One glance at the UM System Board of Curators reveals a troubling lack of racial, gender and professional diversity. Of the six current members, there are five white men and only one woman, who is also white. All six curators are lawyers.

In [last week’s editorial](https://www.themaneater.com/stories/2016/2/10/curator-appointments-cant-wait/), we urged the Missouri state legislature not to block new appointments that would fill the three empty seats on the board. While these appointments are undoubtedly pressing, it is still essential that Gov. Jay Nixon and the Missouri General Assembly consider them with diversity in mind.

The board’s lack of racial and gender diversity is obvious and troubling, but its struggle with diversity is goes beyond that. While there is, of course, nothing wrong with having board members with backgrounds in law, it only makes sense that the entirety of the board not come from the same professional background.

[House Bill 2179](http://www.house.mo.gov/billtracking/bills161/billpdf/intro/HB2179I.PDF) was recently introduced limiting the number of curators by occupation. If the bill were to pass, no more than two members of the same occupation would be allowed to serve on the board.

While the passage of this bill could be a step toward creating more multi-faceted and diverse curator appointments, the appointments themselves first need to be made by Gov. Nixon and approved by the Missouri legislature. These appointments are urgent, as the board is beginning a presidential search — a process that takes nearly a year to complete.

Earlier this month, the curators [approved the composition](https://www.themaneater.com/stories/2016/2/5/curators-discuss-presidential-search-committee-and/) of the presidential search committee. In the committee, there are nine spots for curators, two for student representatives, two for members of the Intercampus Faculty Council and two for members of the Intercampus Staff Advisory Council. But there are currently three empty curator seats, and three empty seats on the committee as a result.

This is an opportunity for the board to be pragmatic and adaptable while further including all of the UM System’s stakeholders in this search. Rather than shrink the size of the committee, the board could give an additional seat to each of the three stakeholders: faculty, staff and student. This is particularly important for this search, as every member of the committee will have voting power.

The search for the next UM System president will be one of the most consequential decisions the Board of Curators make in the next several years. Taking steps to include more stakeholders in this decision while also working to increase the diversity of the board itself is in the best interest of the UM System.