University of Missouri Board Names Black Administrator as Interim President
The University of Missouri's board appointed Michael Middleton as the university system's interim president, the Associated Press reports.
Middleton, who is a recently retired senior administrator, will take over for Tim Wolfe, who resigned on Monday after protests over racial incidents on campus.
In August, Middleton resigned as deputy chancellor of the Columbia, Mo., campus and was named deputy chancellor emeritus. The Associated Press reports that he had been working with former campus chancellor R. Bowen Loftin on a plan to increase diversity and improve inclusion at the school. Loftin also resigned this week to take on a different role.
"Given the recent turmoil, Deputy Chancellor Emeritus Middleton is a strong transitional figure," MU Policy Now wrote earlier this week in a letter of endorsement posted on its Facebook page. The Legion of Black Collegians also supported the appointment.
Middleton is an alumnus of the University of Missouri and was one of the law school's first Black graduates in 1971. He has worked with the federal government in Washington as a trial attorney in the DOJ's civil rights division. Middleton joined the school's law faculty in 1985.
While a student, he participated in several campus protests for civil rights and helped found the Legion of Black Collegians.
(Photo: KTVI)
