- Mailing Address
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901 S National Ave
Springfield, Missouri 65897 - Phone
- (417) 836-5000
- Email address
- info@missouristate.edu
- Website
- https://www.missouristate.edu/
- School Information
- "Missouri State University is a public university system with students who come from all over Missouri, the nation and the world. "We are a close-knit community of passionate and steadfast learners committed to ethical leadership, cultural competence and community engagement. Those are the pillars of the university’s unique public affairs mission, granted to us by the Missouri General Assembly. "The system has four physical campuses — three in Missouri and one in Dalian, China — and an outreach program for any time, any place learning." The university enrolls over 26,000 students and has 102 Bachelors programs, 61 Masters programs, and seven doctoral programs. (Source: https://www.missouristate.edu/about/)
- General Information
- As part of its antiracist efforts, Missouri State University is providing grants to faculty for "anti-racism modules". This grant program aims to bring "anti-racism elements" into the statistics curricula. No mandatory Critical Race Training sessions are yet required of students. However, see developments below:
Actions Taken
- Admissions Policies
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The Office of Inclusive Engagement at Missouri State is “charged with developing a University-endorsed inclusive community” through increasing “equity by attracting, retaining, and ensuring the success of all students, faculty, and staff from diverse backgrounds.”
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The Music Department's Diversity, Inclusion and Anti-Racism Committee states that it would "[i]ncrease enrollment and academic success of diverse and underrepresented undergraduate and graduate students."
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- Anti-Racism, Bias, and Diversity Training
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As part of its "Long Range Plan 2021-2026," MSU states that it is "committed to being a culturally conscious leader in the Springfield community" and that it will "deliver education, training and growth opportunities to the campus and beyond...."
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The Division of Student Affairs 2021-2026 Strategic Plan states that it would "[s]trengthen students, faculty, and staff awareness about cultural consciousness through education, dialogue, and programs, both on‐campus and within the greater Springfield community."
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- Program and Research Funding
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Missouri State University gave a researcher a grant to bring "anti-racism elements" into statistics courses and curricula.
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The Sociology Department is now offering anti-racism modules to its courses and has received a $3,750 grant to promote curriculum changes.
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The Facing Racism Institute at Missouri State’s Office of Inclusive Engagement is the “leading program for uncovering racism and understanding its impact.”
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As part of the University’s Office of Inclusive Engagement, the Bears LEAD program is “a three-day program for incoming freshman from diverse backgrounds to help in their transition to MSU.”
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Giving Voice is a theater organization at MSU that “strives to represent the challenges of underrepresented, marginalized, and oppressed persons” that uses theater and a series of workshops and presentations for training “to address issues of oppression, microaggression, and discrimination.”
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On April 27-28, 2023, MSU hosted the 2023 Collaborative Diversity Conference to “continue to build a sense of belonging across a diversity of spaces” and “cultivate community that will assist us in facing the challenges of bias, inequality, and systems of oppression.”
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The Inclusive Excellence Scholarship Program at MSU is valued at $21,000 over four years in order to work with “diverse individuals and/or groups to promote principles of equity and inclusion.”
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The University offers a Diversity Studies Minor program which is “an interdisciplinary program of study allowing students to develop a broad understanding of the components of diversity in society, which include race and ethnicity, culture, gender, sexuality, religion, language, social class, and aging and disability.”
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- Resources
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The Department of Sociology, Anthropology and Gerontology is “committed to diversity and making our department an anti-racist space” through a number of anti-racism and racial justice resources including resources for BIPOC students as well as resources for “Allies (or those striving to be).”
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The MSU Faculty Diversity Composition Initiative (FDIC) “is designed to help recruit and retain diverse faculty members at the university” and has helped to retain diverse faculty members at the university.
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The Music Department's Diversity, Inclusion and Anti-Racism Committee states that it would "[e]ngage students, faculty and staff in learning varied perspectives of domestic and global diversity, inclusion, and social justice" and "[i]ncorporate diversity experiences for faculty, staff and students by aligning student outcomes in and out of the classroom with diversity and inclusion...."
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The Sociology, Anthropology, and Gerontology Department offers a "Diversity in the United States Undergraduate Certificate" which is "designed to provide students with course work and experiences to enhance the student's cultural competence and increase understanding issues of diversity and inclusion."
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On February 22, 2022, Missouri State News reported that the "College of Humanities and Public Affairs held a discussion covering diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) education and misinformation." The discussion included the topics of "critical race theory, education in public school systems and the overall concept that race is not taught correctly in schools."
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- Symbolic Actions
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The university formally announced its commitment to Anti-Racism and provided students and faculty with resources in October 2021.
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The Music Department created the Diversity, Inclusion & Anti-Racism Committee in January 2022. It plans on providing a list of resources and hosting a series of panel discussions in the future.
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The theme for the Long Range Plan 2021-2026 at MSU is “Inclusive Excellence Driving University Success” which focuses on “active, intentional and ongoing engagement with diversity - in people, in the curriculum, in the co-curriculum and in communities.”
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The College of Natural and Applied Sciences at MSU is committed to diversity, equity, and inclusion and has their own anti-racism action plan.
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