my support. … I would rather the team forfeit the game this Saturday than to give in to their demands.”

Nov. 11: Dr. Tim Evans, an associate professor in the Department of Veterinary Pathology, writes to his colleagues: “I applaud the support provided to our protesting students who, regardless of whether you agree or disagree with them, are using what they have learned in the classroom and putting it to practice.”

Nov. 11: A parent paying full tuition for his sophomore son writes: “Free speech is under assault on campus by immature, spoiled, thin skinned punks. … I am seriously considering removing my son after this semester. I will never allow him to take politically correct ‘racial sensitivity training’ if required.”

Interim chancellor Hank Foley notes: “I’ve been getting these kinds of emails for days now also.”
Communications professor Melissa Click called for "muscle" against a student reporter.
Communications professor Melissa Click called for “muscle” against a student reporter.

Nov. 11: Alum writes: “You have allowed Ms. Click and 200 misinformed students with passion to undo 20 years of progress at MU. …. My wife and I have agreed that MU is NOT a school we would even consider for our three children. … Since when do football players choose the leadership at MU and blackmail a university? MU has developed into the Berkeley of the Midwest.”

MORE: The New Melissa Click?

Nov. 11: An MU fan writes asking for a refund for his ticket purchase: “Two good men lost their jobs, extremists are running around the campus, and now I have a label of white privilege. Nothing screams white privilege like sitting in donor seats and parking in donor lots.”

Nov. 12: A group of athletes, including a ’62-’64 Mizzou quarterback, writes about “focusing on how to financially reach donors and cease as many contributions as we can.” One alum floats the idea of asking “to rescind the induction of the 1964 Baseball Team into the Missouri Intercollegiate Sports Hall of Fame” as a way to protest the recent events on campus.
Mizzou football players boycott the games in support of Jonathan Butler, a grad student who went on a hunger strike. YouTube
Mizzou football players boycott the games in support of Jonathan Butler, a grad student who went on a hunger strike. YouTube

Nov. 13: Coach Pinkel steps down, citing a recent lymphoma diagnosis and saying his decision has nothing to do with recent events on campus.

Nov. 13: Member of the Missouri 100, an advisory group supporting Mizzou, writes: “From the alumni I talk to there appears to be a backlash building that is not good for future support of the university. One classmate told me that he changed his trust yesterday to delete a gift to MU, others just do not understand the football players ‘striking.’ A couple have said it was time to take a play form the Ronald Reagan playbook on how the air traffic controllers were handled.”

The vice chancellor for advancement responds: “We have a lot of these messages of pulling support.”

Nov. 16: Grandmother writes that she will “pull every dime” from her granddaughter’s tuition trust “before I allow her to set foot on your campus.” She continues: “What is occurring there is a national and academic disgrace and embarrassment! Absolutely disgusting!”

http://heatst.com/culture-wars/inside-the-fallout-at-mizzou/

Topic: CEO Writes To Whiny College Kids
http://m.mingle2.com/topic/show/478762/

The REAL world, has unemployment offices & food banks & mommy saved your room for you, because over 1/2 a million, will loose their SNAP, before your graduation.
But congrats

yea it is associtating to the political...why not.....LOL but ending up with the mind there could be more america way to do so like bullriding or somehow right? some wisly people just showing that more traditional way could be some kind of jet to the local finiacial projects but no offence to the america football too. Whoa.....better be this way XD that's what i've learn from the national guards........HeeeeeeHaaaaaa........the cowboys will gona sad again.......bull will gona cring whatever.....Hmmmmm....XD let's rolling the texAs!!!~~~~HoooooWeeeeee..... there are sentence like this...in ancient chinese BbQ or bIg bros....the choice is yours.......

Makes like Lenin!

men protested for womens rights
and whites for minority rights

whats the irony in the wealthy still caring about bigotry too?

thanx for sharing the other side though,,genuinely

there are almost always at least two,,,,some are nay and some are yay and I'm sure the campus has to sort through them, both sides, to determine the best course of action

and none that will not cost them 'support' from the other team

Please Oklahoma, come replace Mizzou in the SEC...Hell, Oklahoma St., TCU, Baylor, y'all will work too. Frick Mizzou and that chicken$hit looking football field they have.

On the other hand, they WOULD be an easy conference win for the rest of the SEC

Thank's for posting this, SassyEuro, its a great timeline. I've been carefully watching the drama at mizzou since the beginning but there are still details in this post which I had missed.

I think it'd be wonderful if the university suffered even greater financial harm, so that other universities might hesitate before caving to hateful, Orwellian cry-bullies.

Hurricane Mizzou – Enrollment Plummets, Jobs Cut, Buildings Shutter
By Jillian Kay Melchior

| 9:47 pm, May 3, 2016

Fresh figures show graduate enrollment down 1,140

Plunge compared to ‘Tulane after Hurricane Katrina’

New data shows that existing students are also bailing

Budget down $32.5 m

Two residence halls closed, library hours and staff reduced

315 students have no lodging

50 cleaning and maintenance jobs gone

Tenured faculty have to take out own trash; cleaners face unemployment

Some wonder if Mizzou will survive

After raucous protests last fall, the University of Missouri has “a dark cloud hanging over the institution—we can’t sugarcoat that,” vice chancellor of operations Gary Ward told faculty this week.

