JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) - Missouri Gov. Eric Greitens on Wednesday announced three appointees to the University of Missouri System governing board, including a former linebacker on the Columbia school’s football team and the governor’s campaign finance chairman.
Greitens picked former University of Missouri linebacker and Missouri Agriculture Department deputy director Darryl Chatman, former campaign finance chairman Jeffrey Layman and Jamie Farmer, who is president of Capital Sand Proppants. The company provides sand used for fracking oil and is a subsidiary of Farmer Holding Company.
Chatman is a Foristell Democrat and attorney. Springfield Republican Layman is a senior vice president with Morgan Stanley and donated about $10,000 to Greitens’ campaign.
“These curators bring knowledge and real world experience to the table,” Greitens said in a statement. “They will be important voices for our students and families.”
If confirmed by the state Senate, Greitens’ appointees will inherit leadership of a four-campus system that drew national scrutiny following 2015 protests over racial issues at the Columbia campus.
One student went on a hunger strike, and the football team threatened not to play over concerns that administrators were indifferent to complaints of racial problems. The protests culminated with the resignations of the former system president and Columbia campus chancellor.
Leadership of the system has been in flux since then. Interim President Mike Middleton is set to step down in March for his permanent replacement, Mun Y. Choi. Three curators resigned in the months following protests in Columbia, and two more resigned in January.
The board now is without any racial minorities and only has one female curator, Pamela Henrickson, whose term expired. Chatman would be the only black curator, and Farmer would be the only female curator.
There still will be two vacant seats on the board if Greitens’ three appointees are confirmed.
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This story has been corrected to reflect that Farmer is president of Capital Sand Proppants, not Farmer Holding Company.
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