UM schools to discontinue scholarships acknowledging race after Supreme Court decision, statement says

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

The University of Missouri System issued a statement in regards to the Supreme Court’s decision on Thursday to omit the use of affirmative action in college admissions.

In the statement, the school said it will stop allowing a number of scholarships, following the decision and a letter issued by the state's attorney general.

“As allowed by prior law, a small number of our programs and scholarships have used race/ethnicity as a factor for admissions and scholarships,” the statement says. “Those practices will be discontinued, and we will abide by the new Supreme Court ruling concerning legal standards that applies to race-based admissions and race-based scholarships.”

UM System spokesman Christian Basi said fewer than two dozen graduate programs at the Columbia campus used race as a factor in admission decisions. Basi said the school also offered $12.3 million in financial aid to students based on race or ethnicity last year. He said school leaders would review how it could use that money in other ways to ensure school stayed affordable for students.

“UM universities will honor our financial aid commitments that have already been awarded to our returning and incoming students. These awards were lawfully issued under previous Supreme Court and U.S. Department of Education interpretations.”

The elimination of those scholarships after Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey issued a letter to the university system staying, “to immediately cease any use of illegal, discriminatory race-based policies.”

“Institutions subject to the U.S. Constitution or Title VI must immediately cease their practice of using race-based standards to make decisions about things like admissions, scholarships, programs, and employment,” Bailey wrote on Facebook. "Missouri institutions must identify all policies that give preference to individuals on the basis of race and immediately halt the implementation of such policies. More than 300,000 individuals currently attend institutions of higher education in Missouri."

The letter also addressed Columbia Mayor Barbara Buffaloe, as well as Missouri State University and the mayors of Kansas City and St. Louis.

President Joe Biden said Thursday that he “strongly disagreed” with the court’s decision.