# Mizzou freshman enrollment down 35+% since protests **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [July 10, 2017, 9:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mizzou-freshman-enrollment-down-35-since-protests/790951 "2017-07-10T21:02:03Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![treis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bc79bd/32.png) [@treis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/treis)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2017, 9:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mizzou-freshman-enrollment-down-35-since-protests/790951/1 "2017-07-10T21:02:03Z")
> [@](#): > > Freshman enrollment at the Columbia campus, the system’s flagship, has fallen by more than 35 percent in the two years since. > > The university administration acknowledges that the main reason is a backlash from the events of 2015, as the campus has been shunned by students and families put off by, depending on their viewpoint, a culture of racism or one where protesters run amok. > **[Long After Protests, Students Shun the University of Missouri (Published 2017)](https://www.nytimes.com/2017/07/09/us/university-of-missouri-enrollment-protests-fallout.html)** > > The college has had to close dorms and cut jobs because of plummeting enrollment, which officials attribute largely to fallout from protests in 2015. I’m pretty shocked to see such a significant decline. I figured the protests would be relatively quickly forgotten and the University would go on more or less as it was before. Losing a 1/3 of the enrollment is a huge hit. The article says, more or less, fewer black people are going because the campus is viewed as racist and fewer white people are going because they fear being marked as a bigot. ---
**Author:** ![Nawth\_Chucka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/c57346/32.png) [@Nawth\_Chucka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nawth_Chucka)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2017, 9:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mizzou-freshman-enrollment-down-35-since-protests/790951/2 "2017-07-10T21:53:36Z")
> [@treis](#): > > [https://www.nytimes.com/2017/07/09/us/university-of-missouri-enrollment-protests-fallout.html](https://www.nytimes.com/2017/07/09/us/university-of-missouri-enrollment-protests-fallout.html) > > I’m pretty shocked to see such a significant decline. I figured the protests would be relatively quickly forgotten and the University would go on more or less as it was before. Losing a 1/3 of the enrollment is a huge hit. The article says, more or less, fewer black people are going because the campus is viewed as racist and fewer white people are going because they fear being marked as a bigot. Good. If racism has to die the death of a thousand cuts, so long as it dies, I’m happy. ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2017, 10:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mizzou-freshman-enrollment-down-35-since-protests/790951/3 "2017-07-10T22:32:39Z")
> [@treis](#): > > [https://www.nytimes.com/2017/07/09/us/university-of-missouri-enrollment-protests-fallout.html](https://www.nytimes.com/2017/07/09/us/university-of-missouri-enrollment-protests-fallout.html) > > I’m pretty shocked to see such a significant decline. I figured the protests would be relatively quickly forgotten and the University would go on more or less as it was before. Mizzou alumnus here. The administration is still in a shambles, with interim and short-term people in key posts. The state legislature, which has never been particularly generous to higher education, has pretty much declared war on the UM system, and the Columbia campus in particular. Enrollment has actually increased at other state schools, a trend that started before 2015. Missouri State University in Springfield, in particular, is trying to position itself as a competitor. And yes, the racist stench is heavy in central Missouri. However, UM-Columbia is still the flagship of the state university system, still the center of much of the research, and still has several top-flight programs. ---
**Author:** ![Velocity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/velocity/32/18006_2.png) [@Velocity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Velocity)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2017, 10:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mizzou-freshman-enrollment-down-35-since-protests/790951/4 "2017-07-10T22:34:16Z")
> [@Nawth\_Chucka](#): > > Good. If racism has to die the death of a thousand cuts, so long as it dies, I’m happy. Quite to the contrary, it sounds like _ **anti** _-racism is dying a death by a thousand cuts here. ---
**Author:** ![Sunny\_Daze](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunny_daze/32/438_2.png) [@Sunny\_Daze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunny_Daze)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2017, 10:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mizzou-freshman-enrollment-down-35-since-protests/790951/5 "2017-07-10T22:47:33Z")
> [@kunilou](#): > > And yes, the racist stench is heavy in central Missouri. > > However, UM-Columbia is still the flagship of the state university system, still the center of much of the research, and still has several top-flight programs. My husband did his post-graduate work at Mizzou and I can attest to the truth of both statements. Columbia is an interesting place. Historically it’s been a bastion of liberal thinking in the middle of a very conservative and, yes, racist part of the state. The divide goes back generations. The city was pro-Union during the Civil War and Union troops were based there. The surrounding countryside was for the South. My husband’s research was an example of the leading edge work that the University does. He was involved in research of mind control of artificial limbs, which was always fun to hear about. Unfortunately it sounds like the State is choosing not to respond to the clear message they are receiving from prospective students that they need to make changes. I can’t help but read this as a political move. Columbia is one of 3 liberal islands in the state. Weakening the university will ultimately result in a weakening of that voting bloc. ---
