The University of Missouri has cut off funding to five multicultural student organizations that support marginalized groups, starting in July.
Last Friday, officials from the university’s Division of Student Affairs informed the following organizations that they will lose allocated funding: Asian American Association, Association of Latin American Students, Four Front, Legion of Black Collegians and Queer Liberation Front.
The five student organizations, which received money from Student Affairs, serve as umbrella entities that direct funding to multicultural groups around campus.
“These organizations will now exist as recognized student organizations and be eligible for funding in the same manner as all other recognized student organizations,” the university wrote across several social media comments on Instagram.
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“As an organization that serves and protects a broad group of students on campus, we are not in a position to compete with 600 other groups for an already limited amount of resources,” the Association of Latin American Students wrote on Instagram.
The university defended its decision to reallocate student funding by citing a July 2025 memo from the Department of Justice that barred any recipient of federal funding from supporting “discriminatory” DEI initiatives.
The five organizations were the last officially recognized multicultural groups supporting minority students after the university dissolved the Department of Inclusion, Diversity and Equity in 2024, according to a post from the Legion of Black Collegians.
“Because of this change, we will no longer be able to adequately protect our students on campus,” the organization added. “This change by administration lacks genuine concern and empathy for our Umbrella organizations, constituents, and the broader Black Mizzou community.”
The university dissolved the diversity department following mounting state pressure to eradicate DEI initiatives. This included the removal of diversity hiring statements and the state Attorney General’s decision to target race-based scholarships, the Columbia Missourian reports.
