(The Lion) — Missouri State University is continuing its diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) spending, even as public sentiment and many state lawmakers have turned against it.

A survey of the DEI programs at MSU by The Lion, however, raises questions about what exactly the DEI money is paying for, besides supporting nearly 20 staff members.

In contrast, the University of Missouri at Columbia axed its DEI department in July in response to concerns about budget priorities after lawmakers in Jefferson City made it clear DEI could jeopardize funding.

“We want to ensure we have a positive dialogue with [lawmakers] that support our university,” university President Mun Choi told reporters about chopping DEI programs. “We believe this offers a sustainable path forward.”

But MSU has gone the other way, despite budget pressures, hiring a DEI acolyte to take up the post of president and pressing forward with DEI programs, The Lion’s survey shows.

The Springfield university currently lists a 14-person organizational chart for its office of Inclusive Engagement, plus a 5-person staff for its office of Institutional Equity and Compliance.

That’s even higher than the number of DEI personnel reported by The Lion in March of 2023.

Including staff members at the equity compliance office, the 2025 budget for DEI programs approved by MSU’s board is $822,563 for the 25,000-student university.

As a guide, the Institutional Equity and Compliance Office lists 14 questions on its website that govern the university, 13 of which mention “women’s and/or minority” issues and one that mentions “sex.”

While some of the staff deal with Title IX compliance, two positions are designated “equity investigators.”

MSU’s DEI office said its vision is guided by the university’s annual “action plan.”

For 2023-2024, the last year the plan was publicized, it included:

• Develop the Inclusive Excellence Institute to serve as a central hub for access work and repository of resources for members of the campus community and external partners.
• Update the Collaborative Diversity Conference.
• Increase participation in the Inclusive Excellence Scholarship program.
• Increase the number of access partnerships and participants.

It’s unclear from the website if the Inclusive Excellence Institute is an actual institute of learning. The online description is vague and has Marxist verbiage:

“Cultivating success is what we as a community are beholden to, rather it is on campus at MSU or within the Springfield community. The concept of UJIMA, collective work and responsibility, is required of us all. By supporting the development of the Inclusive Excellence Institute we are uplifting the localized intellectual and social capital within our communities across the OZARKS.”

An internet search reveals Ujima is a “principle of Kwanzaa” that means “collective work and responsibility.” The term has been made popular with university DEI programs and DEI professionals.

But other than the words on the website, there seems to be no activity in developing the Inclusive Excellence Institute at MSU.

That hasn’t stopped the university’s DEI program from maintaining a strong social media presence.

In December, it advertised its annual 2025 Collaborative Diversity Conference to be held in March, another one of the core programs of the university’s action plan.

The conference is for all students and offers networking opportunities and hands-on workshops to “promote inclusive excellence.”

But the program for the 2025 conference so far is blank, plastered with “Session title TBA” and “Session details are coming soon!”

Judging by the 2024 event schedule, the conference looks like it caters to people in the professional DEI space whose fees are often paid through government grants.

One session includes playing a card game developed by MSU with money from the Department of Homeland Security to “empower connections through conversations on polarizing topics.”

One example taken from the game: “What does a ‘perfect’ day look like for you?”

The conference session teaches MSU professors how to play the game in classrooms.

Another session, moderated by Charity Jordan Rex and Kunti Bentley, was titled, “Exploring an intersectional approach to violence prevention education and victim services.”

Bentley heads up a campus program funded by a $550,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Justice.

Lawmakers in Missouri aren’t the only ones concerned with the continuation of DEI at MSU. Patrick Ishmael, director of government accountability at Missouri’s Show-Me Institute think tank, has been critical of Missouri institutions that cater to prospective employees based on race or gender.

“It’s not just about the people who do apply,” Ishmael told The Lion previously. “It’s about people who don’t apply. And if you’re trying to filter and create a faculty that all thinks the same, that is more or less what you’re going to get here with an application process that looks like this. … [I]t can hurt the kids that would be learning from those professors, because they may not be getting the best professors.”

The Lion reached out to MSU to comment on the story prior to publication but received no reply.

Photo: Missouri State University Office of Inclusive Engagement