[Rally]

[quote author=Kathy link=topic=13558.msg141253#msg141253 date=1447446369]
Your perception is outdated. One of Columbia's nicknames is "Havana on the Hinkson" (Hinkson Creek is one of several waterways that meander through the town on their way to the Missouri River). Yes, the area was known as Little Dixie back in the day (and there's still a lake by that name), but the Civil War ended 150 years ago. Missourians fought for both sides (Columbia was Union, by the way). Blacks have attended MU since 1950.  The MU administration is diverse, the governing Board of Curators is diverse, the MU student council is diverse, the Columbia City Council is diverse, the Columbia school board is diverse. There is program after program in place at multiple levels at the university and in the community to achieve even greater diversity. Sometimes it seems like that's all university administrators do -- create more diversity programs.

A credible case can be made that African Americans are dramatically underrepresented among the faculty at Missouri (accounting for 3% of tenure-track-faculty in a state where 12% of the population age 16-64 is Black).

BC
[/quote]

One takeaway from this is that things are much better for black students now than a few decades ago.  The lower number of tenure track faculty may reflect the reflect the fewer educational opportunities available to blacks when those faculty members where students.  Presumably everyone wants qualified faculty, not just faculty hired based on color.  If that is true then the number of black faculty will trail the number of black students, which is what this implies.  Of course it contains no historical perspective so it is difficult to say.  I am making assumptions.

[Rally]

[quote author=Kathy link=topic=13558.msg141253#msg141253 date=1447446369]
Your perception is outdated. One of Columbia's nicknames is "Havana on the Hinkson" (Hinkson Creek is one of several waterways that meander through the town on their way to the Missouri River). Yes, the area was known as Little Dixie back in the day (and there's still a lake by that name), but the Civil War ended 150 years ago. Missourians fought for both sides (Columbia was Union, by the way). Blacks have attended MU since 1950.  The MU administration is diverse, the governing Board of Curators is diverse, the MU student council is diverse, the Columbia City Council is diverse, the Columbia school board is diverse. There is program after program in place at multiple levels at the university and in the community to achieve even greater diversity. Sometimes it seems like that's all university administrators do -- create more diversity programs.

A credible case can be made that African Americans are dramatically underrepresented among the faculty at Missouri (accounting for 3% of tenure-track-faculty in a state where 12% of the population age 16-64 is Black).

BC
[/quote]

One takeaway from this is that things are much better for black students now than a few decades ago.  The lower number of tenure track faculty may reflect the reflect the fewer educational opportunities available to blacks when those faculty members where students.  Presumably everyone wants qualified faculty, not just faculty hired based on color.  If that is true then the number of black faculty will trail the number of black students, which is what this implies.  Of course it contains no historical perspective so it is difficult to say.  I am making assumptions.