Students, faculty and staff are invited to hear from Professor Ben Trachtenberg of the University of Missouri April 23 at 4 p.m. in the Mountainlair Ballrooms. Trachtenberg’s talk is part of the Neil S. Bucklew Lecture Series and will offer lessons to be taken from Mizzou’s experiences during racially charged 2015 protests and their aftermath which gained national attention.
He will explore how MU managed to fare so badly after students began protesting during the fall of 2015. He will also review the details and context of the Missouri protests and then present a case study of crisis management and conflict resolution gone awry.
Applying observations about higher education policy and administration to the phenomenon of student protests—particularly those related to race—Trachtenberg will identify potential pitfalls for university administrators and student activists. He will also explain how specific actions taken (and, in some cases, not taken) by University of Missouri leaders increased the risk that student protests would lead to long term institutional damage.
The event is free and open to the public.
The Neil S. Bucklew Lecture Series in Higher Education Administration was endowed by Tom and Jean Clark in 1998. Dr. Bucklew served as WVU president from 1986-1995. He retired in 2016 and is recognized as President and Professor Emeritus in the John Chambers College of Business and Economics.