Choi takes aim at downtown bars days after telling MU students to avoid part of Walnut Street

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

University of Missouri System President Mun Choi on Thursday doubled down on sentiments he shared with city leaders over the summer.

While Choi was speaking with ABC 17 News, he claimed bar owners in downtown Columbia can do more to curb crime. This comes after he told students in a school-wide email earlier this week to avoid East Walnut Street between Eighth and Tenth streets at night.

“I heard from the police department that there are many things that bar owners can do,” Choi said during an interview. “They can't just say that once they are-- once customers are outside of the bar, there's nothing they can do. Well, what about overserving? What about letting patrons in that are underage that are being served? Those are all issues that bar owners have to be responsible for.”

Choi had emailed city leaders over the summer multiple times while also calling out one Columbia bar after  a shots-fired incident and a large street brawl occurred near Eighth and Walnut over the summer, when most students were away.

Choi took aim at Reign Bar in his emails with city leaders, though a city spokesman noted the area has been the site of early morning gatherings before Reign Bar opened. Police Chief Jill Schlude had stated in August 2025 a “hot spot” for gun violence shifted from the 900 block of East Broadway in 2024 to the 800 block of Walnut Street. Reign Bar opened two months after that statement.

One of Choi’s emails had criticized the sentences in recent Boone County cases, which Prosecutor Roger Johnson replied to with a lengthy message of his own.

The university reported a total student enrollment of 31,650 and over 9,000 new students on the first day earlier this week.