State committee votes to keep $7.6 million cut for University of Missouri system

A Missouri House panel has decided against a small cut to the University of Missouri-Columbia but refused to undo a $7.6 million cut for UM system administrators.

The House Budget Committee voted Tuesday to restore roughly $400,000 in cuts to the Columbia campus that would have equaled the salaries of several people, including former communication professor Melissa Click.

The cuts had been proposed by lawmakers upset about the way administrators handled turmoil arising from students protesting administrators’ perceived indifference to racial issues.

Part of the goal was to cut money for Melissa Click, who confronted a student videographer during the November protests. But she was recently fired by the university.

The House committee also voted Tuesday against restoring half of the $7.6 million proposed cut to the system administration’s budget for next year.