Confronting Racial Divide, Missouri’s Interim President Finds Anger, Finger-Pointing

Nearly three months after the University of Missouri’s top two officials resigned amid student protests, Michael Middleton leads an institution still wrestling with its path forward.

By Jack Stripling, The Chronicle of Higher Education

The University of Missouri remains deeply divided over racial issues that came to the fore three months ago, and the system’s new leader says that his efforts to move forward are complicated by anger and distrust that persist across the state.

Michael A. Middleton, a veteran civil-rights lawyer and retired deputy chancellor at Missouri’s Columbia campus, the flagship, was tapped in November to serve as the system’s interim president after Missouri’s two top officials resigned amid student protests.

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