- Standard & Poor downgraded the outlook on the University of Missouri System's credit rating from stable to negative, citing concerns over declining available resources relative to debt following campus protests in 2015 that led to the departure of two top administrators. - The American Association of University Professors has called for the reinstatement of assistant professor Melissa Click, saying her suspension violated due process. - MU has consolidated discrimination reporting into a single new office to make it easier for students, faculty, and staff to report incidents and reduce confusion about where to report them. Some Asian students at MU have been reluctant to report discrimination they faced.

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Our 108th year
#102
2 sections
16 pages
Abby 7A
Classifieds 5B
Comics 7A
Lottery 2A
Opinion 5A
Sports 1B
Sudoku 6B
World 8A
INDEX
WEATHER
Today: snow
Temp: 36°
Tonight: breezy
Temp: 21°
Page 2A
CLARIFICATION
Local 773 of the
Laborers Interna-
tional Union of North
America represents
324 city workers.
A story on page 1A
Tuesday about city
employee unions’
requests for changes
in salaries and ben-
efits misstated that
number.
OUT OF THE DARK
BUR OAKS GRAFFITI INCIDENT
In the second week of January, the state
champion bur oak tree near McBaine was
vandalized. The vandals took to social media
to post the crime. Page 6A
SIGNING DAY
Missouri’s football recruiting class was in
jeopardy after a bad season, a retiring coach
and the team’s boycott in November. Some,
though, stuck with the Tigers. Page 1B
By SUMMER BALLENTINE
The Associated Press
JEFFERSON CITY — A leading bond-
rating company on Monday announced
it’s downgrading the outlook of the
University of Missouri System’s credit
rating, noting the departures of two
top administrators amid student pro-
tests over racial issues last year on the
Columbia campus.
Standard & Poor said in a report that
the outlook of the four-campus system’s
AA+ credit rating dipped from stable
to negative, primarily because of con-
cerns with the system’s ratio of available
resources to debt. The outlook could be
By REBECCA SMITH
and RACHEL PHILLIPS
news@columbiamissourian.com
In a letter sent to MU Interim
Chancellor Hank Foley on Tuesday,
the American Association of Univer-
sity Professors’ associate secretary
said assistant professor Melissa Click
should be reinstated to her normal fac-
ulty duties.
Hans-Joerg Tiede, AAUP’s associate
secretary, said MU denied academic
due process when Click was suspended
Jan. 27.
The AAUP is an organization made
up of U.S. professors and academics.
UM SYSTEM
Standard & Poor
cites campus unrest
in credit downgrade
Professors’ group
calls for Click’s
reinstatement
Jang Yu-seung, an MU transfer student from South
Korea, was walking down Ninth Street near Middlebush
Hall last fall when a white student walked by and yelled a
profane and hateful comment at her.
Then he spat on her foot.
It wasn’t the only act of racism Jang said she has encoun-
tered. At Plaza 900, a campus dining hall, she once tried to
order a sandwich. People behind her mocked her accent when she tried
to pronounce “mozzarella.” She hasn’t eaten at the deli since.
“I was really embarrassed,” Jang said. Ever since, she has become
sensitive about her accent, fearing people around her will laugh at her
English.
Jang said she wanted to report the incidents to MU officials, but she
didn’t know how.
“How could I bring that issue, where? How?”
Before October, students, faculty and staff had different
channels to report racial discrimination. Students might
have complained to the Office of Student Conduct or the
MU Equity Office, while faculty and staff could report
discrimination to the Human Resources Services Center,
the Equity Office or the Office of the Provost.
Ellen Eardley, assistant vice provost for Civil Rights and Title IX,
oversees the newly created office, which is responsible for investigating
reports of all forms of discrimination on campus. The office also devel-
ops policies and practices to reduce or eliminate discrimination.
Having “a single, centralized office dealing with discrimination would
alleviate any confusion about where to report discrimination,” Eardley said.
Please see DISCRIMINATION, page 4A
BY SEAN NA
PHOTOS BY
ERJUN PENG
Missourian
MU’S ASIAN STUDENTS RELUCTANT TO REPORT DISCRIMINATION
VERA TAN
YIZHE SUN
RUSSELL HSU
KEN HAN
Please see RATING, page 6A Please see CLICK, page 6A