The Missouri Students Association hosted an open panel featuring seven prominent members of the university last night in Memorial Union’s Stotler Lounge.
The panelists present were UM System President Mun Choi, MSA President Josiah Mendoza, MU Police Department Chief Brian Weimer, Chief of Business Officer Rhonda Gibler and Vice Chancellor for Inclusion, Diversity & Equity Maurice Gipson.
The event included short presentations with three 15-minute Q&A sessions for panelists, an open forum for questions and a social hour with refreshments. Multiple student groups, including the Mizzou Coalition for Bodily Autonomy, attended to get information and raise concerns about university policies.
Mendoza oversaw the organization of the panel.
“[MSA] makes the claim that we represent a large body of people,” he said. “But without the actual bandwidth to interact with them, that’s a very lackluster claim. It’s kind of false to make such a statement. So I want to do whatever we can to get us out there, to get us into different areas of campus.”
The panel opened with Mendoza introducing the speakers and a brief slideshow from Choi highlighting MU’s quality of education.
Following this, the panelists spoke on three preselected topics: campus safety, tuition model changes and student equity. For each section, the administrators spoke freely before opening up the floor to questions.
First, Weimer discussed student safety.
He emphasized officers’ crisis prevention training and their agreement with the Boone County Sheriff’s office allowing them to enforce state laws across the county. Weimer also stressed that the 50 officers across four campuses in the MUPD were trained to deal with active threats. The department’s practices were brought up as being accredited at a national and campus level.
Weimer encouraged students to reach out through the police number: (573) 882-7202, which is monitored at all times.
“If you ever need help, call there,” he said. “Even if you decide, ‘Hey, I don’t want to report a crime,’ but you want to know what other resources that are available to you, here’s the one-stop shop for you.”
During the following Q&A, a student questioned university policies on minor in possession charges following a drugging and possible assault.
“We often do not write tickets or do anything for an alcohol offense,” Weimer said. “The No. 1 offense we would be going to would be to get the medical attention to the individual that they need. Also to make sure they get home, there’s someone there to watch over them.”
MU Police Department Chief Brian Weimer responding to a student’s question
Another student asked about how the university plans to address sexual assault on campus.
“Our first priority is the safety of the individual — the victim, to get them the resources they need,” Weimer said. He listed examples of medical help, criminal prosecution, Title IX reports, and mental health resources.
In the next section, Gibler gave a presentation on the new tuition model.
She said the new tuition model was put in place to accomplish several key goals: helping students complete courses on time, making bills less confusing by eliminating supplemental fees and increasing tuition predictability by limiting pricing variables.
The model will implement a flat rate for full-time students based on course of study, and a 4.5% tuition increase for the 2022-23 academic year. across all four universities.
One student responded by asking how the university plans to address student burnout now that there is less incentive to take fewer courses.
“There’s nothing about the new plan that requires people to take a heavier course load; what we’re trying to move to is something that you have predictability in the cost,” Gibler said. “That will give you some ability to, if you have a semester where it’s better for what you need to do, personally take fewer hours.”
As the final presentation, Gipson spoke of inclusion, diversity and equity on campus.
He focused on the importance of resources to help underrepresented students succeed in coursework. Gipson discussed student success programs such as the Center for Academic Success and Excellence and TRiO Student Support Services, which provide opportunities for students to receive additional support. He also mentioned a new student success coaching initiative, which hired three new staff members who will be embedded in the social justice centers.
Throughout the presentations, as well as during an open discussion session at the end, attendees were free to ask questions and bring up concerns to the panel. Many used these moments as an opportunity to bring up topics not previously covered.
Questions ranged from a variety of topics such as the cancellation of Arabic courses to the university’s handling of campus hazing. Alongside individuals, several student organizations also attended. One of the most prominent was the Mizzou Coalition for Bodily Autonomy, a group of student and community organizations with the goal of promoting policy changes targeting students affected by the Dobbs Supreme Court decision, which effectively overturned Roe v. Wade, and members of the LGBTQ community.
The coalition recently hosted a rally, in which it presented the university with three demands related to bodily autonomy. A copy of these demands was placed on every chair at the panel.
“Frankly speaking, the reason we’re here is because it’s meant to be a way for students to speak out,” May Hall, who attended as part of the coalition, said. “We have some very clear demands.”
Hall didn’t feel that the coalition’s concerns were properly addressed.
“It went back to a lot of ‘check our website’ or ‘we care a lot,’” Hall said. “And then no specifics whatsoever. I don’t feel like we were given any clear answers.”
Ian De Smet, who attended with the MU branch of the Young Democratic Socialists of America, said he felt the panelists often deflected questions, particularly Choi.
“[Choi] multiple times danced around a question,” De Smet said. “… He was asked about what was being done to hold those who hazed Danny [Santulli] accountable, and the answer he gave was essentially talking about how much the university had helped his family, instead of really addressing the issue of accountability at all.”
The question De Smet referred to was asked by Berkeley Miller, the deputy coordinator for Student Organizations. Miller didn’t share De Smet’s concern.
“At the end of the day, they answered the question that they were asked,” Miller said. “The students got the point across. And that’s the whole reason we held this town hall.”
There is discussion within MSA about making this a recurring event. Both students and administrators see this as an opportunity to expand on issues important to the MU community.
“I think there’s no better display of students really taking charge of their educational experience than a town hall where they can ask the questions they want to ask,” Gipson said. “I think it’s an excellent demonstration of how administrators are willing to come to where students are to have these important discussions. It’s more important to have this dialogue on an ongoing basis than to wait for something to happen.”
Edited by Emma Flannery | eflannery@themaneater.com
Copy edited by Jacob Richey