**Author:** ![bobot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bobot/32/21622_2.png) [@bobot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bobot)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2017, 12:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mizzou-freshman-enrollment-down-35-since-protests/790951/6 "2017-07-11T00:55:42Z")
> [@Velocity](#): > > Quite to the contrary, it sounds like _ **anti** _-racism is dying a death by a thousand cuts here. How so? ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2017, 1:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mizzou-freshman-enrollment-down-35-since-protests/790951/7 "2017-07-11T01:12:53Z")
$5,250 for one copy of a book that collects works in the public domain? Boy, somebody sees them coming from a mile away. ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2017, 2:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mizzou-freshman-enrollment-down-35-since-protests/790951/8 "2017-07-11T02:12:55Z")
> [@Darren\_Garrison](#): > > $5,250 for one copy of a book that collects works in the public domain? Boy, somebody sees them coming from a mile away. Yeah. That’s exactly what it is. And all the other ones too.[Here’s the original list](http://library.missouri.edu/giving/wishlist/?singlebroadsubject=special+collections). ---
**Author:** ![Ale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f19dbf/32.png) [@Ale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ale)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2017, 3:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mizzou-freshman-enrollment-down-35-since-protests/790951/9 "2017-07-11T03:02:11Z")
The mind boggling thing about this is that it started with the finding of a swastika painted in human feces in a bathroom, taken as a pro-Nazi act. Because, obviously, a Nazi would use his own excrement to paint the symbol of his ideology and it totally cannot be the case that a non-Nazi painted a swastika in shit to debase the symbol. I would say the whole thing proves that students there are not doing very well in the critical thinking department. ---
**Author:** ![Nawth\_Chucka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/c57346/32.png) [@Nawth\_Chucka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nawth_Chucka)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2017, 3:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mizzou-freshman-enrollment-down-35-since-protests/790951/10 "2017-07-11T03:30:42Z")
> [@Ale](#): > > The mind boggling thing about this is that it started with the finding of a swastika painted in human feces in a bathroom, taken as a pro-Nazi act. > Because, obviously, a Nazi would use his own excrement to paint the symbol of his ideology and it totally cannot be the case that a non-Nazi painted a swastika in shit to debase the symbol. > > I would say the whole thing proves that students there are not doing very well in the critical thinking department. Were you under the impression Nazis have \*greater \*critical thinking skills than college students? ---
**Author:** ![Velocity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/velocity/32/18006_2.png) [@Velocity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Velocity)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2017, 3:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mizzou-freshman-enrollment-down-35-since-protests/790951/11 "2017-07-11T03:34:10Z")
> [@Nawth\_Chucka](#): > > Were you under the impression Nazis have \*greater \*critical thinking skills than college students? If Stormfront’s message boards are any indicator (I have been there out of curiosity,) quite a few Nazis or neo-Nazis are very much into philosophy, science, astronomy, political science, geography, military tactics and the like. In fact, Stormfront kind of read like a Nazi Aryan version of…the Straight Dope. ---
**Author:** ![Velocity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/velocity/32/18006_2.png) [@Velocity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Velocity)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2017, 3:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mizzou-freshman-enrollment-down-35-since-protests/790951/12 "2017-07-11T03:35:32Z")
> [@bobot](#): > > How so? ISTM the drop in 35% in enrollment is because people don’t want to go to the “full-of-chanting-demonstrating-protesters” Mizzou, rather than “don’t want to go to the racist Mizzou.” ---
**Author:** ![Nawth\_Chucka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/c57346/32.png) [@Nawth\_Chucka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nawth_Chucka)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2017, 4:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mizzou-freshman-enrollment-down-35-since-protests/790951/13 "2017-07-11T04:06:23Z")
> [@Velocity](#): > > ISTM the drop in 35% in enrollment is because people don’t want to go to the “full-of-chanting-demonstrating-protesters” Mizzou, rather than “don’t want to go to the racist Mizzou.” Got any cites for your seems or is this a ‘gut feeling’? ---
