KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) _ A top New York state university administrator hired to oversee the University of Missouri in Columbia faces weighty challenges that include addressing the campus’ lingering racial discord that is partly blamed for slumping enrollment.
State University of New York provost and executive vice chancellor Alexander Cartwright will be introduced Wednesday as the Columbia campus’ first permanent chancellor since R. Bowen Loftin resigned in November 2015.
A person familiar with the search for Loftin’s replacement confirmed Cartwright’s hiring to The Associated Press, on the condition of anonymity because that person wasn’t authorized to discuss the matter before Cartwright’s Columbia introduction.
Loftin and the Missouri system’s president resigned amid protests over the administration’s handling of racial issues.
Enrollment and revenue at Columbia have dropped since the protests.