More: Can Mizzou Survive? Read the Total Damage

The university’s grave outlook became clearer Monday, as the data rolled in on freshman enrollment for the Fall 2016 semester, showing steep declines.

MORE: Meet the Worst SJWs in the World – Part Two

Compared to last year, 1,470 fewer students had paid their $300 enrollment fees by the May 1 deadline—and with cancellations rolling in over the weekend, the numbers may be even more grim, the local TV station KMIZ reports. That’s a drop of about 25% from last year’s freshman class of about 6,200.

Mizzou also reported a three-year low in grad-school applications, down 1,140 from two years ago. The number of new students shrunk even as the university has embarked on an aggressive effort to drum up interest in the school, using text messages and Skype and deploying more out-of-state recruiters.

Here’s how steep that drop is: Fox Sports’ Clay Travis writes that “the only comparable undergraduate enrollment decline in recent decades that I can find at any major college or university is Tulane University the year after Hurricane Katrina.”

The steep dropoff in enrollment appears to directly traceable to the events of last fall. During October and November, the university found itself in the national spotlight after reports emerged of several racist incidents on campus. Protests erupted, forcing the cancellation of classes. In solidarity with a graduate student who went on a hunger strike, the university’s football team refused to play until the demands of one organization, #ConcernedStudent1950, were met. As the protests raged, a video went viral portraying one of the university’s communications professors, Melissa Click, calling for “muscle” against a student journalist covering the controversy.

MORE: Safety Fears Rampant Amid University of Missouri Protests

The protestors ultimately ousted both the president and chancellor. But as Heat Street has reported, the fallout from the protests has been punishing. Donors and alumni have vowed to pull financial support, sports fans have declared that they will stop attending games, and parents and prospective students said they’d no longer consider Mizzou.
COLUMBIA, MO - NOVEMBER 9: Protesters celebrate after the resignation resignation of Missouri University president Timothy M. Wolfe. (Photo by Brian Davidson/Getty Images)
COLUMBIA, MO – NOVEMBER 9: Protesters celebrate after the resignation resignation of Missouri University president Timothy M. Wolfe. (Photo by Brian Davidson/Getty Images)

In addition to its abysmal enrollment figures, Mizzou seems also to be losing existing students. In a March letter to campus, the interim chancellor Hank Foley mentioned “retention of enrolled students” as part of the university’s shrinking student body, though he offered no statistics. The Office of Enrollment had not responded to Heat Street’s request for these numbers by deadline, though our exhaustive review of Mizzou correspondence showed several students were considered transferring out after the events of last fall.

The university’s declining enrollment, combined with some added expenses for new diversity initiatives, has left Mizzou with a $32.5 million shortfall, the Columbia Tribune reported recently. Overall, the university is bracing for a 5 percent cut across the budget over the next fiscal year.

Mizzou’s new pinch will literally change the campus’s landscape. In March, the university announced plans to accelerate the scheduled closure of two dorms. A month later, it announced the shuttering of two more residence halls, eliminating lodging for an additional 315 students.

Less than a week later, Mizzou also announced that it will cut at least 50 cleaning and maintenance jobs. The university is also considering the slashing as many as 11 additional such operational jobs over the summer.

Practically, these job cuts mean that faculty must take out their own trash, sidewalks will be trimmed only twice a year, tailgaters’ Saturday litter won’t be picked up until Monday morning, and snow removal will be slower next winter, the Columbia Daily Tribune reported.

MORE: Mizzou Protestors Demanded Generators, a Fire Pit

The Operations Division isn’t the only department axing jobs. The university’s library system is also preparing for a $894,000 reduction in funding. Starting next semester, students will no longer enjoy 24-hour access to Ellis Library. Six of the eight library positions vacant at the end of this semester won’t be filled. The library is also considering how many part-time and student positions it will need to cut next year.

Additionally, the University will implement a hiring freeze, as well as a moratorium on raises for many staffers.

http://heatst.com/culture-wars/more-misery-at-mizzou-as-enrollment-plummets/

Another One Bites the Dust - Queen:

http://youtu.be/Wz_DNrKVrQ8/
03:35

....has turned into a fart in the wind

history repeating itself

the sixties saw white flight after schools that 'caved' into integration

now we see it with upper class flight after schools 'cave' into legitimate griefs of modern racism(once they became public anyway)

Today, the racists are found in greater numbers among these horrible student activists.

I wouldn't know,, there is enough racism to go around


but even if a abusive parent fights to keep children safe,, it doesn't change that children should be kept safe

and even if a 'hoorible' racist is fighting for justice for themselves or theirs,,, there should still be justice

They screwed themselves.
Long term consequences for their own acts of injustice & 15 minutes of fame.

I agree, if the complaints had been acted upon before they caused national controversy

the school wouldn't have 'screwed' themselves

* Are the Universities privately owned ?
* What is " SNAP " ?
* I read the post, but still do not understand the root problems.
(Northern brain freeze)

snap is the program that provides food assistance for the economically disadvantaged

the schools can be private or public

mizzou is a pubic university but accepts private donations as well

Unlike mizzou, at least OU has some hawt cheerleaders.