The next University of Missouri president will be faced with increased challenges and intensified scrutiny. He or she will be chosen by the Board of Curators even as the University is dealing with criticism over its handling of incidents of racism, and as students are looking for the institution to find solutions.
CEO and President of Walsworth Publishing Company Don Walsworth was a curator from 2003 to 2009. He thinks many people will apply to take on those challenges.
“We’re a huge research institution and I just think this will be a great opportunity for some man or woman to take this over and build the university even more and better than it has been in the past,” said Walsworth.
He said the new president and administration must do all it can to respond to the incidents that spurred protests and demands for President Tim Wolfe to resign.
“We want all students at the University of Missouri to be very comfortable and feel safe on all of our campuses and to have a good college experience. That is paramount,” said Walsworth. “I am confident the Board of Curators and the administration of this university and this system will accomplish that.”
As for how the university deals with its current situation, Walsworth said, “I think there needs to be open discussion with the students and the faculty. I think we have to listen to their concerns and their problems and try to make them much more comfortable than what they are at the present time, or at least what I’ve been hearing. There’s some deficiencies down there and I think that the administration will address those.”
Walsworth anticipates an interim president to be named. The Board of Curators meets later today, but what it will talk about hasn’t been discussed publicly.