**Author:** ![moojja](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e5b9ba/32.png) [@moojja](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/moojja)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2017, 3:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mizzou-freshman-enrollment-down-35-since-protests/790951/14 "2017-07-11T15:29:37Z")
> [@Velocity](#): > > ISTM the drop in 35% in enrollment is because people don’t want to go to the “full-of-chanting-demonstrating-protesters” Mizzou, rather than “don’t want to go to the racist Mizzou.” NYT articles says it in their first sentence: “as the campus has been shunned by students and families put off by, depending on their viewpoint, a culture of racism or one where protesters run amok.” I find this so interesting because of another university mentioned in the article. UC Berkeley is (in)famous for their protesters and sit-ins, yet their enrollment is not affected at all. But for students/families who are looking at Mizzou, the protest does matter. I wonder if it’s b/c most Mizzou are racists therefore the open protest made them feel uncomfortable. No studies or data to support this theory, it’s just wild speculation on my part. ---
**Author:** ![Ale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f19dbf/32.png) [@Ale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ale)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2017, 4:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mizzou-freshman-enrollment-down-35-since-protests/790951/15 "2017-07-11T16:45:35Z")
> [@Nawth\_Chucka](#): > > Were you under the impression Nazis have \*greater \*critical thinking skills than college students? I could imagine that if a group of Nazis came across a Star of David painted in shit their first, and only, assumption wouldn’t be that it was the work of a Zionist. ---
**Author:** ![treis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bc79bd/32.png) [@treis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/treis)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2017, 5:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mizzou-freshman-enrollment-down-35-since-protests/790951/16 "2017-07-11T17:03:40Z")
> [@moojja](#): > > NYT articles says it in their first sentence: “as the campus has been shunned by students and families put off by, depending on their viewpoint, a culture of racism or one where protesters run amok.” > > I find this so interesting because of another university mentioned in the article. UC Berkeley is (in)famous for their protesters and sit-ins, yet their enrollment is not affected at all. But for students/families who are looking at Mizzou, the protest does matter. > > I wonder if it’s b/c most Mizzou are racists therefore the open protest made them feel uncomfortable. No studies or data to support this theory, it’s just wild speculation on my part. I think that’s the difference. People wonder if white people that attend Mizzou are racist and don’t wonder that about those that attend UC Berkeley. ---
**Author:** ![moojja](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e5b9ba/32.png) [@moojja](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/moojja)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2017, 5:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mizzou-freshman-enrollment-down-35-since-protests/790951/17 "2017-07-11T17:17:36Z")
> [@treis](#): > > I think that’s the difference. People wonder if white people that attend Mizzou are racist and don’t wonder that about those that attend UC Berkeley. My wild theory was more towards people who avoid Mizzou due to protest rather than racist environment. I suppose since Mizzou has been called out for their racist environment, they suffer it from both end. Non-racist avoid the school as they don’t want to attend a college with perceived racism. Racist avoid the school as they feel attacked by the protests. ---
**Author:** ![yellowjacketcoder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/4bbf92/32.png) [@yellowjacketcoder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yellowjacketcoder)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2017, 6:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mizzou-freshman-enrollment-down-35-since-protests/790951/18 "2017-07-11T18:30:06Z")
I wonder if the protests at Berkeley are already baked into their numbers, i.e. prospective students already expect protests since they seem to happen every year and thus their enrollment numbers don’t change. Meanwhile at Mizzou, having protests might indicate too much racism or too many protests, but either one isn’t something prospective students had already baked into their assumptions that go with that university. ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2017, 6:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mizzou-freshman-enrollment-down-35-since-protests/790951/19 "2017-07-11T18:50:05Z")
> [@moojja](#): > > I find this so interesting because of another university mentioned in the article. UC Berkeley is (in)famous for their protesters and sit-ins, yet their enrollment is not affected at all. But for students/families who are looking at Mizzou, the protest does matter. > > I wonder if it’s b/c most Mizzou are racists therefore the open protest made them feel uncomfortable. No studies or data to support this theory, it’s just wild speculation on my part. My guess is that UC Berkeley doesn’t have professors calling for “muscle” to prevent the press from covering protests. ---
**Author:** ![Doctor\_Jackson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doctor_jackson/32/32_2.png) [@Doctor\_Jackson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doctor_Jackson)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2017, 7:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mizzou-freshman-enrollment-down-35-since-protests/790951/20 "2017-07-11T19:22:35Z")
To be clear, that professor was a protester herself and was acting in the capacity of a protestor - not as a university rep - when she called for the press to be forcibly blocked. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mizzou-freshman-enrollment-down-35-since-protests/790951.md?page=2)