Mizzou picks Middleton as interim president

One of the University of Missouri's first black law school graduates was appointed Thursday to lead the four-campus system through a tumultuous period of racial unrest, drawing praise from students who said he's well-equipped to confront the problems they felt his predecessor largely ignored.

The school's Board of Curators named former Columbia campus Deputy Chancellor Michael Middleton interim president for the four-campus system, effective immediately. After spending 30 years at the university — as an undergraduate, law student, faculty member and finally, administrator — he had retired on Aug. 31.

At a news conference announcing his appointment, Middleton, 68, vowed to take on the racial problems that inspired the protests that helped force Monday's abrupt resignation of President Tim Wolfe and another top administrator, R. Bowen Loftin.

Middleton said the university “has faced its share of troubling incidents and we recognize that we must move forward as a community. We must embrace these issues as they come, and they will come to define us in the future.”

Middleton's pride in the university — which he called “an incredible institution” — was apparent. So was his frustration and anger over recent events, including the student government president's report of having racial slurs hurled at him, a black man, and the discovery of swastika drawn in feces in a dormitory bathroom.

“I was glad that I retired,” Middleton said. “It was embarrassing. It was hurtful. It was scary. It crossed my mind that my 30-year career here was a failure.”

Asked if he felt like his appointment was based on race, Middleton gave a nuanced response. The university system's first black leader was the late Elson Floyd, who was in charge from 2003 to 2007.

“That's a complex question, and it's reflective of the institutional racism that we are trying to get beyond,” he said. “I suspect that my color will be met with much criticism from parts of our community.

“I also suspect that my color was a factor in the judgment that I was the person at this time for this position.”

Middleton added that “at the moment” he wasn't interested in the permanent job.

Middleton's bona fides contributed to a warm welcome and vigorous applause from university administrators and leaders of two black student groups who attended Middleton's news conference.

“I am very excited,” said Tamara Hodges, a member of the Black Law Students Association at Missouri. “He's been a part of this community for a long time. He's going to be a great leader for this system.”

MU Policy Now, a student group made up of graduate and professional students, had been pushing for the president's role to go to Middleton, who retired in August and had been made a deputy chancellor emeritus. He had been working part-time to assist Loftin design a plan to increase inclusion and diversity on campus.

“Given the recent turmoil, Deputy Chancellor Emeritus Middleton is a strong transitional figure,” the group wrote in a letter of endorsement posted on its Facebook page and sent to curators. Several student organizations signed the recommendation letter, including the Legion of Black Collegians, which Middleton helped found.

Middleton takes over as black student groups have been calling for change over the administration's handling of racial issues and were given a boost last weekend when black football players vowed not to take part in team activities until Wolfe was gone.

Wolfe and Loftin, the chancellor of the Columbia campus, abruptly resigned on Monday. On Thursday, the board said Loftin's his interim replacement, Hank Foley, had already assumed that role. Loftin will take a different position at the university.

On Tuesday, Chuck Henson, a black law professor and associate dean, was been appointed on an interim basis as the university's first vice chancellor for inclusion, diversity and equity.

Meanwhile Thursday, authorities announced that a third Missouri man had been charged for allegedly posting anonymous online threats to attack college campuses.

Hunter M. Park, a 19-year-old student at the Missouri University of Science and Technology in Rolla who was the first of the three to be charged, appeared in court Thursday via a video feed from a Columbia jail, where he was ordered held without bond. He is charged with making a terroristic threat, which is punishable by up to seven years in prison.

Nodaway County Prosecutor Robert Rice on Thursday filed one misdemeanor and one felony count of making a terrorist threat against Connor Stottlemyre, a freshman at the school in Maryville. Online court records did not list an attorney for him.

Prosecutors also charged another 19-year-old, Tyler Bradenberg of St. Louis, with a felony count of making a terrorist threat. An arrest warrant has been issued for him. It was apparently aimed at the Missouri University of Science & Technology in Rolla, where he studied chemical engineering for a semester last fall.

Al Jazeera with wire services